Category: reading
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Breaking out of TEEL
How to teach essay writing without formulaic structures I’ve been getting feedback from English teachers across Australia about why we teach writing, and what gets in the way. I’m also busy collecting samples of writing for the second book in the ‘Practical’ series – Practical Writing Strategies. We’ll be including lots of advice on how…
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Visualising and the sixth sense
This is the second in a series of posts on each of the six Reading Strategies. To get your hands on a copy of Practical Reading Strategies, with activities for each of the strategies, click here. The Visualising strategy encompasses the five senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. There are many activities which…
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Making Connections
This is the first in a series of posts related to the six Strategies covered in my book Practical Reading Strategies. You can buy a copy of the book here. The six Reading Strategies offer a way of teaching reading for meaning which goes beyond simple comprehension or teacher-led questioning. Making Connections, the first Strategy,…
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VCE Study Guide: Flames
This is an abbreviated version of my Neap Smartstudy guide to Robbie Arnott’s Flames, new to the VCE English text list. You can find a copy of the full study guide here or here (these are not affiliate links). Overview Flames is a darkly humorous novel that blends elements of mythology and the Gothic with…
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Review: Reading Conferences by Jennifer Serravallo
Each month I will be reviewing a different text designed to help English teachers and faculty leaders to develop a robust and engaging curriculum. I’ll be discussing them primarily from the point of view of a teacher or leader in an Australian context and exploring the balance between theory and practice. This post contains affiliate…
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Activity spotlight: One minutes, three minutes, five minutes, write!
This is a great activity for encouraging students to do more than just glance at a text before trying to write a response, or answer a direct question. A lot of the time, our students want to rush ahead and just, “get the job done,” when we really want them to provide a thoughtful response.…
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Activity Spotlight: Text Walk
The Text Walk, also known as a chalk talk, is one of the foundational activities in our English classrooms. It serves as the basis for many of our other activities, and a springboard for discussion. Most importantly, the text walk is a means of getting students to engage with short extracts of texts for themselves,…
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A World Without Mirrors
One of the most powerful comments I’ve heard about the importance of diversity and inclusion in English came from a panel during a VATE conference several years ago. The panel featured a number of speakers, including teacher-librarians and authors. During the panel, the main speaker echoed Rudine Sims Bishop, stating that growing up and never…