My Resources
Conferences & Online Presentations
Texts to Empower: Reading Across the Curriculum — ResearchEd Berkshire April 2023; Texts to Empower Partneriath (Wales Literacy Conference July 2023)
Classroom Strategies to Support Struggling Readers — OUP March 2023. On demand webinar: https://t.co/o6pIszkk5O and supporting blog: https://educationblog.oup.com/secondary/classroom-strategies-to-support-struggling-readers
Building a Reading Culture — ResearchEd Surrey October 2022
Catalyst Reading Audit report; presentation with key findings; recording of webinar — Summer 2023
Supporting Struggling Readers in Secondary School — ResearchEd Leicester May 2022
Supporting Struggling and Reluctant Readers — Herts for Learning December 2021. Recording here
Building a Reading Culture — Team English National Conference July 2020
Academic Reading Presentation for Librarians — CILIP Conference July 2020
Academic Reading New Voices Presentation — Autumn 2019
Overview of Approaches to Reading
Reading Development/Accelerated Reader booklets 2023-2024 for Year 7 and Year 8; these booklets provide a summary (for students) of approaches to reading at King Alfred’s, and reading opportunities, challenges, rewards and community available for them. Booklets include reading surveys and 18 short extracts with true/false questions for the starts of lessons (all subjects start lessons with booklet work).
July 2023 CPD for new staff on why reading is so important; how we approach academic reading with examples (and link to video about using ChatGPT); and how classroom teachers can support struggling readers
Reading audit of 366 schools aggregated report 2023 using my audit questions– Catalyst
Literacy Overview at King Alfred’s — 2023 intent and impact
Literacy Day for visitors to King Alfred’s — February 2023
Three-pronged approach to whole school reading created in preparation for a ‘deep dive’: https://bit.ly/readingKAs2022
Key literacy questions and strategies for students
Overview of our approach to reading at King Alfred’s Academy (presentation for DfE visit to KA’s on reading for pleasure and progress)
Reading for Pleasure (scroll down for additional resources)
2023-2024 Key Stage 3 reading list ; 2022-2023 Years 5-7 reading list
Summer Reading Bingo 2023; Summer Reading Bingo from 2016-2022. These could also be used as challenges during a school year.
2021-2022 booklists: These include recommended reads for Years 5-7 (with a one sentence sales pitch for each book); for Key Stage 3; for Key Stage 4 & 5; recommended audiobooks (for all ages); a series of book reviews for my favourite reads for each key stage; and more Booklists for 2020-2021 are here — there are 18 different lists including ‘Books to Make You Cry’, ‘Animal Books’, ‘Dystopian Fiction’, ‘Books to make you think’ and much more.
Academic Reading (scroll down for additional resources)
Academic Reading 2022-2023 (including links to Loom videos)
Tutor time Register, Read, Respond PPT Sep 2019 – April 2020 for weekly literacy sessions. Aim is to develop reading comprehension, improve vocabulary, build background knowledge & explore big ideas and complex issues. With thanks to Lyndsey Dyer (@RealGingerella) for her inspiring Register & Read resources, many of which I have used. @evenbetterif and @SBuckEnglish have also created Register, Read & Respond resources – see their timelines.
Reading Intervention and Supporting Reluctant Readers (scroll down for additional resources)
Helping Struggling Readers PPT 2022-2023 for community ‘Reading Partners’ volunteers at King Alfred’s. Includes a developed exploration of the components of learning to read effectively; examples of the success of the programme; and detailed information for volunteers about how our intervention programme works.
Classroom strategies to support struggling readers — one page summary winter 2023
Vocabulary Teaching
Vocabulary CPD for teachers 2022
Word of the Week for full school year exploring Greek and Latin word roots.
Planning vocabulary instruction and facilitating successful comprehension: CPD presentation (long with research and many examples)
Explicit teaching of vocabulary: CPD presentation (shorter, subject focussed)
Introduction to explicit teaching of vocabulary in staff summer reading CPD booklet (including summaries of key texts and referring to Alex Quigley’s Closing the Vocabulary Gap)
Literacy in Science with a focus on vocabulary instruction
Literacy Development: Assorted resources
Proofreading strategy: Call the COPS
How to use Knowledge Organisers: CPD presentation
Literacy in Maths: Exam paper analysis and information about why word problems are hard.
Using writing to learng: CPD presentation utilising The Writing Revolution strategies
Writing longer responses in CARTS subjects (Catering, Art, RM, Tech, Music, Dance etc)
More Reading for Pleasure resources
World Book Day 2022 video recording with reading Jeopardy game and explanation of how to use it.
Measuring reading engagement & engaging all readers: This 2021 presentation for two ‘Teachers as Readers Groups’ explores reading engagement with multiple specific examples of good practice.
Ruminating on reading: TENC Presentation 2020 with recording here.
Building a reading culture at King Alfred’s: strategies, approaches and barriers. Strategic overview of approaches to reading is here.
Boys as readers: A case study at King Alfred’s Academy (autumn 2020)
Literacy tutorials during Lockdown 2021 (encouraging reading & building knowledge about the world). KS3 recording for HMD is here; KS3 recording for Children’s Mental Health Day is here; and KS4/5 recording for LGBT+ month is here.
Top ten reading resources during Lockdown 2021: a guide for parents and families.
Presentations encouraging reading for pleasure: presentation to primary school children; presentation to Year 7’s; presentation to parents; presentation to staff.
2020 Summer Reading Bingo challenge for students (includes recommended reads lists for some categories) and a different bingo challenge for staff. 2019 Summer Reading Bingo challenge for students and for staff. Letter to parents explaining summer challenge. 2018 Summer Reading Bingo challenge for students and for staff
Lockdown 2020 #1 Reading challenges for students and for staff.
Support for parents: So you have a reluctant reader?
Reading attitudes surveys and resources. Here is the 2021 Year 7 and Year 8 reading attidudes forms.
More Academic Literacy resources
Academic Reading Literacy Tutorials — overview for teachers using Black Lives Matter article: Marcus Rashford, Wangari Maathai. Other sample articles are here.
Academic Reading CPD for teachers
Academic Writing (sentence level) CPD for teachers
Academic Oracy (with a focus on vocabulary) CPD for teachers
Examples of academic reading and writing from teachers in many subjects – February 2020
High Five Academic Reading visual (original version); High Five Academic Reading visual (2020 version)
Reading and challenge: using real world texts across the curriculum.
Academic Reading in Science: several sample lessons including source articles
Academic Reading in Media: Development and impact of music videos PPT & source article
Academic Reading in PE: Performance enhancing drugs article PPT, source article and tea party mix and mingle pre-reading vocabulary work; dual coding of tier 2 vocabulary in Chris Hoy autobiography
Academic Reading in History: The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, including extracts.
More resources to support struggling readers & literacy across curriculum
Overview of approaches to reading at King Alfred’s – October 2019. Includes our 5 year plan; why we are focussing on reading; where we have come from and where we are now (including case studies); how we inspire and encourage students to read; how we address reading barriers; how we are developing our use of academic reading; big questions for 2019-2020; and next steps.
Literacy briefing for staff and governors January 2020. This includes data showing impact along with information about continuing and new literacy initiatives.
Helping Struggling Readers CPD for teachers. This presentation uses images to explore the components of reading (text version in appendices). It has numerous practical strategies to support struggling readers in subjects across the curriculum.
Presentation for Year 7 parents on our literacy offer and how they can support their children.
Case studies and impact analysis 2018-2019
Reading barriers explained to secondary school teachers and a more extensive presentation on struggling readers for HOFs
Curriculum/lesson plan for nurture groups in Year 9/10 who don’t take Ethics & Philosophy or Humanities. Students will be exploring three graphic novels: Illegal by Colfer & Donkin (migrants/refugess); March by Lewis (civil rights movement); and Deogratias (Rwandan genocide). All graphic novels are supplemented by real world texts and reading development strategies are built into the curriculum. This document has the first 10 lessons only so that I can adjust based on feedback (lessons delivered by Art & PE teachers).
Reading Intervention Materials: 1) Literacy evaluation and intervention process; 2) training for Reading Partner Intervention volunteers.
Using fiction to develop vocabulary and background knowledge: The Bone Sparrow (Ethics & Philosophy post-exam unit).
Using fiction to develop vocabulary and increase stamina for sustained silent listening: The Outsiders
