Hello everyone.

This is Miss Afzal here again to share some more handwriting with you.

I'm so excited to be here.

I hope you're feeling excited to, we're going to, as always, do our best.

We are as always going to have lots of fun.

Are you ready to begin? Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can correctly form the first join.

We have got a number of keywords in today's lesson.

Let's go through them.

My turn, your turn.

Cursive, join, lead out, baseline, x-height line.

Fantastic.

I heard those loud and clear.

And let's make sure we are listening out for those words.

Let's look out for them.

Let's think about them.

Let's be really excited and curious about them.

So what's happening in today's lesson? The first join, en, ud, and ir with no lead in.

Well, we are going to begin with some really fun handwriting warmups.

Next, we'll look at the first join, en, and after that, we will look at the first join ud and ir.

So let's begin with our warmups and why are they important? Before starting to write, it's important to warm up your hand and your wrist muscles.

Your hands and your wrist get stronger when you exercise them.

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

So let's get into it.

Let's have a go at some warmups.

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

I'll have a go and then it will be your 10.

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 are 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 I started the last one.

And I'm going to imagine that my hand is 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 be, 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 a 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 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 as well, practising writing patterns helps us to prepare for writing and joining letters.

Look at these fantastic patterns that you can see on the screen.

They look out a lot of fun to make.

So let's have a go at making one of those patterns.

This is one of my favourites.

The looping.

Looping the loop.

Let's have a go at this.

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

So I'm gonna go up loop and around.

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

Yep.

It feels good.

Let's go the other way.

Up loop and down.

Up loop and down.

Yep.

I'm just looping around feeling great.

And that's your turn to join in.

Okay.

Are you ready? Let's go.

Let's just loop.

Let's make these lovely looping patterns.

Let's go the other way.

And just for fun, let's do one massive loop.

Oh my goodness.

As high as you can go.

Let's do it.

Oh wow.

That was great fun.

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

So we've got that lowly looping pattern that we just had to go at.

And then another pattern, we are gonna make some lines, some are taller and some are shorter.

And I hope you have a lot of fun.

And remember, don't lift your when forming the pattern, focus on keeping the movement smooth and flowing.

Okay so off you go and complete your patterns and I'll see you when you're finished.

Pause the video here.

It's great to be back with you and your patterns looking fantastic.

I'm wondering, did you use your tripod grip? I really hope so.

And what about your pencil? Did you keep it on the page the whole time? Was your movement smooth and flowing? Did it feel wonderful? I really, really hope so.

And we are moving on now to the first join, en.

Print and cursive are the most common forms of handwriting.

Print is when each letter is formed separately.

Have a look at these letters.

C-A-T, they are all separate.

They are doing their own thing.

They are not connected at all.

They're together and they form the word cat, but otherwise they're just really, really quite separate.

So that's print.

Print writing.

Cursive is one of our keywords is also known as joined up handwriting.

So this involves joining the letters in a flowing manner.

So as you can see here with this cursive writing, so cursive is joining the letters together, co connecting them together without taking your pencil off of the page.

So we can see here that the letter C connects and joins to the A.

And then from the A, it connects and joins to T.

So all of these letters are joined up together.

And this is called cursive handwriting.

And here we can see some examples of cursive handwriting.

Cursive handwriting involves joining letters together without lifting your pencil.

And we have another keyword joining.

So if you join something, it means you connect it or it means that you link it together.

And when we're joining letters together, that is cursive handwriting.

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

Cursive letter joins refers to how letters connect together.

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

It's gonna look beautiful, it's gonna feel fantastic.

It's really worth putting in some time and effort to practise our cursive letter joins.

Check for understanding.

Select the true statements.

Cursive handwriting is also known as joined-up handwriting.

Letters are formed separately and do not join together for cursive handwriting.

Learning letter joins will improve your cursive handwriting skills.

So pause the video here while you select the true statements.

Well done if you selected A, cursive handwriting is also known as joined-up handwriting.

Well done if you also selected C, because learning these letter joins is absolutely going to improve your cursive handwriting skills, which is why you are in absolutely the right place just now because that's what we are doing.

We are learning our letter joins.

And here is a fantastic example of our first join.

I'd like you to take a really close look at this letter join.

Mm, what can you see? What do you notice? I'd let you now to turn someone nearby and tell them everything that you see and that you notice about these letters.

Pause the video here.

Okay, so what did you come up with and what did you tell your partner? Did you say anything about the lead out? Did you notice at the end of this en there is a lead out.

Lead out is one of our keywords.

So a lead out is a line that it really does what it says.

It leads us out of that letter.

So it takes us outta that letter so we're not finishing the en.

If we were writing the en in print, then the en would finish at the baseline.

Whereas here, because we are doing cursive handwriting, we have a lead out.

That's that extra little line.

And what a lead out does, because it's a very special job.

A lead out takes us outta one letter and it's what helps us to connect to the next letter.

So if we had a letter after the en, that lead out is what would take us into the join.

These two letters are joined together.

Can you see that? Can you see that the e and the n are not separate? They're actually joined.

They're linked together.

That signed up more about the join.

So what do you notice about how these letters are joined? Can you see where the join is starting from? Where it's going to? Pause the video while you tell someone nearby what you notice about how the letters are joined together.

All right, it's good to be back with you.

What did you notice? Did you notice that letter e starts between the baseline and the x-height line? Oh, we got some more keywords here.

So let's look into these.

So the baseline is, I wonder if you know which line it is.

It's the, yep is the green line.

It's the line on these set of tram lines that is in green.

And a lot of letters, most letters sit on the baseline and we can see the en sitting very comfortably on the baseline.

The x-height line is the.

Yep, you got it.

It's the dotted line that we can see on these set of tram lines and letters that are x-height letters such as the e and n, sit between the baseline and the x-height line.

So the e and n both go up as high as the x-height line.

And the join, which is, remember the way that the letters are linked.

The join starts at the baseline at the end of the e, and it goes up to the x-height line.

So that is our first join.

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

So you keep your pencil on the page.

And last letter has a lead out.

So remember it's gonna take us outta that letter and into the next letter.

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

Thank you, Aisha.

That's a really helpful summary there.

And that arrow really makes it clear to us where the first join goes from, from the baseline to the x-height line.

Okay, it is time to have some fun because we are gonna be forming these letters, these joins in the air now.

So I'll go first of all, I'm gonna form the join en in the air.

I'm gonna use my finger, I'm gonna keep my movement smooth and flowing.

I'm gonna enjoy it all.

And then afterwards it will be your turn.

All right, so let me begin.

I'm gonna say ready, line, go put my pen finger in position.

And my position is in between the baseline and the x-height line.

So halfway in between, that's where the e starts.

I'm gonna form my letter e.

And then to join, I'm gonna go from the baseline up to the x-height line to where the n begins.

I'm gonna form my letter n, and I'm gonna finish with a lead out at the baseline.

Let me show you one more time.

Ready, line, go.

I start in between the baseline and the x-height line, and I'll form a letter E.

And then to join, I'm gonna go from the baseline up to the x-height line.

And then I'll form a letter n and I'll finish with a lead out.

All right, it's your turn to get involved.

Ready, line, go.

Let's start with our letter e.

Let's keep it really smooth and flowing from the baseline.

Let's join by going up to the x-height line.

Form the letter n, finish with a lead out at the baseline.

Let's just keep going.

This feels good.

All right, we'll start in between the baseline and the x-height line with our letter e.

Here comes our join from the baseline all the way up to the x-height line.

Here comes the letter n.

Oh, yep, this is feeling good.

We're finished with e, yep, you got it.

A lead out at the baseline.

Those en's look fantastic.

Hope you're feeling proud of them.

I'm gonna show you how to form the first join en.

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

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

And I'll put my pen in the middle, in between the baseline and the x-height line.

And I'll form my letter e.

And then to join, I'm gonna go from the baseline up to the x-height line, and I'll form my letter n.

And I'll finish at the baseline with a lead out.

Let's try that again.

Start in between the baseline and the x-height line.

I'll form my letter e.

And in from the baseline I'm gonna join.

We are going up to the x-height line.

To start my n from the en, finish at the baseline with a lead out.

And I'll do one more.

There's my e, there's my join from the baseline to the x-height line.

There's the n and a lead out at the baseline check for understanding.

Select the correct join.

Hmm.

I can see a few different versions of en on the screen and I'm not sure about a couple of them, but one of them is looking mighty fine to me.

Which one is the correct join.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected the en above the a.

We can see that that en has got the e formed beautifully.

And then the join is going from the baseline up to the x-height line.

Then we've got the n and the n finishes with the lead out at the baseline.

Really well done if you selected this join.

And now it's time for your task.

I'd like you to practise the first join en go over the grey examples first of all.

Next, try using the starting dot.

And finally complete two lines independently, smoothly, flowingly on your tramlines.

I hope you have a lot of fun doing this task and I'll see you when you're finished.

Pause the video here.

It's great to be back with you.

I am feeling so super curious.

How did you get on? Did you start between the baseline and the x-height line for your letter e? Did you join from the baseline up to the x-height line? That's the first join, remember? And did you keep your pencil on the page for the join? Circle your best, join and celebrate.

Okay, it is time for us to now move into looking at the first join ud and ir.

Here they appear on our screen.

Take a look at them, look closely.

Look from every angle.

What do you notice? What do you see? Can you tell someone nearby? What do you see? And what do you notice about these letter joins? Pause the video here.

Okay, quite a few things to notice.

Take a look at this ud.

Did you notice that at the end of the d, it doesn't just finish at the baseline as it would do if it was print.

Instead, there is a lead out.

Remember that special line that takes us outta the letter.

And if it was joined to another one, it's what would help us.

Take us into that join.

Can you see with the ir, the i? Well, there's that lovely dot at the top.

Always enjoy that.

And then the r also has a lead out.

It's an interesting one.

It kind of dips down below the x-height line and back up again.

Very curious.

These sets of letters are joined together.

The u and the d are not separate.

They're joined.

The i and the r are not separate.

They are joined.

Let's find out more about the join.

Hmm.

What do you notice about the way that they're joined? Where is that join beginning? Where is it going to? Pause the video and tell someone nearby.

Well, let's think about starting points as well.

The first letter, both have starting points at the x-height line.

The u and the i both start there.

And the first join starts at the baseline and it goes up to, yeah, you got it up to the x-height line.

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

The dot for the letter i is added once the letter string is complete.

So just at the end pop in the dot.

And the last letter has a lead out.

Here's Aisha again, so helpful.

I show to remind us that the first join is from the baseline to the x-height line.

Like so.

Really helpful and clear there.

I think we're getting the ahead of this.

Now we're feeling confident with it let's have a go at forming ud and ir in the air.

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

Let's keep our movements smooth and flowing.

All right, I'm gonna begin with ud.

I'm gonna say ready, line, go.

I've got my finger at the x-height line to begin my letter u.

And then to join, I'm gonna go from the baseline up to the x-height line.

And then I'm gonna form my letter d going around in an anti-clockwise direction.

Then I go all the way up to the ascender line and I finish with the lead out at the baseline.

Oh yeah, that feels good.

Lemme show you one more time.

Ud, start at the x-height line.

I'll form my letter u.

And then to join, I'm going from the baseline to the x-height line.

I go anti-clockwise form my letter d.

There's the ascender and I finish with the lead out.

Okay, it's your turn.

Are you ready? Let's go for ud.

Let's do it.

Ready, line, go.

There's the u.

Let's join from the baseline to the x-height line.

Let's go anti-clockwise for the d.

There's our lovely ascender.

I will finish with the lead out.

One more.

U.

Here comes our join baseline to the x-height line.

Here's our d.

Finish with the lead out.

Oh yes, very, very nice.

All right.

My turn for ir.

I'll start again at the x-height line and I form my letter i.

And then to join, I'm going from the baseline back up to the x-height line form my letter r.

And then for the lead out, I just dip down a little and back up.

And then remember I'm gonna do at the end, dot the i.

Okay, I'll show you one more time.

Here's my I.

Join from the baseline to the x-height line, form my letter r and I lead out by dipping down and back up dot the i.

It's your turn ir.

Ready, line go.

I is our join baseline to the x-height line form the r, dip down for the lead out.

Dot the i.

One more.

I join baseline to the x-height line form the r, dip down for the lead out, dot the i.

Oh yes.

These are really, really looking fine.

Well done everybody.

And remember the dot for the i is added once the letter string is complete.

Yeah.

Thank you Aisha.

We did remember that, didn't we? I'm gonna show you how to form the first join ud.

I'm sitting comfortably and pan is in the tripod grip.

I'm gonna say ready, line, go.

And I'll begin my u at the x-height line.

Form my u.

And then to join, I'll go from the baseline to the x-height line, anti-clockwise to form my d, finish at the baseline with the lead out.

One more start at the x-height line.

Form my u.

And then to join, I go from the baseline to the x-height line.

And I'm gonna go anti-clockwise to form the letter d.

And I'll finish at the baseline with a lead out.

One more.

There's my u.

There's my join baseline to the x-height line, anti-clockwise to form the d, finish with a lead out.

I'm going to show you how to form the first join ir.

I'm sitting comfortably.

The pen is in the tripod grip.

I'll say ready, line, go and begin at the x-height line with my letter i.

And then to join, I'm gonna go from the baseline up to the x-height line.

I'll form my letter r.

And then I'll dip down below the x-height line and back up for my lead out.

And I'll go back and dot the i.

Let's try that again.

Here's the i.

This a join from the baseline up to the x-height line, we form my letter r.

Dip down below the x-height line and back up for the lead out, pen off.

And go back to dot the i.

One more.

I'm joining now do the r dip down for the lead out.

And there's my dot for the i.

Check for understanding.

Select the correct join.

Which of these ud's is formed correctly.

Take a very good look at them and select the correct one.

Pause the video here.

Well done if you selected the ud above the C, this one has got the join going from the baseline to the x-height line to form the d.

And the d has got the ascender going all the way up to the ascender line.

Good choice.

And now I'd like you to select the correct join between the i and the r.

Hmm.

I'm not sure about a couple of these.

But yep, I can see one that is looking pretty good.

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

Well done if you selected the ir in the middle.

We can see that join going from the baseline up to the x-height line.

And the r has got the dip down at the x-height line and the r is dipping below the x-height line for the lead out.

And now it's time for your final task.

I'd like you to practise the first join ud.

Start by going over the grey examples, then try using the starting dot.

And finally complete two lines independently and smoothly on your tram lines.

After that, I'd like you to practise the first join ir again, go over the grey examples to begin.

Next try using the starting dot.

And finally complete two lines with focus with finesse, with your finest, finest efforts.

And do this independently on your tram lines.

So pause the video here while you have a go at this task.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? Did you start on the x-height line? Did you remember the first join goes from the baseline to the x-height line? Did you add your dot for the letter i once you finished the join? Circle your best join and celebrate.

You absolutely deserve a celebration.

In our lesson the first join en, ud and ir with no lead in we've covered the following.

Cursive handwriting involves joining letters together.

Cursive letter joins refer to how the letters connect together.

The first join goes from the baseline to the x-height line.

Letters are formed by following the right starting point and direction.

You do not lift your pencil when forming the join.

The dot for the letter i gets added once the letter string is complete.

Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.

It was great to be with you and I'm really looking forward to seeing you for the next lesson.

Bye for now.