Pearson Schools Blog

Classroom cliff hangers and library legends

Once upon a time, when chickens still had teeth, and horses still had feathers...

Have I got your attention? Stories do that, too, and this post is about storytelling and reading aloud. Stories grab and enthral, they stimulate thinking, they play with language, they celebrate listening – and they’re a high-octane way to motivate children, and model reading for pleasure.

All your pupils need the experience of stories (whether told from memory, read aloud, or on audio books), especially if they’re struggling with reading. They need to be reminded of the delights to come when they become more fluent.

By itself, reading is potentially a quiet and isolating activity. Reading groups, author events and online book chats are challenging this, but speaking aloud challenges the stereotype even more, bringing a buzz to books in class, and making it ‘loud in the library!’
 

Ahead of the upcoming webinar, ‘Diversifying your curriculum: a closer look at LGBTIQA+ inclusion,’ taking place on Tuesday 16th November, speaker and founder of Pride in Education, Laila El-Metoui, shares her thoughts on the importance and benefits of fostering an inclusive environment in education.

Imagine a warm, colourful space where children can sit, or lounge, on the carpet – and just read: read what they’ve chosen themselves; read without follow-up tests; browse, skip and skim; become glued to books or magazines, or discard them at will; gaze at pictures as well as soaking up words.  Imagine them talking to each other excitedly about what they’ve just read, or the amazing facts they’ve discovered from books or IT devices. Imagine a space that they feel is theirs; one that says ‘Be yourself’ rather than ‘Be careful’. And, in whatever size the space may be, imagine that (in Ted Hughes’s phrase) they’ll ‘turn the key to the whole world.’ (1)

Over the past 18 months, in the face of significant challenges, educators across the UK expressed their passion for diversity and inclusion – and a wish to broaden in-class conversations on race and inequality. 

Clinical Psychologist, Dr Helen Care, shares her views on children's resilience during the pandemic and supporting this as we look ahead.