Cursive Letter Connections Worksheets
Practice connecting letters — the key cursive skill. Ten sheets so far, 80 ruled lines of practice between them, written for grade 2 and grade 3.
Ten joins, one sheet each — an, br, ch, in, ll, oa, ve, we, sh and th — written for grade 2 and grade 3. Each sheet traces and copies the pair, then six words that contain it.
- Grades
- Grade 2, Grade 3
- Exercise types
- Pair Tracing, Common Blends, Transition Practice
Grade 2
Cursive "an" Connection Worksheet — Grade 2
Grade 2 pair-tracing sheet for the cursive an connection: trace and copy the pair, then six an words. Free printable PDF on one page.
Cursive "ch" Connection Worksheet — Grade 2
Grade 2 pair-tracing sheet for the cursive ch connection: trace and copy the pair, then six ch words. Free printable PDF on one page.
Cursive "in" Connection Worksheet — Grade 2
Grade 2 pair-tracing sheet for the cursive in connection: trace and copy the pair, then six in words. Free printable PDF on one page.
Cursive "ll" Connection Worksheet — Grade 2
Grade 2 pair-tracing sheet for the cursive ll connection: trace and copy the pair, then six ll words. Free printable PDF on one page.
Cursive "sh" Connection Worksheet — Grade 2
Pair-tracing worksheet for Grade 2 students practicing the cursive sh connection through guided trace, copy, and freewrite exercises.
Cursive th Connection Worksheet — Grade 2 Pair Tracing
Six pair-tracing exercises for second graders practicing the cursive th connection, from guided letter models through word copying and free writing.
Grade 3
Cursive "br" Connection Worksheet — Grade 3
Grade 3 bridge-join sheet for the cursive br connection: trace and copy the pair, then six br words. Free printable PDF on one page.
Cursive "oa" Connection Worksheet — Grade 3
Grade 3 bridge-join sheet for the cursive oa connection: trace and copy the pair, then six oa words. Free printable PDF on one page.
Cursive "ve" Connection Worksheet — Grade 3
Grade 3 bridge-join sheet for the cursive ve connection: trace and copy the pair, then six ve words. Free printable PDF on one page.
Cursive "we" Connection Worksheet — Grade 3
Grade 3 bridge-join sheet for the cursive we connection: trace and copy the pair, then six we words. Free printable PDF on one page.
What is published under letter connections
Ten of the 30 connections this site teaches have a sheet: an, br, ch, in, ll, oa, ve, we, sh and th. The remaining 20 are queued in the same order they are listed in the catalog, starting with wh, ph, on, en and un.
A connection sheet is not a letter sheet with two letters on it. Neither letter is new by the time a student reaches one; the exercise is the join, and specifically not lifting the pencil across it. Connections after o, b, v, w (overcurve exit) are hardest — which is why the 30 pairs here are not the 30 most common in English, but the ones where the exit stroke gives the most trouble.
Where this fits in the sequence
Cursive is taught in stroke families rather than alphabetical order, and letter connections sits at a particular point in that run: the undercurve letters (i, t, u, w) come first, then the loop family (e, l, h, f, k, b), the oval family (a, c, d, o, g, q), the slant letters (n, m, v, x, y, z) and finally the mixed strokes (r, s, j, p).
Letter Connections is stage 3 of 7 in that sequence. Lowercase Letters and Uppercase Letters come first and should be comfortable before this page is much use. Word Practice, Sentence Practice, Paragraph Practice and Themed Worksheets come after.
These sheets are written for grade 2 and grade 3 and exercise pair tracing, common blends and transition practice. Every one prints on US Letter or A4 with four-rule guided lines — solid topline, dashed midline, solid baseline, dashed descender — so letter height stays consistent from the first sheet to the last.