Reading Cursive: Match Each Word to Its Picture

Nothing on this 2nd grade page is written by the child. Six words in large traditional cursive sit in cards on the left, and six pictures sit on the right, each with a dot for the line. On the sheet shown the words are tiger, lion, apple, train, lemon and owl, and the pictures, in a different order, are a toy train, a lemon, a lion, an owl, an apple and a tiger. The child reads each cursive word and draws a line to its picture.

Children who can write a little cursive often cannot yet read it, especially when a letter looks nothing like its printed form. The cursive r in tiger and train is the usual stumbling block, and it is here twice. The words are also paired on purpose: tiger and train both begin with t, and lion and lemon both begin with the tall looped l, so a child has to read past the first letter. Being able to read cursive matters beyond the handwriting lesson: teachers' notes, birthday cards and old letters all use it.

One sheet, six lines, and no picture sits straight across from its own word. It makes a quick warm-up before a writing lesson, or a check on reading for children who have finished writing a cursive page. Once they have matched the words, children can copy each one under its picture. This is the only reading page of the cursive writing family; every other face asks the child to write.