If there is a better way to motivate and excite children about books, than by turning them into published authors, I do not know about it. Publishing books gives children the most authentic purpose and audience for their writing and is an incredible way of inspiring writing in school. Publishing, sharing, performing and celebrating their... Continue Reading →
Much of what I do in the classroom relies heavily on quality, authentic texts, so knowing where to find them is crucial. Ensuring that children have access to fantastic books – whether it’s for lessons, a read aloud or simply for pleasure – is absolutely essential to inspire and build a community of lifelong readers.... Continue Reading →
Astonishing, isn't it? Our ability to decipher words. It's thought that we rely heavily on a word's shape and layout to decode its meaning, rather than the precise order of the letters which is why the above passage is so easy to read, despite being absolute nonsense. Fluent readers have the ability to read words... Continue Reading →
To teach reading and writing effectively and enthusiastically, we must be keen readers and writers ourselves. With this in mind, I was looking for opportunities to develop myself as a reader and, through twitter, I stumbled upon the Open University and UKLA Teachers' Reading Groups. Initially, I thought it was simply a book club led... Continue Reading →
Whether or not you agree with the term 'more able' or prefer to think of these pupils as ‘high potential’ (or whether you prefer not to label children at all - after all, don't all children have high potential?), you will inevitably encounter many mixed ability classes in your time teaching Literacy at primary school.... Continue Reading →
I initially saw the idea back in April when Tom Riston, a year 4 teacher at Wroxham Primary School, posted a picture on Twitter (@Year4_TWS). His photo really caught my eye and sent my imagination into overdrive. Tom had also blogged about his inspiring book tasting experience and this gave me all the information I needed to set... Continue Reading →
Here is my CPD review from the CLPE's incredible Building a Literate School Conference. It was a one day Literacy conference held on 2nd March 2018 in Bristol with a focus on developing a whole school ethos for quality English provision. Download the PDF version here: CPD MINI REVIEW - Building a Literate School. For more conference... Continue Reading →
