A question I get asked a lot from teachers and school leaders is ‘what is the word list that best helps pupils grasp the academic language of school?’ The regular – perhaps unsatisfactory – answer I offer is that word lists don’t quite do the job we’d hope. There is
One of the most enduring teaching strategies, for almost every classroom at every key stage, is the explicit teaching of morphology: the structure of words and their meanings. Teaching word parts, including the history of the word (etymology), can prove much more than a mere curiosity. It can be vital
“Sir, I don’t know where to start with this Scrooge essay!” “Neither do I…” “How many paragraphs do I need to do again?” “What does redemption mean?” Even the best laid lesson plans of expert teachers go awry. Regardless of deftly planned schemes of learning, teaching is not merely
“All international assessment data like this is a starting point for discussion, though people tend to use it as an end point.” Professor Christian Bokhove, in TES article, ‘UK’s PISA scores fall in maths, science and reading’ It is difficult for a busy school teacher or leader to process
They say that interests and trends in education come and go in cycles. Depending on your attitude, it beckons the disagreeable return of a fad, or it is the timely return of a vital aspect of education. ‘Oracy’ is one of those touchstone trends that comes and goes in cyclical
The performance of reading aloud can offer vital opportunities for pupils to learn. In particular, the act of reading aloud can benefit pupils’ reading fluency, as well as proving a helpful bridge to increasing reading comprehension. Reader’s Theatre is a comprehensive classroom approach that can offer a vehicle to
There are a vast array of barriers and problems that attend literacy development. In Part 1, it was tricky to limit it to only ten! And yet, the gains from developing literacy are so significant – for many pupils they can prove genuinely life-changing – that we keep making literacy a significant