Do you want children and young people to be inspired by great authors to create their own texts?
Look no further . . . The Storycraft section on the World Book Day website includes videos from well known authors who give practical tips to aid the creation of text. Click the image above.
In many texts that we read we are presented with problems and solutions; the structure providing us with the basis of our storyline.
For example, in Cinderella we are presented with the problem that Cinderella, desperate to go to the ball, has nothing to wear and no way to get there. Fortunately, we’re presented with the Fairy God Mother providing the solutions – a dress and glass slippers for Cinderella to wear and a carriage to take Cinderella to the ball.
Oktapodi is a fantastic animation that can be used to teach learners how to identify the problem and solutions, developing their skills to find, infer and use information.
Learners can record their thoughts on the Problem/ Solution – Oktapodi Handout.
Check out the ICT Games – Literacy site for a number of games to support phonics, spelling and reading objectives.
CLICK HERE ICT Games – Literacy
A favourite is High Frequency Word Bingo – ideal for Early/First Levels. Click the image below:
Let us know of any fabulous resources that you’re using in your classroom to support the teaching of Literacy and English by commenting on this post, or Email Us.
The English as an Additional Language (EAL) team at Highland Council are hosting an event for bilingual families who have children in Nursery to Primary 3.
Please share this with parents/carers or contact the EAL team for further information.
BFI Education have created a teaching guide, ‘Look Again!’ to support the teaching of film and media in the primary classroom. Download it by clicking the image below.
During the last week of April three Literacy and English reports were released by the Scottish Government and Education Scotland:
3 – 18 Literacy and English Review (April 2015) – A report from Education Scotland which highlights the strengths and recommendations of recent observed practice.
I Read . . . Scottish Government (April 2015) – A report from the Scottish Government which highlights the strengths and recommendations made by the Standing Literacy Commission.
SSLN Findings (April 2015) – A report from the Scottish Government which highlights the results from the 2014 Scottish Summary of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) assessment.
Following the 3 – 18 Literacy and English Review (April 2015) an audit tool, organised into key themes, which includes the reflection questions from the document has been created to support self-evaluation of current Literacy developments. CLICK HERE to download the audit tool.
Following the SSLN Findings (April 2015) Education Scotland have published the SSLN – Literacy – Professional Learning Workshops resource on their website. This is a professional learning resource that can be used to support staff in the developments of group discussion, reading strategies and writing skills.
An exciting opportunity for a Highland practitioner has arisen to work with the Scottish Book Trust.
They’re looking for a creative teacher to develop fun and dynamic activities around one of their Authors Live events and report back about their classroom experiences online and share with the Local Authority. In return they will provide you with £400 to spend on workshops, books or anything to help the creative process.
CLICK HERE for some of the ideas that have been shared so far.
The authors are Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve. CLICK HERE for the link to their Authors Live events.
Any practitioners wishing to take part in this event should send a brief outline of what they plan to do with their pupils and the funding to antonia.clark@scottishbooktrust.com.
Do you teach learners how to create mind-maps, diagrams and flowcharts? If so, we’ve got a free resource to support you. If not, check out the resource and be inspired . . .
Gliffy is a wonderful free online cloud based tool that can be used to create mind-maps, diagrams and flowcharts! The software itself is simple to use – click the image above and you’re ready to go. Click ‘Start Drawing’ and you’ll land at the ‘Getting Started’ guide; take a few minutes to check the software out.
Images can then be saved by creating a free account online, or exported as a JPG or PNG picture file and saved on your computer.
Following the recent training by Highland Psychological Services, their resource ‘Improving Literacy with Parental Involvement’ is now available to download electronically for use in your establishment.
Click the image below to download the full ‘Improving Literacy with Parental Involvement’ pack.
 Improving Literacy with Parental Involvement – Highland Psychological Services |
Click the image below to download the pack as one PDF document.
Click on the images below to access each of the three modules within the ‘Improving Literacy with Parental Involvement’ pack.
 Shared Reading – Nursery |
 Reading Together First Steps – P1 |
 Reading Together – P3/4 |
Thank you to Highland Psychological Services for making these materials available.
Wanting to teach the use of language techniques such as similes, metaphors or personification in poetry? If so, head on over to the TES Poetry site which is packed full of resources for First and Second Levels in Primary and Third and Fourth Levels in Secondary.
TES Poetry – Primary
TES Poetry – Secondary
Click the image above for a reading of Berlie Doherty’s poem, ‘Guess’, which uses similes and metaphors to describe fire – an ideal description on a cold winter’s night.
HIGHLAND LITERACY 