For our spring literature review, we’ve picked three very different books. One appeals to the escapist, lover of fantasy in us, one appeals to our sense of humour and sense of the ridiculous, the last to the animal lover within…
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In the last few years there has been a revolution in children’s publishing which has meant the choice of attractive books is wider than ever before. Illustrated novels are now commonplace, understanding the need for books which give visual representations…
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As we start to near Christmas, we have picked three books (one picture book, one illustrated short novel and one non-fiction) that we think we would like to give or receive, although when we asked a few friends to help…
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It seems that, as teachers, the summer holiday has hardly begun, when at once we are inundated by an unavoidable abundance of those (ever-so-slightly infuriating) advertisements reminding us that it is not very long until we go back to school.…
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We are back to school this month and so we’ve picked three books we think will make great class reads (or bedtime books!). As always our aim is to find ones that you should enjoy as much the children. They…
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Our books this time reflect the good moods we’re in – it must be summer! Not only is one solely centred on how to do help people be happy through good deeds, but the other two books tell tales of…
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DEAR READER: BEWARE, THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG ARE GORY AND USUALLY ALWAYS END IN THE PROTAGONIST MEETING HIS OR HER MISERABLE END IN THE MOST HIDEOUS OF WAYS. We were recently asked to develop a poetry text-based teaching sequence…
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And surely as Spring arrives, so does a pile of new books to review…In our Literature review this time, we’ve picked some recently published books to share with you and this month we have a look at three books by…
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Some of the texts we find ourselves advocating the most are the ones which themselves have no words. Yes, all hail the wordless picture book. Often misunderstood, frequently overlooked, commonly mis-shelved, the wordless picture book is a genre difficult to…
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Over Christmas many of us, young and old alike, were enchanted by an advert for a well known store that told a tale of a bear and a hare. The tale was a simple but magical one, which explored essentially…
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At the Tree we are often asked to recommend books, not only for use in the classroom for Literacy sessions, (see our monthly Bibliotherapy column in Primary Teacher Update magazine) but also for children whose parents are stumped to find…
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So, the new primary curriculum is at last here. And apparently *whispers cautiously* this is the final version. After nearly a term of working with teachers on the revised expectations, we are starting to ascertain how much it will change…
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Looking for some new reading as the weather starts to turn colder? Well, look no further! In our Literature reviews, we pick some recently published books to share with you. This month we have some of our favourite author/illustrator collaborations,…
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This is a summarised version which is part of a longer article in October’s Primary Teacher Update magazine.http://www.primaryteacherupdate.co.uk for subscription details. One of the areas we support that can strike fear into the sanest of teachers can be the organisation…
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‘Nobody can tell you how to write, they can only tell you how they write’ was the opening gambit given by Patrick Ness at Waterstone’s Piccadilly when asked about how he finds the material he uses for his books. Indeed…
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Finished your summer reading already? Well, look here for some ideas. Every month or so we pick some recently published books to share with you. This month we have an offering from one of the ultimate author/illustrator collaborations, the latest…
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One of our very favourite things is when we are asked to organise an author visit for a group of schools. This usually coincides with being asked to develop a teaching sequence (a series of lesson plans that build upon…
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This is a summarised version of a longer article entitled ‘Teach Spelling in Context’ that appears in August’s Primary Teacher Update magazine. Go to http://www.primaryteacherupdate.co.uk for subscription details. In a rather significant month in education, the month in which the…
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