I know you're all on holiday, teachers, but...
Teaching resources for all my books free to download at www.barbarahenderson.co.uk/resources/

The cover of Linnet and the Periwinkle Flyer against a dark blue background with stars.

✨ COVER REVEAL! ✨

A missing friend. A flying machine. A future waiting for take off.

Linnet and the Periwinkle Flyer is a soaring #MiddleGrade steampunk adventure by @lindsaylittleson.bsky.social!

Coming August 21st: amzn.to/4mnxEy0...
#CoverReveal #KidLit

📣 The School of Education is working with the sector to shape priorities for the new Centre for Teaching Excellence. We’re keen to talk with teachers across Scotland in focus groups that will inform our national survey.

Find out more and sign up here:

www.gla.ac.uk/schools/educ...

Please share!

The Easter holidays are here, so I have a copy of Primary Reading Simplified to give away.

Just **repost** this post to have a chance to win.

The winner will be selected 19th April.

School Reading List Children's Book of the Month Our children's books of the month list with new picture books, fiction & non-fiction books for children & young adults aged 5-16.

School Reading List Children’s Book of the Month 📚👍🏼
schoolreadinglist.co.uk/new-book-rel...
#kidlit
The School Reading List compiles this list of recommended books monthly. This children's and YA books of the month list highlights new releases and editions of ...

FLUENCY FRIDAY!
Feb. 27 is Int'l Polar Bear Day! Here's a Polar Bear poem by Poet Laureate David L. Harrison for students to rehearse & perform for Int'l Polar Bear Day!

Rehearsing & performing poetry is a great way to build reading fluency (SOR) – automatic word rec & prosody.

100+ CHILDREN’S BOOKS SET IN #SCOTLAND Read your way around Scotland with your youngsters. This list is by no means exhaustive, but wherever you’re travelling, there is a kids’ book set there 🙂, or nearby. We have deliberately randomise…

An excellent resource from the guys at Kidlit Scotland! Wherever you're heading in Scotland, there is a childrens book set there. #VisitScotland
kidlitscotland.wordpress.com/2024/07/01/1...

It's half term, which means I have a copy of Primary Reading Simplified to give away.

Simply *repost* this post for your chance to win.

I will choose a winner at random this Saturday (22nd February).

The Becoming Educated Podcast is back.

My conversation with ⁦‪Christopher Such will be available from Tuesday 18th February

We explore the key theme of his outstanding book ‘Primary Reading Simplified’

Available on all podcasting platforms

What impact could phonics-first approaches have in Scotland? Scotland is at a crossroads with literacy and should fully implement systematic synthetic phonics, says Darren Leslie

My latest article for TesScotland on why Scotland needs to act on its ever increasing reading crisis:

www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Here's our report on concerns over the way reading is taught across the UK

www.itv.com/news/2025-02...

Tonight on @itvnews.bsky.social we have a special report on early years reading across the UK.

We hear from those let down by the continued use of discredited methods, while Northern Ireland's Education Minister tells me why he's urgently reforming their system.

On the ITV Evening News shortly.

My new book, Primary Reading Simplified, is released this Monday.

Briefly, I'd like to explain why it exists, who I think will find it useful and where you can find it.

>>

Time Tunnellers: Robert Burns versus Smugglers YouTube video by Time Tunnellers

Hey teachers - here is a quick and easy Burns related resource - a short video with a creative writing challenge. youtu.be/j9mEACnKTDo

I have some availability for virtual visits this term and can do sessions based on a particular novel, like The Titanic Detective Agency, or a more general chat about the joys of reading and writing!

Why making reading easier may be a bad choice There are myriad ways to simplify reading, from AI summaries to shortened sentences, but we may be making life hard for pupils in the long run, writes Alex Quigley

📖 'Teachers are faced with a paradox – making reading easy can make long-term learning harder': @alexjquigley.bsky.social issues a warning about the use of tech to help struggling readers

I have so enjoyed all of @susanbrownrigg.bsky.social 's books, and yes, I've read them all.
I think #WrongTracks, published today by @uclanpublishing.bsky.social , may be the best yet. A stunning adventure set against the backdrop of the pioneering age of steam railways. So, so good!

Tinsel Tales and Wintery Words - YouTube Stories from Scotland. Seasonal snippets to get you in the mood for Christmas and New Year!Read by authors based in Scotland!Free to download and use in clas...

Festive story extracts by children’s authors in Scotland! Perfect for #schools #teachers #parents youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Throughout my teaching career I was given bad advice about dyslexia, including...

+ Sit all dyslexic pupils at the front because they inevitably have issues with attention.

+ Teach them to recognise words as whole units rather than teaching them to decode.

+ Give them coloured overlays.

Etc

>>

I have availability for virtual visits on the 5th and 12th December and plenty for next term.
I can do visits based on a particular novel, like The Titanic Detective Agency, or a more general chat about the joys of reading and writing!

PS22 Chorus "Northern Sky" Nick Drake (ft. Clive) YouTube video by PS22 Chorus

Nick Drake passed 50 years ago today; and initially, I was going to post Road, or something darker from Pink Moon. But instead, here's something more uplifting, to celebrate, rather than mourn.
youtu.be/EZ5X4qesLRs?...

Updated tonight with the addition of the inimitable SOR stalwart @susangodsland.bsky.social

Collieston, Aberdeenshire

Support pupils to discuss grammar and language. Use a living sentence. Give pupils a sentence, with one word or punctuation mark on each min whiteboard, then ask them to arrange them in an order that makes sense.

Lots of decisions, discussion & a deeper understanding! www.impact.wales

@smorrisey.bsky.social's work here reminds me of this great video from Aaron Grossman:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FceC...

“Schools are so focused on the reading comprehension piece…the reason why we’re not seeing growth or we’re seeing it for a little bit & then it stops & we see kids start to fall apart in those upper elementary grades is because educators don’t know to be focusing intentionally on teaching language.”

Great article. Lots to think about. This resonates: ‘the ability of literacy to extend thought. Even if you never write for an external audience, writing allows you to extend your own thoughts beyond the limitation of puny working memory.’