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Cursive Q: How to Write Uppercase Q and Lowercase q

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

Download the Letter Q worksheets

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

About these letter Q worksheets

This is cursive Q and q in modern cursive: joined lowercase letters with simple capitals. How to write lowercase q: start just below the midline. Curve back and around, push up to the midline, then pull straight down to the line below. To join, go back up the tail to the baseline and swing up into the next letter. How to write uppercase Q: make an O. Then add a short slant out across the bottom right.

Lowercase q goes back up its tail to the baseline and swings up into the next letter, so qqq and words like queen are written without lifting the pencil. In the usual teaching order, q is learned with the downcurve letters (a, d, g, o, c, q).

The four worksheets below start with a large chart of Q, q and qqq, then give a page each for lowercase q, uppercase Q, and joins and words such as queen, quilt, quiet, quick, quack and quiz.

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 q with a finger, then writes it on the rows below.
  2. On the lowercase page, trace each single q, then the joined qqq, then write your own on the blank rows.
  3. Use the uppercase page for Q and names like Quinn, Quincy and Queenie.
  4. Finish with the words page: the joins, the words queen, quilt and quiet, and the sentence “The queen was quiet.”

Teaching tips for Q

  • Lowercase q: Start just below the midline. Curve back and around, push up to the midline, then pull straight down to the line below. To join, go back up the tail to the baseline and swing up into the next letter.
  • Uppercase Q: Make an O. Then add a short slant out across the bottom right.
  • Watch for q and g mix-ups. The q tail is a straight line down; the g tail curves back to the left in a loop.
  • 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 Q

How do you write a cursive q?

Start just below the midline. Curve back and around, push up to the midline, then pull straight down to the line below. To join, go back up the tail to the baseline and swing up into the next letter.

How do you write a capital Q in cursive?

In modern cursive: make an O. Then add a short slant out across the bottom right. Capitals don't join to the next letter, so write the Q, then start the lowercase letters close by.

How does cursive q join to other letters?

The q tail is a straight line. At the bottom, go back up the tail to the baseline, then swing up into the next letter without a lift, as in qa, qe and qu.