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.
About this worksheet
This grade 2 sheet isolates the an join in 6 blocks and 8 guided lines: a model, a tracing row, a copy row, then 6 words (and, can, pan, hand, want and plan) that each contain an. Because a exits at the baseline, an is an undercurve join, and the six words all practice carrying that exit stroke into n. an is number 6 of the 30 connections this site teaches.
Cursive "an" Connection Worksheet — Grade 2
Trace each letter pair slowly and carefully. Then copy the words on the blank lines below without lifting your pencil inside a word.
Study how a and n join in one smooth stroke.
Trace each an pair without lifting your pencil.
Copy the an pair on the lines below.
Trace these words that contain an.
Copy these an words on the lines below.
Write your own an words on the lines below.
How to form these letters
- For a, start with an undercurve to the midline, swing back into a closed oval, retrace down and exit with a short undercurve.
- For n, overcurve into two humps at the midline, retrace each downstroke, and finish with an undercurve exit.
- a exits at the baseline, so its exit stroke rises into the undercurve that begins n without a pencil lift.
What the sheet asks the hand to do
Cursive "an" Connection Worksheet prints six blocks onto one side, with eight guided lines. One of a model to study, two of tracing, two of copying and one of free writing. The order is a model to look at, a traced row where the shape is already there, a copied row where it is not and a blank block with nothing printed at all, so the support comes away one step at a time rather than all at once.
The words on Cursive "an" Connection Worksheet are and, can, pan, hand, want and plan: six distinct words, averaging 3.5 letters, the longest "hand" at 4 against a grade 2 limit of 8. Word length is the number to check before printing: a handwriting sheet that makes a student decode a word first is testing two things and reporting one.
Each block carries its own instruction rather than one set of directions at the top — the first reads “Study how a and n join in one smooth stroke.”, the last “Write your own an words on the lines below.”. That is what lets the sheet be handed to a student who is working alone.
The an itself
an is the 6th of the 30 connections this site teaches, and the join is the whole exercise — neither letter is new by the time a student meets it here. It starts on a, which exits at the baseline, so the entry into the second letter is the ordinary undercurve rather than a drop from the midline.
Where this one sits
Cursive "an" Connection Worksheet is one of ten Letter Connections sheets here and one of sixteen written for grade 2. It is pair tracing work, and it suits grade 2 and grade 3.
The closest things to Cursive "an" Connection Worksheet are Cursive "ch" Connection Worksheet (grade 2) and Cursive "in" Connection Worksheet (grade 2). Cursive is one of the few subjects where doing the next sheet the same day is usually wrong — the hand needs the gap more than the head does — so those are the ones for tomorrow rather than for the rest of this session.
Notes for the grown-up
- Watch that the student does not lift the pencil between a and n. A break in the line at an means the connection was not made.
- A common error at an is a cramped a that pushes n out of position; keep a its normal width and let the exit stroke carry into n.
- Ready to move on when an is evenly spaced and joined smoothly in all six words, and, can, pan, hand, want and plan.
Practice this next
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