Lesson video

Hello, I'm Ms. Afzal, and I'm so pleased you're here for this handwriting lesson where we're going to be getting started with our handwriting.

Well done for choosing this lesson.

I'm so glad you're here.

Today's lesson comes from the unit Writing Lower Case Letters in Print, and our lesson today is called "Introduction to skills and patterns." By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to sit comfortably and hold a pencil ready for handwriting.

How do you sit comfortably for handwriting? And how do you hold a pencil so you're ready for handwriting? We're going to find out, and we're going to explore exactly how to do each of these things, how we can sit comfortably and how we can hold a pencil ready for handwriting.

Let's begin.

Let's see what our keywords are for today's lesson.

I'll say them first, and then you repeat them.

Sitting position, letter formation, pencil grip, tripod grip.

Let's say our keywords again, a little bit faster this time.

Sitting position, letter formation, pencil grip, tripod grip.

We are going to explore each of these words in today's lesson, so you'll probably hear each one a few times.

So in today's lesson of introducing us to skills and patterns, we are going to learn three things in particular.

First of all, we're going to get comfortable for handwriting.

We're going to work out what's a comfortable way for us to sit, for us to place our paper.

Next, we're gonna be warming up our hands, getting them all set, all ready for handwriting.

We're going to think about how do we hold our pencil so that it's really comfortable for handwriting.

And then the last thing we're gonna do, saving the really fun thing for last, we're gonna explore some handwriting patterns.

We're gonna be doing up and down patterns.

We're gonna loop the loop.

We're gonna have a lot of fun.

Are you ready? Let's get started.

Let's get comfortable for handwriting.

So how we sit for handwriting is really important, how we sit in our chair.

So first of all, yeah, we need to sit up in our chair, but what about the different parts of our body? What are the different parts of our body doing as we sit? Let's think about our feet.

Our feet need to be flat on the floor.

So place both your feet flat on the floor.

That's what I'm doing right now.

And if your feet don't reach the floor, then you could do a few things.

You could use a tray turned upside down to put your feet on, or maybe a box, or perhaps you could ask somebody, you could ask your teacher, you could ask someone at home, for a smaller chair so that your feet are flat on the floor.

Hmm, what other part of our body is important when we're thinking about sitting position for handwriting? Hmm.

Our back.

Our back needs to be resting comfortably against the back of the chair.

So just sitting back against the back of the chair.

And let's think, where else do we need to think about our body being comfortable? Our stomach.

Our stomach needs to rest against, just gently touch the edge of the table in front of you so that you're nice and comfortable and you've got a nice solid position for handwriting.

Let's check what would be the correct position for comfortable handwriting.

Are you ready to check? So, select the correct position for comfortable handwriting.

A, feet flat on the floor.

B, legs crossed.

C, stomach touching the edge of the table.

D, slouched in the chair.

Have a go and select which are the correct positions for comfortable handwriting.

Let's have a look at the answers.

Feet flat on the floor.

Well done.

Yeah, of course, we need our feet flat, both feet flat and stable on the floor, and stomach touching the edge of the table so we've got a nice, comfortable, solid, upright position.

We don't want our legs crossed.

That's not gonna make for comfortable handwriting position.

And we don't wanna be slouched in our chair, we want to be upright.

Well done.

When we're writing, we need a piece of paper, and the position of that paper on the table is important.

How would you position your paper if you were going to write? How would you put your piece of paper on the table? What's important is which hand we write with.

So if we write with our right hand, then we need to turn the paper a little bit to the left so it's in line with our writing hand.

If we write with our left hand, then we need to turn the paper a bit to the right so it's in line with our left hand, our writing hand.

And we use the other hand that's not writing to steady the paper to keep it nice and still so it doesn't slip and slide on the page.

The position of the paper is important because we want to see where our pencil is going.

We want to put the paper in line with our writing arm.

And we want to hold that paper still with one hand.

So let's have a check now.

Select the picture which does not show the correct paper position for handwriting.

Is it A, tilted to the left, is it B, straight, or is it C, tilted to the right? Select which one does not show the correct paper position for handwriting.

Well done.

It was B.

We don't have our paper straight like that.

What we want to do is we want to have it in line with our writing arm.

If we're right-handed, we tilt to the left.

If we're left-handed, we tilt our papers to the right.

And remember, we use our other hand to hold the paper still so it doesn't slip and slide around on the table.

Well done.

So we've had a think about how to get comfortable for handwriting.

Now it's your turn to have a go.

So this is your task.

I would like you to sit in a comfortable position for handwriting.

So maybe stand up first of all, so stand, and then sit down and see if you can remember all those different things that you need to do with your body to be comfortable for handwriting.

So remember, place your feet flat on the floor.

Remember to rest your back against the back of the chair.

And make sure your stomach is touching the edge of the table in front of you.

And finally, make sure you have positioned your paper on the table correctly.

Pause and have a go at getting into that comfortable handwriting position now.

So how did you get on? Were you sitting comfortably like this? Did you remember all those key points? Did you have your feet flat on the floor? How about your back? Was it back against the back of the chair? What about your stomach? Touching the table in front of you? And did you remember your paper position, slanted to the left or to the right? Whatever is comfortable for the hand that you write with.

Well done.

Looks like you were in a great position.

Let's move into the next part of our lesson where we are going to be exploring warming up our hands and our pencil grip.

When you're doing PE and you're doing some exercise in PE, normally before you do your main activity, you'll do some warmup, warmup exercises first, and it's the same for writing.

Before we move into our handwriting, we need to get our hands ready, get them all warmed up and ready for action.

Strengthening our hand muscles for handwriting is important.

Our strong hands will help us with our pencil grip and with letter formation.

Strong hands help us to write for longer.

What kind of writing do you want to do? Maybe you want to write stories or poems or rhymes.

Maybe you want to write a letter.

Whatever kind of writing you want to do, it will be helpful if you've got really strong hands and they will help you to write for longer.

So let's get into our warmups.

Are you ready for some warmups, for some hand and finger warmups? Okay, so we are going to begin with a finger touch warmup.

This is a great one.

It feels good, and it's great for our hands.

So I'm going to imagine I've got some Play-Doh, a little bit of Play-Doh here on my thumb, and I'm going to touch the Play-Doh with each of my fingers like that.

So I'm just gently touching the Play-Doh with each of my fingers.

I'm gonna try with my other hand.

There's my piece of Play-Doh, and I'm gently touching.

So this is the finger touch warmup.

Mm, it's a really nice stretch for our fingers.

Hey, we can go backwards as well, so try that.

Going forwards and backwards.

Lovely.

And now it's your turn.

Are you ready? Choose which hand you're going to begin with.

Put your little Play-Doh, imaginary Play-Doh, on your thumb, and gently touch, finger touch.

Wonderful.

Do you want to have a go in going in the other direction? Let's have a go.

That's it.

Backwards and forwards.

Lovely.

Other hand.

Put your Play-Doh there, and let's touch, finger touch.

Go backwards.

Let's try it.

Forwards.

Lovely.

Do you wanna try something really fun? Both hands at once.

Okay, let's go.

So we just go forwards.

Shall we try going backwards? Shall we try speeding it up a little bit? Don't worry if this feels too fast.

You could go at whatever pace suits you.

Finger touch.

Lovely.

Good job, everyone.

Let's move on next to the finger tap warmup.

This is an all-rounder.

This is a great warmup because, one, it's fun, we've gotta do fun things, two, it's going to be really nice for our head, it's like a lovely head massage, and three, crucially, it's great for our hands and our fingers, and it's gonna get us warmed up ready for handwriting.

Let me show you first.

So I'm gonna put my hands here on my head, and I'm just gently tapping down the sides of my head.

Mm, this feels really, really nice.

Then I'll go back up to the top, and I'm gonna tap down the back of my head.

Just tapping each of my fingers.

Feels so good.

It's your turn.

Are you ready? Take your hands, put them on your head, and let's tap gently down the sides of your head.

Makes a really interesting sound as well.

It sounds good.

It feels good.

And now back up to the top, and we're gonna tap down the back.

Mm, the finger tap warmup.

Well done, everyone.

That was a great, great, great warmup.

And finally, we're going to have a go at a finger pull warmup.

Let me show you.

My turn, and then it'll be your turn.

So I'm gonna take my hand, and I'm going to just gently pull each one of my fingers.

Gently pulling and stretching each of my fingers.

Mm, feels good.

Other hand.

I'm just gonna take each finger in turn.

Gently pull and stretch and squeeze each finger.

Okay, your turn.

Choose which hand you're gonna begin with.

Let's go.

Gently pulling and stretching.

It's really nice to get our hands ready, warmed up, all set for some terrific handwriting.

We're good to go! So now we've done our warmups, we're going to explore how we hold our pencil.

And it takes practise to hold a pencil well, just like it takes practise to do anything well.

We need to practise our pencil grip.

The best way to hold a pencil is in a tripod grip.

How we do this is we put our pointing finger on the top, we put out tall finger on that top, and our thumb goes underneath.

We could say a little rhyme to help us.

We could say, pointing finger, tall finger, on the top, thumb goes underneath, yeah! Pointing finger, tall finger, on the top, thumb goes underneath.

And we make sure that our fingers are slightly bent.

This is a great way to hold a pencil.

And we also make sure that our hand is resting on the table.

So we don't have our hand up in the air like this; our hand is resting on the table as we hold the pencil in a tripod grip.

So this is my tripod grip.

Pointing finger, tall finger, on the top, thumb goes underneath.

Now it's your turn.

Can you pick up your pencil and show me your tripod grip? Shall we have a go together? Pointing finger, tall finger, on the top, thumb goes underneath.

Make sure your hand is resting on the table.

Make sure your fingers are slightly bent.

That's it.

That's the tripod grip.

That looks good.

So let's move into our task now, which is practising getting our hand ready for writing by holding the pencil in the tripod grip.

We're gonna do this a few times.

So are you ready? First of all, put your pencil down, and then pick your pencil up and check it's in a tripod grip.

Pointing finger, tall finger, on the top, thumb goes underneath.

Put your pencil down.

Pick it up, and check your tripod grip.

Pointing finger, tall finger, on the top, thumb goes underneath, yeah! One more time.

Put your pencil down.

Pick it up, and check your tripod grip.

Pointing finger, tall finger, on the top, thumb goes underneath, yeah! How did you get on with that? Were all of your fingers bent? Was the pencil sitting in between your thumb and your pointing finger? Did you have your pointing finger and your tall finger on the top? Was your hand resting gently on the table? Well done, well done for holding your pencil in the tripod grip.

For the final part of our lesson today, we're going to be exploring handwriting patterns.

This is a really fun activity to do.

I'm so excited to share this with you.

So handwriting patterns help us to prepare for writing letters.

We can't just go straight to the letters.

We need to do some patterns to get us ready to make the right kind of shapes that we need to be making to write letters.

We can practise lines that go up and down, and these will help us with forming letters that have straight lines in them.

We can practise loops, and these will help us to form rounded letters, letters that have curves and rounded letters.

Let's check.

True or false? Handwriting patterns help us to prepare for writing letters.

Is that true or false? Well done.

That is true.

They do help us to prepare for writing letters.

Handwriting patterns, ups and downs, loops, like I showed you before, all of these can help us to prepare for writing letters.

So we were talking about handwriting patterns being really helpful for us before doing some handwriting letters, so let's get into having a go at some patterns.

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

So first of all, I'm going to make some up and down patterns.

And up and down patterns are really helpful for when we go to form letters that have lines that go up and down or that go at a diagonal.

So let me show you.

I'm going to start over here, and I'm just gonna go simply up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down.

One more time.

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

Couldn't be easier.

It's your turn.

Are you ready? Get your finger in position.

Let's go.

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

Lovely.

One more time.

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

Shall we try some really big ones? Ready? Let's go for it.

Whoa, up really high and down, up and down, up and down.

Wonderful.

Shall we try some tiny little ones? Up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down.

(gasps) Those up and down patterns look really great.

Well done.

Next, let's move on to some loops.

So looping patterns are really helpful for when we're forming letters that have curves in them or that are rounded kind of letters.

So let me start.

I'm gonna start down here, and I'm going to go up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down.

Oh, that one feels really nice.

It kind of flows really beautifully.

All right, are you ready for your turn? Let's go.

Start down here.

Let's go, up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down, just wanna keep going, up, loop, and down.

Alright, shall we try a few really big ones? Let's go.

Big loops, like a huge big rollercoaster or something.

Up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down.

Should we do some little tiny, tiny ones? Let's go.

Up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down, up, loop, and down.

It's hard to stop when you start doing your loops.

Let's go, one more.

Up, loop, and down, one more, up, loop, and down.

(gasps) Those loops look great.

The big huge ones, the tiny little ones, the medium-sized ones, they're all fantastic.

Great job, everyone.

I think you're ready to write.

Now we've had a go at making some patterns in the air, loops and up and down lines, I would like you, for your task, to make some lines of up and down lines and some lines of loops in your book or on your piece of paper.

So remember to get your pencil, and have your pencil on the paper the whole time.

Keep your pencil on the paper the whole time you make your lines of up and down lines and loops.

Make sure your lines are strong and straight when you're making your up and down lines.

And make sure you've got continuous loops all the way across the page for your loops.

Off you go.

How did you get on with your handwriting patterns? I wonder which one you preferred.

Did you prefer the up and down lines? Did you prefer the loops? Did you do some really big ones? Did you do some tiny ones? Well done.

Whatever size you did, however you got on, well done.

Well done, you have practised all the skills you need to get ready for handwriting.

In our lesson today, our introduction to skills and patterns, we have covered three things.

We looked at sitting position.

We made sure that we were sitting with our feet flat on the ground, we made sure that our back was against the back of the seat, and we made sure that our stomach was touching the edge of the table and that our paper was in the correct position, either slanting a bit to the left if we're right-handed or slanting over to the right if we're left-handed.

And we also learned about our tripod grip.

Remember, our pointing finger, tall finger, on the top, thumb goes underneath.

And we made sure our hand was resting gently on the table, and we finished with some fun patterns.

Well done, everybody.

You are all set now for having a go at writing letters.