Hi everybody.

My name's Ms. Gardner.

Welcome to today's handwriting lesson.

Today's a really exciting handwriting lesson because we are going to be working on improving the speed of our handwriting, trying to get quicker and quicker when we are writing cursive, whilst also still trying to make sure our writing is legible so that people can read it.

I think we're going to really enjoy today's lesson.

So let's get started.

Your learning outcome for today's lesson is to write quickly and legibly using cursive handwriting.

So let's start with looking at the keywords.

We'll do my turn, your turn, speed.

In handwriting, this refers to the rate at which one can write legible, legible handwriting is clear and and easy to read and understand.

Accurate, this means being exact and precise.

Balance, this means achieving an optimal equilibrium.

So there are three sections of our lesson today.

In the first we'll be doing a handwriting warmup.

Then we'll be writing at speed, and then we'll be be finding a balance.

So let's start with our handwriting warmup.

Before we start handwriting today, have a look at these pictures.

What are they reminding you to do? Have a think or discuss with your partner or your class? Pause the video now.

Okay, so the first picture is reminding us to be sat on a chair and at a table or a desk to have our feet flat on the floor and your back against the chair.

You don't want to be slouched over.

Then your second picture is reminding you to angle your paper correctly.

You don't want your paper straight in front of you.

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

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

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

Before starting to write, it's really important to warm up your hands and your wrist muscles just like you would warm up your leg muscles before a PE lesson.

Your hands and wrists gets stronger the more that you exercise them.

So the more exercise you do, the stronger they become.

Warming up your hands before handwriting will help to improve your cursive handwriting.

Making your hands stronger will help to speed up your handwriting will make you be able to write quicker.

Let's do today's handwriting 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 are 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 are 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 are 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.

Should feel quite nice.

Okay, well done.

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

You can see the patterns on the screen here will actually require really similar movements in your hands and wrist to cursive handwriting.

So it's a great activity to do before you start writing.

Practising writing patterns also can help to strengthen our hands, which makes it then easier to write faster and for longer.

I'm going to do the writing pattern in the air with my finger first.

So then you are going to have a go.

So I'm gonna start at the bottom and then I'm really gonna try and focus at keeping my movement smooth and flowing.

I'm gonna loop up and then down, loop up and then down, loop up and then down, loop up and then down.

And then out your turn, you are going to do the writing passionate in the air with your finger.

So in a moment you'll pause the video and you are going to do this by yourself.

Pause video now.

Great job.

It's time for task A.

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

Remember, don't lift your pen or your pencil off the page when forming the pattern.

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

Pause, video now.

Off you go.

Well done everybody.

I hope you enjoyed that.

So have a think.

Were you using your tripod grip? Did you keep your pencil on the page and was your movement smooth? I'm sure you ordered really well, but if you need to, you can pause the video now and have another go at continuing these patterns.

Well done everybody.

Okay, it's time for the second part of our lesson where we are going to be practising writing at speed.

Writing at speed means to write quickly discuss with your partner or your class or whoever you're with.

When might there be a time when you might want to or need to write really quickly? Pause the video now.

Okay, so here are some possible suggestions, but I'm sure you've all come up with lots of different ideas too.

I like to make notes in class, when the teacher is speak speaking, I have to write quickly then that's a really good point.

Teachers can often talk really quickly.

So if you want to write down as many notes as you can, then you need to be writing quite quickly, don't you? Same goes if you're watching a video, which you need to jot down information from.

The videos can often go quite quickly, so you need to be writing quickly too.

My dad writes the shopping list very quickly.

He looks in the fridge and then quickly writes his list.

Often parents are really busy.

They need to just quickly write down what's on their shopping list so they can get out and go.

So you need to be able to write quickly for that.

Writing at speed is a valuable skill for several reasons.

Efficiency and productivity.

Being able to write quickly allows you to complete tasks in a shorter amount of time, so that's more efficient.

Communication skills, the ability to write quickly ensures that you can keep up with communication such as writing letters and emails, et cetera.

That's really important in some jobs is you need to be able to be on top of all your emails.

Meeting deadlines.

The ability to write quickly ensures that you can produce high quality work within a given timeframe.

Capturing ideas, ideas and thoughts can be fleeting.

They can, you can move on very quickly.

Writing quickly helps in capturing these ideas before they are forgotten.

So if you want to jot down an idea whilst you're thinking about it, maybe an idea for a book or a picture or a TV show you want to write, you want to be able to write it down quickly before you forget.

And developing fluency.

Writing at speed help you develop fluency, which is the ability to write smoothly and effortlessly.

The quicker you write, the more fluent you become.

It becomes just easier and less effort to write in cursive handwriting.

Can you think though of any disadvantages of writing at speed? What could be problematic when writing at speed? Pause the video now and have a discussion with your partner.

So here are some possible disadvantages.

Reduced legibility, writing too quickly can lead to messy handwriting, which is then really difficult for other people to read.

Decreased accuracy, speed writing can actually result in more frequent spelling, grammar, punctuation errors or mistakes.

And then physical strain, speed writing, writing really quickly can cause physical discomfort or strain in the hand or wrist, especially if you're doing it a lot.

There are many advantages though, to writing at speed and it is a skill that we need to develop.

However, there is a balance between speed, legibility, so someone else being able to read it and accuracy.

So making sure you're spelling things correctly.

You've got accurate grammar and accurate punctuation.

So basically you don't want to be writing so quickly that then it's impossible for anyone else to read.

And then there's loads of mistakes like spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes.

It's a balance.

So you must experiment and become familiar with your balance when writing in cursive handwriting, everybody is different.

Some people might find it really difficult to write at speed, whereas some people might find it a bit easier.

So you need to work out what works for you.

With practise, the speed of your handwriting can increase, you can get quicker the more you practise, whilst also maintaining the accuracy and legibility.

Checking for understanding, select the true statement.

A.

Increasing writing speeds involves writing as fast as you can and not worrying about the letter formation.

B, increasing increasing writing speed involves writing as fast as you can whilst maintaining the correct letter formation.

C, increasing writing speed involves only focusing on letter formation.

Pause the video now.

That's right, it is B in increasing writing speed does involve writing as fast as you can, but also you need to have a balance, don't you? And your letter formation still needs to be accurate.

Well done.

It's time for task B.

Let's experiment to find the balance between speed, legibility, and accuracy.

So the first task of part of task B is to set a timer for one minute.

Write the word Glasgow, which is the city in Scotland as many times as you can within one minute, focusing only on letter formation.

So you want to make sure your formation of all the letters and all the drawings is accurate.

Then you're going to set a timer for one minute again, but this time you're going to write the word Glasgow as many times as you can, but this time focusing only on speed, you don't need to worry so much about accurate letter formation.

So in a moment you're going to pause the video.

So make sure you've got your timer ready for one minute.

Make sure you are confident with the spelling of Glasgow.

So then complete part A and then part B of the task.

Pause the video now.

Off you go.

Well done everybody.

I really hope you enjoyed that.

So have a look at your two lists that you've written.

Let's compare them firstly, which list had more words? I imagine it was probably the list where you were focusing just on speed and not worrying so much about letter formation.

Then look at both lists again and consider this question, which list had the most accurate letter formation? I imagine this list was the one where you were focusing on the letter formation rather than the speed.

So you may have had less words, but probably then you're done.

So do you think though you could find a balance between speed and accurate letter formation so that you've write written really quickly, but also all the words are formed accurately? If you want to have another go at this, you can pause the video now.

Otherwise, really well done.

Okay, it's time for the third part of our lesson where we are going to be thinking about finding a balance as the speed of your handwriting increases, so as you get quicker at writing, there is a possibility that the accuracy of your letter formation and the legibility of your hand handwriting will decrease.

So you'll be starting to make spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes or letter formation mistakes.

And it might be harder for someone else to read your handwriting.

However, we know that writing at speed is an important skill and has many benefits, so we do need to practise it.

Therefore, you need to practise speeding up your handwriting whilst also maintaining accuracy.

So making sure all your letters are formed accurately and legibility.

You still want people to be able to read it.

You need to find your balance.

And as I said earlier, that's probably gonna be a different balance to somebody else and that's totally okay.

So the following steps can help you to find your balance.

Regular practise, regular practise can help improve both speed and legibility over time.

The more you do something, anything, not just handwriting, the better you get at it.

Hand exercises engage in exercises that strengthen your hand and your finger muscles.

Prioritise accuracy.

So focus on writing clearly and legibly and your letters are formed accurately, even if it means writing a bit slower at the beginning, take breaks.

Avoid physical strain and pain in your wrists by taking regular breaks When writing and this is always so important when whatever writing we do, review and edit, always set aside time for proofreading and reviewing your writing, 'cause that's a great opportunity to fix any mistakes, which of course we all make.

So checking for understanding.

What advice would you give to Sophia? This is what Sophia says, I can write really fast, however, when I come to read it back, I can't understand what I've written and my hands feel really sore.

So discussing this Sophia's problem with your partner or your class, what advice would you give to Sophia? Pause the video now.

Okay, so Sophia doesn't have a problem with speed, does she? But her writing has become illegible.

It's not very easy to read and she's got sore hands because she's writing so fast.

So the advice we could give would be to slow down to find her balance between speed, legibility, and accuracy.

Because at the moment she's prioritising speed over accuracy and it needs to be more balanced.

Well done.

It's time for task C.

Here is a sentence, the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

There are two parts of this task.

One A, you need to set a timer for two minutes.

Copy the sentence above, onto your lines as many times as you can in two minutes at this time.

In this part of the task, focus on maintaining the correct letter formation.

So you want every word to be formed accurately.

Then once you've done that, you're going to set your timer again for two minutes.

Again, you're going to copy the sentence above onto your lines as many times as you can, but this time you are focusing on writing faster, whilst also maintaining the correct letter formation.

So you're trying to find a balance.

You're trying to write faster than the previous task, than the previous part of the task, but also you still want to be accurate with how you form your letters.

So it's about finding that balance.

So in a moment you can pause video and make sure you've got your time already for two minutes.

Pause video now, pen and tripod grip, and off you go.

Well done everybody.

I hope you enjoyed that.

So have a look at the sentences that you've just written.

Did you manage to go faster the second time? But did you maintain the accuracy of the letter formation? Did you find your balance between speed, legibility, and accuracy? I'm sure you will do brilliantly, but if you want to have another go at this task, you absolutely can, 'cause as we know, one of the most important things we can do is practise.

So pause the video now if you'd like to try again, well done everybody.

I really hope you enjoyed today's lesson and keep working hard on finding that balance between speed, legibility, and accuracy.

Great job, here's a summary of everything we've learned today.

Writing at speed is a valuable skill to develop as it helps with communication, fluency, and meeting deadlines.

Writing at speed can decrease the accuracy and legibility of your handwriting.

Your hand and wrist muscles may get tired when you're writing at speed.

It is important to find a balance between speed, accuracy, and legibility when writing.

Regular practise, hand exercises and taking breaks can help to improve the speed and accuracy of your handwriting.

Well done today everybody, great job.