J Cursive Writing Practice Writing Cursive That Motivate Kids to Improve Their Cursive Writing Cursive Their Improve to Kids Motivate That Mexico City • New Delhi • Hong Kong • Buenos Aires •Buenos Delhi• HongKong Mexico City•New Auckland •Sydney •London Toronto • York New o Resources k Teaching 40 e Scholastic + s Findley, Reproducible Practice Pages Pages Practice Reproducible Violet © & Violet Findley Riddles & Jokes R Practice Writing i Cursive d d l e s Contents Introduction .................................................................................. 3 Using This Resource ...................................................................... 4 Making a Joke & Riddle Booklet ................................................... 4 Meeting the 2–5 Language Arts Standards ...................................... 4 Uppercase Practice Page ................................................................ 5 Lowercase Practice Page ................................................................. 6 Resources Joke & Riddle Practice Pages ......................................................... 7 Teaching Blank Booklet Page ..................................................................... 47 Booklet Cover ............................................................................. 48 Scholastic Findley, Violet © Riddles & Jokes Practice Writing Cursive Scholastic Inc. grants permission to photocopy the reproducible pages from this book for classroom use. No other part of the publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. Cover and interior design by Maria Lilja Illustrations by Doug Jones ISBN-13: 978-0-545-22752-0 Copyright © 2010 by Violet Findley All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Introduction Welcome to Cursive Writing Practice: Jokes & Riddles! In the hustle and bustle of a hectic school day, cursive writing often gets short shrift. With reading, writing, math, science, and social studies to learn, few students have the time or inclination to perfect the fine art of the loop-the-loop. What a shame! Clear cursive writing is one of the best tools available to kids for efficient note taking and self-expression. That’s where these lively practice pages come in! In as little as five Resources minutes a day, you can spur students to spruce up their cursive writing. Teaching Just reproduce and pass out a page, then sit back and watch kids move their pencils with levity and care. Why? Because the simple act of Scholastic rewriting an amusing joke or riddle motivates them to master the shape, Findley, size, spacing, slant, and curve of model script. Violet And here’s more good news: The completed practice pages can be © quickly bound into instant joke-and-riddle books to share with family Riddles and friends. Can you think of a cooler way to showcase a child’s carefully & Jokes crafted script? I can’t. Read on to discover more tips for using this resource to improve Practice your students’ cursive writing and, in so doing, their essential Writing communication skills. Cursive Your partner in education, V¡i¡o∞¬e¡t§ F¡i£n¡dle£y¶ 3 Using This Resource This book has been designed for easy use. Before Making a Joke & Riddle Booklet embarking on the joke and riddle pages, it’s a good Once students have completed their pages, they idea to review the basics. Do so by distributing the can follow these simple directions to make personal upper- and lowercase practice pages to students. booklets. Note: The booklets can comprise as many These sheets include arrows showing the standard pages as you like. They need not include every page. way to form each letter in cursive. As students complete these pages, circulate around the room 1. Cut the pages along the dashed lines, discarding looking for writing “red flags”—that is, kids who the top portions. are forming their letters in nonstandard ways. If you notice an error, approach the student and model standard formation. This will help students rewire their cursive writing habits, which will improve both the clarity and speed of their printing down the road. Resources Once students have reviewed the basics, they’re ready to enjoy the joke and riddle pages. These pages Teaching can be reproduced in any sequence you choose. Here are some simple routines for sharing them: Cursive Writing Starters Place a practice page Scholastic on each student’s desk to complete first thing in the 2. Optional: Photocopy the blank booklet sheet on morning. page 47 to add original jokes and riddles to the Findley, booklet. Cursive Writing Center Stock a table with a Violet “practice page of the day” for students to complete 3. Photocopy the booklet cover on page 48. © independently. 4. Place the booklet cover on top of the stacked Riddles Cursive Writing Homework Send home a pages in any order you choose. & page each night for students to complete in addition 5. Staple the book along the left-hand side. Jokes to the rest of their homework. Cursive Writing Folders Create personal Practice cursive writing folders filled with photocopies of the pages for students to complete at their own pace. Writing Cursive Meeting the 2–5 Language 6. Color the booklet covers and interior pages. Arts Standards 7. Share the booklet with family and friends. Standard3.Usesgrammaticalandmechanical conventionsinwrittencompositions • Writes in Cursive Source: Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for PreK–12 Education (4th Edition) (Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory, 2004) 4 tice P c ag ra e Name P Uppercase Letters A B C D E F G H I J K L Resources M Teaching N O P Q R S T U V W X YScholastic Z Use your best cursive writing to copy each letter below. Findley, Tip! Use the arrows to guide Violet © you in forming each letter. Riddles & Jokes Practice Writing Cursive Bonus Chuckle! What’s an eight-letter word that has only one letter in it? An envelope! 5 tice P c ag ra e Name P Lowercase Letters ¡a§ b¢ ¡c§ ¡d§ e§ f§ ¡g• h§ ¡i§ £j• k§ l§ Resources £m§ £n§ ¡o∞ ¡p§ ¡q§ £r§ s§ ¡t§ ¡u§ £v¢ ¡w¢ £x £y• Teaching £z¶ Scholastic Use your best cursive writing to copy each letter below. Tip! Use the Findley, arrows to guide Violet © you in forming each letter. Riddles & Jokes Practice Writing Cursive Dictionary Bonus Chuckle! What word is always spelled incorrectly? “Incorrectly”! 6 tice P c ag ra e Name P Use your best cursive writing to copy the words. Resources 1 b¢o¢y• Teaching Tip: Check h£o¢me™wo∞rk§ Scholastic your SIZE. Is ™te¡a£che™r§ Findley, each of your Violet letters the right © Use your best cursive writing to copy the sentences below. height and Riddles resting neatly & on the line? W™˙£y• ¡d™i¡d§ ™the§ b¢o¢y• e¡a™t§ ¡u™p§ ¡all§ ¡o∞ƒ§ h¡is§ h£o¢me™wo∞rk§? Jokes Be£c¡a™use§ h™is§ ™te¡a£che™r§ s¡a¡i¡d§ ™i™t§ ¡was§ ¡a§ ¡p™ie¡ce§ ¡o∞ƒ§ ¡c¡ake§! Practice Writing Cursive Bonus Chuckle! What school supply is always sleepy? A nap-sack! 7 tice P c ag ra e Name P Use your best cursive writing to copy the words. Resources 2 C¡i£n¡de£rell¡a§ Teaching Tip! Check s¡o∞c¡ce£r§ Scholastic your SLANT. Do ¡p¡u£m™pk™i£n§ Findley, all your letters Violet slant in the © Use your best cursive writing to copy the sentences below. same direction? Riddles & W™˙£y• ¡d™i¡d§ C¡i£n¡de£rell¡a§ l¡o∞ße§ e£v´£r£y¶ s™i£n¡g•¬e§ s¡o∞c¡ce£r§ Jokes ¡g•a£me§? Be£c¡a™use§ he£r§ £c¡o∞a¡ch§ ¡was§ £j¶us¡t§ ¡a§ ¡p¡u£m™pk™i£n§!Practice Writing Cursive Bonus Chuckle! What did Cinderella say when her photos didn’t arrive? “Someday my prints will come!” 8 tice P c ag ra e Name P Use your best cursive writing to copy the words. Resources 3 ¡w˙¡i¡te§ Teaching Tip! Check b¬¡a¡ck§ Scholastic your SHAPE. £ zªeb¢r¡a§ Findley, Are all of your Violet letters the right © Use your best cursive writing to copy the sentences below. shape and Riddles closed where & they should be? Wh¡a¡t§ ¡is§ b¬¡a¡ck§ ¡a£n¡d§ ¡w˙¡i¡te§ ¡a£n¡d§ s¡p¡i£ns§ ¡a£r¡o∞u£n¡d§? Jokes A§ £zªeb¢r¡a§ s¡t¡u¡ck§ ¡i£n§ ¡a £re£v∞o∞¬£vi£n¡g¶ ¡d¡o∞o∞r§! Practice Writing Cursive Bonus Chuckle! Why can’t elephants ever get rich? Because they work for peanuts! 9 tice P c ag ra e Name P Use your best cursive writing to copy the words. Resources 4 ¡c¡o∞m™p™u™te™r§ Teaching Tip! Check s¡q™ue¡ak§ Scholastic your SPACING. £m¡o∞use§ Findley, Are all of your Violet letters and © Use your best cursive writing to copy the sentences below. words evenly Riddles spaced? & W™˙£y• ¡d™i¡d§ ™the§ ¡c¡o∞m™p™u™te™r§ s¡q™ue¡ak§? Be£c¡a™use§ s¡o∞me¡o∞ne§Jokes ¡a¡c¡c™i¡de£n™t¡all£y¶ s™te™p™pe¡d§ ¡o∞n§ ™i™ts§ £m¡o∞use§! Practice Writing Cursive Bonus Chuckle! What did the baby computer call his father? Data! 10 tice P c ag ra e Name P Use your best cursive writing to copy the words. Resources 5 £m¡o∞ns™te£r§ Teaching Tip! ¡w´£re¡w¢o∞¬f§ Scholastic Check your £m¡u£m£m£y¶ Findley, SMOOTHNESS. Violet Do all of your © Use your best cursive writing to copy the sentences below. letters have Riddles the same line & thickness? Wh¡a¡t§ sh¡o∞ul¡d§ £y•o∞u§ ¡d¡o∞ ™if§ £y•o∞u§ f™i£n¡d§ £y•o∞u£rself§ ¡i£n§ ¡a§ £r¡o∞o∞m§ ¡Jokes w¢i¡th§ ¡a§ £m¡o∞ns™te£r§, ¡w´£re¡w¢o∞¬f§, ¡a£n¡d§ £m¡u£m£m£y¶? S™t¡o∞p§ ¡i£m¡a¡g¶i£n¡i£nPractice ¡g¶! Writing Cursive Bonus Chuckle! What do you call a very smart monster? Frank Einstein! 11 tice P c ag ra e Name P Use your best cursive writing to copy the words.