Tag: tips

Activities Games Tips Writing

Plastic plate as whiteboard

Here’s another great idea from Lori Jamison’s workshop. A cheap, plastic plate can be used as a mini-whiteboard for kids. They’re durable, easy to store and inexpensive. And best of all, dry erase marker wipes right off! Kids can practise their writing on them, wipe off what they’ve done, and […]

Successes Tips

Reading as a part-time job

One mom found an interesting way to get her daughter reading. She paid her. I think that’s really interesting. Now, as this mom told us about what she’d done, she cringed a little—she knew full well that bribery is not the best way to hook a kid on reading. She […]

Reading theory Research Tips

Getting boys reading – start in the middle

Start from the middle.This was Leonard Sax’s counter-intuitive (and possibly brilliant) suggestion to English teachers who want boys to enjoy great literature. Boys’ and girls’ brains process information differently. Girls process emotional information throughout their cerebral cortex, where language and analysis are also processed. Boys, however, process emotional information in […]

Reading theory Research

"Reading" English

Mispronouncing uncommon words can be the mark of a reader. People who read a lot will come across uncommon words that aren’t normally used in conversation. So they won’t know their correct pronunciation—just the one that’s in their head. The other day my son said, “Tan-za-NEE-a? I thought it was […]

15-min. ideas 5-min. ideas Activities Tips

Hallowe’en literacy

Some ideas for working literacy into your Hallowe’en festivities. * Spell Hallowe’en. Talk about why it has an apostrophe (All Hallow’s Evening). It’s also interesting to note that many people no longer use the apostrophe and that’s OK too. Kids are often surprised to learn that spelling evolves. * Sort […]