We are delighted to announce that the Magic Belt series has just won the silver award for best primary resources at the recent Primary Teacher Update awards ceremony. The books were given to two different teachers to test with their pupils. Here is what they said: “An excellent resource. The books are very appealing and […]
Read MoreLearning to Read
Imaginative decodable books get children writing – see fantastic example based on Talisman series
This story was sent it by Adam Sheedy from Co Limerick in Ireland. He decided to write the next instalment of the Talisman series. A great example of how exciting decodable books can get reluctant readers and writers to love stories and get enthused about writing their own! Adam-Sheedy-The-Return-of-the-Dark-Master
Read MorePlurals – a useful explantion
Here is a useful post on teaching plurals by spelfabet: http://www.spelfabet.com.au/2014/07/spelling-plurals/#more-12214
Read MoreRevisiting the Debate Over the Davis Phonics Pamphlet: Part 1
Can there ever be evidence that one method of teaching to read is better than another? Read from Scenes from the Battleground here:
Read MoreHow to trick you kids into reading this summer
Here are some imaginative ideas about how to trick you kids into reading this summer by Daniel Willingham: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/07/how-to-kick-start-summer-reading/373737/
Read More7 out of 12 schools in Stock-on-Trent do not teach reading well enough – what is going on?
John Walker of the Literacy Blog discusses recent sampling of schools in Stoke-on-Trent. Is this just the tip of the iceberg? http://literacyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-tip-of-iceberg.html
Read MoreHow valid is the phonics check?
John Walker discusses the validity of the Y1 Phonics Check: http://literacyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/how-valid-is-phonics-screening-check.html
Read MoreSpelling photosynthesis
Thanks to TRT for Teachers blog for this post: http://trt-for-teachers.com/2014/06/26/spelling-photosynthesis/
Read MoreEducational technology fails to bridge achievement gap
Read this rather depressing article by Annie Murphy Paul on the ‘Matthew Effect’ and how education technology is failing to create a level playing field in education: http://hechingerreport.org/content/educational-technology-isnt-leveling-playing-field_16499/
Read MoreResearch suggests that the initial texts used by early readers have a strong influence on how they ‘decode’ text.
It is my experience that if young readers are given texts to read that are decodable – they will develop decoding skills. They develop a habit of sounding out and blending graphemes to read and gain meaning. But if they are offered texts they cannot decode (and must resort to guessing in order to read) […]
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