Or not quite good enough… I’m a decent reader, but I find recipes hard to follow. The trouble is that…
Writing Full (and I Mean Really Full) Sentences in Subjects
When we quiz students for knowledge retrieval, we are helping them remember key knowledge but we aren’t helping them build…
Some Jobs Sentences Do in Science
I’ve been thinking a lot about how important sentences are in science. The new DfE Writing Framework puts sentences at…
Building Sentences in Physics – Talking Precisely about Energy at KS 3&4
It’s a mistake to think that we don’t have time to explicitly teach the sentences that students need to talk…
As, when, while: three small words that unlock meaning in physics.
In physics, sometimes the smallest words do the most work. This post is about three short, everyday words that powerfully…
This week’s surprising news: some readers aren’t concentrating as hard as we’d like.
My Trust has an online reading programme which sets quizzes based on short texts. The pupils have a choice of…
An Inch Deep and a Mile Wide?
The curriculum is packed with knowledge – we are usually confronted with a choice: do I teach each concept deeply,…
Words Flowing Through Me: Nothing Going In
Sometimes when I read, the words just flow through me. The meaning doesn’t go in. Comprehension isn’t passive: it takes…
2 Comma Rules for Science Teachers
Yesterday, I published a blog showing how I teach longer sentences in science (here). The sentence examples I used were: …
Build better sentences in science writing
How can we ensure students understand complex scientific ideas, beyond just recalling facts? Developing their ability to write clear, precise…
Reading for Learning 