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Big Spring SD to teach cursive weekly to all 3rd–5th graders
Summary
District staff presented a plan to teach cursive weekly in library for grades 3–5, focusing on lowercase in third grade, uppercase in fourth and application in fifth. The curriculum will be presented to the board for approval on Sept. 2.
A district staff member told the Committee of the Whole on Aug. 18 that the Big Spring School District will reintroduce cursive instruction for third- through fifth-grade students as part of the library curriculum. "cursive writing is going to be taught weekly to students in grades three, four, and five during library," the staff member said, and identified Mrs. Whmer as the elementary librarian who will lead the lessons.
The staff member said classroom teachers will reinforce practice by asking students to write and read their first and last names in cursive and sometimes write spelling words or brief exit tickets in cursive. The presentation laid out a grade-by-grade sequence: third grade will prioritize lowercase letters and connecting letters to write names; fourth grade will add correct uppercase formation; and fifth grade will apply both to words, sentences and short paragraphs. The staff member said the district will establish this sequence after the 2025–26 school year to ensure students entering fourth and fifth grades have consistent exposure.
Instructional materials will emphasize guided practice, with the presenter showing an alphabet resource that presents two lowercase letters per library lesson to pace skill acquisition. The district also plans formative checks during lessons: "formative assessments are happening all the time to help our teachers know where to go next in a lesson," the staff member said, describing informal 'type one' tasks and more structured 'type two' responses as evidence of learning.
Committee members asked about standardized testing and how cursive fits with online exams. A staff member noted that Keystone exams have been administered online for several years and that the state will move additional testing online in 2025–26, underscoring that keyboarding and digital-citizenship instruction will continue alongside cursive lessons. The staff member said the curriculum materials will be finalized by the district curriculum team and presented for official board approval at the Sept. 2 meeting.
