Committee of the Whole to reintroduce cursive instruction for grades 3–5

The Big Spring School District Committee of the Whole heard an update Aug. 18 on plans to reintroduce cursive instruction for elementary students in grades three through five.

Presenter Mrs. Donato told the committee that "cursive writing is going to be taught weekly to students in grades three, four and five during library," and that classroom teachers will support practice by asking students to write their first and last names, spelling words and occasional exit tickets in cursive. The plan emphasizes lowercase letters in third grade, targeted uppercase instruction in fourth grade to enable students to sign their names, and fuller application in fifth grade so students can write words, sentences and read cursive handwriting.

Mrs. Donato described how the district will measure learning through routine formative checks and a pacing approach of roughly two lowercase letters per library class. Board member Mrs. B. told the presenters the change responds to community interest: "This is an item that has been brought up to me many times from the people in the community that this is a skill that is being lost." The presenter said the curriculum materials will be finished by her team and submitted to the board for consideration.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the curriculum at the Aug. 18 meeting; instead, staff said the materials will be presented to the full board at the Sept. 2 meeting for review. The committee adjourned and planned to begin the regular board meeting shortly afterward.