Many students struggle with split vowel spellings a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e. These are also known as ‘split digraphs’, ‘magic e’ and ‘vowel + e’. These students need extra explicit instruction and practice reading words with these split spellings. It […]
Read MoreReading Difficulties
Dictation is great activity for emerging spellers
Most teachers approach teaching in a child-centred way so dictation goes against the grain. It may seem old-fashioned and yes, a bit dictatorial. But actually, is it a really powerful tool which is particularly useful for struggling or emerging readers […]
Read MoreThumbs up for READ, SOUND, WRITE, CHECK!
So, we are resuming our campaign to change the way teachers send home spelling lists every week using the LOOK, WRITE, COVER, CHECK approach. Why doesn’t it work with so many children? Many children have a poor visual memory and […]
Read MoreREAD, SOUND, WRITE, CHECK – a better way to teach spelling
This year I have a number of students in Year 5 and 6 who are fluent readers. Their problem is spelling. Typically they may spell a word with all the correct letters that are in the wrong order, e.g. ‘nitgh’ […]
Read MoreHow to teach children about syllables
Before children can begin to read and spell multisyllabic words they need to get a feel for what a syllable is – for what a ‘mouthful of a word’ is. If they have had systematic phonics instruction they may find […]
Read MoreWhat is a syllable and why we should teach children about it
What is a syllable and why we should teach children about it A syllable is a part of a word that contains sounds (phonemes) of a word. It usually has a vowel in it. A syllable is also called a […]
Read MoreCumulative teaching – how to teach children who forget
Many of my students at the Bloomfield Learning Centre have difficulty remembering the complex alternative spellings of sounds in English. The problem is they don’t hold on to what they have learned. The teacher may teach <ai> and the next […]
Read MoreReading with expression can help with reading fluency
Do you have children. who. r-ea-d. l-ike. th-i-s? How can we get children to read fluently? So firstly, why do we need to read fluently? We need to read fluently because it is difficult to understand what we are reading […]
Read MoreIndependent review of That Dog! series
We have just received this independent review from Teach Primary Magazine. The review is available online. See link below. Phonic Books – That Dog! for catch-up readers across the school. At a glance: • Age appropriate, synthetic phonic catch-up […]
Read MoreWhat is the ‘Matthew effect’ when it comes to reading instruction?
What is ‘The Matthew effect’ when it comes to reading instruction? This idea (mooted by Keith Stanovich) is that children who learn to read in the first three years of their education become fluent readers. They read more, learn more […]
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