It’s hot and sticky, your eyelids weigh as much as a cinderblock and you have to read page after page of, ‘In the holidays… followed by a blow-by-blow account of everything students did. As a teacher, you may have 99 problems but let’s make sure boring holiday recounts are not one of them! One of…
Read More
4 Recounts Every Teacher Wants to Read
Have you ever met someone at a party whose stories go on FOREVER but ultimately go nowhere? Their tales highlight pointless details with no punchline and they finish so abruptly you only realise it has ended by the five seconds of silence. Eliminating this alarming situation is an unofficial long-term goal of ours! So, how…
Read More
Group Activity for Persuasive Writing
Writing collaboratively is a wonderful scaffold and it also gives a far better result. Just look at all the scriptwriters who work together to create a popular TV series like Modern Family. So, when you get students to tackle a full text for the first time, don’t ask them to do it alone. Get them…
Read More
3 Quick Tips to Encourage Student Collaboration
Everyone loves a good collaboration. The Wright Brothers. Yothu Yindi. Mickey and Minnie. Macaroni and cheese. But how is this wizardry achieved in a writing classroom? Good news: it’s not magic. Through short, practical, collaborative activities, students feed off each other’s energy to develop better ideas. Engaging students in the writing process with their minds,…
Read More
