Free printable · 3rd grade handwriting
Neat handwriting: a line worth copying
Two lines of Robert Louis Stevenson to copy in their neatest hand, on writing lines sized for a third grader.
Have Arbor plan your child’s whole year. Like this sheet, every lesson tells you what to say and do, step by step, at your child’s level. Free for 14 days.
How to use this in 5 minutes
- 1Read it together. Say, “Robert Louis Stevenson wrote this over a hundred years ago. What do you think he means?”
- 2Copy a line at a time. Say, “Copy each line just under it. Tall letters touch the top line, and small ones the dotted line.”
- 3Pick the best. Say, “Circle your neatest word on each line, and tell me what makes it neat.”
Tip. Slow and even beats fast and fancy. Feet flat, paper tilted a little, and the page takes about five minutes.
3rd grade · Handwriting
Neat handwriting: a line worth copying
For youHow to use this in 5 minutes
- 1Read it together. Say: “Robert Louis Stevenson wrote this over a hundred years ago. What do you think he means?”
- 2Copy a line at a time. Say: “Copy each line just under it. Tall letters touch the top line, and small ones the dotted line.”
- 3Pick the best. Say: “Circle your neatest word on each line, and tell me what makes it neat.”
Tip. Slow and even beats fast and fancy. Feet flat, paper tilted a little, and the page takes about five minutes.
1Copy each line just under it
Robert Louis Stevenson, “Happy Thought,” from A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885)
What to look for
- Tall letters touch the top line
- Small letters touch the dotted line
- Letters like g and y hang below the baseline
- Even spaces between words
If it’s hard
- If letters float above the line, have your child run a finger along the baseline first, then write.
- If the hand tires, do two lines today and two tomorrow. Neat and slow is the goal.
Have Arbor plan your child’s whole year
Reading, math and every subject you choose, planned for the year and written out lesson by lesson for you to teach, at your child’s level, with the records kept as you go. Free for 14 days.
