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Cursive U: How to Write Uppercase U and Lowercase u

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

Download the Letter U worksheets

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

About these letter U worksheets

This is cursive U and u in modern cursive: joined lowercase letters with simple capitals. How to write lowercase u: start at the midline. Pull down, curve around at the baseline and push up to the midline, then pull down again and flick out. How to write uppercase U: start at the top line. Pull down, curve around at the baseline and push up to the top line.

Lowercase u ends with a flick on the baseline that swings straight up into the next letter, so uuu and words like up are written without lifting the pencil. In the usual teaching order, u is learned with the undercurve letters (i, t, u, w, e, l, b, h, f, k, r, s, j, p).

The four worksheets below start with a large chart of U, u and uuu, then give a page each for lowercase u, uppercase U, and joins and words such as up, us, umbrella, under, until and unpack.

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 u with a finger, then writes it on the rows below.
  2. On the lowercase page, trace each single u, then the joined uuu, then write your own on the blank rows.
  3. Use the uppercase page for U and names like Uma, Uri and Una.
  4. Finish with the words page: the joins, the words up, us and umbrella, and the sentence “Uma hid under a rug.”

Teaching tips for U

  • Lowercase u: Start at the midline. Pull down, curve around at the baseline and push up to the midline, then pull down again and flick out.
  • Uppercase U: Start at the top line. Pull down, curve around at the baseline and push up to the top line.
  • Watch for a u with a pointed bottom that turns into a v.
  • 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 U

How do you write a cursive u?

Start at the midline. Pull down, curve around at the baseline and push up to the midline, then pull down again and flick out.

How do you write a capital U in cursive?

In modern cursive: start at the top line. Pull down, curve around at the baseline and push up to the top line. Capitals don't join to the next letter, so write the U, then start the lowercase letters close by.

How does cursive u join to other letters?

The u ends with a small flick on the baseline. Keep going from the flick up into the next letter without lifting the pencil, as in ua, ue and ui.