Hello everyone.

I am Ms. Afzal and I'm feeling really excited because guess what we're going to do together? We are going to do some handwriting.

I love sharing handwriting.

I love forming new letters together, making patterns.

It's also much fun.

So what you need to be ready is to have your eyes ready looking.

You need your ears ready to listen out for keywords.

And we're gonna be warming up our hands and our wrists soon.

So you'll need those ready.

And let's begin.

Let's have a great time.

The outcome for today's session is, "I can correctly form the first join with a lead in and a lead out." Here are the keywords for today's lesson.

Let's do my turn, your turn.

Cursive, lead in, lead out, baseline, and x-height line.

Let's make sure we are on a lookout for these words.

They are gonna crop up in our lesson today.

Our lesson today, the first join AW, AP, AN, AR with lead-ins has three parts to it.

We will start with the handwriting warmup, then we'll look at the first join between letters AW and AP.

And then the first join between AN and AR.

First of all, handwriting.

So before we start to write, it's important that we warm up our hands and our wrist muscles and our hands and our wrists get stronger when we exercise them.

So warming up our hands before writing will help to improve your handwriting.

Let's have a go at the finger tap warmup.

I'll go first and then it will be your turn.

I love this warmup because it exercises our fingers and because it feels so good doing this on our head, giving ourselves a little massage.

So I'm gonna start by putting my hands on top of my head and I'm gonna tap each of my fingers starting with my little finger all the way to the thumb.

And I'm actually gonna tap down the side of my head, so moving each of my fingers tapping and it feels great on my head.

So like a lovely gentle massage.

Now I'm going to go back up to the top.

And this time I'm going to tap down the back of my head.

Oh, this is feeling like a lovely way to begin our handwriting session.

Hmm, really nice.

And now it's your turn.

Get your hands ready.

Place them on top of your head, tapping down the sides of your head.

Doesn't that feel good? I love this exercise because it sounds good.

It feels good on our head.

And crucially, it's strengthening our fingers.

Ready for handwriting? Fantastic, next we're going to have a go at the wrist shake.

This is really helpful for our wrists.

So all we're gonna do is just gonna hold our hand down like this.

And we are going to shake, shake our hand, so shaking our wrist, shaking our hand, and I'm gonna do the same on the other side, just shaking my wrist and my hand.

Now it's your turn, are you ready? So get choose whichever hand you want to begin with.

And let's just shake that wrist, other side.

Shake your wrist.

Nice gentle shake.

Really fun way to do this is we could also shake upwards.

And this is lovely.

Have a go with me because this is like we're saying bye just for now.

Or we could be saying, hello.

Hello, well done.

As well as the warmups, writing patterns also help us to prepare for writing and especially for joining letters.

Check for understanding true or false.

Practising writing patterns helps to prepare us for joining letters.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done, that is true.

Indeed if we practise handwriting patterns they, that is gonna help us.

It's gonna prepare us for joining our letters.

For your task, I'd like you to copy and continue these patterns using your tripod grip.

So we've got a up and down pattern, and we have got a lovely looping pattern, and these are really gonna help us with our joins that are coming up later.

And remember, don't lift your pencil when forming the pattern.

Focus on keeping the movement slow, smooth and flowing.

Pause the video while you have a go at these patterns.

So how did you get on with copying and continuing these patterns? Did you remember to use your tripod grip the whole time? Did you keep your pencil on the page while you were forming each of these patterns? Was your movement smooth and flowing and just really quite enjoyable and lovely? I hope so.

And now we are moving on to the first join between the letters AW and AP.

I'm excited, I hope you are.

Let's take a look at an example journey from print to cursive.

So cursive means when the letters are joined together, it's another word for joined-up handwriting.

Let's begin on the left where we can see the L, E and G are all separate and they're not touching each other.

This is called print formation.

These letters have no lead in, so there's no lead in coming from a baseline into the beginning of each letter.

And there's no lead out coming from the letter and leading out, which will help us join to the next letter.

Now in the middle here we have got, do you remember what this is called? pre-cursive formation.

So do you remember what pre means? Pre means before? So pre-cursive means before cursive, before joined.

And here we can see there is a lead in, for each letter, there is a lead out coming out from each letter.

And that's what's gonna help us move on to the final stage, which is cursive formation.

And here the letters are all joined to each other.

So the lead out from one letter actually becomes a join.

It joins us to the next letter.

So this is our journey, all the way from print through pre-cursive formation and finally, to cursive.

Take a look at these letters on the screen.

These pairs of letters that are joined to one another.

Let's find out a bit more about them.

Cursive handwriting involves joining letters together without lifting your pencil.

And how the letters are connected depends on which letter is joining to which letter.

So there are dif, some different kinds of joins.

And today we are looking at the first join.

And cursive letter joins refer to how letters connect together.

Learning letter joins will improve your cursive handwriting skills, allowing for a smooth flow of handwriting.

There are a a few reasons why it is great to get into cursive handwriting.

So one, we're gonna get a smooth flow, which means it's going to feel easier as we flow from one letter to the other.

The other thing is it's going to look fantastic.

Cursive handwriting just looks so lovely when we've got these beautiful flowing movements from one letter to the next.

Check for understanding, true or false? How letters are connected together depends on which letter is joining to which letter.

Pause the video while you decide.

Yes, well done, it's true.

Letters connect together depending upon which letters they are.

So one letter may connect to another letter using a particular join, but to a different letter, you might need a different kind of join altogether.

Let's look closely at examples of our first join.

What can you see? What do you notice? Pause the video here while you tell somebody nearby.

Well done, if you notice that, the AW has a lead in at the beginning and at the end of the W, there is a lead out.

How about the A and the P? There is a lead in to the A.

And from the P, there is a lead out.

Well done if you spotted these things.

What else do you notice about how these letters are joined? Did you spot that all of these letters have a lead in? So that's the line that comes from the baseline and it's leading into the letter.

And then each of the letters has a lead out coming out from the letter.

The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

The join between the two letters starts at the baseline and it goes up to the x-height line.

And you don't lift your pencil when you're forming the join.

So the pencil stays on the page the whole time, and last letter has a lead out.

And what's interesting about the letter W is that it has a little dip down for the lead out.

Well, that's quite nice.

And here's Aisha to remind us that the first join is from the baseline to the x-height line.

Thanks, Aisha, for that reminder.

And there we can see the line going from the baseline, those arrows going up to the x-height line.

It's that fun time to form letters in the air, not only letters but joins.

So I'm gonna form the joins between the A and the W and the A and the P.

I'm gonna have a go.

I'm gonna use my finger to do that.

And then after I've had my turn, it will be your turn.

Okay, are you ready to watch? I'm gonna, and I'm gonna focus on keeping my movement flowing and smooth.

All right, I'm gonna start for the A on the baseline with my lead in.

I'm going to form the letter A, and then from the lead out, I'm gonna join.

I'm gonna keep my pencil going from the lead out all the way up to the x-height line.

Then I'm going to form my W and I'm gonna finish with a little dip down for the lead out.

Let me show you that again.

All right, I'm starting at the baseline, lead in to the A, form my letter A, and then to join, I'm gonna keep going from that lead out.

I'm gonna keep going all the way up to the x-height line.

That's my join.

And then I'll form the letter W and I'll finish with a dip down for my lead out.

All right, it's your turn.

Are you ready to go for it? Ready line, go lead into the A, form letter A, and then to join, we'll keep going from our lead out all the way up to the x-height line to make our join.

Let's form the W and dip down for the lead out.

One more time.

Ready line, go, lead into the A form, the letter A, look at these nice flowing moves.

And then let's keep going.

Keep pencil on the page as we join to the W, form our W and dip down for the lead out.

That looks great.

I'm really loving your joins everyone, well done.

Next, I'm going to have a go at forming the join between letters A and P.

I will start at the baseline and off I go with my lead in.

I'm gonna form the letter A, and then I'm going to join by staying or keep my pencil on the page from the baseline all the way up to the x-height line.

Then I'm going to go all the way down to the descender line to form the letter P moving around clockwise.

And then there's my lead out from the P just coming from the baseline up there.

All right, lemme show you one more time.

I will start at the baseline of my lead in on the letter A.

And then here's my join from the baseline up to the x-height line.

I'm gonna form the letter P, and I'm going to finish with a lead out.

And now it's your turn.

Are you ready to form the AP? We are gonna start at the baseline.

Ready line, go, lead in form the A.

And here's our join.

Yeah, there we go from a baseline up to the x-height line form the letter P, and we'll finish with a lead out, which is coming out from the baseline.

All right, one more time together.

Ready line, go, lead in form the letter A, and from the baseline, let's go all the way up to the x-height line to form the join to the letter P.

And we're gonna finish with a lead out from the letter P.

Okay, you have done a really great job, everybody.

That's quite something.

Joining from the A to the W and the A to the P, I hope you're feeling proud.

I'm going to show you how to form this first join AW.

I'm sitting comfortably.

I'm holding my pen in the tripod grip, and I'm gonna say to myself, ready line, go.

And I'll begin with my lead in.

I'll form the letter A and then to join, I'll keep going with that lead out from the baseline to the x-height line.

Then I'm gonna form my W.

And I'm gonna finish with a dip down for the lead out.

Let's try that again.

Ready line, go, lead in form the A to join, I'm going to keep my pen going from the baseline for that lead out up to the x-height line.

Form a W and dip down for the lead out.

And now one more time, I'll say ready line, go, lead in, form the A.

And then to join, I'll go from the baseline to the x-height line, (indistinct) form a W, and I'll finish with a dip down for the lead out.

I'm gonna show you how to form the first join between letters A and P.

I am sitting comfortably and I have my pen In the tripod grip.

I'm going to say to myself, ready line, go.

And I'll start with a lead in to the letter A, form my letter A, and then to join, I'll keep going from the lead out all the way up to the x-height line.

Now I'm gonna form the letter P down to the descender line, clockwise around, and then I'll finish with a lead out.

Let's try that again.

Ready line, go.

Lead in form, letter A to join, I'll keep going with my pen from the baseline with that lead out up to the x-height line.

Then I'm going to form letter P, and I'll finish with a lead out.

One more ready line, go, lead in, form the A.

And then I'll join from the A up to the x-height line.

Then I'm gonna make my letter P, finish with a lead out.

Check for understanding.

Select the correct join between the A and the W.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done, if you selected the join over the C, this one has got the lead in to the A form correctly.

It's got the join from the A to the W, going from the baseline up to the x-height line.

And then we've got, remember that little dip down as a lead out from the W.

Well done if you selected this one.

And now select the correct join between the A and the P.

Two of these are interlopers.

They're just pretending, and one is the correct one.

Pause the video while you decide which is which.

Well done if you selected the AP in the middle.

We have got the lead into the A.

We've got the join going correctly from the baseline up to the x-height line.

And then we've got that lovely lead out from the baseline of the P.

For your task, I'd like you to practise the first join between the A and the W.

Go over the grey examples first of all.

Next, try using the starting dot and finally complete two lines independently on your tramlines.

After that, I'd like you to practise the first join between the A and the P.

Go over the grey examples to begin with.

Next, try using the starting dot.

And finally complete two lines independently on your tramlines.

Enjoy the flow, enjoy the smoothness, and enjoy those joins.

And I'll see you when you're finished.

Pause the video here.

Okay, we're back together.

How did you get on? I'm very curious to find out how did it go joining between the A and W and the A and P? Did you join from the baseline to the x-height line? Did you keep your pencil on the page for the join? Was your movement smooth and flowing? I hope so.

Circle your best join and celebrate.

And now for the next part of our lesson, we'll be forming the first join between the A and the N and the A and R.

Are you ready? They're about to appear on the screen.

No, here they are.

Let's take a close look at these examples of our first join.

The A and the N and the A and the R.

What do you notice? What can you see? Pause the video while you tell someone nearby.

Did you notice that the AN begins with the lead in? There's a lead into the A.

Did you notice that the N has a lead out? What about the AR? Did you spot the lead in there? From the R, did you spot the lead out? Well done if you did.

What else did you notice about how these letters are joined the A to the N and the A to the R? Did you spot that all the letters have a lead in and a lead out? Did you notice that the first letter has a lead in from the baseline? And the baseline is that green line you can see on the screen.

That's the line that the letters sit upon.

Most letters sit on the baseline and the join starts at a baseline and it goes up to the x-height line.

So this is our first join.

It goes from the baseline to the x-height line, and we don't lift our pencil when forming this join.

The last letter has a lead out, and the letter R has a bit of a special lead out.

It has a little dip, a little dip down as it leads out.

And here's Aisha with the reminder.

Okay, give it to us again.

Aisha, yes, that's it.

"The first join is from the baseline to the x-height line." Says Aisha.

Okay, thank you for that reminder.

And there we've got the arrows to show us from the baseline up to the x-height line.

It's time to have fun.

It's time to make the first join in the air.

I'll go first.

I'm gonna use my finger to make these joins, then it'll be your turn.

All right, I'm gonna start with the A and join.

Are you ready? I'm gonna, (indistinct) what I'm gonna focus on is flowing movements, smooth flowing movements.

I'm going to begin at the baseline with my lead in.

Here I go leading in to the A.

I'm gonna form the letter A, and then from the lead out, I'm gonna keep going until I get to the x-height line, there's my join.

And now I'm going to form the letter N, and I'm gonna finish with a lead out.

Let me show you one more time.

I'll lead into the A, form the letter A, and then to join, I'm gonna keep my pencil on the lead out all the way up to the x-height line.

And now I'm going to form my N, finish with a lead out.

All right, it is your turn.

Let's go, ready line, go, lead in to the A, form the letter A.

And now to join, I'm gonna keep my pencil on the lead out all the way up to the x-height line.

Now I'm going to form my N, finish with the lead out.

One more time, from the baseline, lead in to the A, form the A.

And then keep my pencil going from lead out to join to the N.

Now I'm gonna form my N, finish with the lead out.

Those look great, well done everyone.

Next I'm going to have a go at forming AR.

It starts in a very similar way to the AN with a lead in at the baseline to the A, form the A.

And then I'm gonna keep my pencil going as I lead out from the A and make the join up to the R, form my R.

And remember what I do at the end, a little dip down as my lead out to the R.

Lemme show you one more time.

From the baseline lead in, form the letter A.

And then I'll keep going with the lead out until I join up to the R on the x-height line, form my R finish with a dip down for the lead out.

It's your turn.

Are you ready? Let's go AR, lead in to the A, form the A.

And then keep your pencil going from lead out to join all the way up to the R, the x-height line.

Let's make the R dip down for the lead out.

One more time.

Are you ready? From the baseline lead in, form the A.

And then keep going from lead out, the A, joining up to the R, the x-height line.

Let's form the R, dip down as our lead out.

Wonderful, you've done a really, really great job at that first join, A to N and A to R.

I'm gonna show you how to form the first join between letters A and N.

I'm sitting comfortably holding my pen in tripod grip.

I'm gonna say to myself, ready line, go.

And I'll start with a lead in.

At the baseline into the letter A.

I'll form my letter A and then to join, I'll go from that lead out all the way up to the x-height line.

And then I'm going to form my letter N and finish with a lead out.

Keep my movements flowing smoothly.

Let's try that again, lead in A to join.

I'm gonna go from that lead out all the way up to the x-height line.

Now I'm going to form the N and I'll finish with a lead out.

Let's try one more.

Lead in form the A to join.

I'll keep going with that lead out all the way up to the x-height line form my letter N and lead out.

I'm going to show you how to form the first join between letters A and R.

I'm sitting comfortably.

I'm holding my pen in a tripod grip.

I'm going to say to myself, ready line, go.

And I'll start with a lead in for letter A, form my letter A.

And then to join, I'm gonna keep my pencil pen going from that lead out all the way up to the x-height line form the R.

And I'll finish with a dip down for the lead out.

Show you that again.

Ready line, go, lead into the A, form my letter A to join.

I'll keep going from that lead out all the way up to the x-height line.

Now I'll form the letter R and I'll finish with a dip down for the lead out.

One more, lead in letter A to join.

I'll keep going with the lead out all the way up to the x-height line.

I'll form letter R and I'll finish with a dip down for the lead out.

Check for understanding, select the correct join.

Which of these three A and N's is joined correctly.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you select it in the first one.

We have got the lead in to the A, and then we've got our first join.

Remember, it goes from the baseline up to the x-height line, and the N is finishing with the lead out.

Select the correct join between the A and the R.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected the AR above the C.

This one has got the lead in to the A.

And then it's got that lovely join coming from the baseline all the way up to the x-height line.

That's our first join.

And the R has got the dip down as the lead out.

For your task, I'd like you to practise the first join AN.

To begin, go over the grey examples.

Next, try using the starting dot and finally complete two lines independently on your tramlines.

After that, I'd like you to practise the first join between the A and the R.

To begin, go over the grey examples.

Next, try using the starting dot.

And finally complete two lines independently on your tramlines.

Keep your movements flowing, enjoy the flow, the smoothness, the joins, and I'll see you when you're finished.

Pause the video here.

We are back together.

And how did you get on with these joins, the A to the N, the A to the R? Did you join from the baseline to the x-height line? Did you keep your pencil on the page for the join? Was your movement smooth? Was there a flow? Did you enjoy the joins? I hope so.

Circle your best join and celebrate.

In our lesson, the first join AW AP, AN, AR with lead-ins, we have covered the following; cursive handwriting involves joining letters together.

Cursive letter joins refer to how the letters connect together.

Letters all have a lead in and a lead out.

The first join goes from the baseline up to the x-height line, and you don't lift your pencil when forming the join.

That way our motions will be smooth and flowing.

I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.

I know you've worked hard and really, really well done for that, for making that first join from the baseline up to the x-height line, all this hard work is really gonna pay off as your writing gets faster and smoother and more flowing and more wonderful looking and just really wanna say well done to you, and I'm looking forward to seeing you for the next lesson.

Bye for now.