The Teaching Patch

27/09/2026

Ask Me Stickers

After every tutoring session I give a child who is learning to read, a sticker with a focus word that they are learning. Sometimes they choose it, sometimes they write it, sometimes they wear it upside down so they can read it.
They then wear this throughout the day, so teachers or other adults or children that they bump into throughout the day ask them what it says.
When their parents pick them up from school they ask them what it says.
This is just a small example of overlearning, repeated exposure and repeated practice.
Help make learning stick (literally!)

Give me a follow for more tips and tricks 😊

25/09/2026

21/09/2026

Crafty afternoon preparing a common exception words reading game for a couple of pupils I support.

I've got a feeling they will enjoy this one 😊

25/08/2026

I have been supporting a child in Y2 with EAL over several sessions to write an innovated narrative.
Did she know this traditional tale? No.
Did she know what a turnip was? No.

Now she knows...
✅️The names of lots of vegetables and how to
spell them
✅️Time related phrases, e.g. That night...
✅️Synonyms for 'big'
✅️A narrative blueprint story structure
✅️New vocab such as 'sowed' and 'harvest'

If you think this sounds useful, I'm also the founder of The Teaching Bookshelf and have written hundreds of teaching sequences and resources like these to support primary teachers in delivering effective English curriculums.

Head over and give me a follow or check out my website: www.teachingbookshelf.com

23/08/2026

The transition from Early Years to Year 1 can be a big jump for some children, particularly children who have not met Early Learning Goals or reached GLD. For children who are not ready for whole class teaching at the start of KS1, this model bridges the gap between a play-based curriculum in Reception and a more formal curriculum in Year 1.
All of the Autumn Term sequences have been adapted to provide you with the option of using a transition model.
Download your next unit an all the accompanying resources for £5.99
www.teachingbookshelf.com

22/08/2026

How do you develop reading fluency?

Once a child has secured some GPCs then you can teach them to blend sounds they know to decide words.

Repeated practice reading words in sentences that contain the sounds they've learned is crucial to success and building confidence.

Modelling fluency and echo reading helps to build prosody and fluency.

This child is in year 2. We've done a lot of work on reading and learning common exception words by heart ❤️

He was stuck on the digraphs at phase 3, so I began there, helping him to secure the sounds he didn't know through lots and lots of different games. And now we're reading sentences 💥🙌👏

Give me a follow or save this post for more tips and tricks. 💛