Sometimes, the best writing starts with just a little inspiration. "Books, in and of themselves, are magical doorways. Opening a book is as simple as opening a door in the real world, but often much more rewarding! Doorways within books are something special. A character who passes through a magical doorway into a world of... Continue Reading →
I am a huge advocate of inspiring writing through authentic purpose and audience and one of my fundamental aims this year has been to raise literacy attainment through the use of engaging, creative literacy projects that do just that. The National Literacy Trust's writing enjoyment, behaviours and attitudes report (2017/18) shows that enjoyment of writing... Continue Reading →
I originally saw Jon Biddle's excellent Reading Rivers report on the Open University's Reading for Pleasure website. It stems from an idea originally explored by Pamela Burnard (2002) whereby the 'river' was used as a reflective tool to represent key musical experiences. It was then further explored by Gabrielle Cliff-Hodges (2010) with secondary readers and... Continue Reading →
If your school does not yet have its own magazine or newspaper, founding one can be an amazing opportunity to encourage reading and writing across the whole school community. It’s a fantastic way to get kids into journalistic writing, generating their own ideas and taking ownership of a producing a publication. Starting from scratch can... 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 →
