Teaching

Five Things Your Students Want From Your Marking.

As a follow-up to ‘Ten Ways to Improve your Marking’, here are ‘Five Things Your Students Want From Your Marking’. Regular readers will have noted my school’s current preoccupation with marking. In our endless search for the perfect formula, we have been quizzing… Read More

Relay Analysis: Using talk to improve written analysis

‘Kids who can’t write for toffee are generally less than competent with the spoken word…’ Phil Beadle. I recently heard the great Phil Beadle talk at a training event. He passionately extolled the virtues of developing students’ use of spoken English, in order to improve their writing. I had been… Read More

The Centenary of the Birth of Dylan Thomas

This October sees the centenary of the birth of one of the 20th century’s greatest authors and poets, Dylan Thomas. There are few writers who fill their work with such vivid imagery and the anniversary gives us the excuse to delve into some of his most famous works and use… Read More

What is Plague?

Throughout medieval times, plague was a word that struck fear into the hearts of all that heard it whispered or shouted in their towns and cities. In this activity the pupils will find out what ‘plague’ actually is and how it was spread as well as the shocking news that… Read More

Writing for different purposes: Brazil 2014

This summer Brazil will be hot news and not just for the tropical weather there for, in June, it hosts the 2014 FIFA World Cup and two years later will host the Olympic Games. How much do you, your friends or your family know about the… Read More

Drawing Stories with Neill Cameron

A uniquely brilliant thing about comics is simply that they tell a story through drawings. This makes the experience of reading a comic a fantastic collaboration between the creator and the reader, who has to use their own imagination to join those pictures together into a story.    … Read More

Teaching Skulduggery Pleasant

Compelling characterisation The exciting action in Skulduggery Pleasant is played out by well defined and, at times, mysterious characters as written by author Derek Landy. In particular, the two main characters, the skeleton detective, Skulduggery Pleasant, and young Stephanie Edgley, break stereotypical moulds as they… Read More

Causes and effects of World War 1

Suitable for: Year 3 to Year 6 Learning Focus: To empathise with people’s feelings over the cause and effects of the Great War To be able to compare and contrast source material to form a personal opinion This year our TV screens, newspapers and more will be filled with stories… Read More