Grade 2 | CURSIVE
WEEK 7 • TEACHER GUIDE • DAYS 1–5
Use this guide with the Week 7 Copybook. Each lesson takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Model each letter or stroke first, say the cue while the child writes, and keep the practice short and careful. Day 5 is an independent check.
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This week
Week: Cursive Week 7 of 10 (C7): Overcurve Letters n, m, v, x, y, z. Suggested alongside Academic Week 23.
Standards (Alabama Course of Study, English Language Arts 2021):
- 2.LF.37.c: Form uppercase and lowercase letters in cursive.
Materials: A sharpened pencil, the printed Week 7 sheets (print at 100%, actual size, on letter paper), and a table and chair that let the child sit with feet flat.
Models: Cursive letter models are drawn from Playwrite US Trad, a school handwriting font by TypeTogether released under the SIL Open Font License. Start dots and arrows were placed by hand on each letter and checked against the letter’s path.
Day 1: The Letters n and m
Goal: The child forms n and m correctly and joins them in the words man, name, moon.
Cue for n: “Overcurve, slant down; trace up, overcurve, slant down, curve up.”
Watch for: Lifting between humps; a pointed hump instead of a rounded one.
Cue for m: “Overcurve, slant; overcurve, slant; overcurve, slant, curve up.”
Watch for: Two humps instead of three, or four; humps of different sizes.
Left-handed note: Left-handed writer: slant the paper the other way (top turned to the right), hold the pencil a little higher, and keep the wrist below the writing line so the hand does not cover or smudge the letters. Pull strokes toward the elbow.
Teaching note: n and m are written without lifting: after each slant down, the pencil traces back up before the next overcurve.
Routine checklist. Check each step as the child finishes it.
- ☐ Warm up: the child writes the letter large in the air with a straight arm while saying the cue.
- ☐ The child traces the model with a finger, starting on the green dot and following the arrows.
- ☐ The child traces the gray letters on the sheet, then writes on the empty rows.
- ☐ The child joins the letters in the practice words.
- ☐ The child circles his or her best letter, and the adult names one thing to fix next time.
Day 2: The Letters v and x
Goal: The child forms v and x correctly and joins them in the words van, box, five.
Cue for v: “Overcurve, slant, curve, swing up, bridge.”
Watch for: A pointed bottom; dropping the ending bridge to the baseline.
Cue for x: “Overcurve, slant, curve up. Lift, cross.”
Watch for: Crossing from left to right instead of from right to left; a cross that misses the middle.
Left-handed note: Left-handed writer: slant the paper the other way (top turned to the right), hold the pencil a little higher, and keep the wrist below the writing line so the hand does not cover or smudge the letters. Pull strokes toward the elbow.
Teaching note: The v ends with a bridge along the midline. The x is crossed last, from right to left.
Routine checklist. Check each step as the child finishes it.
- ☐ Warm up: the child writes the letter large in the air with a straight arm while saying the cue.
- ☐ The child traces the model with a finger, starting on the green dot and following the arrows.
- ☐ The child traces the gray letters on the sheet, then writes on the empty rows.
- ☐ The child joins the letters in the practice words.
- ☐ The child circles his or her best letter, and the adult names one thing to fix next time.
Day 3: The Letters y and z
Goal: The child forms y and z correctly and joins them in the words yes, zoo, lazy.
Cue for y: “Slant, curve, swing up; slant down below, loop left, curve up.”
Watch for: A tail loop on the right side; a first part that looks like a v with a point.
Cue for z: “Overcurve, curve back, point, down below, loop left, curve up.”
Watch for: Leaving out the small point before the tail; a tail loop on the right side.
Left-handed note: Left-handed writer: slant the paper the other way (top turned to the right), hold the pencil a little higher, and keep the wrist below the writing line so the hand does not cover or smudge the letters. Pull strokes toward the elbow.
Teaching note: y and z go into the tail space and loop to the left, like g and j.
Routine checklist. Check each step as the child finishes it.
- ☐ Warm up: the child writes the letter large in the air with a straight arm while saying the cue.
- ☐ The child traces the model with a finger, starting on the green dot and following the arrows.
- ☐ The child traces the gray letters on the sheet, then writes on the empty rows.
- ☐ The child joins the letters in the practice words.
- ☐ The child circles his or her best letter, and the adult names one thing to fix next time.
Day 4: The Bridge Joins: b, o, v and w
Goal: The child joins out of the bridge letters b, o, v and w in the words brown, over, vote, web.
Cue: “Bridge across the midline, then start the next letter from up high.”
Watch for: Dropping the bridge to the baseline before the next letter. Inside a word, r and s look a little different after a bridge (as in “brown” and “over”); follow the model.
Left-handed note: Left-handed writer: slant the paper the other way (top turned to the right), hold the pencil a little higher, and keep the wrist below the writing line so the hand does not cover or smudge the letters. Pull strokes toward the elbow.
Routine checklist. Check each step as the child finishes it.
- ☐ Warm up: the child writes the letter large in the air with a straight arm while saying the cue.
- ☐ The child traces the model with a finger, starting on the green dot and following the arrows.
- ☐ The child traces the gray letters on the sheet, then writes on the empty rows.
- ☐ The child joins the letters in the practice words.
- ☐ The child circles his or her best letter, and the adult names one thing to fix next time.
Day 5: Handwriting Check
Check: The child writes all 26 lowercase letters in order without models, then copies the sentence “the fox hid in the box.” in cursive. Do not show the cursive models.
Note: Capitals are taught in Weeks 8 to 10, so the sentence begins with a lowercase letter this week.
Rubric: Score each area 1 (not yet), 2 (sometimes) or 3 (consistent).
| Area | What to look for | Score (1, 2 or 3) |
|---|---|---|
| Letter formation | Starts on the dot’s spot and follows the strokes in order. | |
| Size | Short letters reach the midline; tall letters reach the top line; tails go below the baseline. | |
| Slant | Letters lean the same way, a little to the right. | |
| Spacing | Even space between letters; a clear space between words. | |
| Joins | Each letter flows into the next without a lift, except where a dot or cross needs one. | |
| Legibility | Another reader can read every letter and word. |
Next step: If any area scores 1, repeat this week’s hardest lesson before moving on. Scores of 2 can be practiced alongside next week’s lessons.
Sources
- Alabama State Department of Education, ALEX, English Language Arts 2021, Grade 2, standard 37 and parts a to c: https://alex.alsde.edu/node/8723, https://alex.alsde.edu/node/8724 and https://alex.alsde.edu/stds/COS/8725/printer_friendly
- Alabama State Department of Education, Alabama Reading Initiative, Handwriting Guide K-3 (posture, grip, paper position and the scoring rubric adapted for Day 5): https://www.alabamaachieves.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ARI_20221019_Handwriting-Guide-K-3_V1.0.pdf
- TypeTogether, Playwrite US Trad (SIL Open Font License 1.1), via Google Fonts: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Playwrite+US+Trad
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