Teaching Strategies, Tactics, and Methods

Elements of music include timbre, texture, rhythm, melody, beat, harmony, structure, tempo, pitch, and dynamics.

What are the elements of music?

The elements of music are essentially the different things you can hear when listening to music. They are what differentiates a piece of music from other sounds.

If you perform a piece of music, even if you are singing and dancing to your favorite song, then – whether you know it or not – you are showing that you have a sense of what the elements of music are.

Recognizing your existing sense of what the elements of music are can help you to take your understanding of music and music theory further. You will repeat the rhythm and melody if you sing a few lines of one of your favorite songs.

To replicate the rhythm, you show that you have a sense of the pulse and the different durations of the notes you are singing. By singing the melody, you establish how the different pitches relate to one another (called intervals).

If you were then to sing along to a recording of the song, you would automatically adjust your pitch and tempo so that they matched what you were listening to – you are more musical than you know!

By learning to recognize and describe the different elements of what you hear, you will be able to talk and write about music more accurately – not to mention enjoy and appreciate new things about how a piece is constructed. This easy-to-download poster will help you explain the elements of music to children and jazz up your display walls too!

Ten elements of music to teach children

1. Rhythm

Combinations of long and short sounds convey movement. When learning to understand rhythm, you should try to understand it in terms of regularity. Later on, you can learn how this regularity is played with and contradicted in music. Music is measured in beats, and rhythms are different beats. This is the steady pulse that runs throughout a piece of music.

Rhythm alone is musical. Think of the intro to the song ‘Car Wash’ by Rose Royce – the clapping is instrumented only with hands, but it forms the backbone of the rest of the piece. Listen as the different textures of the song come in one by one and are layered over the clapped rhythm.

More – Take your understanding of rhythm further by learning more about its interdependent elements: meter, pulse, and duration (of notes).

2. Beat

The underlying steady beat of the music. This is what we may tap our foot to or clap along with! If you can do this without necessarily being able to describe the rhythm in terms of beats, you are aware of something regular pulsing through the music. You could say that the pulse is rhythm in its simplest form.

3. Duration

The length of the beats makes up the music. In the main melody – the tune in a pop song that you would sing along to – this would be the different lengths of the notes you are singing. In contrast to the pulse of the rhythm, which is regular, each note of the melody would last for different portions of the pulse.

Try clapping a pulse as you sing a melody – try Frère Jacques – and notice how the words aren’t necessarily as long as the beats of the pulse. They can be longer (lasting for one or more claps) or shorter (multiple notes or words between claps).

4. Pitch

Pitch is how high or low a sound is – every sound has a pitch, even if it isn’t musical. In written music, the notes on the staff show what pitch to play, when, and for how long.

5. Tempo

Tempo is an element of music that dictates and describes the speed at which music is performed. This effects the mood of a piece of music. Often, sad music is slower than happy music, but this isn’t a strict rule. Complex moods are created in music by using tempo in both expected and unexpected ways and changing the tempo during a piece.

Tempo can be described precisely using metronome indications and BPM (beats per minute). But it can also be defined more broadly using performance directions. Performance directions usually appear at the beginning of a piece of written music and describe the speed or tempo at which the piece should be played. These tempo markings won’t be as precise as a metronome indication – instead, they will state that the piece should be played ‘quickly’, ‘slowly’, ‘with fire’, or in any way the composer thought was suitable!

Performance directions for tempo are primarily written in Italian, but you can also find them in French, German or English. Standard Italian terms for tempo include:

• lento – very slow;
• largo – very slow and ‘broad’;
• adagio – slow;
• andante – at walking speed;
• moderato – at moderate speed;
• allegro – fast and lively;
• vivace – lively.

As you can see, these descriptions are open to interpretation, and that is part of the fun of playing music and interesting a piece for yourself.

Does tempo always stay the same in music?

No. In music, the tempo is as changeable as we are. It alters the mood of a piece and changes with the emotion of the music. A change of tempo can occur in the middle of a piece. In classical music, works with several movements will each be in a different tempo. For example, Mozart’s famous ‘Turkish March’ (Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331) is made up of these three movements:

1. Andante grazioso (slow and graceful);
2. Menuetto (at the tempo of a minuet);
3. Alla turca – Allegretto (Turkish style – moderately fast).

Words like ritardando and rallentando, which appear in the middle of a piece, tell musicians to slow down the tempo in an expressive way to convey emotion. The instruction of a tempo primo would mean the players resume the original tempo after the slowed-down passage.

6. Timbre

Timbre is the particular tone that distinguishes a sound or combinations of sounds. Every sound – whether musical or not – has a timbre. When we talk about timbre, we can describe it in terms of color and shape. A sound could be warm, silvery, round, or sharp – how would you describe different sounds?

When you sing your favorite song, think about how your voice sounds different from the singer in the recording. Close your eyes and listen to the sound of various instruments – do you get different colors, feelings, or images from the sounds of these instruments? How do these compare? Can you notice differences between the timbre of two of the same instrument?

7. Texture

The texture of music indicates the layers of sound in work and their relationship. A full orchestra might sound swollen and heavy, while a solo ukulele could sound light.

8. Melody

A sequence of notes and rhythms – these complement but are not identical to the notes and beats of the accompanying sounds. They work together to make a layered sound.

The melody is what we usually sing along to (and the pulse is what we tap our feet to). In your favorite song, the voice doesn’t necessarily sing the same rhythm and notes as the backing music, but it sounds like it belongs with them. They work together to create texture.

9. Structure

As a novel is structured into paragraphs and chapters, and a poem is formed of lines and stanzas, this refers to the different sections of a piece and their order.

In most music, there is a formal structure – think of how pop songs have different verses and a repeated chorus which they return to in between. The various verses explore the theme of the song and develop it.

The chorus usually returns for one final rendition, which is altered or extended in some way. It is the same in other musical forms – all have a structured way of exploring their melodic or lyrical themes.

10. Harmony

This is the sounding of two or more notes at the same time. A piece of music harmonizes with one another to produce a (typically) pleasant sound. How can you tell when you have played or sung the wrong note? It was probably because it did not harmonize as you expected!

Some 20th and 21st-century classical compositions can be described as sounding ‘jarring’ or ‘scary’ – often because it deliberately avoids pleasant-sounding harmony.

11. Dynamics

Dynamics are one of the core elements of musical expression. Learning about them will help children to listen critically and get a more nuanced sense of meaning from the music they study.

Dynamics are how we describe how solid or soft a sound is. Dynamics don’t necessarily represent volume – all live music needs to be loud enough to be heard – but about how hard or gentle the notes sound.

In written music, dynamics are indicated with words and symbols, which you can see in the chart below:

Number Line

A number line is a visual representation of numbers along a horizontal line. Learn more about number lines, their usefulness, and how to teach with them.

What is a Number Line?

In math, a number line is a horizontal straight line with numbers placed at equal distances from each other along that line. Some will have a specified starting and ending point. These are called closed number lines. Number lines can also be blank or empty.

A vertical number line is called a number ladder.

Number lines are typically introduced in kindergarten and are used frequently throughout elementary and middle school to help build skills like counting, adding, and subtracting numbers.

Why is a Number Line useful for my lessons?

A number line is helpful because it acts as a visual math aid.

It can support teachers and parents as they teach children how to count and write numbers. It’s also a tool that can help build understanding behind adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers. And it’s a handy way to show how fractions make up a whole!

In addition, blank or empty number lines can be used alongside word problems to aid students as they take “jumps” to work towards the solutions.

Here are a few fundamental rules to keep in mind when using number lines:

• Numbers increase when moving left to right and decrease when moving right to left. They are always in sequential order.

• Numbers are spaced evenly on a line to show that the value between the intervals is the same.

• Positive and negative numbers, fractions, and decimals can be included.

• To add, move to the left.

• To subtract, move to the right.

• To multiply, skip-count in groups to the left.

• And to divide, skip-count in groups to the right.

Number lines are also obvious to read. While it’s not a ruler, and the space between numbers isn’t set, the values included help children visualize and compare the relationships between the numbers shown on the line. This, in turn, helps develop number sense.

Overall, they are versatile math tools that can be used in the classroom and at home.

A tendon is a fibrous connective tissue that attaches muscle to bone. Tendons are strong and flexible, sometimes compared to rope. Tendons may also attach muscles to other parts of the body, like the eyeball. A tendon works to move the bone or body part.

What connects muscle to the bone?

Tendons or sinew connect muscle to bone. In some parts of the body, muscle is directly attached to the bone. If there isn’t enough room on the bone or the bone and muscle are too far away, you will find tendons connecting them. Tendons are a kind of dense fibrous connective tissue. One end is connected to a muscle, and the other attaches to the periosteum, a type of membrane covering your bones. Tendons can let your bones move around as your muscles tighten and relax, keeping everything stable and transferring muscle movement to the bone. They aren’t very stretchy, but they are resistant to tearing.

Exercise is essential for maintaining the health of your tendons. Tendons can withstand considerable tension, but their ability to do this can weaken over time. They can, however, still become overstrained. Certain health conditions, such as arthritis, can also damage your tendons. One of the reasons that tendon injury is concerning is that they take a long while to heal. This is because there aren’t many blood vessels in tendons.

What are ligaments?

Ligaments are another kind of fibrous connective tissue, but instead of being what connects muscle to bone, they connect bone to other bones. They also help to maintain the position of your organs within the body. Some ligaments even work to limit or prevent specific movements, such as movement that could cause you to dislocate a joint.

Ligaments are viscoelastic, which means that they gradually strain under tension. When this tension is removed, they return to their original shape. However, suppose dislocated joints are not set within a certain period. In that case, the ligaments can be stretched out of shape permanently, meaning that the joint in question will be more likely to dislocate again. This means that the dislocation of a joint must be resolved as quickly as possible. Stretching exercises such as those practiced by athletes and dancers can help lengthen ligaments and make joints more flexible.

Ligaments generally cannot be regenerated naturally. There is one exception to this: there are periodontal ligament stem cells that help to regenerate the periodontist ligament. This is a group of fibers that work to attach the teeth to the surrounding bone.

Fun fact: the study of ligaments is known as desmology!

What connects muscles to other muscles?

That would be fasciae! A fascia is a band or sheet of connective tissue, like tendons and ligaments. It can be found beneath the skin and does multiple jobs depending on the type of fascia. Some fasciae enclose muscles, and some other sections stabilize muscles or separate them from other organs inside the human body. The fascia is differentiated by layer or function, e.g., visceral or superficial fascia.

What is a Translucent Material?

A translucent material is an object you cannot see because only some light can pass through. In addition, the light that passes through is scattered.

Translucent means allowing light to pass through but not showing clear and distinct images on the other side. So, if there is something on the other side of the object, you will be able to see it, but you may not be able to tell what it is as it may be distorted. So you’ll see fuzzy, unclear images through a translucent object.

What are some examples of translucent materials?

There are many day-to-day objects we encounter that are translucent! Just look at your surroundings and see if you can find one. Here are some examples to start off with:

• frosted glass shower door
• tinted car windows
• sunglasses
• A single piece of tissue paper
• vegetable oil

What is the difference between Transparent and Translucent Materials?

The difference between these two terms can be confusing at first. Here are some essential differences that will help you to differentiate between them.

• Transparent materials allow all light to pass through, but translucent materials allow some light to pass through.
• Transparent materials allow light to pass through directly, but translucent materials cause light to scatter as it passes through
• Transparent objects allow details on the other side to be visible; for example, you can see what is on the other side of a window. However, with translucent materials, you cannot see clearly or at all what is on the other side. It may be distorted or unclear.

Transparent, Translucent, and Opaque Objects:

Items or objects are classified by the way they interact with light. Materials that permit all light to pass through are called transparent. Materials that allow some light to pass through are called translucent; items that don’t allow any light are called opaque. Examples of opaque materials are wood, stone, and metal.

What is Shintoism?

Shintoism is a belief system that originated in Japan and is followed by 104 million people worldwide. While Shinto is a distinct religion, Japanese people don’t tend to classify it as so; it is more a way of life than it is about explaining the world. Instead, its followers often regard it as Japan’s indigenous religion and as a nature religion. The word Shinto comes from the written Chinese kanji of “Shen”, meaning “divine spirit”, and “Tao”, meaning “way”, to form the meaning of “Way of the Spirits”.

Kami

Shinto’s central belief is worshiping kami, which are spirits that inhabit the natural world. From landscapes and forces of nature to people and animals (both living and dead), all objects are believed to have kami.

Unlike the western concept of gods, Kami is not omnipotent nor perfect. They, like humans, sometimes make mistakes and misbehave. The goal is for humanity to strive towards exemplifying qualities of good kami.

Shinto history

Shinto is the oldest surviving and widely practiced Japanese religion, but unlike many religions, Shinto doesn’t have a straightforward origin story. Instead, it appears to have evolved from different cultural practices from ancient Japan, with limited historical records. Early adoptions of Shinto beliefs are believed to have emerged in the period of the Yayoi culture (c. 300 BCE – 300 CE), and the earliest written record that describes Shinto is the “Kojiki” (“Record of Ancient Matters”), dating 712 CE.

Like many prehistoric societies, Ancient Japanese people held animistic beliefs (that objects, places, and creatures possess a spirit), which withstood the faith in kami.

Shinto and Buddhism

Shinto considered a syncretic religion (a fusion of different beliefs and practices), differs from Buddhism, which has a more evident doctrine and ideas (although there are many conflicting but coexisting forks of it, such as Zen and Pureland). However, both religions have become intertwined in Japan after centuries of coexistence.

Shinto is more ambiguous than Buddhism and has no religious texts or set doctrine. Moreover, whereas Buddhism has a clear origin, Shinto predates any historical records, and it is unknown who or where it originated from.

Buddhism and Shinto also have different beliefs about the afterlife. Shinto believes that after death, a person’s kami passes on to another world and watches over their descendants. This is primarily why ancestral worship still plays an essential part in modern-day Japan.

Rituals and beliefs

The overriding belief in Shinto is to promote harmony and purity in all aspects of life. Humans are considered fundamentally sound, and evil spirits cause evil. Therefore, Shinto’s purpose is to pray and offer to the kami to keep away evil spirits.

Shinto followers can worship in shared public shrines; however, many choose to do so in their own homes and set up their own shrines. These shrines are called “kami-dana” and are a shelf on which people place offerings to the kami.

As mentioned earlier, in Ancient Japan, Shinto and Buddhism became closely intertwined and coexist to this day. Because of this, some Buddhist figures (the botatsu or “enlightened beings”) have become prominent kami with believers of Shinto.

Three of these figures include Amida (ruler of the Pure Land, i.e. heaven), Kannon (protector of children, women in childbirth, and dead souls), and Jizo (protector of people suffering pain and the souls of dead children). Another famous figure worshipped in both faiths is Hachiman, a god of archery and war.

Core values of Shinto

1. Purity. The idea of purity in Shinto is nearest to the western notion of evil and pollution, called “Kegare” in Japanese. This does not just refer to physical uncleanliness, but energy too, and these are addressed through purification rituals.
2. Makoto (sincerity). Makoto refers to the honesty of the heart. If goodness and gravity are not in your heart, all acts are pointless.
3. Harmony with nature. Since kami can possess anything, it is nature itself. As you can find kami everywhere, keeping places clean and aware of the environment is essential.
4. Matsuri (festivals). Matsuri, and Shinto festivals, bind a community together and bring good fortune to it.
5. Focus on here, now. Shinto strictly focuses on the present and celebrates what we know and have.

Amaterasu

Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami, which translates to “Great Divinity (that which) illuminates Heaven”, is the celestial sun goddess. She is perhaps the most important Shinto deity.

She was born from the left eye of her father, Izanagi, who made her ruler of “Takamagahara”, the “High Celestial Plain”, where all kami live. Followers of the Shinto faith have worshipped Amaterasu for thousands of years, and she is credited with inventing the cultivation of rice and wheat, silkworms, and weaving with a loom.

Amaterasu’s primary shrine of worship is the Grand Shrine of Ise, Japan’s most prominent Shinto shrine. She is manifested in a mirror as one of the three Imperial Treasures of Japan.

Shinto places of worship

Shinto shrines, known as “jinja”, are places of worship and the dwellings of the kami. Sacred objects of worship that represent the kami are kept in the innermost chambers of the jinjas and cannot be viewed by anyone.

Newborn babies are brought to a shrine a few weeks after birth, and couples hold their wedding ceremonies at shrines.

There are around 80,000 shrines dotted all over Japan! Each shrine has an annual festival where people gather to pay their respects to the kami and celebrate with food, music, dancing, and sake.

Every village, town, or district in Japan will have its own Shinto shrine dedicated to the local kami.

Not all shrines are buildings – they can also be rocks, trees, and mountains if they are considered unique to kami.

A large shrine can contain several smaller sub-shrines. Shinto shrines can cover several thousand acres or a few square feet. They are often located in the landscape in a way as to emphasize their connection to the natural world.

Japanese people visit shrines as and when they want to, and will often see the local shrine when they want the local kami to bless them with good fortunes, such as good exam results.

Festivals

Shinto festivals are called “matsuri” (“to entertain” or “to serve”) and center on a particular kami who are treated as guests of honor at the ceremony.

The festivals tend to be very active events, with processions, dramatic performances, dancing, sumo wrestling, and feasts. In addition, the parades often feature a “mikoshi” (a “divine palanquin”) which is used to carry a kami or an image of a kami. The mikoshi is transported around the local community to purify it and bless its future well-being.

Along with the annual local matsuri festival, two other critical yearly festivals include the three-day Shogatsu Matsuri, or Japanese New Year festival, and the Obon Buddhist celebration of the dead returning to the ancestral home (which includes many Shinto rituals).

Because Shinto originates in the agricultural prehistory of Japan, many of its festivals surround the farming seasons.

Shogatsu Matsuri – Japanese New Year

Japanese New Year is the most important holiday in Japan, and it is celebrated for three days, from January the 1st to January the 3rd. During this period, most businesses close, and families spend the holiday together.

Each year marks a fresh start, and you are supposed to complete all duties before the end of the year. “Bonenkai” parties (“year forgetting” parties) are thrown and symbolize leaving the old year’s worries and troubles behind.

A selection of dishes is prepared during the New Year celebrations called “osechi-ryōri”, typically shortened to osechi. Many of these dishes are sweet, sour, or dried. Ozoni is another popular dish served, which is a soup that includes mochi rice cake and other ingredients that vary depending on which region of Japan you’re in. Finally, eating “toshikoshi soba” (buckwheat noodles) is expected on New Year’s Eve.

Many Japanese people visit a shrine or temple during this period, and Japan’s most famous shrines, such as Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine, attract several million people!

Shintoism facts

Shinto is a fascinating religion, so we’ve compiled a list of crucial Shintoism facts:

• There are millions of “gods” in Shintoism, and a Japanese phrase encapsulates this is “Yaoyorozu no kami”, meaning 8 million kami.
• Several of the oldest shrines in Japan include Izumo Taisha, Fushimi Inari, and Tsubaki Grand Shrine.
• When a kid is born in Japan, their name is added to a list at their local shrine, making them a “family child”. So when they come to pass at the end of their life, they will become a family spirit.
• Worship consists of hand-clapping, silent prayer, and offerings made at the shrine
• The most important Jinja (shrine) in Japan is at Ise. This shrine is devoted to the sun goddess Amaterasu.

Glossary of Shinto shrine terms

• Torii – These gates mark a shrine’s entrance (see picture below). They are mostly made of wood and painted orange and black, although they can come in various colors.

• Komainu – a pair of guardian dogs or lions that often sit on each side of a shrine’s entrance.
• Purification trough – fountains of which their water is used for purification (washing hands and mouth) before entering the shrine’s main hall.
• Main and offering hall – the main hall (honden) holds the shrine’s sacred object in its innermost chamber, while the offering hall (haiden) is where visitors pray and offer at.
• Stage – some shrines have locations for kagura dance or noh theatre performances.
• Ema – visitors write their wishes on wooden plates called ema (see picture below) and then leave them at the shrine. Most people wish for good health, passing exams, love, and wealth.

• Omikuji – fortune-telling paper slips are found at many shrines and temples. Visitors randomly draw them and receive either good or bad fortune depending on what’s written on their labels. Bad luck can be left behind by tying the omikuji around a tree’s branch.
• Shimenawa – straw ropes mark the boundary to something sacred and can be found on torii gates, around sacred trees and stones, etc.

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