Hi, everybody, I'm Ms. Gardner, and welcome to the first lesson of your new handwriting unit.

In today's lesson, we're going to be progressing our cursive handwriting whilst working on the skill of taking notes.

So I hope you find it a really useful lesson.

Thank you for joining and let's get started.

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

So let's start by looking at the keywords.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

Speed.

Speed in handwriting refers to the rate at which one can write.

Note-taking.

This is writing down key points, ideas, and important information.

Balance, where everything is equal and steady.

Legible.

This is writing that is clear and easy to read and understand.

Accurate.

Being exact and precise.

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 taking notes.

So let's start with our warmup.

Before we start, what are these pictures reminding you to do when it comes to handwriting? Have a think by yourself or discuss this with your partner, your class, whoever you're with.

Pause the video now.

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

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

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

If you're left-handed, the paper should be angled slightly to the right.

And then your non-writing hand is supporting you by keeping the paper still.

Then the third picture reminding to you to hold your pen or pencil 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 football match, for example.

Your hands and wrists get stronger the more you exercise them.

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

And making your hands stronger will help to speed up your handwriting, make you quicker.

So let's start with our 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're 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 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 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.

Should feel quite nice.

Okay, well done.

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

You can see these writing patterns on the screen here will require a really similar wrist-hand movement to cursive handwriting.

So practising writing patterns can help to strengthen our hands and make it easier to write faster and for longer.

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

So this writing pattern here almost looks like the lowercase e joined together, doesn't it? I'm gonna start on the bottom and then really trying to keep my movement smooth and flowing.

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

Your turn.

Get your finger ready in the air and then pause the video now.

Off you go.

Well done, everybody.

Okay, it is time for Task A.

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

Remember, don't lift your pencil or your pen off the page when you're forming the pattern and you want to really focus on keeping the movement smooth and flowing.

Pause the video now.

Off you go and enjoy.

Well done, everybody.

So have a think.

Were you using your tripod grip? Did you keep your pencil or your pen on the page? Was your movement smooth? If you need to, you can have another go and pause the video.

Otherwise, really well done.

Okay, we're warmed up, so it's time for the next part of the lesson where we're going to be writing at speed.

Writing at speed means to write quickly.

With your partner or your class or whoever you're with, discuss the benefits of writing quickly.

Why is it a good thing to be able to do? Pause the video now.

Okay, so here are some possible responses.

"I have lots of ideas, but sometimes I forget them.

Writing them down quickly helps me to remember them." And, "The quicker you write, the more you get done in class." Did you have similar answers to this? Do you agree? Is this why it's useful to be able to write at speed? Any other ideas? Pause the video now to reflect upon these responses.

Okay, well done.

So writing at speed is a valuable skill for many reasons.

And the more you practise your writing, the quicker you will get.

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 and more productive.

It's a more effective use of time.

Communication skills.

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

And that's a really useful skill when it comes to later in life and you might have a job which requires you to send emails a lot.

Meeting deadlines.

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

Again, this is a useful skill for later in life maybe in secondary school when you have to complete coursework for a certain deadline or when you have a job and you have to complete an assignment at a certain date, you need to be able to work quickly to make sure you meet that deadline.

So that's a really valuable skill.

Capturing ideas.

Ideas and thoughts that run through your head can be fleeting.

They can come and go really quickly.

So writing quickly helps in capturing the ideas before they're forgotten.

Maybe someone who is, for example, a script writer or an author.

They might have these amazing and creative ideas and they need to be able to write it down quickly before they forget.

And developing fluency.

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

Our aim is to become a really fluent writer with your cursive handwriting so that hopefully one day, it is not much effort to write in cursive handwriting.

However, there are some disadvantages to writing at speed.

Reduced legibility.

Writing too quickly can lead to messy handwriting that is difficult to read.

I know, I'm definitely guilty of that sometimes when I write too quickly 'cause I'm in a bit of a rush.

And then I look back at my writing and it's not as easy to read as normal.

Decreased accuracy.

Speed writing can result in more frequent spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

And that's why it's really important that you read back through anything you write to double check for those mistakes.

And that's why it's always important to check back through our writing for any errors and especially if you've been writing really quickly because it is easier to make mistakes if you're writing really quickly.

And physical strain.

Speed writing can cause physical discomfort or strain in the hand and wrist.

So there are many advantages to writing at speed and it is a skill that needs to be developed.

We can't expect people to just be able to write quickly straight away.

It's a skill, and just like any other skill, that needs to be practised.

However, there is a balance between speed, legibility, so how easy it is to read, and accuracy, so without many mistakes.

You must experiment and become familiar with your balance when writing in cursive handwriting.

Some people might find it easier than others to write really, really quickly and not make any mistakes, whereas other people might find it a bit more challenging.

So you need to work out what works for you.

With practise, the speed of your handwriting can increase whilst maintaining the accuracy and legibility of your writing.

So it is possible the more you practise to find this balance of speed, legibility, and accuracy.

So checking for understanding.

Finding your balance when writing at speed means? A, writing slowly and focusing on the formation of the letters only? B, writing as fast as you possibly can? And C, writing quickly while maintaining the legibility of your writing? Pause the video now.

That's right, it is C.

Finding that balance means writing really quickly whilst also making sure that your writing is legible and there is not many mistakes.

Well done.

So it's time for Task B.

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

Here's a sentence.

That was a big mistake.

The first thing you need to do is set a timer for one minute.

Then you're going to write the sentence above as many times as you can within a minute, focusing only on speed.

So you're not worrying about how legible your writing is, or if there's any spelling or grammar mistakes or punctuation mistakes.

You're just thinking about how quickly you can write the sentence.

Then you're gonna set the time up for one minute again.

But this time, you're going to write the same sentence above as many times as you can within the minute, but this time focusing on finding a balance between speed and accuracy.

So this time, you really do want your handwriting to be legible and there not to be any mistakes.

So you're focusing on making your letter formation, your spelling and your grammar and punctuation completely accurate.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Well done, everybody.

How did you find that? Let's compare your two attempts.

Was your first attempt, the one where you were focusing on writing in speed, was every sentence legible? Was your letter formation accurate? And think about this question, was the writing more legible in your second attempt when you weren't just thinking about speed, when you were actually thinking about legibility and accuracy too? Do you think you found a balance between speed and accurate letter formation? If you'd like to have another go at finding that balance between speed and accuracy, pause the video now.

Otherwise, really well done.

Okay, it's time for the third part of our lesson where we're going to be looking at taking notes.

So writing at speed will improve your note-taking skills.

Note-taking is a way of recording important information during lessons or discussions or when you're reading books and articles.

Note-taking means writing down the most important ideas and facts from what you hear or read.

When you're note-taking, you're not writing down every single sentence that you hear or that you read 'cause that would just be rewriting it.

Note-taking instead means taking down the most important information, the information that you really need to retain and remember.

Note-taking helps you remember what you have learned and understand it better because it's been summarised.

Writing at speed allows you to take notes quickly, which can enhance your learning experience.

So here are some tips for note-taking.

Listen or read carefully.

Really pay attention to what your teacher says or what you're reading where you try to focus on what you're listening to or what you're reading.

Identify the key points, write the main ideas or facts, the most important ideas or facts in your own words.

And you can use short sentences or bullet points to make it clear.

You don't need to write full, ambitious, complex sentences.

Organise your notes, so keep similar ideas together, or you could use headings or subheadings or different sections for different topics.

And then review.

After class or reading, look over your notes again to remember what you learned and to kind of consolidate that learning.

Bullet points can be a really effective way to organise your notes.

This is a really simple, but effective way to list the important points.

Mind maps, another really useful way to take notes.

And this is more of a visual method which allows you to organise the information around a central topic.

Abbreviations can also be used in note-taking to increase the speed of your note-taking.

Abbreviations is when you write a word in its shorter form or you use just the letters.

For example, maybe if you were learning about World War II, instead of writing World War II, in your notes, you could just write it WWII.

That's an abbreviation which makes it quicker to take notes.

Symbols can also be used to increase the speed of your note-taking.

For example, you could use the equals symbol in your note-taking.

Note-taking can cause you to prioritise speed over accuracy.

But for your notes to be useful, they still need to be legible.

You need to be able to read them.

The following tips will help you to find that balance between speed, accuracy, and legibility.

Regular practise, you need to practise note-taking often to get better at it.

Hand exercises.

Prioritise accuracy.

Even though we know you need to be quick when you're taking notes, you still need to always be thinking about, am I writing words, spelling words correctly? Am I forming my letters correctly? And do the sentences still make sense? Take breaks, have a little brain break, especially if you're reading, that's a really useful thing to do.

Review and edit.

We know how important it is to be reviewing and checking over anything.

So checking for understanding.

What advice would you give to Izzy? "I find taking notes in class very challenging.

I try to write every word the teacher is saying, but I can't write quick enough." Discuss this with your partner or your class or just have a little think by yourself.

What advice would you give to Izzy? Pause the video now.

Okay, what did you think? What advice does Izzy need? Izzy should be reminded that note-taking involves writing the main ideas or facts, the most important ideas.

She does not need to rewrite everything the teacher is saying.

She could use short sentences or abbreviations or bullet points to make the process easier and quicker.

Well done.

So let's have a look at some examples of note-taking.

In this example, the notes are about the benefits of meditation.

So I had read an article all about meditation.

I didn't want to rewrite everything.

I just wanted to summarise the most important information.

So what do you notice about the format and the strategies used? Pause the video now and take a closer look.

Okay, so these notes have a title, Benefits of Meditation, so we know that all of these notes are about the benefits of meditation.

Then they've been organised using subheadings, physical benefits, mental benefits, and emotional benefits.

And under each subheading is some facts about each point.

And the facts are written using bullet points.

So let's just look a little bit more closely.

The notes are organised with titles and subheadings.

The titles and subheadings have capital letters which do not join to any other letters.

Bullet points have been used to organise the notes and to speed up the note-taking process because bullet points, using bullet points means you don't have to write full sentences.

The letter formation, sizing, and spacing is correct, allowing for the notes to be legible on review.

You can read it back and read what you've written.

So basically a balance between speed and accuracy has been achieved, and that's probably because of the really effective use of bullet points.

Here's now an example of notes shown on a mind map.

What do you notice? Pause the video now and take a closer look.

Okay, so these notes are all about horses, aren't they? So we have the central topic in the middle.

We know all the facts are gonna be about horses.

And then we have some key information around the outside that they are herbivores, their average height, their lifespan.

None of these facts though are written in full sentences, are they? And then you have a subtopic, the uses of horses.

And then just three simple words: work, riding, and therapy.

So not too much detail in these notes, just the key points.

Checking for understanding.

Select the note-taking strategies.

A, summarising key points with bullet points.

B, summarising the key points word for word.

C, using mind maps to show the key information.

And D, always writing full sentences and words.

Pause the video now.

Okay, so for note-taking, some strategies are: A, summarising the key points with bullet points, and C, using mind maps to show the key information.

It wouldn't be B, summarising the key points word for word.

We do not need to write every single word out of what you've read or listened to.

And it wouldn't be D, always writing full sentences and words.

You don't need full sentences in your notes.

So it's time for Task C.

You need to read the following information, then use your note-taking strategies to summarise the key information using bullet points or a mind map.

Remember to find a balance between speed, legibility, and accuracy.

Pause the video now.

Off you go and enjoy.

Well done, everybody.

Great job.

Have a look at the notes you just made.

Did you use bullet points or a mind map? Are your notes legible? Could you read them? Could your partner read them? Did you manage to find a balance between speed and accuracy? If you need to make any edits and review your notes, now's the time to pause the video and do that.

Otherwise, really well done and I hope you enjoyed that.

Okay, 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.

Writing at speed will improve your note-taking skills.

Note-taking is a way of recording important information during lessons, discussions, or when reading books and articles.

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

Regular practise, hand exercise, and taking breaks can help to improve the speed and accuracy of your handwriting and note-taking skills.

Well done today, everybody.

Great job.