A 10-year-old child who is a good reader will encounter something like 1 million words a year (around 12 novels), but crucially, approximately 20,000 of those words will prove unfamiliar (Oakhill et …
‘Closing the Vocabulary Gap’ Discount!
In a couple of weeks, my new book, ‘Closing the Vocabulary Gap‘, is released. Happily, I wanted to alert those people who may be interested in picking up the book that there …
The ‘Reading Gap’ between Primary and Secondary School
A lot of attention is rightly devoted by schools to address primary to secondary ‘transition’. We know that as children move schools it can prove a difficult move emotionally. Therefore, our focus, …
Telling Stories about Words
“Stories are psychologically privileged in the human mind.” Daniel Willingham The mind thinks and remembers in stories. It is part of the architecture of human memory and our human experience. Given it …
Cracking the Academic Code
(This article was first published in Teach Secondary Magazine. You can subscribe HERE) How could a group of crossword puzzle champions save the world? Such a startling question has a very British …
The Early Vocabulary Advantage
“Dad, what is a whisk’s favourite drink?” “I don’t know. What is a whisk’s favourite drink?” “Whisky!” And so starts my young boy’s burgeoning entertainment career. So far, it is full of …
Why Whole-School Literacy Fails!
There is no more important act in education than helping children to learn to read. I am sure we can agree that developing our students as confident readers, writers and speakers is …
One Word at a Time – Teaching Vocabulary
This blog is a copy of my recent Teach Secondary article (click on the link HERE to subscribe) on the importance of vocabulary, with some handy teaching and learning strategies. Ask a …
What is in a word? Etymology for Every Teacher
Etymology (noun) The study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. Etymology is often often considered the preserve of the English teacher. I would …