Reading aloud might boost students' memories
In the latest edition of the British Psychological Society's Research Digest, Bradley Busch writes about a new study which compared the effects on memory of reading in silence to those of reading out...
View ArticleWhy do some children struggle with reading?
Janet and bloody John! When I was about 7, my primary school teacher told my parents that I would probably never learn to read. Apparently, the suspicion was that I might be mentally subnormal. My...
View ArticleWhy ‘just reading’ might make more of a difference than teaching reading
Few people would disagree that improving children's reading ability would be a good thing. Not only would it open up greater opportunities in life, it would boost their cognitive development and...
View ArticleIs reading comprehension even a thing?
UPDATE: In light of this post on Timothy Shanahan's blog, I am persuaded that reading comprehension is a thing, but the advice below still stands. Most of the schools I visit are unsurprisingly keen...
View ArticleWhy we need to read aloud
Here is the recording of webinar I gave for #LDeduchat this week on 'Why we need to read aloud'. The prerecorded presentation lasts for about 25 mins with the rest of the time given over to Q&A. If...
View ArticleConstructivism is not a pedagogy
So-called ‘educational innovations’ in which the teacher assumes the role of 'facilitator, mentor or coach' do not appear to be very successful. Nevertheless, 'constructivist' ideas are still popular...
View ArticleQ&A: Five Things Every Teacher Needs to Know about Reading
If you missed it, here's a link to the presentation I gave in my webinar on Five Things Every Teacher Needs to Know about Reading. There were a number of question that I didn't have time to answer...
View ArticleEcho reading: Building a bridge between text and meaning
As a student I was one of those kids who was desperate to be picked to read. When we studied Romeo and Juliet I got to read Mercutio, a part, I felt, I was born for. I threw myself into it and felt I...
View ArticleCurating a reading curriculum
One of the roles of a school is to curate a sequences of encounters which students have a entitlement to experience before they leave. For many students, school may be the only time in their lives when...
View ArticleEmbedding reading fluency in the KS3 English curriculum
Last year I wrote about 'echo reading': ...last week I ... watched English teacher Rhys Williams do something I’d never seen before. He was teaching The Tempest to a low prior attaining Year 8 class...
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