Hello, everyone, my name is Ms. Afzal, and I'm really thrilled to be here with you because we are going to be practising one of my very favourite things, and that is handwriting.

So we are gonna get into it.

We're gonna have a go at practising some letters and some patterns.

We're gonna do some warmups.

It's gonna be a great time we have.

And I hope you're ready.

I hope you're excited too.

Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is, "I can correctly form the third join." We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them one at a time.

My turn, your turn.

Join, lead in, lead out, x-height line, dips down.

Great to hear those words loud and clear.

Let's find out what these words mean.

A join is how the letters are connected together.

A lead in is the stroke or line that guides us into starting a letter.

The lead out is the stroke or line that guides us to smoothly finish a letter.

The x-height line is the line that x-height letters reach up to.

And a dip down is when you drop slightly below something.

These are our key words for today's lesson.

Let's look out for them.

Let's listen out for them.

Let's think about them.

They will be coming up in our lesson.

Our lesson today is all about the third join, OO, WA, WO, ON, OM, and OW.

Lots of O's in our lesson today.

I love forming those, so this is going to be fun.

Our lesson has three parts to it.

There will be a handwriting warmup.

We'll look at the third join, OO, WA, and WO.

And then we'll look at the third join, ON, OM, and OW.

Let's begin.

Before we start, what are these pictures reminding you to do? Pause the video and tell someone nearby what each of these pictures is reminding you of.

Okay, so what did you come up with? The first picture is reminding us about.

Yep, you got it, posture.

Making sure we're sitting up with our feet flat on the ground, our back is against the back rest, stomach may be slightly touching the table in front of you.

The second picture is showing how we place our paper.

So, if we are right-handed, we'll tilt our paper slightly to the left.

And if we're left-handed, we tilt our paper slightly to the right.

We use our non-writing hand to hold the paper steady.

And the third picture is showing us our pencil grip.

So we make sure we have our tall finger and our pointing finger on the top, thumb goes underneath, and our fingers are slightly bent.

Before starting to write, it's important to warm up your hand and your wrist muscles.

Your hands and wrists get stronger when you exercise them.

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

Let's have a go at our hand squeeze warmup.

I'm going to go first of all and then it will be your turn.

I'm gonna choose which hand to begin with, this one, and I'm gonna start by stretching out all my fingers, stretching them really wide, really far apart.

And then I'm gonna slowly bring them in.

And I'm going to imagine I've got something precious in my hand and I'm squeezing and holding it tight, holding something tightly in my hand, something tiny, tiny, and precious.

And then I'm going to open out my fingers into that lovely stretch once again, and then back into a squeeze, holding something precious and tight.

I'm gonna try with the other hand.

First of all, that lovely big stretch, stretch all my fingers, and then bringing all those fingers in and squeezing something, holding something precious, holding it tight, out to that lovely stretch, and then fingers in to a lovely squeeze.

Mm, feels great.

Okay, it's your turn.

Choose which hand you're going to begin with.

Put the hand up, open up the fingers, stretch them wide, and then squeeze and tight.

Hold something precious and tiny and tight.

And then stretch and squeeze.

Lovely.

Other hand.

First of all, stretch, and then squeeze the hand tight.

Stretch and squeeze.

Oh, lovely job, everybody.

Next, we're going to move on to our wrist circles.

First of all, I'm going to stretch my hands out in front of me, and then I'm going to pull my fingers in, form a fist, and then I'm going to make circles, moving in one direction.

Lovely circles.

And then I'm going to go in the other direction.

This feels good.

This feels fun.

Are you ready to join in? Let's go.

Take your hands, put 'em out in front of you, form this.

Let's go, one direction.

Other direction.

Let's just do it again because it's so much fun.

We can't really stop 'cause we're enjoying ourselves so much.

That's the way to do it.

Practising writing patterns helps us to prepare for writing and joining letters.

Joining is how letters connect together.

We can see some really nice patterns on the screen in front of us.

Let's have a go at forming some.

So, first of all, I will have a go at forming this writing pattern in the air with my finger, after that, it will be your turn.

So I'm gonna begin here at the top and I'm gonna make these squiggly lines.

There's one.

Squiggle down two, squiggle down three.

Oh, that felt good.

Here's your turn.

Are you ready? Let's go.

Squiggle down one, squiggle down two, squiggle down three.

Oh yes.

Great stuff.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to copy and continue these patterns using your tripod grip.

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

Focus on keeping the movement smooth and flowing.

Pause video while you have a go at this task, and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with copying and continuing these patterns using your tripod grip? So, did you use your tripod grip? Did you keep your pencil on the page? And was your movement smooth and flowing? I really hope so.

And now it's time for the next part of our lesson.

We are looking at the third join, OO, WA, and WO.

Take a look at these joined letters.

Cursive handwriting involves joining letters together without lifting your pencil.

How the letters are connected together depends on which letter is joining to which letter.

Cursive letter joins refer to how letters connect together.

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

It's going to look good.

It's going to feel good.

It's really worth putting some time into learning a letter joins.

Let's recap.

The first join we learned is shown below.

Can you tell someone nearby where does the first join start and where does it go to? Thinking about the different lines we have here on our set of tramlines, so where does the first join begin and where does it go to? Pause the video, and tell someone nearby.

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

Like so.

Well done if you remember this.

We can see each of those pairs of letters.

We've got the first letter joins to the next letter from the baseline to the ex-height line.

And here is the second join that we learned.

Take a look at these examples of the second join.

And again, turn someone nearby and tell them, "Where does the second join begin?" So, where does it go from and where does it go to? From which line to which line.

Here's Jun to remind us, "The second join is from the baseline to above the x-height line, up towards the ascender line." Like so.

Well done if you remember this about the second join, from the baseline up towards the ascender line.

Check for understanding.

The second join is from the baseline up towards the descender line, x-height line, ascender line? Pause the video while you decide which of these lines the second join goes up towards.

Well done if you selected the ascender line.

Now, let's look closely at some examples of our third join that have appeared on the screen, OO, WA, and WO.

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

Did you notice that all the letters have a lead in? Remember, that's a line of stroke that leads us into a letter.

All the letters have a lead out.

That's the line of stroke that takes us smoothly out of the letter.

the first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

The join starts at the x-height line, this is one of our keywords.

So the x-height line is the line that x-height letters reach up as high as on our set of tramlines here, it's the one that's a dotted line.

So the join starts at the x-height line and dips below.

That means it just goes slightly under the x-height line then back up to join the next letter.

So there's the join.

So the x-height line dips just below and then it goes back up to the x-height line.

There we go.

We can see it there.

Illustrated by the arrow.

Let's look closely at this join.

All the letters have a lead in.

They will have a lead out.

The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

The join starts at the x-height line, dips below the x-height line and back up to join the next letter.

You don't lift your pencil when forming the join.

The gap between the letters is big enough that the letters are not touching.

So we don't want it to be too big, so they're really far away, and we don't want them to be super squished up and touching.

Somewhere in the middle, the middle way.

Here's Alex to remind us that the third join is from the x-height line to the x-height line.

Just like that.

Check for understanding.

Select the words that use the third join, hill, wood, wag, mum.

So pause the video while you select which words here use the third join.

Well done if you selected wood, and well done if you selected wag.

Both of these words contain the third join.

And Alex reminds us that the third join is from the x-height line to the x-height line.

Okay, it's time for us to get into this.

We are gonna have a go at forming some joins.

I'll go first.

I'm going to choose two joins from the example shown, and I'm going to form them in the air with my finger.

I can't help but do the two O's.

I love those ones.

I'm gonna begin there.

Ready, line, go.

Here's my lead in to the first O.

Form my O, and here comes the join from x-height line, dip it just below the x-height line and back up, and I form my second O, finish with a lead out.

Pretty good I would say.

Now, next, oh what shall I go for? I'm gonna try WA.

Here we go.

From the baseline.

Ready, line, go.

Lead in, I can start with a W.

Here's my join, x-height line, dip below, come back up, and I'll form my A, finish with a lead out.

Great job.

It's your turn.

I would like you to choose two joins from the example shown and form them in the air with your finger, and focus on keeping the movement smooth and flowing.

Are you ready? Choose which ones you'd like to do, and off you go.

Pause the video here.

Fantastic.

Those joins look terrific.

Well done for really focusing on keeping that movement smooth and flowing.

I'm going to show you how to form the third join, OO, WA, and WO.

I'm sitting comfortably, my pen is in the tripod grip.

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

As I start with my lead in, the baseline, to form the first O in OO.

This is my first O.

And here comes the join.

From the x-height line, I'm gonna dip down and back up to the x-height line and form my second O, and finish with the lead out in the x-height line.

Now, I'm going to form WA.

Ready, line, go.

I'll start with my lead at the baseline, form a letter W.

And now here comes the join, dip down below the x-height line and back up, form the letter A, finish with a lead out at the baseline.

And now I'm going to form WO.

Ready, line, go.

Here's my lead in to the W, form my W.

Here comes the join, dipping down below the x-height line and back up, form my letter O, finish with a lead out at the x-height line.

Check for understanding.

Which letters are connected using the third join? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected WO.

We have got the third join.

It's going from the W from the x-height line, it's dipping below the x-height line and back up to join to the O.

Great example of the third join.

And now it's time for your next task.

I'd like you to practise the third join, OO, WA, and WO.

Practise the example joins using the starting point, and then practise writing the words wag and wood on your tramlines.

Pause the video while you have a go at this and enjoy every join.

Enjoy the wags the woods, and I'll see you when you're done.

Okay, it's great to be back with you.

How did you get on? Did you use the correct joins when using the third join? Did you go from the x-height line to the x-height line? And did you dip down as you joined the letters with the third join? Circle your best join and celebrate.

And now it's time for the third join, ON, OM, and OW.

Let's look closely at some examples of our third join.

Here's the ON, here's the OM, here's the OW.

They are looking good.

They're looking proud.

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

Did you notice all the letters have a lead in? All the letters have a lead out.

The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

The join starts at the x-height line, dips below the x-height line and back up to join the next letter.

There we can see those blue arrows, the third join, x-height line to the x-height line.

So what do you notice about how these letters are joined? Let's find out a little more.

All the letters have a lead in, set a line or stroke that leads us into the letter.

They all have a lead out line or stroke that takes us out to the letter.

The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

The join starts at the x-height line, dips below the x-height line and back up to join the next letter.

You don't lift your pencil when forming the join.

And the gap between the letters is big enough that the letters are not touching.

It's not too big, it's not too small, it's somewhere in between.

Here's Alex with that helpful reminder.

The third join is from the x-height line to the x-height line.

Like so.

Thank you, Alex.

Check for understanding.

Select the words that use the third join, kite, bow, far, sun.

Pause the video while you decide which of these words use the third join.

Well done if you selected bow and sun.

Both of these words have the third join.

And the third join is from the x-height line to the x-height line.

Thank you for always being there reminding us, Alex.

And now it is time for us to have some fun to have a go at forming these joins in the air.

I'm gonna go first of all, and choose two of these joins from the example shown, and I'll form them in the air using my finger.

Hmm, I'm gonna go for ON.

I'll start here at the baseline.

Ready, line, go.

I'm gonna lead in, form my letter O.

And here comes a join, from the x-height line, I'm gonna dip below, back up, and now I'll form N, finish with a lead out.

Fantastic job.

Next, I'm gonna go for OW.

Lead in to the O, form my O.

Here's the join, from the x-height line, dip down, back up, form my W, finish with a lead out.

I like it.

And now it's your turn.

I would like you to choose two joins from the example shown, form them in the air using your finger.

And crucially, focus on keeping the movements smooth and flowing.

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

Well done, everyone.

I really enjoyed those joins being formed.

Great, great effort there on keeping the movement smooth and flowing.

I'm going to show you how to form the third join, ON, OM, and OW.

I'm sitting comfortably, my pen is in the tripod grip.

I'm gonna start with ON.

Ready, line, go.

Here's my lead in from the baseline to the O, form my O, and I'm gonna dip below the x-height line and back up my join, here's the N, finish with a lead out.

Now let's try OM.

Ready, line, go.

Lead in, form the letter O.

Here comes the join, dip down below the x-height line and back up, form letter M, finish with lead out at the baseline.

And now OW.

Ready, line, go.

Lead in to the letter O, form the O.

Here comes the join.

Dip down below the x-height and back up, form the letter W, finish with a lead out at the x-height line.

Check for understanding.

Which letters are connected using the third join? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected ON.

The O joins to the N from the x-height line to the x-height line.

That's the third join.

And now it's time for your final task.

Practise the third join, ON, OM, and OW.

Practise the example joins using the starting point, and then practise writing the words sun and bow on your tramlines.

Remember to keep your movements smooth and flowing.

Pause the video while you have a go at this task, and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on? I am curious.

Did you join from the x-height line to the x-height line with a dip down for the third join? Did you keep your pencil on the page for the join? Was your movement smooth? Was it flowing? Did you enjoy it? I really hope so.

Circle your best join and celebrate.

In our lesson today, the third join, OO, WA, WO, ON, OM, and OW, we have covered the following.

Cursive letter joins refer to how the letters connect together.

The letters all have a lead in and a lead out.

The third join starts at the x-height line and dips below the x-height line and back up to join the next letter.

You do not lift your pencil when forming the join.

When using the third join, you leave enough space to ensure the letters are not touching without leaving a big gap.

Terrific job today, everyone.

I really enjoyed seeing you getting right into that third join there and enjoying the dipping down below the x-height line, coming back up again joining to the next letter.

It was a great lesson.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and I'll see you next time.

Bye for now.