5 Effective Teaching Techniques to Help Students Learn Cursive

Cursive writing has been an important part of education. It’s true that it’s been neglected in the pas couple of years, but it surely is making a comeback and we are thrilled about it because it’d be too bad to ignore such beneficial skill.

However, teaching cursive can feel like a challenge, especially when students see it as outdated or unnecessary. The good news is that with the right techniques, cursive can be engaging, accessible, and even fun. In this guide, I’ve tried to combine a variety of methods to help you teach your students cursive in a way that feels natural and enjoyable. Let’s begin:

I know you’re excited about teaching your students cursive, and honestly, it’s such a cool skill to pass on. Did you know it’s been shown to strengthen fine motor skills, improve cognitive function, and enhance reading comprehension?

The trick to teaching cursive is making it stick is mixing things up a bit, so every student, no matter how they learn best, can get into it. Here’s are five ways  you can teach cursive that’s fun and works well. You can start with one and switch to the other if you feel like your studetns are learning faster depending on their age range. 

First let me explain what multi-sensory learning is.

Multi-sensory learning is an educational approach that engages multiple senses simultaneously uring the learning process. Instead of relying on just one sense, it combines visual (seeing images or text), auditory (hearing information), kinesthetic (using movement), and tactile (touching objects) experiences to help learners absorb and retain information more effectively.

Start by getting some shallow trays. You can find cheap ones at the dollar store. Fill them with fine, even sand. Craft sand works best because it’s smooth and easy to trace in. To help students practice, create letter guides or templates for them to follow.

Begin with simple letter formations. Have students use their index fingers to trace the letters in the sand. Once they’re comfortable, challenge them to write full words without lifting their fingers. To track their progress, take photos of their best formations and create a portfolio.

Before your students even pick up a pencil, let them experience cursive in a hands-on way. 

• Let them shape cursive letters out of playdough.
• Encourage them to trace large cursive patterns on the floor using their whole bodies.

Teaching Tip: Sand trays are especially helpful for students who struggle with pencil control. The tactile feedback makes it easier for them to understand letter shapes, helping them develop better handwriting skills.

This activity helps students in three key ways. First, it teaches them to recognize and understand the shapes and structure of letters. Second, it strengthens their fine motor skills, which are essential for writing. Finally, it makes learning fun and engaging by incorporating a hands-on, tactile approach.

Start by giving each student different colors of play dough.  Provide letter templates so they can see the correct shapes before they begin.

Next, challenge students to roll out the play dough into thin strips. Once they have their strips ready, they can carefully shape them into letters, paying attention to accuracy and form. As they get more comfortable, encourage them to connect the letters to form complete words.

This activity not only improves letter recognition but also helps students develop better control and coordination. It also makes the process of learning fun.

Alternatives:

Sky Writing: Have them trace large cursive letters in the air with their arms.

Ribbon or Wand Writing: Give them a ribbon or small wand to ‘write’ letters in the air, exaggerating each motion.

Using tracing worksheets helps students trace letters before attempting to write them independently. It’s probably the safest way to start.

The Cursive Sandwich Method is an effective technique where students first trace a perfect model of a letter, then write it independently, and finally trace another perfect model to reinforce proper formation.

By gradually progressing from single letters to connected words, students build confidence and fluency.

Tracing papers is an fast and tangible way for students to learn cursive. They provide a hands-on experience that allows students to directly engage with letter shapes and connectivity.

The process is easy: students use their tracing paper and  carefully follow the outlined letters with their pencil.

The best thing about tracing papers is their simplicity. Students can see exactly how each letter is formed, understanding the exact movements and connections of cursive.

This method has a clear visual and kinesthetic learning experience, so it allows students to develop muscle memory for letter formation through repetitive tracing.

You should prepare tracing sheets with some key considerations:

• Large, clear letter templates
• Dotted line guides showing precise letter formation
• Gradual progression from individual letters to connected words
• Varying difficulty levels as students improve

A typical tracing paper session might look like this: Students receive a sheet with perfectly formed cursive letters. They begin by tracing each letter carefully, paying attention to the start point, direction of movement, and final shape. As they progress, the guides become less prominent, encouraging students to rely more on their developing skills and writing on their own.

Tracing papers are great for learning cursive. They give kids a clear, visual guide to follow, helping them see exactly how letters should look. As students trace, they’re actually training their hands to move in the right way, which makes writing feel more natural over time.

The downside? You’ll need a ton of copies, different sheets for different letters for each student. Things will get messy and it’ll be hard to stay organized. Also you’ll extras for kids who need more practice. And on elast downside is that if you want to go back to the bprevious letters to write them again, you’ll need even more copies. It’s just gonna be lots and lots of copies which can be annoying.

Now remember all the steps and different considerations I talked about the previous section? What if there was a way you didn’t have to put so much time preparing the materials for your students? Well you can probably guess by the heading, but YES! there is! I genienly don’t want to brag about Writey. It’s out there and you can do a 7-day free trial so see how it works (by the way, let us know what you think if you ever tried it. Thanks!).

Be sure to check out this video. You’ll know about alot (but not all) of Writey School‘s features:

Ok now you probably want to know why Writey? I’m gonna give you a detailed explaination of all the reasons I think you should try Writey with your students and if you’re not convinced then I guess I have to work on my convincing skills.

Alright, let’s be honest! teaching cursive isn’t easy. Some students pick it up quickly, while others make the letters looks very weird. You can hand out worksheets, but they get crumpled, lost, or barely used. 

Writey turns handwriting practice into something students actually want to do. Writey makes it easy for kids to practice cursive writing in English, Spanish, German, and French, Italian and more with step-by-step guides for every letter. 

Let’s face it: kids love their iPads so why not make the best of it? So instead of fighting technology, why not use it to teach cursive? 

• Word lessons for each language, so students don’t just learn letters, they practice real, useful words.
• Ad-free experience (because no one needs distractions in the middle of a lesson).
• Dark Mode for a more comfortable viewing option.
• Shapes practice, great for younger kids who need to build fine motor skills.
• Create Your Own Words & Sentences, so you can customize lessons to fit your curriculum. (Teachers! Do not underestimate the power of this feature).
• Star Ratings for lessons, because a little extra motivation never hurts so we added stars to every lesson.
• Guided lessons with step-by-step animations
• Instant feedback on strokes and letter connections
• A gamified experience that keeps students motivated

Instead of endless worksheets, students can practice on a tablet, making cursive feel more like a game than a chore.  Trust me, your students will not want to miss out. You can check out the reviews for Writey to see it yourself.

Here is our A-Z guide to Cursive in Writey. You can also show these videos to your student in the classroom: 

These are also our TikTok videos:

I don’t want to sound biased becasue I know some of you don’t have the necessary equipments like iPads to teach Cursive to your students, but if you can, this is honestly the best way to teach the new generation not only cursive, but also handwriting, shapes, and etc in general.

Encourage your school to provide tablets for students because this is the future and this is thea easiest, most sustainable and overall best way to teach basically ANYTHING today.

You can bring creativity into the mix as well. Here are some ways to let your students warm up to learning cursive:

• Letting students design their own signature styles.
• Turning cursive words into doodles by adding flourishes, colors, and designs.
• Creating projects where they write quotes or poems in cursive and decorate them.

When students see cursive as something beautiful and personal, they’ll be much more excited to learn it. 

To keep students engaged, cursive writing should be connected to something meaningful to them. Teachers can allow students to practice writing their names, favorite words, or even song lyrics. Also, your students can create cursive art projects by writing and decorating quotes, transforming their handwriting into an expressive form of creativity.

Let’s be real! learning the perfect cursive “q” isn’t inherently exciting to most 8-year-olds. So I start

• Writing Chrismas or birthday cards to family members
• Start with teaching them to write their names (*clears throat* Honestly Writey would be a great option for this).

When cursive becomes a mean for something they actually care about, the motivation will be much higher and it doesn’t feel forced anymore.

Ok now that you’ve read about all the ways you can start teaching cursive, here’s a straightforward take on teaching cursive that I think works well for students. I’d break it down into five practical steps to help them get the hang of it. 

Also if you’re rteacher in any of these 24 states, you better get ready, because they’re bringing cursive back and you gotta be prepared.

Instead of teaching letters alphabetically, they should be introduced based on their stroke patterns. Grouping similar letters together helps students recognize patterns in letter formation and develop consistency in their writing. Letters like “a, c, d, g, q” belong to the loops family, while tall letters such as “b, f, h, k, l” can be learned together. Curved connectors like “e, i, j, m, n, r, u, v, w, y” should be practiced in sequence, followed by zigzag letters like “s, x, z.”

Regular practice is key to learning cursive. A daily five to ten-minute warm-up session can make a significant difference for your students. Starting each class with a “Cursive Word of the Day” written on the board helps students become familiar with different letter connections. Encouraging students to maintain a cursive journal allows them to track their progress and develop their handwriting naturally over time.

Some students may struggle with cursive, and addressing their unique challenges is essential. Left-handed students often need guidance on proper paper angles and grip techniques (AGAIN, not to brag, but we have left-handed mode in Writey) to avoid smudging. Those struggling with fine motor skills may benefit from using adaptive grips and engaging in hand-strengthening exercises. 

Recognizing student achievements in cursive keeps them motivated. Setting up milestone certificates for mastering certain letter groups provides students with tangible rewards.

Displaying their best cursive work on a classroom bulletin board allows them to take pride in their progress. Another engaging activity is a time capsule project where students write notes in cursive to be opened at the end of the year, reinforcing their sense of accomplishment.

Cursive writing is still a valuable skill, benefiting students’ cognitive development and handwriting fluency. Blending different teaching techniques, including kinesthetic activities, technology, and personal expression, you can make cursive learning fun, engaging, and effective for all of your students.

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