The Primary 1 Bookbug packs are on their way to schools in preparation for Book Week Scotland on Monday 21st – Sunday 27th November. Look at the great books inside P1 Bookbug Family Pack this year. Gaelic editions will be sent to schools with Gaelic Medium pupils.

As well as the sessions that have been offered by Highland Libraries there are a number of resources available on the Scottish Book Trust’s website:

CLICK HERE – P1 Bookbug Pack RESOURCES

We recommend that the Learning Resource is a good place to start. Click on the image below to access the Bookbug Picture Book Prize Learning Resource.

CLICK HERE – P1 Bookbug Family Pack Information

Have you got Literacy as part of your School Improvement Plan? Have you got an interest in developing your own practice in Literacy and English?

The Highland Literacy Toolkit is a suite of Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) resources that can be used by individuals, groups of practitioners or whole staff groups. Each PowerPoint includes facilitator’s notes to support delivery, resources to use during collegiate sessions and follow-up links. Each PowerPoint is linked to the Quality Indicators within How Good Is Our School 4 (HGIOS4).

Click on the links below to access each of the Highland Literacy Toolkit PowerPoints, or check out the Literacy Toolkit tab. Individuals, groups and schools can select the aspects which are relevant to them.

1. Asking the Right Questions at the Right Time
2. Building Vocabulary for Better Literacy
3. Developing Thinking
4. Group Talk – A Focus on the Individual
5. Handwriting vs. Keyboard Skills
6. Learning and Teaching – A Focus on Writing
7. Literacy Across Learning
8. Literacy through Exploration
9. Reading Between the Lines
10. Read With Confidence
11. Spelling and Beyond
12. Talk With Confidence
13. Writing Feedback – Technical vs. Content
14. Write With Confidence

CLICK HERE – Highland Literacy Toolkit Update 2016

Do your learners ‘warm up’ their hands before a writing task? Check out the video below from John Murray, Occupational Therapist, who demonstrates the Zoom Game.

The Zoom Game is a one minute hand warm up which develops hand/eye co-ordination and motor control.

Let us know how your learners get on with the Zoom Game by leaving a comment. This is a warm up game which could also be done at home prior to writing tasks.

Following the success of our library events last year, we are again working alongside the Library service to deliver CPD to teachers. Book Week Scotland takes place between Monday 21st and Sunday 27th of November 2016.

Primary 1 ‘Bookbug’ packs will arrive in schools late October/ early November. The Primary 2 and Primary 3 ‘Read, Write, Count’ packs started arriving in schools earlier this month and will be delivered to schools by the end of October.

The Scottish Book Trust’s aim is that P1 – P3 teachers will use the Bookbug and Read, Write, Count resources in the classroom in the run-up to Book Week Scotland and gift the packs during Book Week Scotland.

To support schools in doing so the Highland Library service are putting on a series of CPD events for P1 – P3 teachers across the Authority. Please find information below – each event can be applied for through the CPD Calendar. To apply before Friday 7th October 2016.

No Pens Day Wednesday encourages schools and settings to put down their pens and to run a day of speaking and listening activities.

This year’s No Pens Day Wednesday will take place on Wednesday 5^th October 2016.

Why don’t you try putting away the pens and pencils for a day, and looking at ways to develop your pupils’ oral language?

Click the image above for the No Pens Day Wednesday 2016 Activity Pack. The pack is full of information and ideas how Early Years, Primary and Secondary settings can support this. The official date is Wednesdy 5th October 2015.

See a video from The Communication Trust on the impact of No Pens Day Wednesday

Check out the Building Vocabulary for Better Literacy PowerPoint from The Literacy Toolkit to look at strategies for pre-teaching vocabulary – a great resource to support schools in Closing the Vocabulary Gap.

When using the Pre-Handwriting Skills Continuum to support motor development, learners develop Fine Motor Skills, Scissor Skills and Pre-writing Skills.

Check out the Pre Handwriting blog page under the Emerging Literacy tab to access the new Pre-Writing Skills handout and the updated handouts for Fine Motor Skills, Scissor Skills and Posture and Seating.

Many thanks to colleagues within Occupational Therapy in Highland.

It’s time to delve into the past for this month’s ’50 Word Fiction’ from the Scottish Book Trust. This month’s stimulus is a great opportunity for learners to pen a piece of fiction of no more than 50 words on the subject of historical fiction.

For inspiration, you could use an image such as ‘memories’ from Pobble 365 or one of the Victorian Diaries from ‘The History Shed’ section of The Literacy Shed.

The deadline is Friday 30th September 2016. The Young Writers category is open to all children and young people under 18.

CLICK HERE – 50 Word Fiction (Historical Fiction) 

Want to develop Film Education and Media Literacy in your classroom?

Futurelearn are offering a great free four week online course – Teaching Literacy Through Film beginning Monday 26th September 2016.

Course Information

Over four weeks, you’ll explore a range of strategies and frameworks that you can use to engage and inspire young people when teaching literacy, and improve their progress and levels of attainment in both reading and writing.

You’ll have the opportunity to share best practice, download classroom-ready resources, including how-to guides, activities and worksheets, and access an exclusive playlist of short films and clips to use in school.

We will also discuss the benefits of creating film content in the classroom and how this can be used to aid deep learning, which is more easily retained. You’ll have the opportunity to make your own short film for use in the classroom, which can be shared with fellow educators on a YouTube playlist.

CLICK HERE – Teaching Literacy Through Film

Check out the Media Literacy tab on the Highland Literacy blog.

It may seem like the semicolon is struggling with an identity crisis. It looks like a comma crossed with a period. Maybe that’s why we toss these punctuation marks around like grammatical confetti; we’re confused about how to use them properly. Emma Bryce clarifies best practices for the semi-confusing semicolon.

Click on the image above to access a short TED-ED on the use of the semicolon, ideal for using during the writing process.

CLICK HERE – How to use a semicolon

To support the development of literacy, language and communication it is recommended that practitioners across Highland develop language rich environments to support the development of Oral Language.

The Communication Trust have a series of videos for practitioners to support practice.

The following video provides guidance on how practitioners can develop a language rich environment.

Check out the Building Vocabulary for Better Literacy PowerPoint from The Literacy Toolkit to look at strategies for pre-teaching vocabulary – a great resource to support schools in Closing the Vocabulary Gap.

The following video provides guidance on how practitioners can scaffold language, supporting the development of the Words Up Key Messages.

Check out the Words Up Key Messages to support the development of Oral Language specifically in the Early Years. Later in the session Key Messages will be produced for school years.