I have recently (belatedly) discovered the Smart Chute. This is a post box game that flips cards over. It is a self-checking activity which covers many areas of the literacy curriculum: phonics, morphemes, Greek and Latin derivatives, grammar, vocabulary etc. I love it because it is a great opening to any 1:1 lesson. Today I […]
Read MoreLearning to Read
Synthetic Phonics tutorial
We have just made a free tutorial for teachers, teaching assistants and parents about Synthetic Phonics. It explains why the English language is difficult to learn to read and spell and why Synthetic Phonics is the most effective method to teach children reading and spelling. It also touches upon the role that decodable books have in […]
Read MoreDandelion Book of Dictation now in stock!
To all our customers who have been waiting for this workbook – it is now in stock and available. This workbook offers step-by-step dictation exercises that follow the progression of the Dandelion Readers reading scheme. It will allow teachers and TA’s to have dictation activities at their fingertips. This is great resource for developing spelling (encoding) and punctuation of young readers […]
Read MoreMoon Dogs Workbooks now available!
The much awaited workbooks that complement the Moon Dogs Set 1 and Set 2 are now in stock. These workbooks support the reading books which introduce the sounds of the alphabet, adjacent consonants and consonant digraphs. They include activities which develop the underlying skills needed for reading and spelling. A great resource for older, beginner readers […]
Read MorePencil and rubber – Roman style at Bath Roman springs
On a visit to the Roman Baths in Bath we had a live experience of an actor using a wax tablet and stylus. He was dressed up as a craftsman who was recording his orders. A great idea for classroom topic – learning about our script and different writing methods in antiquity. Children can explore the […]
Read MoreTeachers failing pupils – it is still happening
Thanks to Susan Godsland of www.dyslexics.org.uk who flagged up this video clip from the Spelfabet website. Does is sound familiar? It makes me sad to think of the pupils I failed before I was trained in Sounds-Write. This is still happening… http://www.spelfabet.com.au/2013/11/teacher-knowledge-of-phonics/
Read MoreNow I know why I wasn’t taught how to teach reading
Thank you Susan Godsland from www.dyslexics.org.uk for flagging up an interesting summary by Spelfabet (www.spelfabet.com.au) of an article by Mark S. Seidenberg: ‘The Science of Reading and its Educational Implications’. This is a useful summary for busy teachers as it raises some really important issues: 1. The rift between the scientific research academic approach and […]
Read MoreHigh expectations and quality teaching – see St George’s SATs results
St. George’s is a primary school in Wandsworth, South London, in an area of deprivation. See the fantastic results of high expectations and investment in quality teaching. Also, great school leadership. By the way, in St. George’s all the staff were trained in the Sounds-Write Reading and Spelling programme and uses Dandelion Books as their decodable reading […]
Read MoreWhat is so great about dictation?
I have been working with an 8 year old pupil on the spelling ‘ck’. We also need to revisit ‘sh, ch and th’ which she tends to forget and confuse. Every week we do a bit of dictation including the graphemes we need to revise. This dictation is based on a Dandelion Launcher book ‘Which Shall I […]
Read MoreHow to start a reading intervention programme
Read here how Mel from Top Notch Teaching uses Sounds-Write assessment tools to establish an intervention programme for her pupil: http://topnotchteaching.com/lesson-ideas/essential-reading-intervention-student-with-dyslexia/
Read More