This post is a reflection on the publication by Bianchi, Whittaker and Poole’s publication in March 2021 (here). This publication … More
Category: reading
The Origin of Species Packet
Four years ago I adapted the first four chapters of Darwin’s The Origin of Species for my year 6 classes (see here). … More
What are the Cognitive Loads of reading and how can we reduce them?
Reading is a physics problem that doesn’t receive much attention in class. I think it should. Science professionals read a … More
Haven’t We Got Enough To Do Already? Why Science Teachers Should Teach Vocabulary and How to Make it Stick
There are words in the English language that science teachers wish the English department would teach – words like … More
Science: A Great Source of Metaphor…
Have you got time to read two very short science texts? Both of them are surprising and wonderful. First text: a … More
Imaginary Ice Block Discovered in School Field Causes Writing and Reading
The whole of this blog centres on a mean trick (and I feel bad about it), which has produced something special, … More
Guericke’s Sulphur Sphere
It seems reasonable to suppose that if the Earth has a fitting and appropriate attractive potency it will also have … More
The Versorium Needle
A draft extract from my book using narrative to teach the big ideas of physics: These are the utterly false … More
Silent Reading: What’s Going On Inside?
The student is silent. Eyes flick across the page. The page turns. It’s a good book. What could go wrong? … More
Science Teachers Are From Mars, English Teachers Are From Earth Usually.
I’m excited to have the latest ASE School Science Report (SSR) on Science, Literacy and Learning open in front of … More
Reading for Learning 