Hello, everyone.

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

I'm so excited to be here.

I hope you're feeling excited too.

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.

There are some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them one at a time.

My turn.

Your turn.

Join, lead in, lead out, baseline, x-height line.

Fantastic.

I heard those loud and clear.

Let's find out what these keywords mean.

A join is how the letters are connected together.

A lead in is the stroke or line that guides us into starting a letter, and lead out is the stroke or line that guides us to smoothly finish a letter.

The baseline is the line that most letters sit upon, and the x-height line is the line that x-height letters reach up to.

So these are our keywords, so let's be on the lookout for them.

Let's think about them.

Let's listen out for them.

They will be coming up in our lesson today.

So here's our lesson.

The first join I-N, I-G, E-D, E-G, A-W, A-P, A-N, and A-R with lead in.

We're gonna begin with handwriting warmups.

Next, we'll look at the first join, I-N, I-G, E-D, and E-G.

And then we'll look at the first join, A-W, A-P, A-N and A-R.

Let's begin with our handwriting warmup.

So before we start, what are these pictures reminding you to do? Pause the video while you tell someone nearby what each of these pictures is a reminder of.

Okay, good to be back with you.

So what did you come up with? Hopefully you noticed that in that first picture, it's reminding us about our posture, how we're sitting.

So we want our feet flat on the floor, our back resting against the back of our chair, maybe our stomach is touching the edge of the table, and we're sitting up nice and comfortably.

The second picture reminds us about how we're positioning the paper.

So we'll tilt it if we are right-handed.

We'll tilt it ever so slightly to the left.

And if we're left-handed, we'll tilt our paper to the right.

And the third picture reminds us of how we can hold our pen.

So we have our tall finger and our pointing finger on the top, and our thumb goes underneath, and our fingers are slight bent.

Before starting to write, it's important to warm up your hand and wrist muscles.

Your hands and your wrists get stronger when you exercise them, so warming up your hands before writing will help to improve your handwriting.

Let's have a go at our hand squeeze warmup.

I'm going to go first of all, and then it will be your turn.

I'm gonna choose which hand to begin with, this one.

And I'm gonna start by stretching out all my fingers, stretching them really wide, really far apart.

And then I'm gonna slowly bring them in.

And I'm going to imagine I've got something precious in my hand and I'm squeezing and holding it tight, holding something tightly in my hand.

Something tiny, tiny and precious.

And then I'm going to open out my fingers into that lovely stretch once again.

And then back into a squeeze holding something precious and tight.

I'm gonna try with the other hand.

First of all, that lovely big stretch.

Stretch all my fingers.

And then bringing all those fingers in and squeezing something, holding something precious, holding it tight.

Out to that lovely stretch, and then fingers into a lovely squeeze.

Mm, feels great.

Okay, it's your turn.

Choose which hand you're going to begin with.

Put that hand up, open up the fingers, stretch them wide, and then squeeze them tight.

Hold something precious, and tiny, and tight.

And then stretch and squeeze.

Lovely, other hand.

First of all, stretch.

And then squeeze the hand tight.

Stretch and squeeze.

Oh, lovely job, everybody.

Next, we're going to move on to our wrist circles.

First of all, I'm going to stretch my hands out in front of me, and then I'm going to pull my fingers in to form fists, and then I'm going to make circles moving in one direction.

Lovely circles.

And then I'm going to go in the other direction.

This feels good.

This feels fun.

Are you ready to join in? Let's go.

Take your hands, put them out in front of you, form fists.

Let's go.

One direction, other direction.

Let's just do it again because it's so much fun.

We can't really stop 'cause we're enjoying ourselves so much.

That's the way to do it.

Practising writing patterns helps us to prepare for writing and joining letters.

We can see some fantastic patterns on our screen there.

Let's have a go at forming one of these patterns.

I will go first forming this pattern in the air using my finger, afterwards, it'll be your turn.

So I'm gonna begin down at bottom, and I'm gonna make a tall line up.

Come back down, and then a short line up.

Tall and short.

Tall and short.

Very nice.

I'm gonna go backwards.

Short and tall.

Short and tall.

Short and tall.

Very nice.

And now it's your turn.

Are you ready? Let's go.

Let's make a tall line and then a short line.

Tall, short, tall, short.

And let's go back the other way.

Short and tall.

Short and tall.

Short and tall.

Who knew what fun could be had just by making some patterns in the air? And now it's time for your first task.

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

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

Focus on keeping the movement smooth and flowing.

So pause the video here while you have a go at copying and continuing these patterns using your tripod grip.

I'll see you when you're finished.

All right.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on? Did you use your tripod grip? Did you keep your pencil on the page? And was your movement smooth and flowing? I really hope so.

And now we are onto the first join, I-N, I-G, E-D, and E-G.

Here we can see some lovely joins have appeared on our screen.

Cursive handwriting involves joining letters together without lifting your pencil.

So remember, joining is when we're connecting those letters together.

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

Cursive letter joins refer to how letters connect together, and learning the letter joins will improve your cursive handwriting skills, allowing for a smooth flow of handwriting.

It's gonna look good.

It is gonna feel good.

It's worth putting some time and effort into.

So let's look closely at some examples of our first join.

What do you notice? What do you see? Pause the video and tell someone nearby.

Did you notice that all the letters have a lead in and a lead out? So remember, a lead in is a line or stroke that takes us into the letter, and lead out is a line or stroke that takes us smoothly out of the letter.

The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

And the join starts at the baseline and it goes up to the x-height line.

So remember, here are some more of our keywords.

The baseline is the line that most letters sit on, and the x-height line is the line that x-height letters go up as high as.

And on our screen we can see the baseline is in green and the x-height line is a dotted line.

And we have got those lovely green arrows showing us our first join.

So in the I-N we can see it's going from the I from the baseline up to the N begins at the x-height line.

Same for the I-G, the E-D, and the E-G.

The first join.

So let's look at this join, I-N and I-G.

All the letters have a lead in and they all have a lead out.

The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

The join starts at the baseline and it goes up to the? Yep, you got it, to the x-height line.

Fantastic.

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

The last letter has a? Yeah, well done, a lead out.

There we have the first join.

We've got that lovely green arrow showing us first join.

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

Check for understanding.

Select the words that use the first join.

Invite, we, egg, oval.

Pause the video while you decide which of these words use the first join.

Well done if you selected invite, and well done if you selected egg.

In invite, we can see that first letter, the I, is joining to the N.

There's the first join in egg.

We can see the E is going from the baseline to the x-height line to join to the G.

So those are two examples of the first join.

But in the letter we, there is no example of the first join.

The W does not join to the E with the first join, and overall, none of those letters are using the first join.

Thank you for the reminder, Aisha.

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

Okay, now it's time for us to have some fun and form these joins in the air.

I'm going to go first.

I will choose two joins from the examples shown, and I'm gonna form them in the air with my finger.

I am going to begin with the I-N.

I like that one.

So I'm gonna start down on the baseline, and I'm gonna say to myself, "Ready, line, go." I gonna form my I, and here comes my join from the baseline to the x-height line.

I'm gonna form my letter N.

There's my lead out.

Take my finger off the page, and I'm gonna dot the I.

Yep, that's looking good.

I'm gonna go for E-D.

I'll say, "Ready, line, go." And I'll start with my lead in at the baseline.

There's my E.

Here comes the join.

Baseline to the x-height line.

I'm gonna form my letter D, and I'll finish it with a lead out.

Oh, I think I did a great job there.

I'm very pleased with my I-N and E-D.

All right, and now it's your turn.

I would like you to choose two joins from the examples shown and form them in the air using your finger.

Remember to keep your movement smooth and flowing.

So I'd like you to pause the video here while you have a go at forming your two joins.

I wonder which ones you're going to choose.

Off you go.

Okay, it's great to be back with you.

Well done.

Those joins look fantastic.

Well done for really focusing on keeping the movement smooth and flowing.

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

I'm sitting comfortably.

The pen is in the tripod grip.

I'm going to say to myself, "Ready, line, go." And I'll start with my lead in at the baseline as I form I-N.

So I'm gonna lead in, form my letter I.

And here's my first join from the baseline to the x-height line.

I'm going to form the letter N, and I'll finish with the lead out.

Then I'll go back and dot the I.

And I only take my pencil off the page once the letter string is complete.

Now I'm going to have a go at I-G.

Ready, line, go.

I'll begin with my lead in at the baseline.

Here's the I.

Here comes my join from the baseline to the x-height line.

I'm going to form my letter G, and it has a loop.

Lead out the descender, and I'll take my pencil off the page and dot the I.

Next I'm going to form E-D.

Again, it's the first join.

Ready, line, go.

Here's my lead in to form my E.

Here's my join going from the E to the D.

Baseline to the x-height line.

Here's the D.

Finish with a lead out.

And finally I'm going to form E-G.

I'll begin at the baseline.

Ready, line, go.

Here's my lead in E.

And here's my join from the baseline to the x-height line.

There's my G, and I've got that lead out loop.

Check for understanding.

Which letters are connected using the first join? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected I-G.

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

And well done if you selected I-N.

Again, we can see the join going from the I down from the baseline up to the x-height line.

Great job, team.

And now it's time for your next task.

I'd like you to practise the first join I-N, I-G, E-D, and E-G.

Practise the example joins using the starting point, and then practise writing the words egg and bed on your tramlines.

Pause the video while you have a go at this task.

Enjoy every join.

Enjoy writing these words.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? How are the eggs? How are the beds? Did you join from the baseline to the x-height line? Did you keep your pencil on the page until the end of the letter string? And was your movement smooth and flowing? And did you enjoy it? I really hope so.

And now it's time for the next part of our lesson.

The first join A-W, A-P, A-N and A-R.

So many As.

Let's look closely at some examples of our first join.

What do you notice? What do you see? Pause the video and tell someone nearby.

Did you notice that all the letters have a lead in? Remember that line or stroke that takes us into the letter, and they all have a lead out against the line or stroke that takes us out of the letter.

The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

Remember the green line that most letters sit on.

And the join starts at the baseline and it goes up to the x-height line.

That's the dotted line that x-height letters reach up as high as.

What do you notice about how these letters are joined? Pause the video and tell someone nearby.

Did you notice that all the letters have a lead in and they have a lead out? The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

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

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

And the last letter has a lead out.

The letter W lead out just dips down below the x-height line and back up again.

And here we have got some lovely blue arrows to illustrate that join, that first join, from the baseline to the x-height line.

Here's Aisha with the reminder.

First join is from the baseline to the x-height line.

Thank you, Aisha.

Check for understanding.

Select the words that use the first join.

Ape, vet, well, far.

Which of these words use the first join? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected ape.

We can see there there's a first join going from the A to the P from the baseline to the x-height line.

And well done if you selected far.

We can see the first join going from the A to the R.

Baseline to the x-height line.

That's what Aisha's here to remind us about.

That's the first join, baseline to the x-height line.

Okay, everyone, it's time for us to practise our joins.

I'm going to choose two joins from the examples shown, and I'm gonna form them in the air using my finger.

Mm, which ones? These all look so good.

I'm gonna go for the A-W.

I like that one.

Okay, I'm gonna start at the baseline.

I'm gonna say, "Ready, line, go." Here's my lead in.

I'm gonna form the letter A.

And here comes the join from the baseline to the x-height line.

I'm gonna form my W.

I quite like the stick lead out.

Just dips below the x-height line.

Very good, very good.

Very good, me.

Okay, next up, I'm gonna have a go at A-P.

I'm going to start at the baseline.

Ready, line, go.

That's my lead in.

I'm gonna form the letter A, and then I'm going to do my join from the baseline to the x-height line.

Gonna form my letter P.

Oh, there's a descender.

Those are always fun.

And we finish with a lead out at the baseline.

Fantastic job if I say so myself.

And now it's your turn to have a go.

I'd like you to choose two joins from the example shown and form them in the air using your finger.

Keep your focus on the movements being smooth and flowing.

Are you ready to pick your joins? Off you go.

Pause video here.

Well done.

I hope you enjoyed forming those joins.

I hope you kept your movement smooth and flowing, and that you enjoyed every join.

I'm going to show you how to form the first join, A-W, A-P, A-N, and A-R.

I'm sitting comfortably.

I'm holding my pen in the tripod grip.

I'm going to say to myself, "Ready, line, go," as I begin the A-W at the baseline with my lead in for my letter A.

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

Going to form my letter W, and I'll finish with a dip down, lead out at the x-height line.

Next is A-P.

Ready, line, go.

Here's my lead in from the baseline for my letter A.

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

Here's my letter P.

It has a descender.

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

Next is A-N.

Ready, line, go.

Lead in, form the letter A.

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

Form the letter N.

Finish with a lead out.

Last one, A-R.

Ready, line, go.

Here's my lead in.

Form my letter A.

Here comes a join.

Baseline to the x-height line.

Form my letter R.

Finish with a dip down.

Lead out at the x-height line.

The first join.

Check for understanding.

Which letters are connected using the first join? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected A-N.

The A goes from the baseline, the join goes from the baseline up to the x-height line.

And well done if you selected A-W.

Again, the join is going from the baseline to the x-height line.

And now it's time for your final task.

I'd like you to practise the first join, A-W, A-P, A-N, and A-R.

Practise the example joins using the starting point, and then practise writing the words ape and far on your tramlines.

Pause the video while you have a go at this task, and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on? How are the apes? How are the fars? Did you join from the baseline to the x-height line? Did you keep your pencil on the page until the end of the letter string? Was your movement smooth and flowing? Did you enjoy every join, every word? I hope so.

Circle your best join and celebrate.

In our lesson today, the first join I-N, I-G, E-D, E-G, A-W, A-P, A-N, and A-R, we've covered the following.

Cursive handwriting involves joining letters together.

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.

You do not lift your pencil when forming the join.

The motion should be smooth and flowing.

The letters G and F have lead out loops.

Well done everyone for joining in this lesson.

There were so many ways in which we formed the first join.

So many different combinations of letters that contained the first join.

So it was great to practise all of these, and I hope you enjoyed it.

I'll see you in the next lesson.

Bye for now.