Rebecca Geoghegan discusses how lessons and learning might evolve through an increased virtual experience with her four stages of reimagining the classroom. When the closures were announced on the 18th March, most schools would say that they had an inkling it was coming. International news had led to much speculation and ‘loose’ plans being created […]
Read moreGraham Elsdon looks at ways to help the new year 11 classes cope with post-lockdown English exam preparation The tentacles of the horrible virus are long and inevitably they have wrapped themselves around the world of education. Lives have been lost, the yearly rhythm has been lost and time has been lost. Leaving aside the […]
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‘A Sea of Talk’ Helen Prince considers some of the educational challenges facing schools and offers her advice for encouraging developing vocabulary across the curriculum. Responding to a pandemic was not part of my teacher training. Dashing around Christ Church, Canterbury all those years ago, I remember no module on understanding the challenge of students […]
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And what are we looking forward to? Secondary English teacher, Gwen Nelson reflects on the last few months especially the things she has started to miss. And what exactly is she looking forward to about getting back into the classroom again full time? Firstly, let’s be abundantly clear. Suddenly being thrust into remote teaching has […]
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In the English classroom How we did it – planning We began by looking at the curriculum. What KS4 content did students struggle most with? What vocabulary could we teach them to help them communicate their ideas more clearly? We looked at our literature texts, the demands of GCE English Language and then at our […]
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It started with a book… Closing the Vocabulary Gap by Alex Quigley is the book that started the Stretford High School English Department’s endeavour to improve our students’ vocabulary. Quigley opened the dialogue for a problem we knew existed but weren’t sure how to solve. His book clarified the classification of words we needed students […]
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Dr Marcello Giovanelli and Dr Chloe Harrison explain how cognitive grammar workshops developed into a pack of tried-and-tested resources. Style and interpretation Stylistics is the study of language patterns in text, and of the meaningful relationship between linguistic choice and literary interpretation. In this collection of classroom resources, we present a particular stylistic ‘tool’, Cognitive […]
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When Gavin Williamson announced the cancellation of all formal examinations this summer, it was arguably the biggest tremor the education sector had felt in recent history. Both teachers and students were rattled, experiencing a range of emotions including frustration, fear, relief and even a sense of grief over what had been taken away without negotiation […]
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Award-winning children’s author Christopher Edge shares strategies for talking to children about their reading Books can help children and young adults to make sense of the world, provide an escape from it and maybe, one day, inspire them to build a better one, so in these strange times, making space for reading in their lives […]
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While the lockdown could potentially be a perfect time to brush up on grammar, worksheets can be rather dry and uninspiring. Try these activities with lower KS3 to get them engaging with grammar. 1. Adjective treasure hunt Pupils conduct a treasure hunt where they have to collect items from around the house which embody particular […]
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