Hi everybody, it's Ms. Gardner, and welcome to today's really exciting handwriting lesson.

In today's lesson, we're going to be reviewing everything we've learned about cursive handwriting, but in the context of a haiku poem.

So I really hope you enjoy the lesson and let's get started.

Your learning outcome for today's lesson is to correctly copy out a poem in cursive handwriting.

Let's start by looking at the keywords.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

Poem, a poem is a piece of writing that uses creative and rhythmic language to express thoughts, feelings, or ideas, often with a specific structure or pattern.

Haiku, a haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry consisting of three lines, often focusing on nature and capturing a special moment.

Join, how the letters are connected together.

Letter string, a group of letters that are written together in a word.

So there are two sections of our lesson today.

In the first, we'll be doing a handwriting warmup, and then in the second, we'll be reviewing and copying a haiku.

So let's start with our warmup.

Before we start, what are these pictures reminding you to do when it comes to handwriting? Pause video now and have a little think or discuss this with your partner.

Off you go.

Okay, so the first picture is reminding us to be sat on a chair and at a table or a desk, so not on the floor.

You're having our feet flat on the floor and your back against the chair.

The second picture is reminding us to angle your paper correctly.

So if you're right-handed, it should be tilted slightly to the left.

And if you're left handed, the paper should be tilted slightly to the right and then your non-writing hand is supporting you by keeping the paper still.

Then the third picture is reminding you to hold your pen or pencil in a tripod grip.

Before starting to write, it's really important to warm up your hands and your muscles just like you would warm up before a sports match.

Your hands and wrists actually get stronger when you exercise them.

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

Let's do today's warmup.

Let's warm up our hands using the piano playing technique.

This is one of my favourite warmups to do because you get to use your imagination to imagine in your head a really lovely tune.

So you are going to pretend that you've got a piano underneath your hands, and you're gonna stretch out your hands and your fingers ready to play your tune.

Then you're gonna start pushing down on the keys and playing a melody in your head.

Maybe you might stretch your fingers, you've gotta reach a note that's a bit further away.

Maybe you're gonna push down on one finger for a bit on one note for a bit longer.

There's no right or wrong with this.

You're just imagining a nice song and the tune might change the melody, the speed might change, which means that you need to move your fingers in different ways.

Okay, it's your turn.

Get your fingers ready.

Imagine you've got a keyboard and or a piano underneath you.

And then in your head, imagine a song that you're playing on the piano with your fingers.

This is a really good way to not only warm up your fingers but also stretch them 'cause you might need to stretch to play a different piano.

Have you got a fun song that you're imagining in your head? I'm sure you're all doing great.

Well done and I hope your fingers feel really warmed up now for handwriting.

Now we're going to do the clapping position for our warmup.

So you're going to put your hands together as if you were going to clap.

I'm gonna have a go first, and then you'll be up to have a go.

So make sure your fingers are lined up, precisely touching, and then you're gonna push your hands against each other.

Feels really nice, and it kind of warms up your arms, your wrists, and your hands.

Okay, your turn, get your two hands, put them together as if you're about to clap, and then to put some pressure on each hand so they're kind of pushing into each other.

It should feel quite nice.

Okay, well done.

Another great thing to do before your handwriting is to practise writing patterns as this helps us to prepare for writing and joining letters.

So you can see the writing patterns on the screen here require a similar movement in your hands and your wrists as to cursive handwriting.

So I'm going to do the writing pattern in the air now with my finger and then you are going to have a go.

This pattern here, it almost looks like the loops.

Don't they look like E's, don't they, if we were to join E again and again.

So starting at the bottom and I'm gonna go up and loop down, and up and loop down, and up and loop down, and up and loop down.

Great.

Your turn.

If you got your finger ready, let's all do this together.

We're starting at the bottom and then up and loop down, up and loop down, up and loop down, up and loop down.

Great.

Hope you enjoyed that.

It's time for task A.

You now do need to copy and continue these patterns using your tripod grip.

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

You want to keep the pencil stuck on the page and really focus on keeping the movement smooth and flowing.

Pause video now.

Off you go and enjoy.

Well done everybody.

I hope you enjoyed that.

So have a thing, did you use your tripod grip? Did you keep your pencil on the page? Was your movement smooth? If you'd like to pause the video and have another go at that, you absolutely can.

Otherwise, well done.

Okay, it's time for the second part of our lesson where we are going to be reviewing and copying a haiku.

A haiku is a short poem of only three lines.

Haikus originate from Japan.

Do you know where Japan is? It's in Asia, a big country in Asia, and haikus are traditionally written about nature.

We will be reviewing and copying this haiku in cursive handwriting.

The purpose of today's lesson is not to write or come up with our own haiku, but really to practise our cursive handwriting.

So here's our haiku that we're going to be writing.

"Majestic mountain, reaching for the sky above silent guardian." So as I said, haikus are often about nature.

So this poem is about a beautiful mountain that is really tall, reaching up into the sky, and is almost guarding the town or the village below.

So can you remember the four joins that we use in cursive handwriting? Here is an example of each join.

Pause the video now and have a think or discuss this for your partner in your class.

How can you describe each join? Off you go.

Okay, so our first join, joining A W is from the baseline to the x-height line.

The second join, C to H, is from the baseline up towards the ascender line.

The third join, joining O to M, is from the x-height line to the x-height line, just dipping a little bit below.

And then the fourth join goes from the x-height line up towards the ascender line.

Great job.

So let's look closely at the first line of the haiku.

Majestic mountain, with a comma afterwards.

Majestic means beautiful or inspiring, powerful.

So this mountain is being described as majestic.

Can you also notice the literary technique that the poets has used here? My clue is that both words start with the same letter.

Can you remember what that's called? That's right.

It's called alliteration.

When two words in a row start with the same letter, majestic mountain.

Okay, so have a look closely at these two words.

What do you notice about the letter formation? Pause the video now.

Okay, so the first word, majestic.

What's really interesting here is that the first word majestic starts with a capital letter and then there is a little gap between M and A, isn't there? The capital letter M is not joined to the next letter.

Then the letter A starts with a lead in as normal from a starting point on the baseline.

J is a looped descender and then we finish with a lead out with the letter C on the baseline.

Mountain starts with a lead in on the baseline, and then finishes with a lead out on the baseline too, and then there is a comma on the baseline.

So let's just recap.

The first word, Majestic, has a capital letter.

The capital letter does not join to the rest of the letter string.

The letter after the capital letter has a lead in.

The word mountain has a lead in for the first letter and a lead out for the last letter.

The word majestic uses the first and second join in its formation.

The word mountain uses the first, second, and third join in its formation, and there is a comma at the end of the line on the baseline.

Let's practise writing the first line of the haiku, majestic mountain.

We just make sure we're sitting comfortably and my pen is in the tripod grip.

The first thing I really need to remember is that the first letter of the first word, the capital letter, does not join to any other letter.

So I'm making sure I'm remembering that when I'm about to start.

So I'm finding my starting point on my baseline, I'm ready to go so saying ready, line, go, and starting to form my first capital letter.

All the way up to this centre line back down to the baseline.

Now I don't need to join M to A, so I'm going to leave a little gap, not a big one, and then I'll start my lead in to form the letter A, then joining A to J down to the descender line and lead out loop J to E, E to S, baseline to x-height line, S to T, towards the ascender line, but not all the way, T to I, baseline to x-height line, I to C, baseline to x-height line.

Now I'm going to dot my up J and my I and cross my T.

Okay, the next word, mountain.

Starting on the baseline, find my starting point lead in to form the letter M.

M to O, joining O to U by dipping below the x-height line, U to N, baseline to x-height line N to T, baseline up towards the ascender line but not all the way, T to A, A to I, baseline to x-height line, I to N, baseline to x-height line, finishing with a lead out on the baseline.

Now I'll go back, cross my T and dot my I.

Great.

Checking for understanding.

You now need to copy the first line of the haiku in cursive handwriting on your tram lines.

Make sure you're holding your pen or pencil in your tripod grip.

Pause video now.

Off you go.

Okay, well done everybody.

Have a look at the words that you've just written.

Did you remember the capital letter? And then with a space between the capital letter and the rest of the word.

Did you add the correct lead ins? If you need to make any edits to make sure it looks just like the example on the screen, you can pause the video now and do that.

Otherwise, really well done.

Let's now look closely at the second line of the haiku.

"Reaching for the sky above." What do you notice about the letter formation? Pause video now and take a close look.

Okay, so there's a capital letter at the beginning of the line again.

Reaching begins with the capital R.

There is a lead in for the letter after the capital letter, E, in the letter string.

So R and E are not joined.

The remaining words all have a lead in and a lead out.

There is adequate spacing between the letters, and for all the descender letters we have a looped lead out.

So for G and F and Y and remembering the comma at the end of the line just on the baseline.

So just looking at these a bit more closely, the first word, Reaching, has a capital letter.

The capital letter does not join to the rest of the letter string.

There is a little gap between R and E.

You can see in reaching a little gap though not too big, the word reaching uses the first and second join in its formation.

Can you spot the joins? The word for uses the first and the third join.

The word "the" uses the first and the second join in its formation, the word sky uses the first and the second join in its formation.

The word above uses the first, second, and third join in its formation and there is a comma at the end of the line.

I suggest you now pause the video, and take a close look at each word and all the joins that you can spot.

Pause the video now.

Let's practise writing the second line of the haiku.

I'm making sure I'm sitting really comfortably, my feet are firmly on the ground.

I'm going to find a starting point on the baseline and I'm ready to go.

Ready, line, go.

I'm remembering that I don't join my first capital letter to the next letter.

So when I form my capital letter to start the sentence capital R, I am not gonna join it to E.

Then forming my E with a lead in from the baseline and then joining C to H up to the ascender line, I to N, N to G, a descender line with a lead out loop.

Then I'll go back and dot my I.

Leaving a little space between the two words, reaching for.

Starting on the baseline lead in loop form a letter F with a lead out loop from the descender line, F to O, joining O to R with a little dip down below this x-height.

The sky above.

The word "the" starting with base on the baseline, starting point up towards the ascender line, but not all the way, T to H, H up to the ascender line.

And then joining H to E baseline to x-height line.

Then I'll go back and cross my T.

Reaching for the sky above.

Sky, starting on the baseline, got a starting point, starting with a lead in, forming the letter S, joining S to K, baseline up to the ascender line, forming the letter K, K to Y, finishing with a lead out loop from the ascender line.

And then we're going to write the word above.

There's not quite enough space on this line, so I'm gonna start the next tram line.

Find a starting point lead in, form the letter A, A to B up to the ascender line.

B to O joining baseline to x-height line, O to V, dipping down below the x-height line, V to E, dipping down below, finishing with a lead out on the baseline, and then there's a comma at the end, so I'll do that just on the baseline.

Great.

Okay, checking for understanding.

Copy the second line of the haiku in cursive handwriting on your tram lines.

Pause the video now.

Well done everybody.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Have a look at your second line.

Did you remember the capital letter at the start? Did you remember the looped descenders for the letters that needed it, G, F and Y? And is there adequate space between the letters in the words? If you need to, you can make any edits to the second line of your haiku using the example on the screen to help you.

Pause the video now.

Okay, well done everybody.

Now let's look at the third final line of the haiku, "Silent guardian." What do you notice about the letter formation here? Pause the video now.

Okay, so silent is the first word of the line and it starts with capital letter, and then there is a gap between S and the rest of the letter string.

The letter I starts with a lead in from the baseline.

The letter T ends with a lead out from the baseline.

Guardian starts with a lead in to form the letter G, and then we have a loop descender.

We finish the word with a letter N, with a lead out on the baseline, and then because it's the end of the poem, we have a full stop.

Let's just recap.

The first word has a capital letter, "Silent." The capital letter does not join to the rest of the letter string.

The letter after the capital letter, so I has a lead in.

The word "guardian" has a lead in for the first letter and a lead out for the last letter.

The word "silent" uses the first and second join in its formation and the word "guardian" uses the first and third join in its formation.

And there is a full stop at the end of the line.

Again, I suggest you now pause the video and take a closer look at both words, focusing on which joins you can spot.

Pause the video now.

Let's practise writing the last line of the haiku.

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

My first letter of the line is a capital letter, so I'm making sure I am not joining it to the next letter.

So capital S to start the word silent.

So forming a capital S, I'm not joining it to I so I'm gonna start on the baseline to form start my lead in forming the letter I.

Joining I to L, up to the ascender line, L to E, baseline to x-height line, E to N and then N to T towards the ascender line, but not all the way.

And then I'll dot my I and cross my T, and then guardian.

Starting on the baseline, lead in to form the letter G, down to the descender line, lead out loop, G to U, U to A, baseline to x-height lin, A to R, baseline to x-height line, R to D, dipping below the x-height line, up towards the ascender line, D to I, baseline to x-height line, I to A, baseline to x-height line, A to N, baseline to x-height line, finishing with a lead out on the baseline.

And then I'll go back and dot my I.

Checking for understanding.

Copy the last line of the haiku in cursive handwriting on your tram lines.

Pause the video now and off you go.

Well done everybody.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Have a look at the words that you've just written.

Did you remember the capital letter for silent? Did you remember the small space between S and I in silent? And did you remember the full stop? If you need to, you can pause the video now, and make any edits to the final line of your haiku.

Great job everybody.

Well done.

Okay, it's time for task B.

You are now going to copy the whole haiku in cursive handwriting on your tramlines.

Make sure you're thinking about everything that we've just looked at in the buildup to this task.

So capital letters at the start of each word, commas and or a full stop at the end of the line, and thinking closely about the joins in each word.

So pause the video now.

Make sure your pencils and your pens and you're in your tripod grip.

Off you go and enjoy.

Well done everybody.

Have a look at your haiku and compare it to the example on the screen.

Did you use the correct joins within the letter strings? I'm sure you all did brilliantly.

Really well done.

Here's a summary of everything we've learned today.

A haiku is a short poem of just three lines.

Haikus originate from Japan and are traditionally written about nature.

Each line of the poem starts in a new line with a capital letter.

In cursive handwriting, you lift your pencil after forming the capital letter.

Capital letters do not join to other letters in the letter string.

The cursive letter joins used within a letter string, depends on which letter is joining to which letter.

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

Great job today everybody.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Well done.