You can watch my short video on book gifting on my YouTube page, ‘Exploring Evidence in Education‘: If you cannot read, you cannot access the school curriculum and so much more beyond. If you have little or no access to reading, you are unlikely to practice reading habitually. In turn, you are unlikely to thrive […]
The Promise and Perils of ‘Book Gifting’ Read More »
Over the past couple of months, I was asked to write about reading given interest in my new ‘reading gap’ book. Below is a list of the articles you can access online, along with a short summary: ‘Motivating children to read during lockdown’ – see HERE. This short piece, for Families Magazine, has a target
5 Recent Articles on the Reading Gap Read More »
When it comes to reading, teachers are a little like Goldilocks. When it comes to spotting difficult texts – whether it is the class reader in year 5, or a maths word problem at GCSE – teachers know what is too easy, what is too hard, and what is just right for their pupils. However,
Tricky Texts and the ‘Arduous Eight’ Read More »
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 connecting us. And yet, curiously, few of us know how we acquire them, learn them, connect them, and teach them best. It was
5 Vocabulary Teaching Myths Read More »
For a long time now I have been reading about vocabulary development. After teaching English Language and English Literature for over a decade and a half (including child language acquisition), I came to the stark realisation that I didn’t know enough about how children not only learnt to read, but went on to read to
Vocabulary Development Reading List Read More »
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, quite rightly, attends pastoral matters to offer vital support to our pupils. And yet, what if we a missing a vital aspect of
The ‘Reading Gap’ between Primary and Secondary School Read More »
“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 bad puns and energetic attempts at word play. Most jokes narrowly miss the mark, but they are no less fun. What proves more
The Early Vocabulary Advantage Read More »
