Hello everybody.

My name is Ms. Afzal, and I am really delighted to be with you today.

That's because we're going to be doing some handwriting, and that's one of my favourite things to do.

So I hope you're ready.

Hope you're feeling good.

I hope you've got some paper, a pencil, a great deal of enthusiasm, because we're gonna have a great time together.

Let's get into it.

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

My turn, your turn.

Cursive.

Lead in.

Lead out.

Baseline.

Ascender line.

Let's make sure we look out for those words.

Let's listen out for them.

Let's think carefully about them.

Let's be curious.

Let's be excited about them.

They are coming up.

And let's see what's involved in today's lesson.

The second join, IF, IL, and IT, with lead in.

We'll begin with a handwriting warmup.

Then we'll look at the second join, IF.

Then the second join, IL, and finally, the second join, IT.

But first of all, handwriting warmups, and why they're so important.

Before starting to write, it is crucial, it is important, that we warm up our hands, that we warm up our wrist muscles.

And your hands and your wrists are gonna get stronger when you exercise them.

Yay! So warming up your hands for writing will help to improve your writing.

So it's a win-win situation.

You improve your handwriting, you're gonna feel good, you're gonna feel strong.

Let's do it.

Let's have a go at the finger pull warmup, first of all.

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

So I'm going to take my hand and with my other hand, I'm going to pull, first of all, my thumb.

Then I'm going to pull each of my fingers, and I'm gonna pull, and I'm gonna squeeze at the same time.

It feels really good.

It feels like a lovely, nice kind of hand massage, really.

So I'm gonna do the other hand, pulling each of my fingers and squeezing as well.

It's your turn.

Are you ready? Take whichever hand you want to begin with.

I'm gonna start here, actually.

And you can start with your thumb, and you're just gonna pull and squeeze.

And then the next one, you're gonna do the same thing for each of your fingers.

It feels really great.

Let's have a go on the other hand, and we're just going to squeeze and we're gonna pull each of our fingers.

We are getting our hands and our fingers ready and strong for handwriting.

Yes, it feels great.

Next we're going to have a go at the rolling wrists warmup.

For this, I'm gonna take my hand, actually put it in the same position as they started the last one.

And I'm going to imagine that my hand is going to be mixing something really, really delicious to eat.

So maybe you like yummy cakes.

You could be mixing some delicious cake mixture.

I really like soups.

I'm gonna pretend I'm mixing my soup in the pan.

So just doing this movement here.

And what we're doing is we're rolling our wrist.

So we're gonna go in one direction, and then back in the other direction.

I'm going to do that with this hand now as well.

I am stirring my delicious soup.

What's in the soup? Mm, carrots.

Yummy.

What else is in there? Maybe some potato.

This tastes good.

And I'm going to roll in the other direction.

Okay, now it's your turn.

Choose which hand are you gonna begin with.

Choose, most important decision, what are you going to be mixing? Is it some yummy cookie mixture? Is it a delicious soup? What are you stirring? Just imagine it, and rolling your wrist around like this.

Now let's go in the other direction.

Keep stirring.

Mm, keep smelling that delicious food that you're mixing and stirring.

And let's have a go with the other hand.

One direction, stirring, mixing, smelling the delicious food, and going around the other way.

We are making our wrists so strong for handwriting.

This is going to really, really help us.

Plus we get to imagine that lovely food.

Well done everybody.

You've done a wonderful, wonderful job.

And also, practising handwriting patterns helps to prepare us for writing and joining letters.

Look at these great patterns we can see on the screen.

Let's have a go at some.

I'm gonna have a go at making this pattern in the air with my finger, and then it will be your turn.

So I'm going to start down here, and I'm gonna go all the way up, down, halfway up, down, all the way up, halfway up, all the way up.

Are you ready for your turn? Okay, let's go.

You're gonna make the writing pattern in the air using your finger.

Let's begin down here at the bottom.

Let's make a big line all the way up, down, halfway up, down, all the way up, down, halfway up, down, all the way up, and halfway up.

Yes, you've done it.

I love those patterns.

Great job everyone.

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

So we've got the pattern we just did now, and then another really nice zig-zaggy one.

Make sure you keep your pencil on the paper when you're forming the pattern, and focus on keeping the movement smooth and flowing.

Enjoy the flow.

Enjoy the smoothness, and I'll see you when you're finished.

Pause the video here.

Okay, how did you get on with copying and continuing the patterns with your tripod grip? Did you keep your pencil in the tripod grip the whole time? Did you keep your pencil on the page when you were making each of these patterns? Was your movement smooth and flowing? Did it feel wonderful? I hope so.

Really hope so.

And well done everyone, for having a go at those patterns.

And now it's time for us to look at our second join, between letters I and F.

Here's an example journey from print to cursive.

So we've got these different styles of handwriting.

First of all, here on the left, we have print formation.

Print formation has no lead in or no lead out.

The letters are all separate.

They're doing their own thing, they're not connected to each other at all.

Next we have pre-cursive formation.

And remember, the word "pre" means "before".

So this means it's coming, this is the handwriting that comes before cursive.

And here, can you see the difference between print and pre-cursive? Here we have lead ins and we have lead outs for each letter.

And finally, here we go.

Here's the real deal.

Here is our cursive formation.

These letters are joined together.

So we've moved from leading in and leading out, each lead out joins to the next lead in.

So there's no spaces in between those letters.

They are all joined together.

It's looking good.

Take a look at these letters that have appeared on the screen.

Can you see that they're all joined together, these letter pairs? And that's what cursive handwriting is about.

Remember our keyword cursive? So cursive means when these letters are joined together, and when we join in cursive writing, we don't lift our pencil off the page.

How letters are connected together depends on which letter is joining to which letter, and cursive letter joins refer to how the letters connect together.

So there are certain ways in which we connect letters.

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

It's something that feels really lovely when you get the hang of this cursive handwriting and we are gonna be having a go at that today.

So here's the first join that we've learned, and you can see this here below.

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

There we go.

That's it.

Yeah, thanks Aisha.

That's a really helpful reminder.

From the baseline to the x-height line.

Check for understanding.

Select the correct first join.

Which of these three is that first join Aisha just told us about? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected the first one.

We can see that A is joining from the baseline to the x-height line.

Fantastic if you selected that one.

Oh, can you see what's appeared on the screen? Have a look at this example of our second join.

This is really something to behold.

Take a very close look.

What can you see? What do you notice? Tell someone next to you.

Pause the video here.

Did you notice these things? Okay, let's begin with the I.

Did you see that lead in, coming into the I? How about, this is super interesting with the F.

The F has got a lead in loop up there, going up to the ascender line, and down at the bottom, another lead out loop.

So we've got two loops in this letter.

This is really something special.

You don't see this very often.

So letter F has a lead in loop, and a lead out loop.

And so remember, lead in is the line that takes us into that letter, and the lead out takes us out of that letter, and it will join to the next letter's lead in, join together, like holding hands like friends, and that's what gives us our cursive handwriting.

What do you notice about how these letters are joined? So if we take another close look at the I and the F, what do you notice about them? Do you notice that all the letters have a lead in and a lead out? The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

So the baseline is that line, it's the green line that we can see there, that most letters sit on.

They sit on the baseline.

And the join starts at the baseline, and it goes all the way up to the ascender line, forming a loop.

So the ascender line, we can see, is above the dotted x-height line, and it's the highest line that we can get to when we're doing our handwriting.

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

So you keep it all flowing in one nice, smooth movement.

The letter F has a lead out loop from the descender line to the baseline.

And here's Jun.

Thanks Jun for that reminder for us.

So the second join is from the baseline to above the x-height line, towards the ascender line.

Oh yeah, great.

There's that arrow to help us.

Yeah, thank you so much for that, Jun.

So let's just remind ourselves, second join goes from the? Can you remember? Yep.

The baseline to? Yes, above the x-height line.

It goes up towards the ascender line.

Okay.

It's time to have fun.

It's time to have a go at this really wonderful unique letter combination and formation between the I and the F.

All right, so I'm gonna go first, then it will be your turn.

We're really gonna focus on this one 'cause it's something a little bit different with these two loops.

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

Then, to join, I'm gonna keep my pencil going from the lead out all the way up to the ascender line, where I'm going to loop around in an anti-clockwise direction to form the letter F.

And then to form the lead out, I'm gonna go all the way down to the descender line, and then from there, I'm gonna form a loop that goes up to the baseline.

And then I must go back, dot my I.

Lemme show you that one more time.

So I'm going to lead in, form my letter I, then I'm gonna, to join, I'm gonna keep my pencil on the page, going all the way up to the ascender line, and I'm gonna loop around in an anticlockwise direction to form that part of the F.

Then I'm gonna come all the way down to the descender line, form another loop for the lead out, that finishes just above the baseline, dot the I.

Okay, that was a lot, a lot of things happening there.

So let's just take it easy.

Let's take our time.

You turn to join in.

Ready? Let's begin at the baseline, with our lead into the I, form the letter I, then keep your pencil on the page, just go up, up, up, up, to the ascender line, loop around to form the letter F.

Then we're going down to the descender line.

We're gonna make another loop for the lead out, which finishes just above the baseline.

Dot the I.

Well done! That looks really good.

That's so many elements involved in this join.

You've done a great job.

Let's try again.

Ready, line, go! Lead in, letter I, and form that lead out.

Let's keep going! All the way up to the ascender line, loop around in an anti-clockwise direction, all the way down to the descender line.

Loop around.

And then lead out, finishes just above the baseline, dot the I, oh yes! I like it.

I like those ifs.

I'm going to show you how to form the second join, IF.

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

I'll say to myself, ready, line, go.

Put my pen at the baseline, and start with my lead in to the I.

And then from here, to join, I'll go from my lead out, it's gonna go all the way up to the ascender line, looping around, anti-clockwise, then go down to the descender line to form the lead out with another loop.

Dot the I.

Let's try that again.

Ready, line, go.

Lead in, form the I, and then lead out, goes all the way up, make that join up to the ascender line, looping around anti-clockwise, all the way down to the descender line, and another loop to lead out.

Dot the I.

Let's try that one more time.

Ready, line, go.

There's my I.

To join it, I'm gonna lead out, all the way up to the ascender line, looping around anti-clockwise, down to the descender line.

Looping around, finish just above the baseline, dot the I.

Check for understanding.

Select the correct join.

Which of these three ifs is correctly formed? Pause the video here while you decide.

Well done if you selected the one in the middle that has got the join with the loop at the top going up to the ascender line and the loop down at the descender line and the I and the F are beautifully together.

For your task, I'd like you to practise the second join, IF.

First of all, go over the grey examples.

Next, try using a starting dot, and finally, complete two lines independently, on your tram lines.

Pause the video while you have a go at this and enjoy those loops.

See if your movements can be smooth and flowing, and I'll see you when you're finished.

Pause the video here.

Okay, good to be back with you.

How did you get on with joining? Did you go from the baseline all the way up to the ascender line? Did your F have both a lead in loop and a lead out loop? Did you keep your pencil on the page for the join? I hope so.

Circle your best join and celebrate.

And now it's time to look at our second join, IL.

Let's look more closely.

Let's look closely at more examples of our second join.

Hmm.

Here's the IL on the screen.

What do you see? What do you notice about this join? Pause and tell the person next to you.

Okay, did you notice that the I has a lead in? Did you notice that the L has a lead out? So what else do you notice about how these letters are joined? Let's explore this some more.

So all the letters have a lead in, and they all have a lead out.

The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

That's the line that most of these letters sit upon.

And the join starts at the baseline, and it goes all the way up to the ascender line.

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

And the last letter has a lead out.

Oh, and here's Jun to remind us, thanks Jun, the second join is from the baseline to above the x-height line.

It's going up towards the ascender line.

And you're gonna show us.

Yes, there we go! That's a really helpful arrow to show us.

From the baseline to the? Yup, you got it! Towards the ascender line.

Okay, this is going to be fun.

I think this one's gonna flow really nicely just by looking at this join between the I and L.

I'm looking forward to it.

I'm gonna go first, then it will be your turn.

Okay.

I am going to begin at the baseline.

I'm gonna keep my movements flowing and smooth.

Let's see how this goes.

I'm gonna start at the baseline, I'm gonna lead in to the I, and then to join, I'm gonna keep going from that lead out all the way up to the ascender line.

Back down again, and lead out.

Dot the I.

Oh yes.

That felt good.

It was quite a nice flowing, simple one.

Let's have a go again.

Let me show you, lead into the I, form my letter I, and then to lead out, I'm gonna go all the way up to the ascender line, down to the baseline for my lead out, and then dot the I.

Okay.

It is your turn to join in.

Let's go! From the baseline, we will lead into our letter I, and then to form the join, we'll keep going with that lead out from the baseline all the way up to the ascender line, back down to the baseline, lead out, dot the I.

Okay, one more.

Let's go.

Ready, line, go! Lead in, form the I, lead out, make that joint.

Keep going, all the way up to the ascender line! Form our L.

Lead out, dot the I.

Job done.

Very beautifully done, if I may say so, on your behalf, well done! I'm going to show you how to form the second join, IL.

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

I'll say to myself, ready, line, go! Put my pen on the baseline, and I'll start with my lead in to the I.

Then to join, I'll go from this lead out, all the way up to the ascender line, form the L, finish with a lead out.

Dot the I.

Let's try that again.

Ready, line, go.

Lead in, form the I.

To join, I go from my lead out, all the way up to the ascender line.

Back down.

Finish with a lead out.

Dot the I.

One more.

Ready, line, go! Lead in, I.

To join, I go from my lead out to the ascender line.

Then I go back down.

Lead out, dot the I.

Check for understanding.

Select the correct join.

Two of these ILs are being very cheeky.

They've just appeared here.

They shouldn't be here, because it's not a correct join.

Which is the correct one? Pause the video while you decide.

Yep, you've got it.

It's the one above the C! Here, we can see those two letters have joined together, from the I to the L.

We've got that lovely join.

And they're sitting on the baseline.

For your task, I'd like you to practise the second join, IL.

First of all, go over the grey examples.

Next, try using a starting dot.

And finally, complete two lines independently on your tram lines.

Enjoy every join, enjoy every letter, enjoy every dot.

So much to enjoy.

Pause the video, and I'll see you when you're finished.

So how did you get on with joining between the I and the L? Did you join from the baseline to the ascender line? Did you keep your pencil on the page for the join? Was your movement smooth and flowing? Did you enjoy it? I hope so.

Circle your best one and celebrate.

And now, it's time for us to look at the second join between the I and the T.

And here it is! Here we see an example of the I and the T joined together.

Look closely at this join.

What can you see? What do you notice about these two letters partnering together? And pause the video while you share with someone what you've noticed.

Okay, a lot going on here.

Did you take this in? Did you notice the lead in to the I? Did you notice from the T a lead out? Did you spot that dot on top of the I and cross at the x-height line for the T? So what do you notice about how these letters are joined? What else occurred to you? Did you notice that all of the letters have a lead in, and they all have a lead out? The first letter has a lead in from the baseline, and the join starts at the baseline and it goes up to between the x-height line and the ascender line, so this is quite an interesting one, the letter T.

It's a little bit different to the last two letters that we looked at.

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

The last letter has a lead out.

Okay Jun, give it to us.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you for the lovely reminder.

The second join is from the baseline to above the x-height line, and towards the ascender line.

But remember, with the T, we don't go all the way to the ascender line.

We go halfway between the baseline and the ascender line.

Okay, it's time for fun! It's time for forming letters in the air.

I'm gonna go first, then it will be your turn.

I'm gonna form the I and the T, and I'm gonna flow and enjoy it and keep my movement smooth.

Here I go.

I will begin with my lead in to the I, and then to join, I'm gonna go from the I, joining, I'm gonna go upwards to in between the ascender line and the baseline to form the T, and I'll come back down, finish with the lead out, dot the I, cross the T.

Boom.

IT, joined.

Lovely.

Again, lead in to my I, form the I, and then to lead out, I'm gonna make that join going from the baseline to in between the x-height line and the ascender line.

Back down to the baseline, lead out, dot the I, cross the T.

All done.

Are you ready? Let's go! Lead in, form the letter I.

To join, go from the baseline to in between the x-height line and the ascender line.

Back down to the baseline, lead out, dot the I, cross the T.

One more.

Lead in to the I.

To join, keep your pencil on the page.

To go all the way up between the x-height line towards the ascender line, but not all the way.

Lead out at the baseline.

Dot the I, cross the T.

Very, very nice ITs.

I'm going to show you how to form the second join, IT.

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

I'll say to myself, ready, line, go.

I put my pen at the baseline, and I'll start with my lead in to the I.

Then for my join, I'll go from the lead out to halfway in between the ascender line and the x-height line.

Form my T, lead out.

Dot the I, cross the T.

Let's try that again.

Lead in, form the I.

To join, I go from the lead out, up to halfway between the x-height and the ascender lines.

Lead out.

Dot the I, cross the T.

One more.

Ready, line, go.

Lead in, form the I.

To join, I go up, to in between the x-height line and the ascender line.

Lead out.

Dot the I, cross the T.

Check for understanding.

Select the correct join.

Look at these three ITs.

Which one is it? Which one is the correct join? Pause the video while you decide.

Yes, you've got it! It's that one there in the middle.

It's got the join, and that T is going up to in between the x-height line and the ascender line.

Great job everyone.

For your task, I would like you to practise the second join, IT.

First of all, go over the grey examples.

Next, try using the starting dot.

And finally, complete two lines independently on your tram lines.

Enjoy the flow, enjoy the smoothness, enjoy the dots, the crosses.

There is a lot going on here.

I hope you enjoy it all.

Pause the video and I'll see you when you're finished.

We are back again! Hooray.

How did it go? Tell me, did you join from the baseline to between the x-height line and the ascender line? Remember, it doesn't go all the way to the ascender line.

It doesn't stop at the x-height line.

It's in that special sweet spot in between.

Did you keep your pencil on the page for the join? Was your movement smooth and flowing? Circle your best join, and celebrate! In our lesson, "The second join: IF, IL, and IT with lead in", we 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 first join goes from the baseline to the x-height line.

The second join goes from the baseline to above the x-height line, and towards the ascender line.

You do not lift your pencil when forming the join.

And the letter F has a loop, a lead in loop, and a lead out loop, to join to other letters.

Really well done, everybody, for your effort today, and for the way in which you have made these loops and thought carefully about where each of these letters reaches up to, towards the ascender line.

Actually all the way up to the ascender line, halfway between the x-height line and the ascender line.

There was a lot going on in today's lesson, and you were here for it, and I appreciate that.

And I'll see you at the next lesson.

I'm looking forward to that.

Bye for now!.