Do your children forget spellings from one week to the next? Many teachers issue spelling lists each week only to find that a week or two down the road the children have already forgotten them. At Phonic Books we believe […]
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Exhibitions and Events for 2018
The Scottish Learning Festival 19th – 20th September, Hall 4, Glasgow SEC TES SEN Show 5th – 6th October, The Business Design Centre, London Dyslexia Scotland, Education Conference 27th October, University of Strathcylde, Technology and Innnovation Centre, Glasgow The Education […]
Read MoreTalisman Card games win Primary Teacher Award!
Talisman Card Games 11-20 have just been awarded a silver award from Primary Teacher. These are beautifully illustrated card games that not only develop reading skills, but social skills too. The Primary Teacher award gets teachers to try out and […]
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 […]
Read More‘Name an alien’ Competition – 2017 winning entries announced
Many schools took part in this year’s ‘Name an alien’ competition and we have been overwhelmed at the response to it and really impressed with the effort the children have made. It was really difficult to choose just 20 […]
Read More‘Sound Snap’ – a fun way to teach ‘precise pronunciation’
I have just started to teach a struggling reader in Year 1. The first thing I observed from my assessment was that she did not use ‘pure phonic sounds’, also known as ‘precise pronunciation’. Many of the consonants were pronounced […]
Read MoreShould we label deprived children as less able?
Is it dangerous to assume that a child who has not had parental input is less able? Are we setting low expectations from the very beginning? Quirky Teacher presents some important arguments about making assumptions about pupil ability in Early […]
Read MoreWhat is Balanced Literacy?
When asked how they teach reading, many teachers pride themselves that they are teaching ‘balanced literacy’ in their classroom. This idea seems to imply that they are covering all the approaches their pupils may need to learn to read. But […]
Read MoreShould ‘alien words’ be part of the Year 1 Phonics Check?
It is that time of year again and the Year 1 Phonics Check is looming. It will take place this year during the week commencing June 12th. There had been a lot of criticism about the check in general but […]
Read MoreHow to teach reading and spelling with the Smart Chute
It is really important to teach reading and spelling together so that children can see that reading is decoding letters into sounds and spelling is encoding sounds into letters. In short, they are reverse activities. This way children learn how […]
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