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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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,…
Read More
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…
Read More
‘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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
This is a summarised version of a longer article that appears in July’s Primary Teacher Update magazine. Go to http://www.primaryteacherupdate.co.uk for subscription details. There is a myth amongst many in education that Grammar teaching in schools is somehow a new concept,…
Read More
‘Reading for Pleasure’ certainly seems to be the phrase of the moment in education. In the last month alone we have been asked to work with groups of Literacy Coordinators from two different Local Authorities on the subject, and it…
Read More
Each month we pick some recently published books to share with you. This month we have the latest offering from one of our favourite author/illustrator collaborations, and two very different books about boys in boats! ‘IF YOU WANT TO SEE…
Read More
Last week, we were lucky enough to be part of a conference which was all about writing across the curriculum where we presented a piece of work on how to use film to develop non-fiction outcomes. After an entertaining and…
Read More
Many of our blog posts have been confessional in the last year. Admitting to liking grammar was controversial enough (only in context mind you!) but then we spoke about how we used spelling as an opportunity to play with words.…
Read More
Each month we will pick some recently published books that we have bought to share with you. This month we have an updated version of a classic fairytale, a book about a rather famous scientist and a one-of-a-kind picture book!…
Read More
Before the summer term roller coaster takes off, we have paused this week to undertake some writing for a few teaching sequences that we are using in some upcoming training. Our teaching sequences are always text based, sometimes using more…
Read More
Recently, we were asked to present a keynote presentation at the Wandsworth, Merton and Sutton Primary Curriculum Conference, about using texts to inspire cross-curricular writing. This was a great opportunity for us to take stock and to evaluate our recent…
Read More
Each month we will pick some recently published books that we have bought to share with you. We will try to stop at three, one being a book for younger readers within the 0-7 range, one for older readers (7…
Read More
The new draft curriculum puts additional emphasis on the teaching and learning of spelling, setting out a programme of study for years 1-6. It gives us lists of (albeit suggested) words through which to teach spellings. It gives prominence to…
Read More
