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January 2, 2023 by: topteaching

The Treaty of Waitangi in the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum

Have you had a chance to explore the new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum? The Treaty of Waitangi – Te Tiriti o Waitangi is understandably a key focus. To succeed in today’s world, students need to understand the history of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and perspectives of those who are impacted by this important document today. The treaty and its history is interwoven across many

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January 2, 2023 by: topteaching

The Best Getting to Know You Activity

A great Getting to Know You activity for your classroom takes a group of students who have just met and builds a sense of community. I remember sitting in front of my very first class. 28 Year 5 and 6 students, all sitting quietly, nervously on the mat, looking around at each other and then up at me. At that moment, I wish I had

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December 5, 2022 by: topteaching

Practical Ways to Use our ‘A Week in NZ’s History” resources

I recently was asked for some practical suggestions for using our new range of “A Week in NZ’s History” resources. I am passionate about providing practical tips for busy teachers, so I hope these suggestions help. Our “A Week in NZ’s History” resources Our Week in New Zealand’s History resource explores key moments within Aotearoa New Zealand’s history. This resource serves as a bite-sized piece of Aotearoa’s history

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September 25, 2022 by: topteaching

Using Morphology to Teach Vocabulary

The importance of improving students’ vocabulary cannot be overstated. Having a large vocabulary helps students to develop their reading comprehension and writing skills. In fact, research has shown that children with larger vocabularies achieve better results at school, including higher reading achievement in particular. Targeting morphology is one way to teach vocabulary. What is morphology? Morphology is the study of words and their parts. Morphemes, like

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September 10, 2022 by: topteaching

10 Great Podcasts for Kids

Research tells us that better listeners are better readers. We’ve put together this list of 10 Great Podcasts for Kids to highlight some excellent podcasts that provide active listening practice. Why Listen to Podcasts? Reading is a function of two key components: decoding and language comprehension. Listening is a key part of language comprehension. In the Science of Reading, the awareness of sounds that make

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March 12, 2022 by: topteaching

Why You Should Be Teaching Text Structures

Why You Should Be Teaching Text Structures The whole purpose of reading is to make meaning – that is, to understand what we read (reading comprehension). As teachers, we want our students to understand what they are reading; it is pointless, otherwise. As they move through the school levels, we also want them to understand increasingly complex texts. So what is one effective way to

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February 17, 2022 by: topteaching

Learn at Home – Home Learning Packs

With the unpredictability of the current school season, we’ve put together a series of free Learn at Home activity packs. These free home learning packs will be a useful tool if you need to isolate, or if you have students who are off school. Many of the resources are able to be used both in print and digital form, so they could be used in

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January 13, 2022 by: topteaching

Using Collaborative Activities to Explore Waitangi Day

Collaborative activities are the perfect way to explore Waitangi Day and the Treaty of Waitangi. With Waitangi Day commemorated at the beginning of the school year, our resources help you to cover this important part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s history while it is front and centre in your students’ minds. In the first weeks of the school year, you may be getting to know your

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December 10, 2021 by: topteaching

My Five Favourite Teaching Resources

I am excited to share this blog post and explain my top five teaching resources from our Top Teaching Tasks range! There is something in our top five teaching resources for everyone! So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are out top five! NZ History Time Travel Adventure (Print and Digital) Year 3-Year 8 This NZ History Time Travel Adventures set was

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December 11, 2020 by: topteaching

Back to School Activities and Ideas

back to School Activities and Ideas

If you are in search of great Back to School activities for NZ or Australian classrooms – or even further afield, we have a great range available. I’ve also put together a great range of Back to School blog posts that will help you to get to know your students and set up the year for success. In this blog post round-up, I’ve highlighted some

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December 31, 2020 by: topteaching

Planning The First Week of School

Planning the first week of school

I don’t know about you, but in planning the first week of school I always preferred to be overplanned and overprepared – you never know what can happen! The beginning of the year is so exciting – setting up your classroom, preparing resources, and looking forward to getting to know your new students. One step that will give you confidence as you walk into your

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January 16, 2021 by: topteaching

7 Tips for Successful Parent-Teacher Communication

7 Tips for Successful Parent Teacher Communication

When I surveyed trainee teachers on topics they would like advice on, the resounding and clear winner was tips for Successful Parent-Teacher Communication. From memory, this topic wasn’t something covered when I was going through teacher training. However, there are so many benefits for parents being active in their child’s education, and clear communication will help this to occur! In the hope that the following

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June 11, 2021 by: topteaching

The New Zealand Wars Teaching Resources and Activities

The New Zealand Wars Resources and Activities

Ngā pakanga o Aotearoa – the New Zealand Wars took place between 1845 and 1872 and spanned many conflicts and regions within New Zealand. The wars were about who controlled the country and who owned Aotearoa’s land. Around 3 million acres of Māori land were confiscated or sold and 2899 people were killed, with many casualties on both sides. This blog post highlights a range

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March 3, 2021 by: topteaching

Samoan Language Week Activities and Resources

Samoan Language Week Activities and Resources

Samoan Language Week is held in 2022 from Sunday 29 May – Saturday 4 June. I’ve put this blog post together to highlight our Samoan Language Week Activities. Samoa Language Week – Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa is a fantastic event held each year to celebrate the language and culture of Samoa.  “Ma’au i lou ofaga; maua’a lou fa’asinomaga, Keep your identity alive, to thrive.”

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March 27, 2021 by: topteaching

Practical Tips for Running a Guided Reading Lesson

Running a Guided Reading Lesson 1

In my previous blog post, What is Guided Reading? I defined guided reading and shared the research and history behind this approach to building comprehension. In this blog post, I wanted to follow-up to give you some Practical Tips for Running a Guided Reading Lesson.  Not everyone is a fan of guided reading, and that’s fine (perhaps you would like to try reciprocal reading or

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April 4, 2021 by: topteaching

Using QR Codes as a Digital Reading Tool

Using QR Codes as a digital reading tool

In this blog post, I share with you how to use QR Codes as a Digital Reading Tool. I’ll also take you step-by-step through how to use a QR code and also explain how you can make your own. What are QR Codes? I am not going to attempt to explain that QR Codes are myself, but here is a quote that does the job

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February 26, 2021 by: topteaching

The Research Behind Our Reading Comprehension Resources

Research behind reading resources

In this blog post, I explore the research behind our reading comprehension resources and the “why” behind the way we set out our activities. At the heart of it,  here at Top Teaching Tasks, we provide reading passages and activities on engaging topics that help students to understand what they read. We do this by taking a researched-based approach, focusing on reading comprehension, rigorous texts,

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January 23, 2021 by: topteaching

Classroom Read Aloud Novels for 8-12 Year Olds

Classroom Read Aloud Novels for 8 12 Year Olds

A common question I see regularly in teacher Facebook groups is “What is a good classroom read-aloud novel?” so I’m here to help. In fact, I knew just WHO to ask to help. Melina from Galarious Goods is passionate about books in a way that can really not be described. She is a fountain of knowledge on all things books and is running out of

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March 20, 2021 by: topteaching

What is Guided Reading?

What is Guided Reading 1

I’ve previously explained how my reading programme features four main aspects: Reading to, Shared Reading, Guided Reading, and Independent Reading. In this blog post, I answer the question: What is Guided Reading? I’ll also look at some of the research and history behind this approach to building comprehension. What is guided reading? Guided reading is a small group approach to the explicit teaching of reading

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October 24, 2020 by: topteaching

Beginning teachers share their teaching tips

Beginning Teachers share teacher tips 1

It has been great to see the response to our Beginning Teachers series. In this blogpost, the fantastic beginning teachers share their teacher tips. Grab a pen and paper and take some notes – there is a lot of gold here! Teacher Tips from a First-Year Teacher Make a to-do list that encompasses task, resources, who can help, and when it needs to be completed.

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March 13, 2021 by: topteaching

What is Reciprocal Reading?

What is Reciprocal Reading 1

What is Reciprocal Reading? Have you heard about reciprocal reading (also known as reciprocal teaching)?  I love the way this strategy enables independent readers to work together in a self-managing team to discuss a difficult text. They teach each other and take turns leading. Let me tell you more about it! The four comprehension strategies students learn and practice are: predicting what might follow and why.

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January 19, 2021 by: topteaching

Content-Area Literacy and our Integrated Reading Resources

Content Area Literacy

Building Content-Area Literacy into our Integrated Reading Resources I’m excited to introduce our two new integrated reading resources. These reading units help students to increase their literacy engagement and grow their understanding of texts across the curriculum (content-area literacy). For example, our Kiwi Innovators unit features interesting texts that don’t shy away from using scientific vocabulary and concepts. Our NZ Disasters unit includes a range

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December 7, 2020 by: topteaching

Relief Teacher Tips and Tricks

Relief Teacher Tips and Tricks

I am conscious of the fact that while many graduates are successful in gaining employment right away, others will spend time relieving at the beginning of their career. Others may choose to relieve at different points in their career for a myriad of reasons, so I wanted to provide some relief teacher tips and tricks! While I have done some relief work, I wanted to

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November 27, 2020 by: topteaching

Resources to Support Learner Agency

Resources to support learner agency e1604989157604

Learner Agency (also known as student agency) is key to providing opportunities for the development of key competencies and the application of learning.  In this guest blog post, Kate Friedwald explores resources to support learner agency. Ensuring learners have a choice in their learning not only raises engagement but also supports the learning of vital skills our young people need to be successful in tomorrow’s

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November 28, 2020 by: topteaching

The Ultimate Teacher Survival Kit

The Ultimate Teacher Survival Kit

We have all heard the importance of teacher self-care, and what screams self-care more than an Ultimate Teacher Survival Kit!? I asked my email subscribers what they would put in the Ultimate Teacher Survival Kit and they did not disappoint! Perhaps you could make a teacher survival kit for a teacher who needs a pick me up? A kit would also be a great gift for

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November 21, 2020 by: topteaching

Developing A Positive Classroom Culture: the Compliments Project

Developing A Positive Classroom Culture and the Compliments Project 1

In this guest blog post, Chelsea Donaldson shares a fantastic way to develop a positive classroom culture. I first saw Chelsea speak about this passionately on Instagram and I knew I wanted her to share the project on my blog. I am sure you will get a lot of great ideas – enjoy! It’s for the reserved students.  The group of girls who are always

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November 11, 2020 by: topteaching

Beginning Teachers: Working With a Mentor Teacher

Working with a mentor teacher

I previously published a guest blog post by Sarah Tohill that examined the mentoring relationship of mentors and beginning teachers. Now, my fantastic group of beginning teachers will share their experiences of working with a mentor teacher. Some PCT (beginning teacher)/Mentor relationships are really positive, some could be called “interesting”, and unfortunately, some just don’t work. My key takeaway from reading these responses: If you

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November 7, 2020 by: topteaching

Beginning Teachers: Using the Beginning Teacher Release Time

Using the beginning teacher release time e1598921694600

As part of our beginning teachers’ series, I wanted to look at using the beginning teacher release time. The way that beginning teacher release is used and allocated in primary schools around New Zealand is varied. I would go as far as to say that some schools do a poor job of allocating this to their beginning teachers. It is important to know your rights

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December 5, 2020 by: topteaching

Beginning Teachers: Managing Teacher Workload

Slide4 2

When I asked beginning teachers to share with me the biggest challenge of their first and second year of teaching, the answer was clear. Managing the teacher workload was something that every beginning teacher mentioned. In this blogpost, my wonderful beginning teachers will share their experiences of managing their teacher workload. There are lots of valuable insights below! Managing the teacher workload – Experiences of

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October 10, 2020 by: topteaching

Beginning Teachers: The expectations versus the reality of primary teaching

Expectations vs the realities of teaching e1601430680517

Welcome to a new series of blog posts looking at the experiences of a group of first and second-year teachers. In this blog post, these fantastic teachers explore the expectations versus the reality of beginning teaching. I hope you are able to gain some useful insights into the reality of a teacher’s life from this series and that it will help to prepare you for

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Recent Posts

  • The Treaty of Waitangi in the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum
  • The Best Getting to Know You Activity
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  • 10 Great Podcasts for Kids
  • Why You Should Be Teaching Text Structures
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  • Using Collaborative Activities to Explore Waitangi Day

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