When you explore the history and roots of a word – the etymology – you draw upon a rich story that can unlock understanding for our pupils in science, maths, geography, and …
‘We Did Vocabulary Last Year’
“We did vocabulary last year.” I have the privilege to speak to lots of teachers and school leaders about vocabulary, accessing the school curriculum, along with the challenges of making a difference …
Vocabulary Clinic
This academic year, over at Teach Secondary, I have the great pleasure of sharing a ‘Vocabulary Clinic’ article each month. It is a quick burst of vocabulary ideas and insights. You can find …
More than Just ‘Word Walls’
Schools can be hectic places and the work of a teachers is seldom ‘done’. When faced with the job of a challenging new curriculum, particularly for our more disadvantaged pupils, tackling such …
Spelling: Avoiding Ignorance and Negligence
A version of this article was originally published in the excellent ‘Teach Secondary‘ magazine – you can subscribe HERE. It is well worth a read! Controversies and complaints about spelling are …
5 Vocabulary Teaching Myths
Words are all around us. They are legion, ubiquitous and omnipresent in our daily lives. They live in families, possess histories, slide and break into parts, and connect across worlds, separating and …
Why Closing the Word Gap Matters
As a teacher who writes about the importance of literacy and vocabulary – and one who works with countless teachers across the country – I find myself talking repeatedly about the issue …
Vocabulary Knowledge and the ‘Frayer Model’
The ‘Frayer model‘ is a long-standing graphic organiser that has been deployed in classrooms with success for decades (it was first conceived Dorothy Frayer and her colleagues at the University of Wisconsin). …
Literacy is dead…long live ‘disciplinary literacy’!
‘‘We know too much to say we know too little, and we know too little to say that we know enough. Indeed, language is difficult to put into words.’’ Baumann, J. F. …
6 Useful Vocabulary Websites
The web is full of websites on vocabulary: good, bad and ugly. Here are six of my favourite free vocabulary websites that I think are useful for teachers and students alike: …