Teach children between P4 and P7? Join the Scottish Book Trust on Authors Live as we celebrate 100 years of Roald Dahl, with writer and translator Matthew Fitt!

Matthew will be exploring the world of Scots language through his translations of Roald Dahl’s most popular stories. Matthew will show how he translates these well-loved stories, making this an excellent way to introduce your pupils to the wonder of reading and writing in Scots!

CLICK HERE – Matthew Fitt Authors Live

To support your teaching of Scots check out:
CLICK HERE – Scots Hoose Website – a great starting point for the teaching of Scots
CLICK HERE – Education Scotland Scots Language – suggested resources at each CfE Level 
CLICK HERE – Scots Language Booklet, Highland – practical Scots language activities

If you’re teaching the skill of ‘teaching the main points and summarising’ you can use the following interactive resources to support the teaching of extracting key information and key points.

Click the images above to access the two activities:
Teaching the Main Points and Summarising – 1 
Teaching the Main Points and Summarising – 2

International Literacy Day – Thursday 8th September 2016
Reading the Past, Writing the Future

On the 8th of September (tomorrow)  people across the world will celebrate International Literacy Day. This year marks the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day under the banner – Reading the Past, Writing the Future.

Celebrate International Literacy Day within your class or as a school.  It’s a great opportunity for an Interdisciplinary Topic, making natural links with Literacy to Global Citizenship and Learning for Sustainability.

The infographic below provides a snapshot of literacy development across the world, and interesting teaching point in itself.

Check out In the Loop from Stride Magazine for links related to Global Goal Number 4: Quality Education.

CLICK HERE to access the World Literacy Foundation’s information on International Literacy Day.

CLICK HERE for UNESCO’s information on International Literacy Day.

The First Minister’s Reading Challenge was announced on Thursday 1^st September 2016 with a target audience of P4 – P7 pupils.

CLICK HERE – First Minister’s Reading Challenge

The First Minister is challenging children across Scotland to get their nose into a good book. There are over 300 titles recommended.

CLICK HERE – Book List

There are several different challenges, including individual and school challenges, which you can sign up for on the Reading Challenge website.

CLICK HERE – Challenge Information

CLICK HERE – Register Your Class or Your School

By creating a teacher account you will also get access to the classroom resources.

GET READING WITH THE FIRST MINISTER’S READING CHALLENGE

We’d love to hear what your plans are to develop the First Minister’s Reading Challenge. Let us know by leaving a comment on this blog post.

Read, Write, Count is a new campaign to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of Scotland’s children by providing advice and support for the families of children in Primary 1, 2 and 3. It a key part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to raise attainment for all and close the attainment gap.

The Information for Schools document provides an overview of the resources which will be delivered to P1 – P3 children during the course of this session. The focus on the Read, Write, Count materials is developing family engagement. A Family Presentation has been created for schools to support this.

As part of the Read, Write, Count campaign P2 and P3 children across Scotland will receive a book bag (similar to that of the P1 Bookbug Pack) this Autumn. Deliveries are now underway in Highland and will be in your school between now and November.

The Scottish Book Trust have created a number of useful resources and documents on their website to support the gifting of the texts as well as using the texts within learning contexts.

CLICK HERE – SBT Read, Write, Count

It is recommended that these are gifted to the children during Book Week Scotland – 21st – 27th of November 2016. The Family Presentation and the letters for P2 and P3 can be used in the lead up to and during the gifting process.

Schools are encouraged to make links with the Highland Library Service to support the gifting of the Read, Write, Count packs.

CLICK HERE – Highland Information for Schools

This week John Swinney, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, has released guidance for practitioners. This guidance includes the CfE Statement which provides explicit advice on planning learning, teaching and assessment using the Experiences and Outcomes and the CfE Benchmarks.

The purpose of the Benchmarks is to set out very clear statements about what children and young people need to learn to achieve each level of the curriculum. Benchmarks streamline and embed a wide range of existing assessment guidance (significant aspects of learning, progression frameworks and annotated exemplification) into one key resource to support teachers’ professional judgement.

CLICK HERE – Literacy and English CfE Benchmarks

The Highland Literacy Progression – Steps to Success will be revised this session to incorporate this guidance.

Many practitioners are currently using the Phonological Awareness materials to support the development of Phonological Awareness in their classrooms. We’re pleased to announce that the Phonological Awareness assessment which was published earlier this year is now available in Gaelic on the Phonological Awareness page. Many thanks to the staff at Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Inbhir Nis who supported Speech and Language to create the resource.

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Phonological Awareness Screen (Gaelic)

CLICK HERE – (Gaelic) Phonological Awareness Screen
CLICK HERE – (Gaelic) Phonological Awareness Picture Booklet
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Let us know if you have any suggestions of classroom based activities which can be used to support the development of Emerging Literacy by leaving a comment.

Aesop’s Fables are a collection of stories which often have an underlying moral message. These stories are a great resource to use within literacy workshops to support the development of comprehension through Higher Order Thinking Skills.

Click the image above to access a collection of Aesop’s Fables from the BBC.

In a world where many of our learners utilise the benefits of digital technology at home and at school, this month’s ’50 Word Fiction’ from the Scottish Book Trust is a great opportunity for learners to pen a piece of fiction of no more than 50 words on the subject of the mobile phone.

The deadline is Monday 29th August 2016. The Young Writers category is open to all children and young people under 18.

CLICK HERE – 50 Word Fiction (Mobile Phone)

The Play Talk Read bus is visiting the Highlands this week. This is ideal for centres and schools which provide Early Learning and Childcare.

Check out this week’s bus timetable below.

CLICK HERE to visit the Play Talk Read website for activities which develop pre-reading and pre-writing skills and promote family learning.