Hi, everybody! My name's Ms. Gardner.

And I'm going to be taking your handwriting lesson today.

Thank you so much for joining in on today's learning.

I'm really excited and I hope you are too.

I think it's going to be a really fun handwriting lesson because we're going to be learning all about how to do the third join.

So let's get started.

Your learning outcome for today's lesson is to correctly form the third join.

Let's start by looking at the keywords.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

Join.

Lead in.

Lead out.

X-height line.

Dips down.

Let's have a look at what these mean.

A join is how the letters are connected together, how they are joined together.

The lead ins is the stroke or line that guides us into starting a letter.

The lead out is the stroke or line that guides us smoothly to finish a letter.

The x-height line is the line that x-height letters reach up to.

And then a dip down is when you drop slightly below something.

So there are three sections of our lesson today.

In the first, we'll be doing handwriting warm-up.

Then in the second, we'll be learning the third join, oe and we.

And then in the third learning cycle, we'll be learning our third join, os and rs.

So let's start with our handwriting warm-up.

Before we start though, I want us to think about what we need to remember when we're doing our handwriting.

Have a look at these pictures.

What are they reminding us to do? In a moment, you can pause the video and you can think about this by yourself or have a chat with your partner, your class, or whoever you're with.

Pause the video now.

Okay, so what are these pictures reminding us of? The first picture is that we need to remind ourselves to sit up straight with our backs against the back of the chair and our feet placed firmly on the ground.

We don't want to be slouching over with our legs dangling off the chair.

We want to try and keep our feet firmly on the ground.

Then the next picture is to remind us to keep our paper slightly slanted.

If we're right-handed, you want the paper to be slanted slightly to the left.

If we're left-handed, we want the paper to be slanted slightly to the right.

It just makes it a slightly easier angle.

And then the third picture is to remind us to use our tripod grip, remembering that our tall finger and our pointing finger are above and our thumb is just below and all our fingers are slightly bent.

If you want to, you can practise now, holding your pen or pencil in your tripod grip.

So that's what we need to be remembering when we're doing our handwriting.

But it's also really important before we start to write that we warm up our hands and our wrist muscles.

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

And warming up your hands before writing will actually help to improve your handwriting and help you to write really neatly and in cursive handwriting for longer.

So before we start our handwriting today, we're going to do our warm-up.

Let's have a go at the finger pull warm-up.

I'll have a go first and then it's your turn.

So I'm going to get one of my hands ready, like this, and then I'm going to get my other hand and start on the thumb.

I'm going to pull.

This is the finger-pull technique.

So I'm going to pull my thumb and kind of squeeze it at the same time.

Then my next finger, pull and squeeze.

Pull and squeeze really tight.

Almost like you're trying to pull it out of the joint of the socket.

Pull and squeeze, but not too hard.

It should feel really nice, almost like a kind of finger-hand massage.

And then we'll swap hands.

Starting at the thumb, pull and squeeze.

Pull and squeeze.

Nice and slow.

Not too quickly.

Pull and squeeze.

Oh, I just heard a little click.

Pull and squeeze.

Shake it out.

And now it's your turn.

Get your two hands ready.

Choose which hand you're going to start with.

It doesn't matter which.

And then starting on the thumb, let's go.

Pull down.

Pull and squeeze.

Pull and squeeze.

Pull and squeeze.

Pull, squeeze.

Squeeze.

Good job! Next hand.

Let's go, starting at the thumb.

Pull and squeeze.

It feels good, doesn't it? It feels like your hands are getting a really good warmup ahead of handwriting.

Pull and squeeze.

And then the last one.

Then can shake it out.

Now they feel really ready and strong for some handwriting.

Let's now use the rolling wrist warm-up technique.

So you're going to start by hanging one of your hands down.

Doesn't matter which one.

A bit like this.

You're going to imagine there's a bowl underneath your hand.

It could be a bowl of cake mixture.

Maybe a bowl of soup or stew or something that you need to mix with your hand.

You're going to imagine that you are mixing what's in the bowl.

So you're going to go in one direction and then you can use your hand to go in the other direction, so almost backwards, rotating the wrist in a different way.

And then you're going to take your other hand and you're going to do the same thing.

You're going to pretend there's something in the bowl.

I think this time, I'm pretending there's going to be a bowl of cookie mixture.

I'm going to go the other way, the wrist in a different direction.

Okay, your turn now.

Get one of your hands ready.

It doesn't matter which.

Hang it down and imagine you've got a bowl of something underneath.

What have you got in your bowl? Maybe you've got some soup, some pasta, brownie mixture, cake mixture, something that needs mixing.

So you're going to start.

Off you go, mixing what's in the bowl.

Going in one direction.

You can go slowly and then speed up a bit and then switch the other direction.

So you're getting a really nice rotating movement in your wrist.

Then switching hands, you've got another bowl of something underneath.

Maybe this time your soup, which needs a bit of mixing together.

Rotating in one direction and then switching over and rotating in the other direction.

So now your wrist should be feeling really strong and really flexible, ready for some handwriting.

Great job! Practising writing patterns is another great way to help us prepare for writing and joining letters.

Remember, joining is one of our keywords.

It means when letters are connected in our joined handwriting.

And you can see on the screen here, here is some really fun writing patterns that we can practise today.

So, so I'm going to have a go now at practising this writing pattern in the air using my finger.

This pattern here looks a bit like two Ws joined together, doesn't it? So we're going to start at the top on the left and we're going to go down all the way to the bottom and then a little bit up and then down again and all the way up to the top, down, a little bit up, a little bit down, and then all the way up again! And then what are we going do? We're going to go back down again.

We're going to go from right to left, down, then up, then down, then up, then down, then a little bit up, then down, then all the way up to the top.

Your turn now.

Can you do it with me? Let's all make sure we've got our fingers ready.

Starting at the top, and down, then up, then a little bit down again, then up, down all the way to the bottom, little bit up, down, and then up again.

And then we're going to go back.

So down, up, down, up, down, up, down, and then all the way up to the top before you can finish.

Great job, everybody.

Well done.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Okay, it's time for task A.

You need to copy and continue these patterns using your tripod grip with a pencil or pen on some paper.

And when we say continue, that means you want to try and keep the pattern looking as similar as possible to how it started.

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

When we do cursive writing, we try to keep our pencil or pen on the page.

Focus on keeping the movement slow and smooth and flowing, rather than taking your pencil off and putting it back on again, taking it off, putting it back on again.

You want to try and keep it on the page to create that smooth movement.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Well done, everybody.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Did you use your tripod grip? Did you keep your pencil on the page? Was your movement smooth? I'm sure you all did a brilliant job.

Really well done.

It's now time for our second part of the lesson where we are going to be thinking about the third join and we're going to be joining oe and w and e.

Here are some examples of cursive joins.

Cursive handwriting involves joining letters together without lifting your pencil off the page.

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

Cursive letter joins refer to how the letters connect together.

Learning the letter joins will improve your cursive handwriting skills and allows for a really smooth flow of handwriting so that hopefully your handwriting will look really beautiful on the pages.

Here are some examples of the first join that we've already done.

Can you remember what the first join is? The first join is from the baseline to the x-height line.

So let's have a look.

We're using the green arrows here.

So you can see in all these examples, the join starts at the baseline at the bottom of the first letter and it goes up to the x-height line to start the second letter.

The second join we've learnt is shown below in all these examples.

Can you remember what the second join is? That's right.

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

So you can see here in all these examples, the join starts on the baseline and it goes up towards the ascender line.

Checking for understanding.

Select the letters that use the second join.

Pause the video now.

Which is the one that uses the second join? It's A.

I to f are joined from the baseline up to the ascender line.

Great job.

Now let's look closely at some of our examples of our third join.

What can you notice here? What can you see? Which letters are joined and how are they joined? Pause the video now and have a little think.

Okay, so what did we notice? All of the letters have a lead in and a lead out.

Remember, a lead in is the line that leads us into our starting letter, and a lead out, which leads us smoothly out of our second letter.

The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

So you can see o and w are our starting letters, our first letters, and their lead in starts on the baseline.

Now how are the letters joined? Where is the join? The join starts at the x-height line and then it dips below the x-height line, just a little bit, to start the formation of the letter e and then it goes back up again.

So you can see here with the green arrows.

The join is just below, just a dip below, the x-height line.

So let's just have another close look at our third join.

We can see that all the letters have a lead in and a lead out.

The first letter, so o and w in these examples, has a lead in from the baseline, the green line, where the letters sit on.

And the join starts at the x-height line and then it dips below, just slightly, the x-height line to start the formation of the letter e and then it goes back up to the x-height line.

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

That's the point of cursive handwriting.

We want to keep that smooth, flowing movement.

Another thing to remember is that the gap between the letters is big enough that the letters are not touching.

You can see the o and the e, there is a gap between them.

They're not toying together.

And the w and the e, there is a gap between the two letters.

So how could we summarise this join? Pause the video now and have a think and maybe discuss this with the person you're with.

Let's hear a summary.

The third join is from the x-height line to the x-height line because it stays really on the x-height line but just a little bit below.

Checking for understanding.

Can you select the words that use the third join? Pause the video now.

The words that use the third join are wet, the w and the e all use the third join, and D, toe, the o and the e.

Just remember our summary of the third join is that the third join is from the x-height line to the x-height line.

Great job.

I'm going to now form the joins in the air using my finger.

So let's start with oe.

I'm going to start with my lead in on the baseline and then I'm going to go up to the x-height line, form my letter o, and then I'm going to stay on the x-height line and dip a little bit below to join into the e, stay on the x-height line, and then go down back to the baseline, and then my lead out to form my letter e.

Then let's do the we.

Again, we're going to start on the baseline.

My lead in starts there and I'm going to go up to the x-height line.

And there, I'm going to be able to form my letter w.

So go down to the baseline, up to the x-height line, down to the baseline, up to the x-height line, and then just dipping a little bit below, I'm going to form my letter e and then go down again to the baseline where I can finish with my lead out.

Great.

Hope you enjoyed watching that.

That was great fun.

Now you're going to have a go at forming the joins in the air with your fingers.

So, everybody, get your finger ready and let's start by doing our third join with the letters o and e.

So starting on our baseline, the lead in into the o, we're going to go up to the x-height line.

Form our letter o.

And then staying on the x-height line, we're going to dip a little bit low, below.

Back up to the x-height line to form our letter e.

Then go down to the baseline to form our lead out.

Great job.

Now let's do our we.

Again, we need our fingers ready.

We're going to go to our baseline.

Let's start with our lead in and we're going to go up to the x-height line.

And now let's form our letter w.

Down to the baseline, up again, down again, back up to the x-height line, and then we're going to dip a little bit below so we can form our e and then back up to the x-height line and then down to the baseline and then finishing with our lead out.

Great job, everybody.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Remember, whenever you're doing the joins with your fingers, you want to focus on keeping the movement smooth and flowing.

So if you want to, you can pause the video now and practise doing that again.

Great job.

Now let's practise the third join.

I'm going to show you how to use the third join when joining the letters o and e and w and e.

I've made sure I'm sitting comfortably and I'm holding my pen in the tripod grip.

I'm going to start by starting on the baseline.

This is my starting point.

I'm ready to go so I'm going to say ready, line, go.

Then I can start my lead in from the baseline to form the letter o.

And now I'm going to join the letter o to the letter e, just dipping down below the x-height line, making sure I'm not taking my pen off the page.

Then back down to the baseline and finishing with a lead out.

Now I'm going to join the letters w and e.

Once again, starting on the baseline for my starting point.

Ready, line, go! The lead in up to the x-height line, forming my w.

Then not taking my pen off the page, I'm going to join w to e.

So dipping down below the x-height line, forming the letter e, back down to the baseline, and finishing with a lead out.

Checking for understanding.

Which letters are connected using the third join? A, B, or C? Pause the video now.

Did you tick B and C? If you did, then you were right.

Wa and o and a are both joined just below the x-height line, which means they are the third join.

Great job.

It's time for task B.

You're going to practise the third join, joining the letters o and e and w and e.

Practise the example joins, using the starting point, so the dot.

And then you're going to practise writing the words wet and toe on your tramlines.

Pause the video now.

Off you go and I hope you enjoy it.

Great job, everybody.

Well done.

Did you use the correct joins? When using the third join, did you go from the x-height line to the x-height line? Did you dip down as you joined the letters with the third join? I'm sure you all did brilliantly.

Have a look back through all your words and your joins, circle your best one, and then have a little celebration.

Really well done, everybody.

It's now time for our third part of our lesson where we are going to be looking at using the third join with the letters os and rs.

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

What can you see? What do you notice about the joins? Where do the letters join? Pause the video now and have a think about this by yourself or chat about it with your partner, your class, whoever you're with.

Okay, so all the letters have a lead in and a lead out.

The first letter has a lead in from the baseline.

So the green line where the letters are sat on.

And the join starts at the x-height line and dips a little bit below the x-height line and then back up again to the x-height line to join the next letter.

You can see here with the blue arrow, the o and the s and the r and the s are joined just below the x-height line.

Let's have a look at these a little bit more closely.

What do you notice about how these letters are joined? If you need to, you can pause the video now to take a really close look.

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

The first letter, the letter r in these examples, has a lead in from the baseline.

The join starts at the x-height line and dips below the x-height line and back up to join the next letter.

So the letters have joined just below the x-height line.

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

The pencil stays on the page.

And the gap between the letters is big enough so that the letters are not touching.

The o and the s and the r and the s are not touching.

How could we summarise this join? How do you think we could say it in maybe one sentence? Pause the video now.

Okay, let's hear this summary.

The third join is from the x-height line to the x-height line.

It just dips a little bit below, doesn't it? Great job! So checking for understanding.

Select the words that use the third join.

Pause the video now.

The words that use the third join are C and D because the third join is from the x-height line to the x-height line.

Really well done.

I'm going to now form the joins in the air with my finger.

So let's start with o and s.

I'm going to start on the green baseline.

That's my lead in.

I'm going to lead in.

I'm going to go up to the x-height line and I'm going to form my letter o.

And then I'm going to dip a little bit below the x-height line and then back up to the x-height line to form my letter s.

And then I'm going to have my lead out on the baseline.

Then let's do the r and the s.

Again, I'm going to start on the baseline.

My lead in, I'm going to go up to the x-height line.

I'm going to form my letter r.

And then I'm going to dip a little bit below the x-height line, go back up again, form my letter s, and then have my lead out just off the baseline.

That was really fun.

It's now your turn.

You're going to form the fingers in the air with your fingers.

So get your fingers ready.

Let's all do this together.

Let's start by joining o and s.

We're going to start on the baseline.

We're going to go up really smoothly to the x-height line.

Then we're going to form our letter o.

Then we're going to dip a little bit below.

Then back up to the x-height line, form our letter s, and then at the baseline, we'll do our lead out.

Well done! Let's do rs now.

Let's start on the baseline.

Let's go do our lead in and then go up to the x-height line.

Form our letter r.

And then go dip below the x-height line.

Back up again.

Form our letter s.

And then when we're on the baseline, we'll do our lead out.

Remember, we're focusing on keeping that movement really smooth and flowing.

So if you need to, you can pause the video now and have another go.

Great job, everybody.

Well done.

Let's practise the third join.

I'm going to show you now how to use the third join when joining the letters o and s and r and s.

So I've made sure I'm sitting comfortably.

I'm holding my pencil in the tripod grip.

And I'm supporting the paper and I'm holding down the paper with my non-writing hand.

I'm going to start on the baseline at my starting point and then I'm ready to go.

So I'm going to say ready, line, go.

Then I'm going to start with my lead in from the baseline, up to the x-height line to form my letter o.

And then dipping down to start joining my letter s, back down to the baseline line, and finishing with a lead out.

Now I'm going to join r and s.

So starting at the baseline for my starting point.

Ready, line, go! I'm going to lead in and then form my letter r.

And then I'm going to join r and s, just dipping below the x-height line, form my letter s, back down to the baseline, and finishing with my lead out.

Checking for understanding.

Which letters are connected using the third join? Pause the video now.

If you selected C, you were right.

V and e are connected using the third join.

Great job.

It's time for task C.

We're going to practise the third join, joining together o and s and r and s.

Firstly, practise the example joins, using the starting point dot, and then practise writing the words boss and cars on your tramlines.

Pause the video now and off you go.

I hope you enjoy it.

Great job, everybody.

Well done! Did you join from the x-height line to the x-height line with a little bit down for the third join? Did you keep your pencil on the page for the join? Was your movement smooth? I'm sure it was and I'm sure all your writing looks beautiful.

So read back through, have a look back through all your joins, circle your best, and give yourself a little celebration.

Well done, everybody.

Great job today.

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

Cursive letter joins refer to how the letters connect together.

The letters all have a lead in and a lead out.

The third join starts at the x-height line and dips below the x-height line and back up to join and form the next letter.

You do not lift your pencil when forming the join.

And when using the third join, you leave enough space to ensure the letters are not touching without leaving a big gap.

Great job today, everybody, and I hope that you can practise using this third join in some of your writing soon.

Well done.