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Cursive A: How to Write Uppercase A and Lowercase a

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A big model of cursive A and a with step-by-step directions, plus practice pages for lowercase a, uppercase A, joins and a words.

Download the Letter A worksheets

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these letter A worksheets

This is cursive A and a in modern cursive: joined lowercase letters with simple capitals. How to write lowercase a: start just below the dashed midline on the right. Curve back and around to make a round shape, push up to the midline, pull straight down to the baseline and flick out to the right. How to write uppercase A: start at the top line. Slant down to the left. Go back to the top and slant down to the right. Slide across in the middle.

Lowercase a ends with a flick on the baseline that swings straight up into the next letter, so aaa and words like ant are written without lifting the pencil. In the usual teaching order, a is learned with the downcurve letters (a, d, g, o, c, q).

The four worksheets below start with a large chart of A, a and aaa, then give a page each for lowercase a, uppercase A, and joins and words such as ant, apple, arm, ask, add and after.

Standards

  • Texas TEKS Grade 2 (handwriting)develop handwriting by accurately forming all cursive letters using appropriate strokes when connecting letters
  • Texas TEKS Grade 3 (handwriting)write complete words, thoughts, and answers legibly in cursive leaving appropriate spaces between words

How to use them

  1. Start with the chart page. Read the steps aloud while your child traces the big a with a finger, then writes it on the rows below.
  2. On the lowercase page, trace each single a, then the joined aaa, then write your own on the blank rows.
  3. Use the uppercase page for A and names like Ana, Ava and Ali.
  4. Finish with the words page: the joins, the words ant, apple and arm, and the sentence “An ant ate an apple.”

Teaching tips for A

  • Lowercase a: Start just below the dashed midline on the right. Curve back and around to make a round shape, push up to the midline, pull straight down to the baseline and flick out to the right.
  • Uppercase A: Start at the top line. Slant down to the left. Go back to the top and slant down to the right. Slide across in the middle.
  • Watch for an a that is left open at the top, or a stem that does not touch the round part, which can read as u or o.
  • Print at actual size (100%). The gray letters are solid, so they copy cleanly, and each row has a black model at both ends for left-handed writers.

Questions about letter A

How do you write a cursive a?

Start just below the dashed midline on the right. Curve back and around to make a round shape, push up to the midline, pull straight down to the baseline and flick out to the right.

How do you write a capital A in cursive?

In modern cursive: start at the top line. Slant down to the left. Go back to the top and slant down to the right. Slide across in the middle. Capitals don't join to the next letter, so write the A, then start the lowercase letters close by.

How does cursive a join to other letters?

The a ends with a small flick on the baseline. Keep going from the flick up into the next letter without lifting the pencil, as in aa, ae and ai.