Kentucky Reading and Writing HW.3.1

ELA3rd GradeHandwriting

The Standard

Legibly form cursive letters, words and sentences with accepted norms.

Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students write recognizable uppercase and lowercase cursive letters. They join letters where their cursive style calls for it and write sentences with clear spaces between words.
What Mastery Looks Like: A classmate can read the student's cursive sentence without asking what it says. Letter shapes and size are consistent, joins are clear, and the writing stays on the line.
Common Misconceptions: Students may connect letters across word spaces or leave gaps in the middle of a word. They may make loops so similar that letters such as e and l are hard to tell apart.
How to Assess It: Ask students to write “The little bird flew over the pond.” in cursive on lined paper. Check letter shapes, joins, word spaces, and placement on the line.

Lesson moves

Fill a shallow tray with salt, trace cursive a, c, and d with a finger, then write each letter on lined paper.
Show two handwritten versions of “little,” one with cramped loops; ask, “Which is easier to read, and what would you fix?”
Play Read My Word: partners draw cards marked bird, pond, or little and earn a point when their partner reads their cursive word.
Write a two-sentence thank-you note in cursive to a school custodian, then ask a partner to read it before delivering it.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to HW.3.1, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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