For a substantial period of time the preferred method of instruction has been focused on enquiry learning and direct, explicit instruction has been viewed negatively. Yet, there is a large body of research demonstrating the benefits of direct, explicit instruction … Continued
As a specialist reading teacher, success for me is when a child picks up a book to read for pleasure without any prompting. How can we assist our children reach this milestone so that once they can read they will pick … Continued
Why do we pronounce the ‘o’ in ‘woman‘ as /oo/ like in ‘book’, whereas the ‘o’ in ‘women‘ in pronounced /i/ like in ‘insect’? According to Crystal (2012), in Old English the word for ‘woman’ was ‘wifman’ (literally wife-man, but … Continued
Once students enter the upper grades of primary school and all through high school, they are expected to think more critically about the texts they are reading rather than just recalling basic information and restating the obvious. More often than … Continued
Graphic organisers illustrate concepts, and relationships between concepts, using diagrams or tables. They are an effective way of helping readers identify key concepts in a text and to determine the relationship between these concepts. Consequently, they are a useful strategy … Continued