An easy way for teaching staff to earn extra money in the holidays Ultimate Activity Camps
Making maths count towards climate change Whizz Education
Bring science to life with CREST Awards British Science Association
Join in with the GA’s National Fieldwork Week between 6th-11th June 2022 Geographical Association
Join Brake’s Kids Walk on 22nd June 2022 Brake
Oxford University Press Courses
When it comes to creating lifelong lovers of literature, lead by example and read
An easy way for teaching staff to earn extra money in the holidays
Local history โ KS1 lesson plan
Staff wellbeing ideas teachers โ Why I cancelled a staff meeting
Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance โ KS2 geography lesson plan
Diana Gerald, CEO of Book Trust, says: โQuite simply, children who read for pleasure are happier, healthier and do better in life than those who don’t…โ. But if you’re not a keen reader you can easily pass your primary years without reading a book for pleasure at all. Are we doing all we can to give children this magical gift?
If a child struggles to read, and doesnโt read at home at all, how do they hear a story? How would that child feel when tasked with writing, failing to come come up with any ideas because he’s never had a story read to him? How sad would that be?
It is our job to create lifelong readers. But as we know, a story at bedtime is sadly on the demise. It seems that children who are not exposed to story regularly is on the increase. It could be, tragically,that children could go from R to Year 6 without hearing fantastic stories and without schools fulfilling the statutory requirement of the new national curriculum which states that โThrough reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually.โ
When I speak to parents and other teachers about reading we often discuss why we ourselves read. Inevitably, someone will say to escape, to relax, to explore different worlds, times and experiences in comfort. Personally, I donโt go anywhere without a book. Reading is a big, big part of my life, and I wish that for all the children Iโve taught, teach now and will go on to teach.
What better gift? Itโs free โ you can get 12 books from the library, read them, then go back and get 12 more as quickly as you like. What a wonderful thing. So why arenโt we doing this for our children? Why would we deny them all the things we feel about reading?
The answer is, we donโt have to.
Choose a book, read it every day. No need for a lesson plan, just read to your children.
Itโs one of the best things about teaching, and you might be the only person in that childโs life lighting that imaginative spark.
You are also providing some down-time to children in this busy world too, even though they are also thinking hard about that story.
Children are quite used to very quick fixes these days. Even our Dr Who episodes are one-offs now, whereas when I was little I had to wait until the next week to see what was going to happen. I had to hold on to that information, remember what came before. I had to work a bit. We need our children to do that too.
We’re supposed to be offering a chance to use their brains to hold on to story. And reading a novel, where they have to wait for the next part, is all part of extending their thinking. The โhushโ when you get to a good bit, the shared laughter when you get to a funny bit, the groans when you stop because itโs home time, and the joy when youโre actually asked to read on at 3.15pm—this all tells you reading is worth it. Please give it a go.
Only last week we got to the bit in Danny the Champion of the World when Danny and his Dad hatch a plan to put crushed up sleeping tablets in raisins โ all listened avidly and you could almost feel the shared intrigue as they realised what this meant for the pheasants โ and the story โ and they really wanted to read on. So they were left with that wonderful suspense and yearning for the next bit, but alas it was home time, so they had to wait.
Sarah Gallagher runs Storyshack, helping to ignite children’s passion for books and book making.
In partnership with
Make sure your assessment is effective with these expert insights.
For teaching staff the school holidays are a very welcome and needed break after a...
At a glance State-of-the-art distance learning platform Designed to help teachers support students’ learning in the classroom, at home or a combination of both Includes sophisticated classroom management and video conferencing capabilities Features...
Well Schools, with support from the Youth Sport Trust and the BUPA Foundation, recently launched a guide that aims to demystify the process of measuring wellbeing and provide some practical...
A 4-page guidance document on how teachers can utilise critical literacy. What does it mean to interpret a text critically? It means being a discerning reader who does the following: questions...
A 4-page guidance document on how teachers can utilise critical literacy.
What does it mean to interpret a text critically? It means being a discerning reader who does the following: questions...
The reality of true wellbeing is that it's different for all of us, says Vicki Manning...
Tales of the great outdoors and all it has to offer can help pupils understand...
Unleash pupils’ potential through the mighty morphin' power of language and get a class full of...
From appreciating art to the joy of solving puzzles, Mike Askew explores the true purpose...