This great guest post from a teacher about literacy lessons is great. Being a parent and book lover I know the importance of making sure children understand reading and writing! I hope this post is a nice insight into the mind of a teacher. 


As a teacher it is important for you to find ways to get all children involved in your
lessons, which you would surely agree with. There are some kids that just don’t want
to get on board when it comes to traditional ways of learning, either because they are
struggling to understand something, or they get bored quite quickly. No matter what the
reason is, it is vital to find a way to connect with them.


That is why you can try alternative, or ‘fun’ ways to get children involved in their lessons.
In this blog post, you will discover some tips and suggestions that should assist you
with the topic of literacy. Once you have read this post, make sure to head over to
pencilstreet.org as there are many more ideas for this topic and others on their site.

Rhyming Poetry

The first thing you could try is to get kids to appreciate poetry through the art of rhyming.
There are many words that rhyme, especially those ending in “ing” or “e” sounds.
Perhaps you could all come together to write a story that is exciting, and carrying the
theme of rhyming all the way throughout. This should help children to discover more
words, add them to their vocabulary, and understand what they mean in context.

Word Searches

Only some kids look forward to spelling tests, but another way to get them to
understand what letters follow others in words, why not introduce the idea of a daily
or weekly word search? The best form of word searches are those that have very
similarly spelled words included, so that the kids really have to pay attention to spelling.
Slightly older kids may also appreciate doing a crossword when they have a further
understanding of definitions and the use of certain words in sentences.

Neighbourhood Walks

Sometimes it is just nice to get out of the classroom. Luckily, English and literacy can be
taught within the neighbour as there are so many things to be seen. Younger children
could go on a colour trail to find all of the red items they can find; they would get a point
for each correctly spelled item on their list. Older children might do surveys or generate
ideas for a short story. It is all down to your creative thinking, some come up with some
ideas that will get kids excited.

Making Cards And Writing Letters

As many kids enjoy art class, could you try and combine both of the subjects together? This can be done through the means of creating greetings cards for special occasions,
whether Easter, Christmas or Hanukkah. By combining the elements of craft, drawing
and writing, you should help to engage kids for a longer period than you would if you
were reading from a text. Older children can experiment with the art of writing letters, or
even emails in this day and age. These are practical learning activities that they will be
able to improve upon.