As the dust settles following the release of the preliminary NAPLAN results last month it is time to take stock and reassess. The overall message in the media seems to be that despite the efforts of both students and teachers as well as record levels of government funding in literacy and numeracy, there has been no significant…
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Step by Step Blog
188 words for SAID – but should you use them?
According to a site on Pinterest, there are 188 words you could use instead of ‘said’. The question is, should you use them? Here’s a quick quiz. In 20 seconds, count the number of ‘F’s’ in this sentence. Did you get 3? Or 6? How many people noticed the word ‘of’? That’s another 3 ‘F’s’…
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Creativity in the Classroom – Practice makes perfect
Ask any author and they will tell you this…ideas are the most important part of creation and they take a long time. How do you get ideas? How much time do you spend coming up with ideas before you start writing? First try this test. Say just one word to students in your class: Writing….
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The Writing Olympics
Most children innately love telling and writing stories, but sadly somewhere along the way writing becomes a chore and all the fun disappears. It doesn’t have to be that way; a great writing lesson should be collaborative, exciting, noisy, thought provoking…the list goes on. One way to inject some fun back into writing and engage…
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The Power of Picture Books
As a teacher one of my favourite activities was reading aloud to students; it was one of the few times when there was absolute silence as they enjoyed the magic of a great story. All too often, however, the time to read and appreciate great books as a whole class, particularly with older students, is…
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Collaborate, Create and Celebrate Great Writing
Typically writing classrooms are quiet. People often regard writing as a personal and solo activity, intense and full of concentration. It does not have to be this way. Collaborative classrooms are vibrant, interactive and tick all four boxes of speaking, writing, reading and listening in literacy. It is certainly possible for students to work together…
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Five Minute Photo Fast Starts
The Five Minute Fast Start exercise has gone viral and about 98% of teachers coming to our Workshops have already heard or used it. They love it! Here’s a different take on that very popular activity. Many kids are visual learners…particularly boys. So the new challenge is this: Write five Sizzling Starts for five photos. Action…
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6 Myths About NAP – Persuasive
In general, there are many myths about NAPLAN. But we know NAPLAN markers and they’ve told us to dispel these myths! They aren’t true and can hurt your students’ writing and scores. Here we go… 1. An introduction must state your side and summarise reasons: ‘I think X is better than Y because of reason…
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