I have had many people interested in understanding how whole-class literacy teaching is implemented in a Year 1-3 class, where there is a wide range of learning stages (from pre-stage one to 'off decodable stages'). I have blogged a bit about this, and you can find older posts by scrolling through this page. This year, I started with great enthusiasm, having ended the previous year on a high note with my students and feeling very confident about teaching the whole class. I planned my sessions, intending to deliver each part in bite-sized amounts throughout the day. I thought I had designed pared-back sessions and eagerly jumped into it. Immediately, I realised that what I had planned was slightly out of reach—not so much in terms of achievement levels, but more concerning executive functioning. The children struggled to meet the expectations I was setting, even though we were only aiming for ten-minute sessions at a time, interwoven with valuable play blocks. How did I know th...
I am passionate about play and structured explicit learning, finding the best of both worlds.