National Storytelling Week 2014 kicks off next Saturday. Click on the images below to access a few resources which aspire to inspire . . .
The resources from the Scottish Storytelling Centre are fantastic – I’ll definitely be using the Early Years Starter Pack.
Some great top-tips for storytelling can be found below:
If you know of any other great resources . . . remember to comment!
Whilst browsing looking for ideas to support next week’s writing lesson, I stumble across this on Clever Classroom. The ideas are not new, but I’d like to pick up on two points in particular.
Firstly, with reference to visualising their idea – this is something which Highland Literacy promotes through the use of using media as a stimulus for writing.
Secondly, the point that Mrs Poultney makes about writing EVERY day – although extended writing with a time limit may not be appropriate in all stages, providing learners with purposeful writing experiences, with regular teacher/pupil dialogue focusing on improvement, provides learners with more than a standalone weekly writing lesson.
What will your learners write tomorrow?
Looking for interactive resources to use within lessons to develop the literacy skills of your learners?
Room Recess is a fantastic free resource which contains games which can be used to support the teaching of reading and writing. Click on the images above to access the resources. My particular favourite is ‘Word War‘ which can be used to develop word building.
It’s been a busy term in Literacy HQ. We’re currently developing ‘The Highland Literacy Progression’ which we aim to send out before Easter 2014. We’re also developing further PowerPoints to add to the Literacy Toolkit as well as, where appropriate, refreshing the HLP materials.
The Highland Literacy Group are co-ordinating three CPD events during inset on February 19th 2014. Two of these event will take place at Crown Primary School in Inverness, the third in Invergordon Academy.
The first CPD event is a workshop which looks at ‘Creating Texts’ in the Primary School. The morning aims to question ‘What makes a good text?’, linking to the ’6 Traits + 1′ writing resource. Referred to in earlier posts, ’6 Traits + 1′ is a resource which can be used across the school to develop writing. This open to practitioners within the Primary sector.
February 19th 2014 – 09:30 – 12:30 – Crown Primary School
Our second CPD event we’re hosting is an ‘Introduction to the Literacy Toolkit’. This is aimed at Leaders of Learning within Primary Schools. The 2 hour CPD will allow practitioners to familiarise themselves with the Literacy Toolkit, providing guidance as how to facilitate this within schools.
February 19th 2014 – 13:30 – 15:30 – Crown Primary School
The third event is ‘Big Writing’ – hosted by Big Writing trainer,Anne Glennie. The whole-day event aims to provide practitioners with a programme which can be used to develop writing, including guidance on learning, teaching and assessment. The course costs £37 per head, and can be found on the CPD calendar.
February 19th 2014 – 09:30 – 15:30 – Invergordon Academy
All events can be found in the CPD calendar – put ‘Introduction’ into the Keyword box within the Search Panel. Click the picture at the top to access the Highland CPD website
Highland Schools are reasonably well placed to support The Curriculum through the use of ICT software programmes available on the School Network.
CLICK HERE (or the image above) for a document which includes the software packages available on Highland machines. The ‘How To’ guide includes links to additional resources which provide further information on each of the packages.
Yesterday there was a fantastic Twilight CPD session held by the Scottish Book Trust in Dingwall Education Centre.
The Scottish Book Awards are coming . . . but how can schools get involved?
Firstly, regarding Scottish Book Trust’s annual Bookbug event, each Primary 1 in Highland will shortly receive a pack with three fantastic books. The Scottish Book Trust are keen for schools to, where possible, bring each of the three stories to life in the classroom. There are a wealth of curricular opportunities within each of the stories. Here are a few that the Scottish Book Trust have suggested:
CLICK HERE for a specific ‘Paper Dolls’ themed activity.
Schools can begin to teach the skill of voting in Primary 1 through the use of the Bookbug pack. By removing the voting slips from the packs, and using these as ballots (once you have read the children each of the three books), children can vote for their favourite text.
Register your class’ votes by signing up before December 31st on the following link:
Scottish Book Trust – REGISTRATION
With the Bookbug bags, the Scottish Book Trust are suggesting that classes or schools have a “Gifting Event”. Ideas can be found on www.scottishbooktrust.com/scba
Middle/upper Primary and Secondary can get involved too. Follow the links below for further information:
Scottish Book Trust – RESOURCES
Resources – Age 8-11
Resources – Age 12-16
Share how your class or school are taking part by commenting on this post.
We hope you’ve all had an enjoyable first week of term.
If you’re planning on doing some Literacy work for Hallowe’en next week, we’d love to know any fabulous resources which we can share on the blog. Click the pumpkin picture at the beginning of this post for an idea which I’m going to try with phonics/ORT words in infants. CLICK HERE for some more Hallowe’en ideas.
Have a great weekend!
A secondary colleague recently flagged up the I Can website – a charity which provides support for children with speech, language and communication difficulties.
There are some useful documents on the website that can be used by ALL practitioners to support Listening and Talking within the classroom.
The ‘Resources for Professionals’ section has a number of documents which can be used by practitioners. Particular favourites of mine are the ‘Milestones for Talk’ documents which can be found by clicking the links below. They can be printed out on one sheet for easy reference.
Primary Talk Milestone – CLICK HERE!
Secondary Talk Milestone – CLICK HERE!
The Highland Literacy Group are running two CPD events during inset on October 21st. Both events will take place at Crown Primary School in Inverness.
The first CPD event is an introduction to the ‘6 Traits + 1’ writing resource. Referred to in earlier posts, ‘6 Traits + 1’ is a resource which can be used across the school to develop writing. This open to practitioners within the Primary sector. October 21st 2013 – 09:30 – 12:30 – Crown Primary School
Our second CPD event we’re hosting is an ‘Introduction to the Literacy Toolkit’. This is aimed at Leaders of Learning within Primary Schools. The 2 hour CPD will allow practitioners to familiarise themselves with the Literacy Toolkit, providing guidance as how to facilitate this within schools. October 21st 2013 – 13:30 – 15:30 – Crown Primary School
Both events can be found in the CPD calendar – put ‘Introduction’ into the Keyword box within the Search Panel. Click the picture at the top to access the Highland CPD website.
Scottish Book Trust is running a book trailer competition as part of the Scottish Children’s Book Awards, with a fabulous prize of £250 in book tokens from Waterstones; why not get your pupils to produce a trailer for one of the shortlisted books? The competition is open to all ages, and pupils can produce a trailer for any of the age categories. Scottish Book Trust have got a whole host of resources to help you produce book trailers with your pupils. Have a look at their Booktrailer Masterclass videos to get a comprehensive book trailer walkthrough – and on the same page, you’ll find a whole unit of work to help you integrate trailers into your planning.
They also have two exciting Authors Live events coming up, one with Mairi Hedderwick – all the info is here:
CLICK HERE – Scottish Book Trust
Click the image at the top of this post for online CPD which is provided by Scottish Book Trust.
HIGHLAND LITERACY 