tarareilly1

Teaching non-decodable words needs lots of repetition, but how to keep little ones interested and focused? Here are some methods I have been using for Key Stage One pupils. She, me, we, he and be all have a sound in common so these can be taught as a set. 1. I have bought a huge dice for rolling and reading. Write a word for each number. 2. Rice writing is great, but my students like me to hide words for them- partially uncover wooden letters so they have to guess what letters they may be...

Whilst watching a well-known detective series set in the Caribbean on Friday night, which happens to be my favourite, a reference was made to Anansii. This was a half man half spider character from Caribbean folklore. I suddenly had a vivid flashback to being at infant school in South East London and singing a song about this character. I’ve been humming it all day but, significantly, I also remember every word of the song. I sang this 35+ years ago! This highlights the power, not just of...

Sometimes, repetition is the key but how to make it fun? I have a dice game where each spelling we are working on corresponds to a number on the dice. You can then ask the child to look at the word, write it in rice… Or even write it in the air or make the letter shapes with their hands. Then they have to look away and write it with chalk or on a whiteboard… This game can be adapted by changing the spellings- you could even create a laminated card so you can rub them out and change them every...