Literacy Ideas for primary and elementary teachers

When I first started teaching many moons ago finding resources on the internet was quite a different process to what it is today.

There was a lot less commercialism, things were a great deal more disorganised and so on... I always remembered using a website with my kids called Jenny Eather's writing fun which just had great ideas for teachers and students about teaching different styles of writing.  It was really easy to use, engaging for the kids and just made sense... It was great.

Anyhow, writing fun got bought out by a larger company and became a paid website which greatly reduced it's appeal.

But last week I was introduced to a very similar site to writing fun called literacyideas.com.  It's completely free, broken down into different styles of writing and actually has a a load of great free content to downlaod or share on an interactive screen with your students.

I strongly recommned taking a look at literacyideas.com if you teach writing to primary / elementary students and would love to hear if you know of any other great sites similar to this. 

Student Goal Setting Template for Maths and Literacy

Just a quick addition to our thinking tools and graphic organisers collection today.  This simple goal setting template will help your students to be a little more accountable of their own learning in maths and literacy.

You might want to go through the SMART goal system with them to ensure that each of their goals are.

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable
  • Relevant
  • Timely

It is a great process to work through at the beginning or mid point of the year or even when parent teacher interviews occur.

You can download the template here, and enjoy.

Free Classroom Posters: The 8 Parts of Speech

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I must admit that as a student I never really understood the difference between nouns, adverbs, interjections and the other parts of speech all that well.

Then when I went to university I almost convinced myself that they were an area of superfluous knowledge when I succeeded at a tertiary level with little to no knowledge of them

As a teacher though. I was quickly found out when trying to give my students the tools and language to make their writing more mature and appealing to specific audiences. 

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To address this I have spent quite a bit of time brushing up my own knowledge on the 8 parts of common speech.

  • Nouns
  • Verbs
  • Pronouns
  • Adjectives
  • Prepositions
  • Conjunctions
  • Interjections
  • Adverbs

To remind me of this I have made 9 posters to share with anyone who wants them that outline the purpose, example words and sentences for each of the 8 areas.

Click here to download them and enjoy.

*Please note all of our posters are originally designed using high resolution images and fonts at A3 paper size.

Be aware it will be automatically resized to your default paper size when using Adobe Acrobat Reader without any loss of quality. If you would like to print these documents at larger sizes you can read the Adobe Resize & Scaling FAQ here.

We recommend laminating them for best results.

Finally if you would like to purchase a completely editable version of this document to alter without any restrictions you can purchase it for $10.00 simply by emailing us.

Free Halloween Themed Writing Pack - A Horrifically Useful Resource

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Horror, suspense and mystery has produced some of the greatest literature and film of all time, and what better time of year to capitalize on this genre of writing than Halloween.

This Halloween writing pack will provide plenty of incentives and visuals to help your students produce their scariest work yet.

These themed writing packs look great and will inspire kids to write and step up their presentation skills as opposed to simply writing on standard paper.

Download the Halloween writing pack for free here.

The Pack looks great, and has 8 different themed pages that include.

  • A Visual map for planning the characters, setting, problem & plot.

  • A planning tool for constructing a narrative.

  • Half Page Dotted thirds with a space for a picture

  • Full page themed dotted thirds with images.

  • Bordered Themed lined writing paper.

We have a number of themed writing packs and other printable paper for teachers and students that can be downloaded for free.

U PLan - Narrative Planning Tool

Planning a narrative can be a difficult task for younger and inexperienced writers.  Narratives allow so much freedom and versatility over other text types that they can become a mess of well meaning ideas if a poorly planned.

This planning tool allows students to work through 8 simple stages to plan a well constructed  narrative including the editing phase. 

It is best suited to elementary / primary students or older writers who have difficulty organising ideas.  Enjoy!

Download the U-planner Here.

Dinosaur themed writing pack for young writers.

I am sure that both parents, students and teachers alike will find this free Dinosaur themed writing paper and templates a brilliant prompt and resource for getting younger kids wrting about dinosaurs, or a dinosaur related adventure.

These themed writing packs really inspire kids to write and step up their presentation skills as opposed to simply writing on standard paper.

Download the Dinosaur Themed Writing Pack Here.

The Pack looks great, and has 8 different themed pages that include.

  • A Visual map for planning the characters, setting, problem & plot.
  • A planning tool for constructing a narrative.
  • Half Page Dotted thirds with a space for a picture
  • Full page themed dotted thirds with images.
  • Bordered Themed lined writing paper.

We have a number of themed writing packs and other printable paper for teachers and students that can be downloaded for free.

5 GREAT APPS TO HELP KIDS READ

Reading is not the most straightforward skill to teach young children.  There is a great deal to it in terms of constructing sounds, understanding grammar and finally comprehending what is actually being read.

Finding relevant material can often be tough to find and many students choose to watch television and play video games over reading as it perceived as boring.

That is why the iPad is an excellent resource to help get kids enthused about reading and also offer a huge range of traditional and multimedia based texts to select.

Below I have listed some apps that will definitely appeal to younger kids and also offer a genuine learning opportunity for them to improve their reading skills.

Rock 'n Learn Phonics Easy Reader
Rock 'n Learn Phonics Easy Reader, priced at $1.99, helps children develop their reading skills through three phonics stories. The stories can be read to the child or she can sound out the words and read the story. If the child needs some extra help with figuring out a word, she can click on the word for assistance. Rock 'n Learn Phonics Easy Reader focuses on developing pronunciation of short vowel sounds, consonant-vowel-consonant combinations and words ending with ll, ss, ff, s, and plural s.

Bob Books #1 - Reading Magic 
Bob Books #1 - Reading Magic is an excellent introduction to phonics for young children, or a nice companion to the printed Bob Books (a systematic method of teaching kids to read). Since you can either control the difficulty level or set it to Automatic, this app will grow with your learning child, and keep their interest as they read and re-read the sentences on each page. The artwork is simple, just as in the printed Bob Books, but the added elements of color and animation are well done and attractive.

Smiley Sight Words (Ages 4+; iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch; $0.99)
If you're seeking a set of virtual flash cards with which to drill your child on reading common words, Smiley Sight Words might be the best you can get. It's got over 1,500 words, arranged into five decks, each with multiple levels of difficulty. Kids can interact with the words, tapping to hear them aloud and marking them with either a smiley or frowny face. They can also shuffle the deck with a shake of the device. Parents have a lot of control here, with the ability to track progress, remove already-mastered words, and even create a custom deck. Up to five kids can each have his or her own profile on the app.

TouchyBooks. Quirky sounds, animation, and flip-book usability offer a realistic experience and a touch of magic for toddlers and tweens. Use the easy star voting system to rate your favorites on this multilingual platform

The Story Mouse Talking Books

Do you remember all those wonderful stories we grew up with? Now they're here, retold with bags of character for your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. But the tale is only half the story! All our titles come with bright, colourful illustrations to complete the listening and reading experience, with lots of fun along the way.

★ Stories from The Story Mouse are presented as virtual books.
Our professional presenter reads the story aloud as the text appears.
On the iPad, each page has an illustration on the left, with the text on the right. On the iPhone and iPod touch, the illustrations are displayed full screen when you hold the device vertically. Turn the device horizontally to display the text.
Sentences are highlighted as the story progresses, making the words easy to follow.

We would love to hear of any other recommendations you might have.

The Snapshot Writing Tool for Teaching English

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The Snapshot Writing Toolis designed to put students in a specific moment in time using a visual prompt such as a photo or video and then write about what you see?  What you hear?  What you smell?  What you taste?  and what you feel?  Drawing upon all 5 senses.

The snapshot writing tool will really encourage your students create visual imagery within their writing, and they have a great deal of fun putting themselves in the perspective of the picture.

Students can either use a photo of their own anlongside the tool or alternately you can access my collection of150 Amazing writing prompts here.

Download the Snapshot Writing Tool here

* Please note all of our posters are originally designed using high resolution images and fonts at A3 paper size.  Be aware it will be automatically resized to your default paper size when using Adobe Acrobat Reader without any loss of quality.  If you would like to print these documents at larger sizes you can read theAdobe Resize & Scaling FAQhere.

Finally if you would like to purchase a completely editable version of this document to alter without any restrictions you can purchase it for $10.00 simply byemailing us.