The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all. Many members of our school community have been exposed to trauma, and will need care and support during the transition to whatever the new ‘normal’ is. We need to make sure we don’t overload our students (and ourselves) as we return to what has been familiar. In this…
Break? What break? So much ongoing discussion, so many opportunities on offer. It’s more necessary than ever to use our time wisely so that we make sound choices, providing the best support for our practice in own classrooms. Reading – Blog For clarity and a rigorous research base, Noella Mackenzie’s latest blog EXPLAINER: What is…
Bookshops are the best place to take a break. All you need is a couple of hours with nothing else that needs to be done. Usually best on your own. Sometimes you have to just do it. Even only 15 minutes or so, in that calm, internalised pleasure palace, can be enough. Children introduced early…
And, thank goodness, books continue to be published, read, and loved. Reading has been described as the perfect lockdown-in-COVID-19-activity. In these difficult times, it is worth reminding ourselves, and our students, that: “Reading is an act of civilization; it’s one of the greatest acts of civilization because it takes the free raw material of the…
Australia publishes more children’s books per head of population than any other country. That’s something to be proud of, it’s something to celebrate, as we do every year in our classrooms, and with the Annual CBCA Book Week and book awards. Congratulations to all CBCA 2021 winners, and to honour book and shortlisted authors and…
1. Poetry Month 1-31 August I love the idea of being able to devote a whole month to a focus on poetry. Red Room Poetry is has launched its inaugural Poetry Month on 1 August, 2021. The purpose is to increase the profile of Australian poetry, poets and publishers. Check it out on social media,…
“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh Brief, focused writing activities are suitable for including…
The range of English literature, English literacy research, and reading resources that is available to teachers in Australian schools is rich and extensive. Any work we want to prepare for our students, whether in a time of online learning, or for working on in the classroom, is improved when it is based on reliable sources.…
The lead up to the end of the financial year is a good opportunity to build your library with the specials that are available. It is also a great time to subscribe to those organisations that you have been meaning to get around to, because you know they will support you in your work. All…
This is the title of an excellent paper by Judith Scott, William Nagy, and Susan Flinspach (2008). I have used this reference in a previous blog on this site, ‘The beginnings of literacy’, and as the basis of our online course, ‘Exploring literacy: Vocabulary’ (available soon). The paper puts the interactive role of vocabulary learning…