I came across this clear presentation of what reading entails on the Spelfabet website. Great visual image! Thanks to Alison from Spelfabet. http://www.spelfabet.com.au/2013/04/the-reading-rope/#comments
Read MoreLearning to Read
Struggled to come to grips with ‘Letters and Sounds’?
If you have struggled to get your head around ‘Letters and Sounds’, you might find it helpful to look at this comprehensive review by Elizabeth Nonweiler (trainer, Phonics and Literacy consultant and Reading Reform Foundation member). I did! http://www.nonweiler.demon.co.uk/page14.html
Read MoreDecoding and language comprehension – how they work together
Thank you John Walker of the Literacy Blog for flagging up another illuminating, entertaining article by Spelfabet. This is an article by a speech pathologist about the relationship between decoding and language comprehension. I recommend it. You can even get a link to a free non-word phonics ckeck to test your pupils’ decoding skills and strategies! http://www.spelfabet.com.au/2013/03/reading-comprehension/
Read MoreUplifting You Tube clip for dyslexic teenagers
If you are teaching dyslexic teenagers, or if you are a parent or carer of a dyslexic teenager struggling with literacy, you might want to share this You Tube clip with them. Very uplifting! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaR70gTHOnY
Read MoreAlba Series – FAQs
Here are frequenty asked questions aswered about the brand new Alba Series: Who is it for? The Alba series is aimed at older catch-up pupils who have gaps in their phonic knowledge. It is suitable for pupils in KS2 and KS3. With a strong female protagonist, it will be suitable for both boys and girls. Girls will […]
Read MoreAlba Series – now available!
Alba series is a phonic reading series for older, catch-up pupils. Fantastic age-appropriate stories and illustrations will engage both boys and girls. What makes this series unique is the strong female protagonist. Alba is smart and capable. She has a huge task. Having been shrunk to the size of a coffee cup, she has a […]
Read MoreSneak preview of Alba Series
Alba Series for older girls who are struggling with reading is now in the last stages of production. It will be available in March. Watch this space! In the meantime here is an inside page from the series. Special features in the series: – clear phonic focus (spellings of ‘ae’ in this book) – 3-4 lines of text for […]
Read MoreSpeech pathologists comment on Totem and Talisman Series
We received this lovely email this week from Australia: “Hi, We are a private practice of 3 speech pathologists and we just wanted to let you know that the Totem and Talisman Series are awesome!!! Our reluctant readers now love books, some of them finishing a whole series in one day. They have discovered a […]
Read MoreWhy we all need to be able to read nonsense words
Here is a very logical, straightforward explanation why we all need to be able to read nonsense words. Spelfabet website beautifully and simply concludes that “nonsense words = words we haven’t yet met”. Why wouldn’t we want to teach children a skill that would help them read words they haven’t yet met? http://www.spelfabet.com.au/2012/12/nonsense-words/ This article was flagged up by […]
Read MoreWhat a teacher and her pupils say about the Magic Belt Series
This week, we received the below email from a teacher named Anne, in response to our request for testimonials on the new Magic Belt series. She reported impressive reading progress with her pupils using the Totem and Talisman series.
Read More