This is FLEX Course No. 1 in a series of Cursive Handwriting Practice sections. (FLEX courses for print handwriting and for other age groups are also offered.) Please choose from the sections that are offered. Each may be taken one at a time or several simultaneously and in any order of your choice.

Each lesson will include a video demonstration (approximately 20 minutes in length) and corresponding resources. Those resources might include links to websites, videos, and articles; notes prepared by the teacher; and/or a worksheet. Examples of the resources used during the lessons include (1) a photo of each horse breed on the list to be copied; (2) videos of the song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” being sung on stage by Frank Sinatra and by baseball fans at Dodgers Stadium for the lesson in which students copy the lyrics of the song; and (3) an audio clip of one familiar classical song by each of the composers on the list to be copied.

One discussion starter or question will accompany each project. For example: The discussion question for the tree species list project is “What trees can be found in your neighborhood? Elm? Oak? Pine?” For the Albert Einstein project, students will be asked to share what they know or to guess what might be true about the scientist.

Every learner will have the opportunity to submit their work for review and to receive suggestions from the teacher for possible improvement. In addition, students will be given the opportunity to have their work displayed on the classroom page.

Each section contains four lessons (one lesson per week for four weeks). In this section, each of the lessons will be one or more poems to be completed in cursive handwriting.

Lesson 1:  We will copy a silly, "nonsense" poem by American writer, poet, teacher, and 1917 Pulitzer Prize winner, Laura Elizabeth Richards (1850-1943): "Eletelephony"

Lesson 2:  We will copy two poems by American poet, novelist, playwright, columnist, and a pioneer of a literary form called jazz poetry, James Mercer Langston Hughes (1901-1967):  “Harlem” and “I, Too.” 

Lesson 3: We will copy the poem, “Red Ruby Rings,” by award-winning, British poet and children’s book author Joseph Coelho, who was appointed Children’s Laureate (2022-2024).

Lesson 4:  We will copy the nature poem, “A Bird, came down the Walk,” by American poet Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830-1886).  She is regarded by many literary experts as one of the most important figures in American poetry.