tarareilly1

A spelling activity with an older learner, sparked a little research in our lesson this week. We were looking at the root word 'struct' - from the Latin to build, fit together or an adjustment. We started thinking about prefixes or suffixes (to put at the start or at the end of the root word) and came up with con-struct (to build), de-struct-ion and even in-struct; a less obvious one but you can instruct someone to build something. In a Lego con-struct-ion kit, there are in-struct-ions on how...

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...