Teaching Strategies, Tactics, and Methods

Multiplication tables

Multiplication tables, known as times tables, list the multiples of a particular number. Multiplications can be difficult to introduce to children until they are learning them; they’ve likely been using actual objects to help them with things like adding and subtracting. Multiplication is the first arithmetic skill where children must learn how to deal with abstract numbers.

Fear not, however, as we’ve put together some easy ways to remember multiplication tables and ideas for engaging and motivating your children to learn them.

Easy ways to remember multiplication tables

The simplest way to learn multiplication tables is by involving your children in various activities that exercise children’s memory rather than relying solely on repetition, which is boring (for you and your children)!

Write a multiplication table

This is an olden but golden technique for learning and remembering multiplication tables.

Let them choose different coloring pencils to fill them in to make them feel more involved and focused on the activity.

Next, you want to hang the completed square up in a place where your class or child will see it regularly (e.g. their bedroom door, next to the whiteboard). Then, set up a regular time for you and your child to sit down and have a no-pressure run-through of a particular set of times tables. This could be just before dinner or while getting ready for bed. The more often they see and practice reciting their times’ tables, the more likely they are to learn them!

Recite the multiplication table forwards and backward

Once your children have finished writing and decorating their multiplication tables, ask them to read them both forwards and backward aloud. Again, it would help if you encouraged them to do this slowly and carefully. Children can then work in pairs to practice reciting the multiplication tables to one another without looking! This fun exercise takes the pressure off from repeating to an adult.

You can also try asking your children multiplication questions backward, so instead of saying, “2 times three equals…” you can say, “6 equals two times what?”

Practice skip-counting

Skip-counting is one of the best ways to remember multiplication tables without simply repeating the numbers. To skip-count, start with the number you’re counting by and keep adding that same number. For example, skip-counting by two would be 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, etc. Likewise, skip-counting by four would be 4, 8, 12, 16, and so on.

You can make skip-counting a fun and effortless way to learn multiplication tables by skip-counting to song tunes.

Get your child to set goals and reward them when they meet them.

If their goal is to learn their 2, 3, and 4 times tables weekly, you could arrange a treat for them if they reach that goal. Perhaps grab a pizza on a Friday or take a trip to the cinema. A bit of harmless competitiveness is an effective way to motivate your children to meet their multiplication goals! In the classroom, you could set up a star chart, and each child can put a gold star or sticker next to the table that they’ve learned to keep track of their progress. This could work towards a golden hour on a Friday afternoon.

High-Frequency Words

High-frequency words are those which appear most often in written English. However, many high-frequency words are common exception words, such as ‘I’, ‘the’, and ‘you’.

What are high-frequency words?

High-frequency words are one of the main types of sight words and are those words which occur most frequently in written material, for example, “and”, “the”, “as” and “it”. They are often words that have little meaning on their own, but they do contribute significantly to the definition of a sentence as a whole.

Some of the high-frequency words can be sounded out using basic phonic rules. For example, “it” is an easy word to read using phonics. However, many high-frequency words are not phonically regular and, therefore, hard to read in the early stages.

Some high-frequency words are called tricky words or sight words. In addition to being difficult to sound out, most of these high-frequency words have a rather abstract meaning which is hard to explain to children. For example, it’s easy to learn words like “cat” and “house” because they can easily be related to a real object or a picture, but representing the words “the” or “of” is tricky because there’s no point of reference.

Why are high-frequency words important?

High-frequency words are, as you’d expect, words that you come across frequently. This means that when children are reading, they’ll see lots of these high-frequency words. Therefore, children must be able to read these words, pronounce them correctly, spell them, and understand what they mean within a sentence. Just as importantly, children will use these words in their writing, so it’s an essential part of their literacy development.

Did you know that 16 words make up around a quarter of every piece of writing for both adults and children? These are examples of high-frequency words, which shows precisely why it’s essential for children to become familiar with them. Terms such as ‘he’ ‘and’ ‘I’ and more tricky words such as ‘you’, ‘said’, and ‘she’ are everywhere when we write and read. As a literate adult, you might not notice them, but they can be significant hurdles for children when it comes to literacy if they aren’t taught how to read and write them correctly.

Recognizing and being able to read high-frequency words gives children more confidence. If a child can acknowledge already a quarter of the terms in a text, they are more likely to want to keep reading. Reading and recognizing these words can begin to make reading and writing less daunting to children during the early stages of their educational journey.

In what order do kids learn high-frequency words?

Kids are taught to read in phonics ‘phases’, and each phase has a consistent list of high-frequency words to learn.

Phase 2 phonics:

• Decodable words: a, an, as, at, and, back, big, but, can, dad, had, get, got, him, his, if, in, is, it, mum, not, on, of, off, up
• Tricky words: the, no, to, into, go, I

Phase 3 phonics:

• Decodable words: down, for, look, now, see, that, them, this, then, too, will, with
• Tricky words: all, are, be, he, her, me, my, she, they, was, we, you

Phase 4 phonics:

• Decodable words: went, children, it’s, just, from, help
• Tricky words: come, do, have, like, little, one, out, said, so, some, there, were, what, when

Phase 5 phonics:

• Decodable words: don’t, day, old, made, I’m, came, by, make, time, here, saw, house, very, about, your
• Tricky words: Oh, their, people, Mr, Mrs, looked, called, asked, could.

What are the top 100 high-frequency words in order?

These are the top 100 high-frequency words that are most frequently used in any piece of writing: the, and, a, to, said, in, he, I, of, it, was, you, they, on, she, is, for, at, his, but, that, with, all, we, can, are, up, had, my, her, what, there, out, this, have, went, be, like, some, so, not, then, were, go, little, as, no, mum, one, them, do, me, down, dad, big, when, it’s, see, looked, very, look, don’t, come, will, into, back, from, children, him, Mr, get, just, now, came, oh, about, got, their, people, your, put, could, house, old, too, by, day, made, time, I’m, if, help, Mrs, called, here, off, asked, saw, make, an.

How to teach children high-frequency words

• High-frequency words, and phonics as a whole, are essential to a child’s primary education. They form the basis for reading and writing, so teaching them effectively is necessary. Here are a few tools that you can use to teach them:
• Flashcards are by far the most popular way to teach this topic. You can cut them out and use them for a variety of games and activities which focus on repetition and boosting pupils’ memory of high-frequency words.
• Dictationpassages are a great way to simultaneously assess reading skills and knowledge of high-frequency words. Children are given a piece of text with high-frequency words missing, and they must fill in the blanks. Through an activity like this, they’ll become more familiar with the terms themselves and develop their reading fluency.
• Look, say, cover, writeis another standard method. Children practice saying the words aloud and writing and spelling them correctly. This is effective for memorization of the sounds and spellings of the terms and word recognition.

What is a Desert?

In short, a desert is an area that receives very little rainfall, causing it to be scorched. One false assumption about deserts is that they’re all hot. While this is true of some deserts that can reach temperatures of 54 °C in the daytime, some deserts experience cold winters, and some are cold all year round. Another misconception about deserts is that they’re all substantial empty spaces. There is a wide selection of plants and animals that live in deserts around the world. Moreover, several people groups have adapted to live in the desert over time.

One common belief about deserts that is true is that they are all dry. The dryness of deserts is rooted in their very definition, as they are places that receive very little rainfall. Scientists have widely agreed that an area of land must receive no more than 25 centimeters of precipitation a year to be classified as a desert.

There are deserts on every continent in the world, covering around ⅕ of the Earth’s land surface. Around 1 billion people live in these deserts, which comprise around ⅙ of the Earth’s population.

There are several different types of deserts:

• Subtropical Deserts
• Coastal deserts
• Rain Shadow Deserts
• Interior Deserts
• Polar Deserts

African Deserts

Now that we know what a desert is, let’s dive into the nine African deserts, starting with the largest and most famous.

• Sahara Desert

The Sahara is not only the largest desert in Africa but the world’s largest hot desert. In the summer, temperatures can reach a whopping 50 °C in the daytime. This scorching temperature, in turn, spreads to the 12 countries in North Africa. It is believed that the Sahara Desert was created around 7 million years ago, as remains of a giant sea called Tethys closed up.

To the north, the Sahara borders the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea; to the east, it borders the Red Sea; to the west, it borders the Atlantic Ocean; and to the south, it connects the transitional Sahel region.

A common misconception about this and other deserts is that they are one giant, consistent sandy patch of land with no variation. This is not true of most deserts, the Sahara included. Instead, the Sahara Desert comprises several regions with rainfall levels, temperatures, plants, and wildlife. This means that there are various terrains throughout the Sahara, such as sand dunes, volcanic mountains, plains, stony plateaus, and oases. The oases in the Sahara are vital as they have enabled trade routes between North African ports and those in sub-Saharan Africa.

Most of the Sahara is pretty barren, meaning there is little to no life. However, a selection of wildlife, including gazelles, deer, wild asses, baboons, hyenas, jackals, sand foxes, and mongooses, exist in this desert.

• Kalahari Desert

The Kalahari Desert is located in the center of Southern Africa and encompasses the majority of Botswana, certain regions of Namibia, and South Africa. The Kalahari Desert is pretty controversial, as some experts argue it is not technically a desert. This is because, in certain areas, the Kalahari Desert receives more than 25 centimeters of rainfall a year. The average rainfall for this desert is around 10 to 50 centimeters, allowing a range of vegetation, including resilient grasses, thorny shrubs, and acacia trees, to grow.

One of the prominent features of the Kalahari Desert is its sand dunes and salt pans, which are the end result of dried-up lakes. The Kalahari also has excellent access to water via the Okavango River, which runs through it. This water access attracts a range of wildlife to the Kalahari, including lions, brown hyenas, meerkats, and a range of birds and reptiles.

• Karoo Desert

The Karoo Desert is known as a semi-desert region of South Africa, characterized by an average precipitation of between 200 and 700 mm. Another defining feature of the Karoo Desert is its extreme temperature range, as it can get really hot and really cold.

The Karoo is split up into two central regions. The first region is the Succulent Karoo Biome, which lies to the west, and the second is the Nama Karoo Biome, which covers the majority of South Africa’s southern interior plateau. As suggested by its name, the Succulent Karoo Biome contains a selection of succulent plants worldwide. This biome is home to around 10,000 succulent species.

There is also underground water running throughout the Karoo Biome, which has been tapped by people living there and used for grazing by sheep and goats.

• Danakil Desert

The fourth African desert in this list is the Danakil Desert, located in the Afar Triangle. This desert spreads across northeastern Ethiopia, the coast of southern Eritrea, and northwestern Djibouti.

This desert is perhaps the most extreme of the African deserts, as it is home to lava lakes, volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, and various multi-colored salt lakes. The Danakil Desert is also extremely dry, with only around 2.5 centimeters of rainfall recorded yearly. What’s more, this desert is one of the hottest places on Earth, with temperatures getting up to 50 °C.

• Chalbi Desert

The Chalbi Desert is situated to the East of Kenya’s Lake Turkana and is one of the hottest and most arid places in the entirety of Kenya. The name of this desert essentially means ‘bare and salty’, which indicates its climate. The Chalbi Desert is an old rover bed that is decorated with a selection of rocks and clay formations.

• Namib Desert

The most distinguishing feature of the Namib Desert is its highly high dunes that stretch to over 300 meters high. These dunes are the highest in the world. The Namib Desert is the oldest desert in the world, dating back 80 million years ago. This desert spreads along the Atlantic coastal region of Southern Africa, encompassing parts of Angola, Namibia, and South Africa and merging with the Kalahari Desert in the south.

The climate in the Namib Desert is dry due to the dry Namib winds, which combine with the Atlantic’s Benguela current. This combination produces fog, the primary source of water for this African desert and, as such, the life source for most plants and animals.

• Guban Desert

Now we’re getting into the much less well-known of the African deserts. The Guban Desert is a narrow area referred to as ‘burnt land’ that stretches to the most easterly point of the Northern Somalian coast. This desert is hot and dry and is home to a system of sandy seasonal watercourses and steppe vegetation.

• Nyiri Desert

The Nyiri Desert is located south of Kenya, between Amboseli, Tsavo West, and Nairobi National Parks. This desert is in the rain-shadow area of Mount Kilimanjaro, which means that ​​it has been forced to become a desert because the mountain has blocked all plant-growing, rainy weather. The Nyiri Desert is, however, home to several large springs that allow animals like elephants, giraffes, rhinoceroses, lions, and leopards to live there. These springs also provide water for select types of plants to grow there, such as thorny trees.

• Grand Bara Desert

The Grand Bara Desert is an old dried-up lake bed in southern Djibouti. This desert comprises sand flats broken up by desert grasses and shrubs. Moreover, this desert is flat and infertile, so bushes and trees cannot grow there. However, a select number of large mammals have adapted to live in this region, including dik-diks and oryxes.

• The Lompoul Desert

The Lompoul desert is the smallest desert in Africa and is situated in the northwest region of Senegal between Dakar and Saint-Louis. This desert is surrounded by sizeable orange sand dunes, which tourists travel to see each year.

A right is a choice to make your own opinion and entitlement to things such as education, religion, and freedom of speech. Responsibilities are duties or something an individual should do, such as following the law and rules.

In this sense, classroom roles and responsibilities go hand in hand with each other. By being assigned a classroom role, such as the Energy Monitor, it’s your responsibility to ensure the lights, electric plugs, and power sources are switched on and off at the right time. In the long run, this will save the teacher and other students time when one person has been assigned that job and ensure it is done correctly.

The Aim of Rights and Responsibilities in School

Rights and responsibilities aim to help children achieve their potential and become responsible citizens. It teaches children how to respect others, think critically, and make informed decisions. Evidence shows that children learn to respect others more when taught about their rights and responsibilities.

What happens when children learn their Rights?

• A better understanding of what is meant by rights and responsibilities
• A positive attitude toward school
• Develop better relationships with school friends and teachers
• Increased self-esteem

Discussing Rights and Responsibilities in the Classroom

If a teacher wishes to discuss children’s rights and responsibilities in the classroom, they can try using some of these prompts.

• Can you think of times when human rights have been disrespected and why people behave this way?
• Can people avoid behaving unfairly and disrespecting people’s rights?
• Do teachers and adults have different rights and responsibilities to adults?
• How do you feel when you have your rights disrespected by others?

Examples of Rights in the Classroom

A teacher may wish to discuss the class rights of children in the classroom. These may be:

• Receive a broad and balanced education
• Receive good-quality teaching materials
• Enjoy the privacy of lockers and trays
• Receive a caring and kind education from teachers and adults
• build friendships and work well with others

Examples of Classroom Roles and Responsibilities:

A teacher may also wish to discuss the classroom roles and responsibilities of students in Primary school. These could be:

• The Tidy Upper. This person’s responsibility is to keep the learning environment clean and tidy. This way, it will feel nicer to be in, where resources can be easily found and used for learning.
• The Resource Manager is essential when keeping an eye on classroom materials and ensuring they are dealt with care and respect.
• The Door Holder must hold the door open for fellow students at the beginning and end of lessons. As a result, people can quickly enter and exit and feel special when someone is holding the door for them.
• The Calendar Manager. Do you have a wall calendar in your classroom? One child could be assigned this role, with the job of always making sure the correct month is shown. They must also make sure the valid date is shown on the whiteboard. This is an excellent classroom role and responsibility when engaging children with calendars, months, and days of the week.

General classroom responsibilities for all students can be:

• Show respect to fellow students and adults and be polite
• Look out for one another and help others be happy
• Listen to and respect others’ views and opinions

What is poetry? – a simple definition of poetry

Poetry is a type of literature that aims to evoke an emotional response in the reader through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm. The five defining characteristics of a poem include:

1. meter
2. rhyme
3. form
4. sound
5. rhythm/timing.

There are many different types of poetry; read on to learn more about them.

Description of Poetry

Poetry is literature or artistic writing that appeals to the reader’s emotions and imagination through various poetic techniques.

The poet uses a combination of rhythm, word choice, sounds, rhymes, structure, and more to create a piece of writing that stirs the reader’s feelings.

Poems come in many different forms and styles, and the text is often separated into paragraphs called stanzas.

A poem is usually about or alluding to a specific topic or theme. Some of the most shared articles that poets write about are:

• love;
• nature;
• friendship;
• family;
• animals;
• good vs evil;
• growing up and aging;
• bravery and courage;
• prejudice;
• war.

What types of poetry are there?

There are many forms of poetry; some poets might use a combination of two or more, break the rules of a specific form, or stick strictly to the laws of the document. Every poem is different and uses form to tell a different story.

Different forms of poetry

Blank verse

Blank verse is poetry written with a precise meter, such as iambic pentameter, and doesn’t rhyme. Shakespeare was a big fan of this form and used it in lots of his plays and sonnets!

Rhymed poetry

Rhymed poetry is poems that follow a rhyme scheme. This scheme can vary from poem to poem, but one of the most common rhyme schemes to follow is rhyming couplets.

Free verse

A free verse poem doesn’t have a consistent rhyme scheme, rhythm, or musical form. These types of poems may also be called prose poetry because they combine techniques from both poetry and prose.

Haiku

Originating in Japan, the haiku is a three-line poem with five syllables in the first and last line and seven in the middle line. They often depict an image of nature.

Ode

Odes are lyrical poems originating in Ancient Greece. They’re typically short and don’t rhyme. They tend to focus on a specific individual, idea, or event.

Sonnet

A sonnet is a poem with 14 lines that are traditionally about the topic of love. Sonnets have internal rhymes and typically end with a heroic couplet (a rhyming couplet written in iambic pentameter).

Poetry Terms (Definitions)

To create powerful images and tap into people’s emotions, poets use poetic techniques to make their poetry impactful and exciting. Here, we describe and explain these poetry terms and their definitions.

Some of the techniques used in poetry are:

Similes and Metaphors

Poets use similes and metaphors to create images and describe thoughts, emotions, objects, and more.

A simile compares one thing directly to another, often using the ‘as as’ combination. For example:

• ‘It was as cold as snow.’

A metaphor says that one thing is another thing. For example:

• ‘She had a heart of gold.’

By comparing one thing to another, poets can create fascinating images in their poetry to stir a reader’s emotions!

Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of sounds through consecutive (or closely connected) words. An example of alliteration is when two or more words in a row begin with the same letter or sound. E.g., big blue butterflies.

Symbolism

Symbols convey a poem’s idea, message, theme, or relationship. For instance, an object or character can represent an abstract idea that’s difficult to describe otherwise.

Most famously, poetry’s roses, hearts, and moons symbolize romantic love.

Rhyme

Rhyming schemes dictate how a poem flows. Rhymes can even sometimes alter the meaning of a poem altogether.

One of the most common rhyme schemes is the rhyming couplet, where the last words in a pair of lines rhyme. These rhymes can create a musical and happy tone to a poem.

Iambic pentameter

Iambic pentameter is a line of the verse where a stressed syllable follows one unstressed syllable. This technique is most famously used in Shakespeare’s plays and poetry and follows the rhythm of a heartbeat.

For example:

‘Macbeth, Macbeth, beware Macduff.’

Acrostic

An acrostic poem is a poem where the first letter of each line spells out a new word. Poetry explores a specific theme or topic, such as the seasons.

Allusion

An allusion is a brief reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, or movement. The writer ‘alludes’ to something else. In other words, allusion is like a subtle hint.

For example, the poet Emily Dickinson alludes to her poem ‘All Overgrown by Cunning Moss’. She writes ‘The little cage of “Currer Bell”‘ – ‘Currer Bell’ is the pen name of Charlotte Brontë.

Ambiguity

This is when a word, statement, or phrase can have two or more possible meanings. The poet often leaves the final interpretation up to the reader in poetry. It gives the reader something to consider or think about. Ambiguity in poetry also means a lot for readers to come together and discuss.

Enjambment

In some poems, sentences run between lines without any punctuation to separate them. This poetry term is defined as enjambment. It helps to create a specific flow and rhythm within the poem.

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is when something is greatly exaggerated to evoke a strong emotion or reaction from the reader.

Imagery

Many poets use the five senses to create images in their poems. Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smelly a vital role and can help mak

Motif

A motif is a recurring or central action or image that can also be found in other works. For example, a long journey is one of the most common motifs in literature.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is when a word sounds like the word it’s describing. Examples include:

• snap;
• crack;
• pop;
• bang;
• boom.

These help to evoke emotion and add to the poem’s overall image.

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that brings together two contradictory statements. One of the most common examples of an oxymoron is the phrase ‘deafening silence’.

Pathetic Fallacy

A pathetic fallacy is when the weather reflects the mood or atmosphere of the poem. For example, rain and stormy weather represent negative emotions, whereas the sun bursting through a cloud can symbolize hope.

Personification

Similar to the pathetic fallacy, personification is when human actions, thoughts, and feelings are given to inanimate objects. It brings otherwise inanimate objects to life. For example, in poetry, flowers often ‘dance’ in the breeze – this is personification.

Stanza

A stanza is a group of lines separated from others within a poem. While a stanza isn’t a poetic technique in and of itself, poets can use stanzas to create a unique meaning.

Assonance

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in words close to each other. For example, might the light be in sight?

Couplet

A couplet is two successive lines that end with a rhyme. Shakespeare famously used these in his sonnets.

Heroic Couplet

Two successive lines rhyme but are also written in iambic pentameter.

Internal Rhyme

An exact rhyme within a single line of poetry. For example, ‘There was a flower for every hour.’

Synaesthesia

This is where one of the five senses is described as if it were another of the senses. For example, ‘a warm smell’.

Anaphora

Like repetition, anaphora is where a word or words are repeated at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines. It’s most famously used in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

Famous poets and poems

Explore these famous poets and poems when you are teaching children about poetry.

For younger children:

• Jabberwocky by Lewis Caroll
• The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt
• The Land of Nod by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Please do not feed the animals… by Robert Hull
• The Mountain and the Squirrel by Ralph Waldo Emerson

For older children:

• The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
• Daffodils by William Wordsworth
• I carry your heart with me by E.E Cummings
• The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe
• I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou

It is common for students to mix up when to use the verb was and when to use the verb were when writing in the past tense; this is because was and where are the past tense forms of the verb ‘to be,’ and it can be tough to understand whether to use were or was in certain situations. So, what is the difference between was and were? Well, that is quite simple. Was is the 1st person and singular past tense form of the verb ‘to be’ and the 3rd person/ singular past tense form of the verb ‘to be.’ Meanwhile, the verb ‘were’ is the 2nd person singular and plural past tense form of the verb ‘to be.’

Simply put, you can use was/were in the following circumstances:

1. When you are talking about an event that happened in the past. For example, ‘I was in France last month on holiday.’
2. When you are talking about a past status or past tense, for example, ‘he was the Prime Minister of the company.’
3. You can use it with subjunctive moods such as ‘if’ or ‘wish,’ for example, ‘Wish you were here.’

What is the past verb tense

Your child will learn three essential past, present, and future tenses. Verbs come in three tenses: past, present, and future. The past verb tense is critical to understanding the was and were rules as these are past tense verb forms of ‘to be.’ The past describes things that have happened (for example, earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, or three years ago). This verb tense comes in four other forms:

• Simple Past
• Past Perfect
• Past Continuous
• Past Perfect Continuous

Was and were rules: When to use was

For a simple way to remember when to use was recognize that the verb ‘was’ is used to refer to singular objects or people

Examples of using were as a past verb tense include:

• I was home last night.
• He was in bed at ten o’clock.
• She was at the restaurant until eleven.
• It was not a late night.

Was and were rules: When to use were

Examples of using were as a past verb tense include:

• You were home last night.
• The boys were in bed by ten o’clock.
• They were asleep by eleven.

Contracted Form

A ‘contraction’ is any word that combines two separate words. In a contraction word, some letters from the original words are omitted and replaced with an omissive apostrophe. An example of a contraction is ‘don’t,’ which combines the words ‘do’ and ‘not.’

What is a contraction in English?

So, what is a contraction in English? In simple terms, a contracted word, or contraction, is where a new word is made by combining two existing words. In addition, some letters are omitted and replaced with an apostrophe.

Using phrases like ‘did not’ and ‘where’ can be quite formal. Contractions in English can help us to convey a friendly and casual tone. That’s why they’re frequently used in everyday speech. We’ve used quite a few different contracted words in this text alone!

This makes contractions an excellent way for children to capture a natural tone when writing dialogue for fictional characters, such as plays and novels. Contractions will allow kids to write organic, natural-sounding dialogue for their characters!

What are some examples of contractions?

Now that we’ve answered ‘what is a contraction in English?’, let’s look at some practical examples.

‘Did not’ is contracted to ‘didn’t.’ For instance:

‘Thomas did not enjoy his lunch.’

Becomes:

‘Thomas didn’t enjoy his lunch.’

Here are some further examples of contractions in English grammar.

Two Words	Contracted Form
It is	It’s
She is	She’s
He is	He’s
They are	They’re
Is not	Isn’t
Would not	Wouldn’t
Could not	Couldn’t
Should not	Shouldn’t
I would	I’d
She would	She’d
He would	He’d
They would	They’d
I have	I’ve
We have	We’ve
I am	I’m
We are	We’re
You are	You’re
I will	I’ll
You will	You’ll
We will	We’ll
Have not	Haven’t
Has not	Hasn’t
Are not	Aren’t
Cannot	Can’t
Was not	Wasn’t
Were not	Weren’t

Common Mistakes with Contractions

But to truly tackle the question of ‘what is a contraction in English?’, we need to know how to use them properly while avoiding common blunders. Make sure your KS1 children are aware of these common contraction mistakes so that they can avoid them in their writing:

• ‘Could of’ instead of ‘could’ve’: Children often replace ‘have’ with ‘of.’
• ‘It is’ has the contracted form of ‘it’s’: A misconception is that ‘its’ is the same. However, this possessive pronoun shouldn’t be used in its place.
• ‘They’re,’ ‘their,’ and ‘there’ have different meanings, and ‘they’re’ is the only contraction, meaning ‘they are.’
• ‘Your’ and ‘you’re’ are often mixed up, so it’s important to stress that ‘you’re’ is made up of the two words ‘you’ and ‘are.’ If children struggle with this, they should consider whether the sentence would make sense if they said ‘you are’ instead.

Here are a few more specific rules to follow when using contractions and teaching children about ‘what is a contraction in English?’:

Contracted Nouns and Pronouns

In spoken English, contractions involving nouns, such as ‘Jimmy’s mum’ll pick us up,’ are pretty standard. However, they are much less frequent in the written form. In writing, you are much more likely to see contractions with pronouns, like ‘he’s’ and ‘we’ll.’

Contractions with proper nouns can mean ‘it’ or ‘has.’ For instance:

“Jimmy’s going to call his mum to come and get us.”

“Jimmy is going to call his mum to come and get us.”

“Hannah’s just bought a new dog.”

“Hannah has just bought a new dog.”

You will frequently find the homonyms ‘who’s’ and ‘whose.’ The contraction is either ‘who is’ or ‘who has,’ and the whole word is possessive.

Negative contractions and verb contractions

Contractions are often created using auxiliary verbs such as to be, do, have, would, should, or can. For example, you can either say:

“Monday isn’t my favorite day of the week,” or “Monday’s not my favorite day of the week.”

However, you can’t say:

“Monday’s n’t my favorite day of the week.”

When dealing with a negative clause, you must decide between using negative contractions like “n’t” or contracting the pronoun and verb, for instance, “Monday’s.” If you do both at the same time, the sentence becomes unreadable.

Multiple Contractions

While they may look messy, specific multiple contractions are reasonably common in spoken English. For instance, it is pretty standard for people to say things like:

“If she’d’ve had the right papers, she wouldn’t’ve got stuck at security.”

It is almost incidental that we use multiple contractions when speaking, as the words seem to run together. This is fine in spoken English, but it is not considered good practice if you are writing.

24 Hour Clock

There are two types of clocks, 12-hour clocks and 24-hours clocks. In the 24-hour clock format, each day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours.

What is a 24-Hour Clock?

There are two types of clocks, 12-hour clocks and 24-hours clocks. In the 24-hour clock format, each day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours.

24-Hour Time uses the numbers 00:00 (midnight) until 23:59 to tell the time. You don’t need to use am/pm with a 24-Hour Clock, as the afternoon is indicated by a number more significant than 12.

24-Hour Time is commonly used as a format on digital clocks.

It differs from 12-hour time, which uses two cycles of 12 hours in the morning (am) and afternoon (pm). Instead, this runs from 1 am to 12 noon and from 1 pm to 12 midnight.

12-hour time can be read on analog clocks. These are clocks with an entire clock face and three hands – an hour hand, a minute hand, and one to count the seconds.

What Does 24-Hour Time Look Like?

Here is how different times are shown on a 12-hour clock–24-hour clock:

1 am- 01.00

2 am- 02.00

3 am- 03.00

4 am -04.00

5 am -05.00

6 am-06.00

7 am -07.00

8 am -08.00

9 am -09.00

10 am -10.00

111 am-11.00

12 pm -12.00

1 pm -13.00

2 pm -14.00

3 pm -15.00

4 pm -16.00

5 pm -17.00

6 pm -18.00

7 pm -19.00

88 pm-20.00

9 pm -21.00

10 pm -22.00

11 pm -23.00

12 am -00.00

Since Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, philosophical musings about education have always had some significance. The approach educator favors will affect how they teach and, ultimately, how their students learn. When they finish their training, teachers will no longer think, “What is an educational philosophy?” Instead, they’ll have opinions about this, which may change as their experience grows. Ideally, a teacher’s educational philosophy will align with the school they work at, which is important because these core beliefs and values will shape how they educate their students.

Philosophy of Education or an Education Philosophy?

Despite the same content words, the philosophy of education and an education philosophy are two separate things, albeit related. Let’s briefly have a look at each phrase.

What is the philosophy of education?

The philosophy of education can be viewed from a philosophical perspective and educational practice. Early philosophers, like Socrates and Aristotle, presented and discussed theories for evaluating and delivering education. In recent years, this has veered towards the foundations of education, including its history, psychology, and sociology.

Discussing the aims and purposes of education is considered integral when it comes to the intelligent structure and guidance of educational activities. There are vital academic concepts covering various topics, such as teaching, learning, schooling, and indoctrination. With each one, there are different arguments for educational philosophy and its application. Because of these different perspectives, some argue the philosophy of education doesn’t exist simply because there are several philosophies about it.

What is an educational philosophy?

An educational philosophy is a set of educational beliefs and core values of a person and organization. It focuses on the purpose and objectives of academic planning, programs, and processes regarding teaching and inspiring students to learn.

An educational philosophy for a place of education may influence what and how subjects are taught. Additionally, it can impact the beliefs and values taught in the national curriculum. As a result, it could be used to identify and elucidate the principles and themes that align with them when it comes to the aspirations of an educational organization.

With this in mind, when a teacher develops their educational philosophy, they’ll consider many things, including:

• the purpose of education
• how students learn
• their role as a teacher

Having an educational philosophy with a similar approach to the school they work at would imply that teachers have the same general ideals regarding teaching and education. However, this could be subject to change as their experiences in the classroom grow, meaning that a teacher’s educational philosophy is often a subjective and dynamic approach to teaching and education.

Plants and Adaptations

Plants have adaptations that help them to survive, live and grow in specific environments. These special adaptations allow them to make the most of the surrounding area. They also explain why some plants are found in certain areas but not others.

Plants and Adaptations – What is plant adaptation?

Plant adaptation is when a species develops special features to improve its chances of survival. Adaptations evolve over a long period and are inheritable, meaning they are passed on to offspring.

Types of Adaptation in Plants

There are three kinds of adaptation: structural, behavioral, and physiological.

A structural adaptation is a physical feature that an organism has evolved to survive. For example, this could include the evolution of waxy leaves or different root structures in plants.

Behavioral adaptations are something an organism does to improve its survival. An example is how they grow towards the sun or close their leaves during hot times.

And the final type of adaptation is a physiological adaptation. These happen within an organism to change the chemical processes inside its cells. In plants, an example of this is the production of poisons and toxins that help protect them from predators.

Why do plants adapt?

Plants need to adapt for three main reasons:

• to survive harsh environmental conditions such as the climate;
• to protect themselves against predators;
• and to be more successful when living alongside competitors includes fighting for space, water, or nutrients.

Plants and Their Adaptations to Different Habitats

Plants adapt differently depending on their habitats, predators, and their competitors.

Desert Habitats

Cacti are an excellent example of how a plant has adapted to desert habitats. Deserts are hot, dry environments, so it takes a special plant to survive in such harsh conditions.

A cactus plant has adapted in many ways to survive.

• It has a thick, waxy skin that stops water from evaporating from the plant too quickly. And the shiny surface of its ‘skin’ also reflects heat, further reducing evaporation.
• They grow deep roots called ‘tap roots.’ These bury themselves deep below the ground to reach underground water stores.
• As well as deep roots, they also have an extensive shallow root system. Although these roots cover a vast surface area, cacti can make the most of any surface water they find.
• Cacti have thick, fleshy stems, which means they can store water inside.
• The problem with storing water in a desert is that cacti appeal to predators looking for water. As a result, cacti have adapted to grow spikes and thorns. These make it more difficult for predators who want to benefit from the stored water.

Tropical Rainforest Habitats

Plant diversity in tropical rainforests is enormous. There’s an incredible number of different plants growing in rainforests around the world.

There’s also a wide range of different adaptations to be seen in tropical plants.

• The trees in rainforests are generally very tall, and their trunks are smooth; this is because trees in the rainforest have adapted to the competition for light and therefore grow tall to beat the other plants growing around them.
• The bark on rainforest trees is smooth, allowing the rain to flow down to the roots easily. Also, if the bark collected water, this could cause problems for the tree. For example, it could cause the tree to become damaged due to the weight of the water, or it could also cause rot to develop.

• Epiphytes are plants that grow on the surface of other plants. So, another benefit of a smooth bark is that it makes it more difficult for other plants to grow. However, some epiphytes can damage their host plants as they take water and nutrients. They can also cause structural damage. Strangler figs are an example of this, as they encase their host with branches that eventually kill it.
• Some epiphytes, such as orchids, have evolved roots that can absorb water and nutrients from the air.
• Many trees in the rainforest grow unique roots. Buttress roots have a large surface area and help support tall trees. With such a large surface area, they also help the tree collect as many nutrients as possible from the nutrient-poor forest floor. Stilt roots grow down from the branches and add stability to the tree.

• Leaves of rainforest plants are very well adapted. For example, many have what’s known as a drip tip allowing water to run off efficiently and stopping the leaves from getting damaged. It also prevents water gathering, which can lead to rot and fungus.
• Many plants on the rainforest floor have adapted to grow large leaves, helping them collect as much sunlight as possible.
• Lianas are a type of vine plant that has adapted to grow up tall rainforest trees. They do this to reach the sunlight in the canopy.

Plant Adaptation Examples

Venus Flytraps

These fearsome plants are an absolute favorite among children. They’re pretty fascinating; we have to admit.

Venus fly traps usually grow in acidic, nutrient-poor soil. For this reason, they’ve adapted a gruesome adaptation.

By capturing and digesting unsuspecting insects that land on their trap leaves, the plant can get enough nutrients to survive.

The traps on a Venus fly trap contain lots of tiny hairs. And when an insect lands on these sensitive hairs, they send a message to close the trap. That’s when digestion begins.

The Dodder Vine

If plants were vampires, this vine would be one. The Dodder vine is a parasitic weed that has adapted a sense of smell. It smells out its prey by detecting the chemical aromas they give off.

Dodders are typically attracted to the scent of tomato plants, and once they find one, it’s game over.

The vine will attach itself to the host plant and suck out the nutrients from within it, causing the poor host plant to wither and die. Scary stuff for a plant.

A Bornean Pitcher Plant

This plant has poor taste when it comes to food. Due to the nutrient-poor soil it grows in; the plant has developed a rather disgusting way to get nutrients.

Its adaptation is a very cozy-looking leaf hood and chamber; this becomes very appealing to sleepy bats, who like to come and roost inside the plant.

While the bat is roosting, the plant benefits by collecting its poo. From this, the plant extracts vital nutrients essential to its survival.