This blog post explains why explicitly teaching semantics is important, and how you can teach semantics to increase vocabulary. We also highlight some handy tools to do just that! What is semantics? Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It is concerned with how words and phrases are used to convey meaning, and how…
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…
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…
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…
I love teaching figurative language! It can be a really fun way to encourage students to make their writing come alive. It also makes the writing process more interesting for them, and the end product more interesting for others to read! This blog post looks at activities for teaching figurative language, including videos, mentor texts,…
If you are going to Teach Parts of Speech in your classroom, it can either be a snooze fest or an engaging time where students retain the information. It is important to understand the different parts of speech to know how words can and should be used together to make sentences. Also, understanding the parts of…
The goal of improving student vocabulary should be front and centre for all teachers – it really is that important. Vocabulary development is enormously vital for all students, especially for their development of reading comprehension and writing skills. In fact, research has shown that children with larger vocabularies achieve better results at school, including higher…
Setting Up A Spelling Programme How do you set up a spelling programme? Now that’s a topic that could get you 50 different, passionate responses! Interestingly, it is also a topic that is not practically covered in many teacher training courses. This blog post explains some practical ideas for setting up a spelling programme because…
The 21st-century skills of creativity, collaboration, and communication are vital for our students as they enter adulthood in a quickly changing world. Therefore, the art of public speaking and the ability to prepare and deliver a speech are even more important skills than ever. Why The Art of Public Speaking Is More Important Than Ever…
Teaching Grammar and Punctuation Skills in Your Classroom Grammar and punctuation skills are essential in your classroom writing program. Your students need to be using parts of speech correctly, developing figurative language, extending their use of sentence structure, using punctuation accurately, and further learning how words work. However, while we know the importance of teaching…
Kids loving learning about myths and legends from around the world. The stories are big, bold, exciting and stretch the imagination! In this blog post, I look at four reasons why you should use myths and legends reading activities in your reading and writing classroom. What is the difference between a myth and a legend?…
Daily writing is a crucial part of improving your students’ writing ability. Using daily writing prompts, as a bell ringer or morning work activity, ensures that the children are writing every day of the school year. Here is what I found worked for me: The Daily Writing Approach As the students enter the classroom at…
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