The Measured Mom

Education resources for parents and teachers

Alphabet tracing book

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Today I’m sharing a free alphabet tracing book, perfect for kids who are struggling to learn letter names.

Print this free alphabet tracing book for students who struggle with learning the alphabet!

This post contains affiliate links.

If you have students who struggle to remember their alphabet, this post is for you!

I’m sharing a printable alphabet tracing book, a free sample from my collection of Alphabet Games & Activities. It’s perfect for three types of children:

1- Young learners who struggle to remember their letters
2- English language learners who need to learn the alphabet quickly to catch up with their peers
3- Preschoolers who know their alphabet but need help with letter formation

Print this free alphabet tracing book for students who struggle with learning the alphabet!

I created the book for my three-year-old. She knows all of her uppercase letters and at least half of her lowercase letters by sight – but she’s developed her own way of writing letters.

I’m thrilled that she loves to write letters on her own, even though we haven’t done any formal handwriting practice. The above picture is a computer she made out of a pizza box. Those letters in circles are the keys. 🙂

However, I’m realizing that the more she writes those letters her own way, the harder it’s going to be to teach her correct letter formation.

She’s not ready for worksheets. What’s a mama to do?

Print this free alphabet tracing book for students who struggle with learning the alphabet!

The alphabet tracing book is my answer!

It’s a collection of cards with an uppercase letter, lowercase letter, and picture cue on each one. Each letter has a green dot to show the child where to begin tracing.

Print this free alphabet tracing book for students who struggle with learning the alphabet!

You’ll also notice that each letter has arrows to show you how to correctly form the letter. When I say you, I mean the adult. I don’t expect my toddler or even an older child to know how to follow those arrows to write the letter. But you can use them as a reference when showing your learner how to form the letter.

Print this free alphabet tracing book for students who struggle with learning the alphabet!

As you can see, I recommend that you hold the child’s hand as s/he is learning to form the letters correctly.

Print this free alphabet tracing book for students who struggle with learning the alphabet!

You’ll probably find that your learners don’t need guidance with some of the easier letters, like this one.

Print this free alphabet tracing book for students who struggle with learning the alphabet!

Here’s a good procedure to follow:

1 – Have the child trace each letter with a finger. Remind him/her to start at the green dot and go down (or around, depending on the letter). If necessary, hold the child’s hand for proper letter formation.

2 – Next, have the child point to each item on the card and name it. For this card, my daughter said, “G g, guitar.”

 

Print this free alphabet tracing book for students who struggle with learning the alphabet!

If you’re doing these with a preschooler, as I am, you can expect that they will not have the stamina to go through the entire book. After letter H, my daughter told me that she’d had enough.

Other teaching tips

  • Make sure you laminate the cards and put them on a ring for durability and ease of use.
  • If you’re doing the cards in a classroom setting, have a tutor or aide work with the learner to do the entire stack at least once a day.
  • If a learner knows fewer than ten letters, start small. Have him/her trace only the letters in his/her name and the letters s/he knows for a month before doing the entire stack.
  • If your focus is letter recognition, have your learners use their finger and not a dry erase marker. It’s the tactile experience that helps learners remember the letter names.

If you’d like to learn more about the letter tracing book, you can read about it in Jan Richardson’s book, The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading. She’s been using alphabet tracing books for twenty years and has some great data to show how well they work!

 

Looking for MORE alphabet games and activities?
Get the full bundle!

More free resources

 alphabet action cards alphabet minibook picture cards alphabet books

© 2017 – 2020, Anna G. All rights reserved.

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Comments

  1. Jessica says

    This resource could not have come at a better time! Thank you so much! I am currently reading Jan Richardson’s book (which is wonderful!) and trying to pull together the best resources to meet the differing needs of my kindergarteners. I googled alphabet tracing books tonight and did not find what I was hoping for. Then, your email with this resource arrived a few hours later… perfect timing! Thanks again for creating such awesome resources!

    Reply

  2. Fiona Jackson says

    Thank You so much for this – I have a few children that will really benefit from this….
    As you say it is much easier to start from scratch before they get into bad habits..

    Thanks again for your time and effort!

    Reply

  3. Janet says

    Thank you for your wonderful resources and especially for providing so many free ones! I love the resources that have actual photos!
    As a grandmother, with 2 4yr old grands that come for “play dates” once a week, I so appreciate that I can use so many of your resources to make our time fun, educational, and memorable without breaking the bank! May God abundantly bless you and your family.

    Reply

  6. Jennifer says

    Thank you for this! I am a kindergarten teacher and read about tracing books last year (and started them then). This year I will be starting them earlier, and I like how your tracing books shows the correct letter formation, making it easier for parent volunteers or 5th grade helpers to use with the students.

    Reply

  8. Nancy says

    Thank you so much for these. They are going to be a wonderful addition to activities in my classroom. My students will benefit greatly by these. Your pictures are fantastic.

    Reply

  9. Kim says

    Thank you very much for these!! I am a reading teacher and have been helping the kindergarten teachers with students that are really behind. This will help me to show those students how to make each letter. It will also be a great resource for those that need a reminder on how to write the letter!

    Reply

  11. Natalie says

    Thank you for your amazing resources. I am a Teacher Aide and its always good to have something up my sleeve in case students require extra work. I am also gathering some resources for next year when i work with a special needs student. These resources (play based and games) are perfect.

    Thank you

    Reply

  13. Erica says

    I printed them off to use with my 4-year old at home for his preschool. This is perfect! Just what I was looking for! He’s not ready yet to write his letters with a pen, but tracing activities and writing letters in salt are perfect. Thanks!

    Reply

  16. Amera Khanam says

    Anna!
    Hi, I am also a teacher and want to say thanks to you for sharing such great resources for parents and teachers. I created a separate folder with ‘The measured mom’ at my PC desktop because I use your printable for my early year classes.

    Keep it up with your great effort!!

    Reply

  17. Shelli says

    You are so amazing. I have been searching for resources and games to make learning fun with my preschool class and every time I find something I want on Pinterest, it brings me right back here to your site! I need to remember to come here first and skip Pinterest all together because you have EVERYTHING! Your printables are beautiful and the fact that most things are free makes me love you even more. Thank you so much for your time and talents. I hope you are receiving blessings from heaven- because you are a blessing to me!

    Reply

  20. Julia says

    Hi Anna, I really like many of the resources you make. They are useful, bright and with simple design. I would like to download the Alphabet Tracing Book for upper and lower-case letter writing. However, I wondered if you could alter the upper and lower-case ‘Yy’. We use SA Font and teach the letter to have a rounded body and tail and the lower-case to (have its tummy) sit on the line. TIA!

    Reply

    • Anna G says

      Unfortunately, I can’t. I used purchased clip art for the letters, and I had to use what came with the set.

      Reply

  21. Stacy says

    How can I get the traceable books and cards? I’m not seeing a link. Would love to get these for my niece to start her writing

    Reply

  22. Charms says

    Hi, Anna! You are a heaven sent! This site is such a big help for struggling moms like me, who do not know where to start and how to start! I’ve learned a lot from this site. Keep it up! Thank you so much!

    Reply

  24. Yasmin Shaaban says

    Hello,

    First I’d like to thank you for all the wonderful stuff you have on your site…I can’t tell you how much it’s been helpful teaching my kids as well as our homeschooling co-op.

    secondly, would it be possible to have the same file but each letter on a separate page? I would like to have the printout back to back so I can laminate it (lamination will separate if page if folded – even with glue)

    Thank you so much!

    Yasmin

    Reply

  27. Anna G says

    What’s happening when you click on the green button, Jessie? You should see a pop up where you enter your information, and then you will get the file in your inbox.

    Reply

  28. Anna says

    Hi Anna,
    I am having the same issue. I would love these, but everytime I click and then enter my information, it jumps to an ad for another one of your wonderful collections and says to check my email. It has not come in an email and does not appear in your resources that come with the passcode. I have also tried your troubleshooting techniques, but it has not worked since it is a subscription link. If there is another way to get these I would truly appreciate them. Thank you for your hard work.
    -Anna

    Reply

    • Kate Dowling says

      Hi Anna!

      This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. I’m sorry you’re having trouble, and thank you for describing it so clearly. I just tested it with my yahoo address and it worked. So I think you should check your gmail spam folder. Gmail is great at weeding out spam, so that could be where it went. If that doesn’t work, I would try a different email address. Sorry for the inconvenience!

      Reply

  29. Kate Dowling says

    Hi Kim!

    This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. I just tested this with my own email address, and it worked. After you enter your email address, you’ll be sent the email right away. In the email, click on the blue link that says, “CLAIM YOUR OFFER.” Enjoy your free file!

    Reply

    • pan yoon says

      I cannot download too. I put my email but not worked. The link you have sent me is also not reached here again to download. I prefer the previous that you just give the direct link to download. Thanks.

      Reply

    • Kate Dowling says

      Hello Ying!

      This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. There is a green box that says, “CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE PRINTABLE.” The box is under the blog post, but before the comments section. 🙂

      Reply

  31. Katharine says

    Thanks for the great resource
    Just wondering why you chose a fox for the letter X?
    Or is it a animal that looks like a fox but starts with the letter X? I’m confused 🙂
    Could you change it to a image of a xylophone?

    Reply

    • Anna G says

      The book can also be used to teach letter sounds, which is why I used “fox” for x. Since there aren’t really any words (unless you count X-ray, which isn’t a great example) which have the /ks/ sound of x at the beginning, I use words with x at the end.

      Reply

  33. Kayla says

    I have been a fan of your site for several years. I needed more resources to teach my 6 year old handwriting and you do not disappoint. Thank you for such wonderful resources and for making them free. I thank you as a mom of four homeschooled special-needs children. Thank you!

    Reply

    • Kate Dowling says

      Hi Momo!

      This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. I tried the link, and it was quite slow, but still worked after about 30 seconds. That felt like a really long time, but I still got the file. Please give it another try. Some files on Anna’s site take a bit longer to load, but usually after one or two minutes, they always work. I’m sorry some are slow! It feels like it’s never going to load…but I promise, the file is there. Let us know if you still have trouble!

      Reply

    • Kate Dowling says

      Hi Natalie,
      This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. What happens when you click the green download box? If you can’t click on it, you need to disable your adblocker. If you click it, please be patient as it sometimes can take a minute to load (which feels like a very time on a website!) You can also try using Google Chrome for your browser; this site works best that way. Thanks for giving it another try!

      Reply

        • Kate Dowling says

          Hi Natalie,
          You need to download the file and open in Adobe Reader. Then print it from within Adobe Reader. If you don’t have the latest version of this free file on your computer already, you can get it for free here: https://get.adobe.com/reader/ Hope this helps!

          Reply

  36. Melissa says

    These are awesome! I just thought that you might want to know that your photo of an iguana is actually a bearded dragon. 🙂

    Reply

  37. Ann says

    Hello Anna, l am super excited for the letters tracing resource. God bless you for sharing your efforts with us.

    Reply

  39. Amanda says

    Do you still have the file with elephant for e? Or would it be possible to switch to egg? Having a person with a nametag saying Ed can be very difficult for ESL learners. If not I understand thank you for the wonderful resource.

    Reply

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