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Happy Christmas 2016 from Action Words!

6/12/2016

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Happy Christmas from all of us at Action Words. We hope Father Christmas brings you something good to read.
Here are a few of our favourite Christmas favourites.
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How to Improve your Questioning

28/11/2016

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How do Teachers Use Questions?

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Teachers on average ask 200-300 questions per day. Of these 60% ask children to recall facts, and 20% are procedural. Often children are given less than 1 second response time, with questions directed to the whole class.

Bad Habits

All of us pick up bad habits when it comes to questioning. Being self aware can help us to improve and gain better outcomes for our children.

​Do any of these apply to you?
  • ​I sometimes answer questions myself
  • I ask too many questions at once
  • I don't give the children very long to think
  • I ask the same children to answer my questions most of the time
  • ​I sometimes ask a difficult question too early
  • I don't usually build on the children's answers
  • I don't vary the type of question
  • ​I ask the children to guess the word that's in my head (often comes up in literacy when improving text)
  • ​I don't always correct wrong answers
​
Sometimes being aware is enough to start breaking the habits, and strategies such as counting to five to give a child more thinking time can help. How will you tackle your questioning habits?

How to Encourage Whole Class Thinking

​Whole class response systems encourage all children to engage, and make it easier for you to spot the children that are switching off.

For example:
  • ​Mini-white boards - Write the answer on the boards then hold the up to check.
  • ABCD cards - For multiple choice questions
  • ​Lolly Sticks - Write the children's names on the sticks, then pull one out to question.
  • ​Systems such as Plickers, Kahoot and Socrative.

​By encouraging no hands up (unless you want to ask a question), you avoid having the same children participating in lessons.

​Quality answers can be encouraged by giving the children more time to think about their response. You can do this by increasing the time you wait for an answer, by using discussion partners, or by using a think-discuss-share approach. By allowing more time to think children are more likely to give more detailed responses, get fewer incorrect answers, and have improved confidence.

Child Generated Questions

​By using images as prompts children can come up with a bank of questions. We can also use images to assist in developing comprehension by getting the children to separate what they know and what they can infer from an image. For example we know the character is Ziggy, we can infer that he is looking for one of this friends.
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  • Who...?
  • What...?
  • When...?
  • ​Where...?
  • How...?
  • ​Why...?
Create a space in the classroom that any unanswered question can be stuck to. The children can then see if they can find out the answer.

Ask Rich Questions

Rich questions cannot be answered straight away. Children may either have to complete smaller questions before being able to answer it or will have to conduct an investigation. This encourages children to use their experiences and builds problem solving skills. For example will a plant grow taller in a cupboard or on a window ledge.

Reflecting

At the end of a topic allow the children the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned, but also how they learned it. They can take this knowledge forward and draw on that to solve future problems.

​'Remember when we used a tally chart to work out the most popular type of pet, maybe we could use a tally to work out the most popular shoe size.'

References
​Hattie. J (2012) Visible Learning for Teachers, Routledge, D.Wiliam (2011) Embedded Formative Assesment research by G.Brown and Wragg (1993)

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Action Words Spelling Tips

17/10/2016

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Help your Brain Remember with Mnemonics 

Mnemonics are systems that helps us to remember. They come in many forms, but we'll be looking at mnemonics that help children learn spellings. 

Do you know this famous example?
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain.
*See the answer at the end of the post.

Acronyms

Acronyms and backronym, what's the difference?
  • An acronym is a word formed from initial letters or a pre-existing phrase. E.g. National Aeronautics and Space Administration becomes NASA.
  • A backronym is created to suit a word or phrase, and humour is often involved. E.g. Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants helps children remember how to spell 'because'.

Activity to try

Step 1 - Ask the child/group to choose the words they want to focus on.  These should be words that are consistently spelled incorrectly. 

Step 2 - Make up a variety of acronyms for each word. The sillier the better. When we involve emotion we are more likely to remember.

Step 3 - Make it fun! Can they act out the acronym or draw a picture to go with it? 

Step 4 - Prompt them to use their acronyms when spelling, and see how they've improved.

Other Mnemonics

Rhymes can also be used to help, such as the famous - 'i before e, except after c' rule, although there are many exceptions to this one.

Remembering whether to use 'there, their, or they're' can be tricky, knowing clues helps.
E.g. The word 'there' contains 'there' which relates to place so can aid memory. 'Their' contains an i - which relates to an individual.
Using visuals also helps. The word 'bed' looks like a bed, so can help children orientate their b's and d's. If they get the letters the wrong way round the shape is lost - 'deb'. Giving two thumbs up can also help for this as the hands form the shape of the letters.

If you have any mnemonic tips that you have found useful please share them in the comments.

​
*The first letter of each word stands for the colours in a rainbow - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
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Back to School

31/8/2016

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Going back to school is an exciting time for children, but like any big change it can result in anxious feelings.

Common worries include:
  • What if my teacher isn't nice
  • What if the work is too hard
  • Separation anxiety

Many schools manage this by having transition days before the holidays. This gives children the opportunity to get to know their teacher in their new classroom. Transition days help children to recognise that their fears are unfounded.
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How to Help Your Child with Worries

Encourage your child to share what's worrying them, but rather than just reassuring them that everything is ok it helps to offer ways to solve the concerns that they have. Coaching them in this way helps them learn to deal with situations that might arise.

e.g. 'I don't know where my peg is'.
​'Would you like me to help you look for it?'

Help them to focus on the positives, what are they looking forward to? Will they play with a friend at lunchtime? You can also help them identify someone that they can go to if they need help, this could be a friend or a member of staff.

Are You Worried?

Children are very perceptive and if they sense that you are worried they will think that there is something they should be worried about too. It can help to plan something you can both look forward to after school, like a trip to the park or a special meal. It's very tricky to be worried and have fun at the same time!

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Happy Holidays from Action Words!

13/7/2016

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It's that time of year again, hopefully the sun will shine and we will all take a well deserved break. We are sure you have lots of fun plans for the summer. Have you thought about spending a little time with Action Words?
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The Summer Literacy Dip

Children's literacy levels are assessed at the end and the beginning of a school year. Results often dip following the summer holidays, as children don't use their new skills over the break.
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​While it is important that children have time to play and unwind, short activities can help children retain their learning, and even help to improve their skills. Reading with your children is one great way to encourage a love of reading, and Action Words workbooks can be used to help your child practise high frequency words.

​If you're new to Action Words find out more about how using actions helps children to read here.

Actionwords Workbooks

Each Action Words workbook features 15 high frequency words. The books are full of fun games, activities and exercises that will help your child remember the words, using our multi-sensory approach. 

​Our pack of 6 workbooks are on sale for only £4.99 (previously £17.94). Click here to order yours.
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We Love Feedback at Action Words

13/4/2016

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At Action Words we love hearing from practitioners and parents. This very special message from an Action Words parent brought tears to our eyes so we asked if we could share it. It's so great to know that we made a difference to this child's life. 

Please do share if you know of a child struggling with their reading. Finding the right way into reading for each child is so important.
'Just wanted to say how pleased I am with the Action Words programme. My little boy has been diagnosed with SLI (Specific Language Impairment) and was very much behind his piers in class. I feel that the use, in his school of the Action Words programme was the beginning of him learning to read. He had been struggling immensely with blending sounds to make simple words and had really lost heart with it. Reading had become a chore we both dreaded. The Action Words given out in class were the big change. The kinaesthetic approach of this method suited him down to the ground, we have since had Educational Psychologists confirm that he learns best in a physical and visual environment, for which the Action Words have been perfect. The empowerment he felt when he could recognise words was an absolute joy to see, and over time his confidence grew and we are now at a point where even blending has become easier for him.

I cannot thank you enough for bringing something different to the table and providing an answer when I was honestly at a loss as to what to do. I had got to the point where I wondered if he would ever read, and now he is consistently being moved up groups in his reading. I truly believe that without the use of your cards, his reading would have stalled for far longer.'

Isn't that fantastic! 

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Help! My child has brought home Action Words homework.

14/9/2015

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Top Tips for Action Words Parents

Tips for parents using Action Words.

If your school is using Action Words they may have sent home the Action Words homework sheet. We've anticipated some of your questions below but if you have more please do add them to the comments.

Why does Action Words use actions? 


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Say Well Done To Your Action Words Stars! 

15/7/2015

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Download our well done certificates for free. 

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Hard work deserves a reward and we love to celebrate success. So, we're giving away a set of well done certificates for your Action Words stars. You can download them from the store here. 

Don't forget to tweet your Action Words success stories to @action_words. We'll tweet a well done from the characters and share the children's achievements with our followers. 

Click read more to see the certificates.

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About: Who uses Action Words?

6/7/2015

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We've been adding more information to our website about who uses Action Words. Click here to find out where we are used. 


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Schools in the Durham area were among the first to use the Action Words first edition in 200-2004. This edition featured the cute bear and children drawn by illustrator Jenny Fionda.
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Since then many schools have upgraded to the second edition with the new illustrations and materials by Geoff Lynas and Andrew Liddell. 


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How to: use the Action Words Clipart

29/6/2015

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New - Download the Clipart!

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Make Action Words your own. Create resources for your classroom: games, notices, instructions etc from our Clipart.

Why wait for the CD to arrive. Download the Clipart from the store instead. Then get creative straight away. 

All character images are now pngs with transparent backgrounds so that you and the children can overlay the images and have some fun. 

Here's a suggestion to get you started...

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