Hello, this is Ms. Afsal, and I'm really excited to be here with you today and to share some more handwriting.

We are gonna be learning some new letters today.

Are you ready? Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is "I can form the letter c, a and d." And this comes from the unit "Forming Lowercase Letters in Print." In today's lesson, there will be some keywords that you'll hear a few times, and I would like you to really look out for and listen out for these words throughout the lesson.

Let's go through these keywords together.

First, my turn and then your turn, x-height letter, ascender, anticlockwise, flick.

Let's make sure we look for these words and we listen for these words throughout today's lesson.

Today's lesson, "Formation of c, a and d," consists of four parts.

In the first part of our lesson, we will do our handwriting warmup.

Next, we'll be forming the lowercase letter c in print.

After that, we'll be forming the lowercase letter a in print.

And finally, we're going to form the lowercase letter d in print.

Let's begin with our handwriting warmup.

Can you remember why it's important to warm up your hands before handwriting? It's because our hands and our wrists get stronger when we exercise them, just like any other muscle in our body.

Making your hands and your wrists stronger will help you to hold your pencil using your tripod grip.

It's time for our first handwriting warmup.

We are going to do the finger tap movement.

I'm going to use this hand first of all.

I'm gonna stretch it out, give it a good stretch.

I'm gonna give my other hand a really nice stretch.

Both together.

Ooh, this feels good.

Stretch, stretch, stretch.

Lovely.

Okay, so I'm gonna take this hand, and I'm going to imagine that I have a bit Play-Doh here on my thumb, and I'm going to tap, tap my finger and my thumb together.

I'm gonna tap each finger, pointing finger, tall finger, next finger, little finger.

I'm gonna go backwards.

Little finger, next finger, tall finger, pointing finger.

I'm going to do the same thing on my other hand.

Imagine my Play-Doh there, and I'm going to tap with my pointing finger.

Imagine I'm squeezing the Play-Doh.

Tall finger, squeeze.

Next finger, squeeze.

Little finger.

Now I'm going to go backwards.

Little finger, next finger, tall finger, pointing finger.

Okay, it is your turn.

Are you ready? Choose which hand you'd like to begin with.

I'm gonna go for this hand.

And there's my little bit of imaginary Play-Doh.

I'm gonna squeeze it with my pointing finger.

I'm going to squeeze it with my tall finger.

Are you joining in? Squeeze and squeeze.

Let's go backwards.

Ready? Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.

Lovely finger taps.

Let's take our other hand, imaginary Play-Doh.

And let's tap each finger one at a time.

Let's go backwards, tapping each of our fingers.

These finger taps are so much fun.

Should we try something really fun? Should we get both hands up and let's see if what it's like for us to tap both hands together.

Ready, let's go.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

And backwards, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Wonderful.

Give 'em a little wiggle.

Give 'em a little wave.

Yay, we did it.

As well as doing our hand warmups, we can also practise writing some patterns, and this will help us to prepare for writing letters.

We've got some patterns going up and down.

We've got zigzag patterns, and we've got loops.

So many fun patterns that we can do.

I'm going to have a go at doing this handwriting pattern in the air.

I'm gonna do some lovely loops.

I'm going to loop up, around and down, up, around and down, up, around and down, up, around and down.

What fun making those loops.

And now it's your turn.

Are you ready? Up, around and down, up, around and down, up, around and down.

Shall we try making some really big loops? Let's go really big.

Up, around and down, up, around and down, up, around and down.

Should we make some teeny little loops.

Up, around and down, up, around and down, up, around and down.

Fantastic.

Well done, everyone.

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

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

Pause the video here.

How did you get on with copying and continuing the pattern with your tripod grip? Did you keep your pencil in the tripod grip the whole time? And did you keep your pencil on the page all the time that you were making these lovely loops? Well done.

For the next part of our lesson, we're going to move on to forming the lowercase letter c in print.

Oh, have a look at this.

The letter c has appeared in the centre of our screen.

Let's look closely.

What can you see? What do you notice about the letter c? Pause the video here and tell someone next to you what you can see.

Did you notice that the letter c is an x-height letter? Did you notice that it's a curved letter.

It has a curved shape.

It doesn't have any straight lines.

Let's find out some more about the lowercase letter c.

Letter c is an x-height letter.

Letter c is a small letter.

It does not have an ascender.

It doesn't have one of these going up, and it does not have a descender, doesn't have a line going down.

The letter c is curved.

Check for understanding.

Select the two true statements.

The letter c is an x-height letter.

The letter c is a small letter.

The letter c has a descender.

The letter c has an ascender.

Pause the video here.

The first two statements are true.

The the letter c is an x-height letter and the letter c is a small letter.

Well done.

It's time to have a go at forming the lowercase letter c.

I'm going to form this letter in the air, first of all, using my finger, and then it will be your turn.

I'm going to start my letter c just below the x-height line, and I'm going to go 'round in an anticlockwise direction.

What this means is I'm going to go backwards in a way.

So it's not the way that a clock goes forwards.

We're going to go backwards.

We're going to go anticlockwise.

Are you ready? Just below the x-height line, I'm gonna go round in an anticlockwise direction, and I'm going to finish just above the baseline.

Let me try that again.

Start just below the x-height line.

I'm gonna go 'round in an anticlockwise direction, curving around and finishing just above the baseline.

One more time.

This is a really nice fun letter to do.

Just below the x-height, go around anticlockwise and then finish just above the baseline.

It's your turn.

Are you ready? Get your finger ready just below your imaginary x-height line, and we're going in an anticlockwise direction.

'Round, and then we'll finish just above the baseline.

One more time.

Are you ready? Go 'round in an anticlockwise direction, finish just above the baseline.

Well done.

Let's try forming the letter c with our nose.

Who knew that even our nose can help us with handwriting? Are you ready? We're going to start just above the imaginary x-height line.

We're going to go 'round in an anticlockwise direction, and we're gonna finish just above the baseline.

Let's try another one.

Get your nose ready.

Let's go.

Around in an anticlockwise direction, finish just above the baseline.

It's your turn.

Get that nose ready for writing.

Let's go.

Around in an anticlockwise direction, finish just above the baseline.

One more.

Start just below the x-height.

Let's go.

'Round anticlockwise and finish above the baseline.

Well done, everyone.

Look at those beautiful letter c's that you made with your finger and with your nose.

Well done.

In this video, I'm going to model how to form the lowercase letter c.

I'm holding my pen in my tripod grip.

I'm sitting comfortably, feet on floor, back against the chair, paper angled for comfort.

I'm ready to go.

I'm going to start just below the x-height line, and I'm going to go around in an anticlockwise direction, and I'm going to finish just above the baseline.

Let's try that again.

Starting just below the x-height line, going back around in an anticlockwise direction, finish just above the baseline.

Let's try one more.

Below the x-height line, back around in an anticlockwise direction and finish just above the baseline Check for understanding.

Which is the correct formation of the lowercase letter c? Which of these three is the correct formation of the lowercase letter c? Pause the video here.

Well done.

It was the first letter c that we can see.

Starting just below the x-height line, it's going around in an anticlockwise direction and finishing just above the baseline.

Well done.

I'd like you to have a go at forming the lowercase letter c for your task.

First of all, go over the grey examples starting just below the x-height line.

Go around in an anticlockwise direction and finishing just above the baseline.

Secondly, try using the starting dot to begin.

Just below the x-height line and going around in an anticlockwise direction, finishing just above the baseline.

And finally, complete two lines of the letter c independently on your tram lines.

Have fun, stay focused, enjoy.

Pause the video here.

How did you get on with forming the lowercase letter c? Did you start just below the x-height line? Did you go 'round in an anticlockwise direction and finish just above the baseline? Did you keep your pencil on the paper? Circle your best letter c and celebrate.

You've done a fantastic job.

Well done, everybody.

For the next part of our lesson, we'll be forming the lowercase letter a in print.

Let's get started.

Have a look at this letter a, this lovely letter a that has appeared in the middle of the screen.

Look closely.

What can you see? What can you notice about the letter a.

Turn to someone nearby and share with them everything you can see.

Pause the video here.

Did you notice that it's similar to the letter c? We'll hear more about that later.

Did you notice that it's an x-height letter? And did you notice that it ends with a lovely flick? What else can we learn about the letter a? Letter a is an x-height letter.

The letter a finishes with a flick.

The letters a and c are formed in a similar way.

They both start just below the x-height line, and they go 'round in an anticlockwise direction.

So, that's the opposite of the way that a clock turns.

They're going the other way.

They're going anticlockwise.

They belong to the same letter family because they're formed in a similar way.

It's time for us to form the lowercase letter a in the air using our fingers first of all.

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

I'm going to start just below the x-height line.

I'm going to go 'round in an anticlockwise direction.

I'm gonna go back up to the x-height line all the way down to the baseline and finish with a flick.

Let me show you again.

Just below the x-height line, I'm going to go 'round in an anticlockwise direction.

I'm going to go up, back up to the x-height line, down to the baseline and flick.

Let's try it one more time.

Are you ready? Just below the x-height, 'round in an anticlockwise direction, back up to the x-height line, down and flick.

It's your turn.

Are you ready? Get that figure ready to form the letter a.

Let's go.

Just below the x-height, 'round in an anticlockwise direction, back up to the x-height line, down and flick.

Again.

Just below the x-height line, 'round in an anticlockwise direction, back up to the x-height line, down and flick.

Well done.

Those letter a's look wonderful.

Shall we try again? This time let's use our fist to make the letter a.

Start just below the x-height line.

Go 'round in an anticlockwise direction, back up to the x-height line, down and flick.

One more.

Just below the x-height, go 'round in an anticlockwise direction, back up to the x-height line, down and flick.

It's your turn.

Get your fist ready.

Let's go.

Just below the x-height line, go 'round in an anticlockwise direction.

Back up to the x-height line, down and flick.

One more time.

Starting just below the x-height line, go 'round in an anticlockwise direction, back up to the x-height line, down and flick.

Mm, those letter a's look fantastic.

Well done, everybody.

I'm going to model how to form the lowercase letter a.

I'm holding my pen in my tripod grip.

I'm sitting comfortably, feet on the floor, back against the chair, hand resting on the table, paper angled for comfort.

Let's begin.

I'm going to start just below the x-height line, and I'm going to go around in an anticlockwise direction, and I'm gonna go back up to the x-height line and then come all the way down to the baseline and flick.

Let's try that again.

I'll start just below the x-height line.

I'm going to go around in an anticlockwise direction, and I'm gonna head back up to the x-height line, down to the baseline and flick.

Let's try one more.

Just below the x-height line, going around in an anticlockwise direction, going back up to the x-height line, down to the baseline and flick.

Check for understanding.

Select the correct formation of the letter a.

Which of these three a's has the correct formation.

Pause the video here.

Well done.

It was the letter a in the middle.

It's starting just below the x-height line.

It's going around in an anticlockwise direction.

Back up to the x-height line, down to the baseline, and it finishes with a flick.

For your task, I'd like for you to practise forming the lowercase letter a.

First of all, go over the grey examples.

Starting just below the x-height line, go 'round in an anticlockwise direction, up again to the x-height line, down to the baseline.

Finish with a flick.

Next, try using the starting dot to begin.

Just below the x-height line, go 'round in an anticlockwise direction, back up to the x-height line, down and flick.

And finally, complete two lines of the letter a independently on your tram lines.

Have fun forming the letter a.

Pause the video here.

How did you get on with forming the lowercase letter a? Did you have a good time practising ? Did you start just below the x-height line? Did you go around in an anticlockwise direction, back up to the x-height line and then down to the baseline? Did you finish with a flick? Take a look at all of your letter a's and choose which one is your best.

Circle it and celebrate.

You deserve a celebration after all that wonderful handwriting.

For the next part of our lesson, we will be forming the lowercase letter d in print.

Can you see this letter d that has appeared on the screen? Take a close look.

What do you see? What do you notice? Pause the video and tell someone nearby everything you can see, everything that you notice about this letter d.

So many things to notice.

Did you notice that it's similar to the letter a? Did you notice that it's almost like a letter a with an ascender attached? The ascender is that part that's going up above the x-height line.

Did you notice that it ends with a flick? Let's find out more about the letter d.

The letter d has an ascender ascending, reaching up above the x-height line.

The letter d is formed in a similar way to the letters c and a.

They all start just below the x-height line.

They go 'round in an anticlockwise direction.

They belong to the same letter family.

Check for understanding.

Select the two true statements.

The letter d has ascender.

The letter d has a dot at the top.

The letter d is an x-height letter.

The letter d finishes with a flick.

Pause the video here.

It was the first and the last statements that were true.

The letter d has an ascender.

And the letter d finishes with a flick.

Well done.

It's time for us to form the lowercase letter d in the air.

I'll have a go first of all, and then it will be your turn.

I'm going to start just below the x-height line.

I'm going to go around in an anticlockwise direction all the way up to the ascender line, down to the baseline and flick.

Starting just below the x-height line.

Are you ready to watch? I'm going around in an anticlockwise direction, going all the way up to the ascender line, down and flick.

Now it's your turn.

Get your finger ready to form the lowercase letter d.

Just below the x-height line, go around in an anticlockwise direction, up to the ascender line, down to the baseline and flick.

Let's try it again, last one.

X-height line, just under, around in an anticlockwise direction all the way up to the ascender line, down to the baseline and flick.

Well done, everyone.

Those look great.

Let's try again.

This time we're going to use our elbow.

So let me go first, let me show you.

I'm going to begin just below the x-height line.

I'm gonna go 'round in an anticlockwise direction all the way up to the ascender line, down to the baseline and flick.

Let me try again.

X-height line, just under, 'round in an anticlockwise direction all the way up to the ascender line, down to the baseline and flick.

It's your turn.

Get those writing elbows up and ready.

Let's go.

From the x-height line, just underneath it.

Let's go 'round in anticlockwise direction up to the ascender line, down to the baseline and flick.

One more.

Just under the x-height.

Let's go 'round anticlockwise, up to the ascender, down and flick.

Lovely.

I'm going to model how to form the lowercase letter d.

I'm holding my pen in my tripod grip.

I'm sitting comfortably, feet on floor, back against chair, paper at an angle.

I'm going to start just below the x-height line, and I'm going to go around in an anticlockwise direction down to the baseline.

Then I'm gonna go all the way up to the ascender line, down to the baseline and flick.

Let's try that again.

Starting at just below the x-height line, going around in an anticlockwise direction, going all the way up to the ascender line all the way down to the baseline and flick.

One more.

Just below the x-height line, around in an anticlockwise direction, up to the ascender line, all the way down to the baseline and flick.

Check for understanding.

Which is the correct formation of the lowercase letter d? Is it the d above the a, b or the c? Pause the video here.

Well done.

It was the first letter d that's the correct one.

It's starting just below the x-height line.

It's going around in an anticlockwise direction, and then it's going all the way up, straight up to the ascender line, down to the baseline, and it finishes with a flick.

For your task, I'd like you to practise forming the lowercase letter d.

First of all, go over the grey examples.

Begin just below the x-height line.

Go around in an anticlockwise direction up to the ascender line, down to the baseline and flick.

Next, try using the starting dots so you're beginning just below the x-height line, 'round in an anticlockwise direction, up to the ascender line, down and flick.

Finally, complete two lines independently on your tram lines.

Have fun.

Pause the video here.

How did you get on with your practise for forming the lowercase letter d.

Did you start just below the x-height line? Did you go 'round in an anticlockwise direction, back up to the ascender line and down to the baseline? Did you finish with a flick? Have a look at all these wonderful letter d's on your page and circle the best one and celebrate.

Give yourself a little pat on the back.

You've really done well.

In our lesson "Formation of c, a and d," we have covered the following.

The letter c and a are x-height letters.

The letter d has an ascender.

Letters c, a and d start just below the x-height line and go 'round in an anticlockwise direction.

Letters a and d finish with a flick.

Letters c, a and d are in the same letter family.