These letters aren't joined. When does that happen?

Deliberately, after the letterforms are automatic; joining wobbly letters bakes in the wobble. Each letter here carries its entry and exit strokes, which are exactly the connection points, so joined writing arrives with the plumbing already installed.

What's the hardest part of third-grade cursive?

The letters that changed the most from print: r and s trip nearly everyone, and capital G looks like it came from another alphabet entirely. Expect those three to need double the practice of the friendly ones, and treat that as normal rather than a struggle.

3rd grade cursive alphabet

3rd grade cursive alphabet worksheets

Third grade is the classic cursive year. The full 52 letterforms come up in rotation, and the goal shifts from recognizing each shape to producing it without stopping mid-letter. Fluency here is what makes joined writing possible later.

Free printable PDF worksheet.

Each print is a different sheet. You don't need to sign up.

One page for every cursive letter

Each cursive letter has its own page, with how the capital and the lowercase are formed and a sheet of that one letter to trace.

The kind of words you'll practice

Trace each letter two times. Then write your own on the line.

FGzXEUhl

Each word appears twice in light gray for tracing, then once as a blank line for writing it without help.

Every print pulls a new set of words at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 3rd grade sheet

3rd grade sheets draw from 52 letters, 8 to a page. 2nd to 4th grade print from the same 52 letters. The teaching notes below are written for this grade.

Some of the words:

BCDIJMOQRV

Tracing. Trace each letter two times. Then write your own on the line. 8 words per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with a word list on the last page.

How to teach this

Watch for pencil lifts mid-letter; that's print thinking in cursive clothing. If a letter keeps stalling, trace it huge in the air with a straight arm first, then shrink it back to the page. Air-writing sounds silly and works remarkably well for loops.

Watch for: Cursive is not print written fast; the letterforms are genuinely different shapes, and learning them is learning a second alphabet. The pencil still lifts between letters on this sheet: these are the letterforms practiced one at a time. Joining them into words is the next stage, after the shapes are automatic.

Common questions about 3rd grade cursive alphabet

These letters aren't joined. When does that happen?: Deliberately, after the letterforms are automatic; joining wobbly letters bakes in the wobble. Each letter here carries its entry and exit strokes, which are exactly the connection points, so joined writing arrives with the plumbing already installed.
What's the hardest part of third-grade cursive?: The letters that changed the most from print: r and s trip nearly everyone, and capital G looks like it came from another alphabet entirely. Expect those three to need double the practice of the friendly ones, and treat that as normal rather than a struggle.