Decodable books build ‘reading muscle’ – another great post from Spelfabet. If you are wondering why kids need to read decodable books in order to become fluent readers – here is the answer! All adults can find listening to beginner readers agonising and at times, it can be hard work for both the child and […]
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In our ‘how to…’ series we are going to delve into all things phonics instruction and give you our expert advice on developing confident readers. *** In her podcast, Evidence Based Education, Dr Tracy Alloway explains working memory as ‘your ‘active’ memory. The memory you use to work with information.’ She describes working memory as […]
Read MoreThere is nothing as rewarding as seeing the grin on a young reader’s face when they have just written a word that they can read and what’s more – you can read! The discovery that the squiggles on the white board can always be read by anyone at anytime is a huge “Ah ha!” moment […]
Read MoreIt is so sad to hear when a young child says he wants to kill himself because he can’t read as described in the interview at the end of this piece. It is uplifting to hear how a parent turned this child’s life around by getting him assessed and starting him on a structured literacy […]
Read MoreWhy we need to teach ‘structured and cumulative’ reading instruction… In the bad old days before I learnt how to teach kids to read, I taught kids to read in a structured way. That is, what I thought was structure: Week 1: letters a, b, c, d Week 2: letters e, f, g, h Week […]
Read MoreHaving 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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