Learning Opportunities

Target Audience: K-3 instructional leaders, pre-service teachers and teachers are encouraged to attend.

Session 1: Why cursive?

This 2 hour session examines the theoretical underpinnings associated with the benefits of handwriting. We’ll look at developmental benchmarks that signal children’s readiness for learning to handwrite. These inform the K – 3 Scope and Sequence that provide the framework for understanding children’s learning needs and the implications for teaching handwriting to young children, from Emergent (K); Foundational concepts and skills (Grade 1); Transitional (Grade 2); Consolidation (Grade 3). Children’s handwriting must be both legible and increasingly fluent by the end of Grade 3. How do get there?

Session 2: Theory to practice: A walk through Resources for Teachers

This 2-hour session will look at the connection between the K – 3 Scope and Sequence and the resources we have developed for teachers to implement direct instruction in handwriting. The Resources for Teachers will be available as a free download and include the exemplar italic scripts for printing and cursive hand; path of motion and patterning exercises; tracing, copying and practice pages; desk strips; assessment rubrics and tasks, and more.