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

In today's lesson, we are going to be thinking about different tasks and whether we should be using cursive handwriting in these tasks.

And then we're going to have a chance to practise some cursive handwriting in different tasks.

So I hope you find today's lesson useful and I hope you enjoy it and let's get started.

Your learning outcome for today's lesson is to be able to decide when to use cursive handwriting and to complete written tasks in cursive handwriting correctly.

So let's start with looking at the keywords.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

Cursive, cursive is a style of handwriting where the letters are joined together in a flowing and connected manner.

Capital letter, this is the uppercase formation of a letter.

Legible, this is writing that is clear and easy to read and understand.

Formal, this is a style of writing which is serious and factual in tone.

So there are three sections of lesson today.

In the first we'll be doing handwriting warmup, then we'll be writing a thank you note, and then we'll be practising some cursive handwriting for particular tasks.

So let's start with our warmup.

Before we start the warmup, what are these pictures reminding you to do? Pause the video now and have a little think.

Okay, so the first picture, reminding us that when we're practising handwriting, we need to be sitting on a chair, at a table or a desk, to have our feet flat on the floor and our back against the chair.

The second picture is reminding you to have your paper angled correctly.

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

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

And then finally, our third picture is to hold your pen pencil in the tripod grip.

Before starting to write, it is really important to warm up your hand and wrist muscles, just like you would warm up your leg muscles before a running race.

Your hands and wrists get stronger when you exercise them.

And so warming up your hands before writing will then have helped to improve your handwriting.

Making your hands stronger will ultimately help you to speed up your handwriting.

I'm going to now do a hand and a wrist warmup and then you are going to have a go.

So let's do the hand squeeze warmup.

I'm going to go first and then you are going to have a go.

So we can start with one of your hands, doesn't matter which one, I'm gonna start with my right.

And then I'm gonna start by stretching my hand as wide as I can and then I'm going to squeeze my hand together.

I'm always gonna imagine there's something really precious in the palm of my hand that I don't want to lose, so I'm gonna squeeze my fingers really tight onto my hand so that there's no gaps, maybe like a chain of a necklace or something really small, a gemstone that I don't want to lose.

So I'm squeezing my hand tight, then I'm gonna open it and stretch my hand wide again and then squeeze it again.

Then we'll do it with my other hand and start by stretching my hand wide open and then squeezing it together, imagining there's something inside I don't want to let go of.

Stretching wide, squeezing tight.

Okay, it's your turn.

Choose whichever hand you want to start with.

I'm gonna start with my right and we are going to start by stretching the hand wide and open and squeezing it tight, tightly holding whatever is precious to you.

Stretching wide, squeezing tight.

Okay, let's swap hands and then the same thing.

Start by stretching your hand wide and then squeezing it really, really tightly.

Stretching out wide and then a tight squeeze.

Great job, well done! Okay, let's do some wrist circles.

I'm gonna go first and then it'll be your turn.

So I'm gonna start by putting my hands out, forming little fists and then moving my wrists in one direction together, really nice feeling on your wrists, feels like they're getting lots of movement there.

And then I'm gonna switch direction, go the other way around, little circles, forming little circles with my wrists.

Really great way to warm your wrists up.

Okay, are you ready? It's your turn.

Get your hands out like this, form little fists and then choosing which one direction you wanna go in, which way, which direction you gonna go in? Let's go to the right and then forming circles.

This direction and then switch direction, other way around, making sure your wrists are feeling really ready for handwriting, great job! Another really good thing to do before practising our handwriting is to practise some writing patterns.

This helps us to prepare for writing and for joining lessons.

These writing patterns on the screen here all require really similar hand and wrist movement to quick cursive handwriting.

So it's a really useful task to do before we start.

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

So the first one I'm going to do now is a good one to practise some loops.

I'm really going to focus on keeping my movement smooth and flowing.

So starting at the top and then down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up.

And then the one below, this one almost looks like an upside down V, doesn't it? And we're gonna go up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down.

Your turn, you choose the writing pattern to do in the air with your finger.

Pause video now, off you go.

Well done, okay, it's time for task A.

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

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

Pause video now and off you go.

Well done everybody, great job.

So did you use your tripod grip? Did you keep your pencil on the page? Was your movement smooth? If you need to, you can pause the video now and have another go, otherwise, great job! Okay, we've done our warm up, which means we're ready for the second part of our lesson where we are going to be writing a thank you note.

Have a look at these two pieces of text.

What is the key difference between the two of them? Pause video now and discuss this with your partner.

So the key difference that I'm looking for, and I wonder if you spotted it, is that the address is written in print handwriting, that means the letters are not joined and cursive handwriting, when the letters are joined together.

Print and cursive are the two most common handwriting styles.

Both print and cursive handwriting have their distinct uses and knowing when to use each style can enhance readability, so improve how easy it is to read, and efficiency.

So one can be more efficient than the other when you're writing.

So when would we use cursive handwriting? There are quite a few opportunities when it would be more efficient and make more sense to use cursive over print, for example, tasks that require fluency and speed.

So longer writing tasks, cursive can be faster than print due to the connected letters.

So this makes it ideal for taking notes or for writing essays.

Cursive is also really useful in note taking.

In situations that require quick note takings, such as during class or in meetings, cursive can be more efficient.

Here's an example of some note-taking in cursive handwriting.

We could also choose to use cursive handwriting in tasks that require a formal or personal approach, for example, letters and cards.

Cursive adds a personal touch to letters, greeting cards and thank you notes, often making them feel more personal and elegant, especially as you grow older and you become more and more fluent in your cursive handwriting, people's cursive handwriting is very personal to them and unique to them.

So receiving a letter in somebody's cursive handwriting can seem more personal.

Invitations, handwritten invitations in cursive can appear more formal and sophisticated.

Journaling is another opportunity for cursive handwriting, because cursive can add a personal and fluid feel to journaling and diary entries.

So checking for understanding.

When would we use cursive handwriting? A, when the writing needs to be read clearly from a distance.

B, when the task requires speed and fluency.

C, when the task requires the letter formation to be perfect.

Pause the video now.

That's right, it is B.

You'd be more likely to use print handwriting for A and C, well done.

So here is an example of a thank you note.

Pause the video now and take a closer look.

What do you notice about the handwriting? Off you go.

Okay, so in this thank you note, we have cursive handwriting, there's capital letters, I wonder if you could spot the capital letters and why they're used.

All the words start with the lead in and end with the lead out.

There's appropriate letter spacing, those words aren't squished too together or spread too far apart and it's really personal.

So let's just take a closer look.

Cursive handwriting is usually used for a thank you note as it adds a personal touch.

You start a thank you note by writing, "To," which has a capital letter and the person's name is a proper noun and therefore also has a capital letter.

Capital letters are formed separately and they do not join to the next letter.

The letter formation and spacing is correct and therefore the letter is legible, we can read it.

The correct cursive letter joins are being used.

Let's practise writing a thank you note.

I'm making sure I'm sitting comfortably with my pen in the tripod grip.

Before I start writing, I'm just going to read over and check where I need to use capital letters, what punctuation I'm using for any lead in and need outs.

I'm also going to make sure I'm keeping my pen on the page and only dotting my I and crossing my T once I've completed the letter string.

So, "To Mrs. Nkosi," let's start here, I'm gonna start with my capital T.

Now remember, the capital T is not joined to the next O, the letter O, so I'll start with a lead in on the line.

"To Mrs. Nkosi," Mrs. Nkosi is a name, a proper noun, so it needs capital letters.

Again, I'm not joining M to R, so I'll do a lead in and I can join R to S, finishing with a lead out.

Then Nkosi, again a capital letter for N, not joining N to K, so I'll have a lead in and then joining the rest of the letters together, go back and dot my I! Then I need a comma.

Okay, now I'm going to leave a line and then I'll start writing the first sentence.

I'm only going to write one sentence today, then you're going to go off and write the rest independently.

So, "Thank you for teaching me how to play the piano." So again, I need a capital letter, capital T, I don't need to join T to H, I'll start with a lead in on the baseline and then join the rest of the letters together.

And then lead in, looped descender, "Thank you for teaching me how to play the piano." Lead in from the line, joining E to A.

Remember I'm not going back to cross my T or dot my I until I finish the whole word, finishing with a looped lead out.

"Teaching me," lead in, lead in.

I'm really trying to keep my X height letters all the same height.

"How to," and I'm trying to not go too far down in my descender letters, either, "The piano," go back and cross my T, then finishing with a lead out, I'm gonna dot my I and a full stop on the line.

Okay, I'm going to leave it there and you are going to write the rest of the cursive letter by yourself in your neatest cursive handwriting, great! Checking for understanding, true or false.

You join a capital letter to the next letter using a lead in? Pause the video now.

That is false.

Can you explain why it is false? Pause the video now.

It is false, because capital letters are formed separately.

They don't join to any other letter and therefore don't have a lead in or lead out.

Well done, it's time for task B.

You need to copy the following thank you note in cursive handwriting on your writing lines.

So here's the note, "To Mrs. Nkosi, thank you for teaching me how to play the piano.

You have been patient, kind, and inspiring.

I'll be forever grateful for the gift of being able to play such beautiful music.

From Alex." Then once you've written this incursive handwriting, you need to review and edit your work, checking for the following; accurate capital letters and accurate letter formation, appropriate letter spacing and legibility.

Can you read it? So pause the video now and off you go.

Well done everybody, I hope you enjoyed that.

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

How does it compare to the example on the screen? Did you form the capital letters correctly? Did you remember to add lead ins and lead outs? And is your writing legible, can you read it? If you need to make any edits to your thank you note, now's the time to pause the video, otherwise, really well done! Okay, it's time for the third part of our lesson where we are looking at cursive handwriting for particular tasks.

Can you think of some everyday tasks, so tasks we do every day, that require you to write? Pause the video now and discuss this with your partner.

Okay, so some examples of everyday tasks that require writing.

Writing a to-do list, so jobs you need to do that day or that week.

Writing in your diary, your class notes or taking notes as the teacher is talking.

Drawing a diagram, maybe in a science lesson or a geography Lesson.

Writing reminder notes, so notes to remind yourself to do something maybe on a post-it note and writing a shopping list.

Would you use cursive or print handwriting for these tasks? What do you think? So handwriting skills are important for various academic and everyday tasks and some tasks will require cursive handwriting and some won't.

People usually use cursive handwriting if they want to write quickly or if they want of the writing to be formal.

Can you think of some tasks that would be written in cursive to look more formal? Pause the video now to discuss this with your partner.

Okay, so here are some tasks that could be written in cursive to look more formal.

An invitation to a party, a letter, a thank you note, a card message or an essay.

So things to consider when writing a formal document in cursive writing, remember that capital letters are formed individually, they do not join to the letter, they do not join to another letter.

The letter after a capital letter in a letter string starts with a lead in from the line.

Words without a capital letter always start with a lead in and finish with a lead out.

Letter spacing needs to be even to ensure the writing is legible.

Letter formation and sizing need to be accurate.

And cursive letter joints used depends on which letter is joining to which letter, so which words you're using.

You might use all four cursive joints or you might only use a couple! Mistakes can be crossed out and you would do that with a really neat line through it and just one line, you don't want to scribble out any mistakes, 'cause it's much neater to just do one line.

So checking for understanding, which tasks may require a formal tone? A, a diagram of the park, B, A letter to your local MP, or C, a shopping list.

Pause the video now.

That's right, it is B, a letter to your local MP you would want to write in a formal tone using formal language and so cursive handwriting would be more appropriate.

Well done! This time for task C, you need to complete one of the tasks below in cursive handwriting on your writing lines.

You either need to write a letter to your head teacher with suggestions on how to improve the school playground or you need to write an invitation to your end of year school party.

Once you have done that, review and edit your work, so checking for the following, accurate capital letters, and letter formation, appropriate level spacing, and legibility.

So choosing one of the tasks, pause the video now and off you go! Well done everybody, I hope you enjoyed that.

So have a think about what you've just written and also be looking at it as we're discussing this or thinking about this.

Did you find it useful to review and edit your work? Was your letter formation and size correct? Did you achieve a formal look to your writing? And was your writing legible? If you need to make any further edits to your work, you can, otherwise really well done, everybody.

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

Print and cursive are the two most common handwriting styles.

Tasks that require speed and fluency should be completed in cursive handwriting.

Note taking and longer writing tasks require speed and fluency.

Tasks that require a personal or formal approach should be written in cursive handwriting.

Thank you notes, letters and invitations require a personal or formal approach.

When writing in cursive, letter formation spacing and using the correct joins ensure the writing is legible.

Great job today everybody, well done!.