Quality Continuous Professional Development are one of the proven ways for raising standards in our schools. So many times one has been to inset days that have left no impact and have not changed the way we teach. Here is a great post by Joe Kirby why CPD is important and what is effective CPD. http://pragmaticreform.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/cpd/
Read MoreApproaches to Teaching Reading
The Great Phonics Check Debate
This week pupils in Y1 will undergo the phonics check. Here are the two sides to the debate. http://www.phonicsinternational.com/screener_debate.pdf
Read MoreMaladministration of phonics check- what not to do!
The DfE published this document in April about not cheating when administering the phonics check. http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/assessment/keystage1/a00224454/phon-malad Interesting that teachers need reminding….
Read MoreFantastic reading progress with Year 1 pupil in 5 months
A tutor wrote in to tell us about her pupil. She has been working with him since December (for five and a half months) using the Sounds-Write programme and the Dandelion Books that complement it. She wrote: “He is in Year 1 and when he came to me at the end of December he had […]
Read MoreDfE evaluates Phonics Check
The Department of Education has published this interim report about evaluating the Y1 Phonics Check. Happy half-term reading! Tami Reis-Frankfort
Read MoreWhat is a schwa sound?
We teach children to sound out words when they read and to sound out words when they spell. Does that really work all the time, though? Actually, many words are not spelled exactly as they are pronounced. Thanks to Susan Godsland of www.dyslexics.org.uk for flagging up this article by John Walker from the Literacy Blog, where you can […]
Read MoreHow can I tell which phonic programmes and resources are of high quality?
Many schools are having to choose a phonics programme to use in mainstream classrooms or with their catch-up pupils. How can they tell which programmes are of high quality and that they adhere to the principles of Synthetic Phonics? Debbie Hepplewhite has written a really useful list of criteria. Click on the link below: http://www.syntheticphonics.com/pdf%20files/Criteria%20for%20evaluating%20a%20phonics%20programme.pdf
Read MoreHow to decode ‘tricky words’
The Synthetic Phonics approach to reading is to encourage beginner readers to sound out graphemes in a word and blend them together into a word. What to do when they encounter common words with ‘tricky’ graphemes they have not yet been taught? Here is an explantion of how to teach ‘tricky words’ to beginner readers while staying faithful to blending strategies and […]
Read MoreNew Department for Education leaflet for parents about phonics
Thanks Susan Godsland of www.dyslexics.org.uk for flagging up this new leafler for parents about teaching reading with phonics. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/learning-to-read-through-phonics-information-for-parents
Read MoreStruggling reader – what we did next
Having reported that one of my struggling reader pupils had suddenly turned a corner and begun to take on alternative spellings, I thought it might be fun to report on my weekly lessons with him and plot his progress. So, today my student arrived with his scooter but without his folder – third week in a […]
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