Teaching Strategies, Tactics, and Methods

Emotive Language

Emotive language means using specific word choices to evoke an emotional reaction from the reader. It’s a common technique used in novels, poetry, and other forms of literature. However, emotive language is also used in non-fiction writing, including newspaper articles.

What is Emotive Language in English?

Emotive language is used when word choices evoke an emotional response in the reader.

This language often aims to convince the reader or listener to share the writer or speaker’s POV, using language explicitly chosen to stimulate an emotional reaction.

Uses of Emotive Language

Since we now know the answer to ‘what is emotive language in English?’, let’s explore how writers might use it.

Emotive language can be used in several ways. You’ll find examples of emotive language in spoken language, such as:

• speeches
• spoken word performances
• public addresses
• debates
• everyday conversation

It’s also often used in creative or fictional writing to give the reader a dynamic and engaging experience. This technique is common in:

• novels
• poetry
• short stories
• plays

Emotive language can also be used in non-fiction writing, such as:

• biographies
• newspaper articles
• opinion pieces
• personal blogs

Examples of Emotive Language

To help us to answer the question of ‘what is emotive language in English?’ in a bit more detail, we need the help of a few examples. First, the following is taken from a speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs:

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of formerly enslaved people and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”

This speech includes some examples of emotive language. For instance:

• The phrase ‘I have a dream uses personal pronouns, inviting those listening to share in King’s vision of a better world. This phrase is repeated emphatically throughout the speech.

• ‘Brotherhood’ is an abstract noun – a word describing an idea or concept. King uses this emotive phrase to appeal to the audience’s desire for the things that ‘brotherhood’ represents – acceptance, equality, and community.
• King also uses metaphorical language, describing the state of Mississippi as ‘sweltering’ with injustice and describing the calm ‘oasis’ of freedom that it could be. Using sensory descriptions of heat helps to illustrate the difficulty of the struggle for civil rights, as well as reminding his audience what they are striving for. This section of the speech is intended to motivate civil rights activists to keep protesting for their rights.

Just from this one short extract, we can see how specific word choices contribute to the overall meaning of the speech and encourage people to embrace his message.

Emotive Words

But now that we know the answer to ‘what is emotive language in English?’, we must understand which words and adjectives have an emotional impact. Some words evoke a strong emotional reaction in most readers or listeners. They hold a certain weight that is hard to ignore.

• Adjectives – appalling, wonderful, magical, and tragic.
• Abstract Nouns – freedom, pride, justice, love, and terror.
• Verbs – destroyed, vindicated, saved, betrayed, and adored.
• Emotive Adverbs – angrily, defiantly, proudly, and beautifully.

Emotive Adverbs

Adverbs are words that modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb. They can be used to describe how something was said or how an action was done, which makes them valuable tools within emotive language.

Adverbs can also describe the specifics of action, such as adverbs of degree, which tell the reader how strongly something had happened, or adverbs of frequency, which depict how often something was done.

• Lazily.
• Brilliantly.
• Happily.
• Proudly.
• Stupidly.
• Completely.
• Wholly.

Wordiness and the problem with emotive adverbs

One crucial qualifier with adverbs is that they can sometimes be redundant. For example, which of these sentences do you think is more emotive?

• ‘James ran quickly home.’
• ‘James raced home.’

Although emotive adverbs easily inject emotion into writing, one word can sometimes be more punchy!

Tone Within Writing

These emotive adverbs can drastically alter the tone of writing, as they will make the opinions and perspectives of the writer clear to the reader.

Tone can also be affected by the use of low or high-modality words. For example, the phrase ‘you will never be a singer’ is much more impactful than saying ‘you might not be a singer’. Once again, the use of emotive adverbs, adjectives, and verbs can make a massive difference to the meaning of a piece of writing.

Collective Noun

A collective noun is a type of noun (identifying word) used to show a group of people, animals, or objects. Some collective nouns are general and can refer to many things, such as ‘group’, but also some with specific uses. For instance, ‘flock’ refers to a group of birds.

What is a Collective Noun?

For starters, what is a collective noun?

When we think of the word ‘collective’, we think of more than one thing or person. Therefore, a collective noun must be a noun that is used to represent a group of people, animals, or objects!

They are sometimes called grouped nouns, representing a number or a collection of things. Common examples of collective nouns are ” government, ” “family,” and ” team.”

Collective nouns are typically plural but can also be singular in some cases. An example is ‘family’, which can be described individually or collectively as one unit.

Collective nouns can also vary depending on whether British English or American English is used. For instance, the word ‘government’ is treated as singular in American English but as plural in British English!

What are some examples of collective nouns?

Now that we’ve answered the question of ‘what is a collective noun?’, let’s expand our knowledge with a few examples. Read on to find practical examples of collective nouns that express groups of animals, people, or even things.

1) Collective nouns for animals:

You’ve probably heard collective nouns used to describe animals, like a pack of wolves or a herd of sheep. You might not know that most leading animal groups have collective nouns, and some of them can be pretty bizarre. Here are a few of our favorites:

Singular	Collective
Dolphin	A pod
Bat	A colony
Elephant	A parade
Duck	A brace
Hippos	A bloat
Leopard	A leap
Otter	A raft
Pig	A drove
Frog	An army
Lemur	A conspiracy
Kangaroos	A mob
Ravens	An unkindness
Shark	A shiver

Top of Form
We need to note that, in many cases, people might not be familiar with some of these fun but very specific collective nouns. In this case, they might indicate a group of animals using more general collective nouns like ‘group’.

2) Collective nouns for people:

We know the answer to ‘what is a collective noun?’, but what are some nouns that we can use to refer to organizations or groups of people? Here are a few examples:

• Team
• Group
• Collective
• Crowd
• Squad
• Posse
• Cohort

You might challenge your pupils to see if they can add a collective noun to this list.

3) Collective nouns for objects:

Finally, there are also some collective nouns that we can use to refer to things or inanimate objects. Here are a few examples of them:

Singular	Collective
Shoe	Pair
Hay	Bale
Banana	Bunch
Stick	Bundle
Island	Chain
Ship	Fleet
Apartment	Block
Tool	Set

How do you use collective nouns in a sentence?

We’ve learned ‘what is a collective noun?’ and seen some examples, but how do you use them? Here are some tips on how you and your learners could incorporate these nouns into your writing:

• Singular and plural:

It can be tricky to know whether a collective noun should be treated as singular or plural. Generally, collective nouns are treated as singular, but there might be instances where we want to refer to them as plural. Here are some examples:

The team was in high spirits after winning the game.

The crew was all working at their stations.

In this second example, the ‘crew’ is treated as plural. Despite being a group of people, we can assume that it’s made up of individuals with their jobs to do. In this case, it is acceptable to refer to the collective noun as plural.

• Avoid using the incorrect collective nouns:

Using an inappropriate collective noun is an easy trap to fall into, but it can affect how our writing looks to the reader. Here are some examples:

A flock of wolves.

A punnet of screwdrivers.

• Experiment with collective nouns:

At the same time, don’t be afraid to experiment and try our collective nouns in places they might not usually go. Sometimes, an unexpected use of a collective noun can add unique meaning to a sentence.

For instance, the correct collective noun for piranhas is shoal. However, saying ‘a swarm of deadly piranhas’ still makes sense and can have a powerful impact on your writing.

• Pigeons are very intelligent and one of the few to have passed the ‘mirror test’ of self-recognition.

• There is one quadrillion (one million billion) ants on Earth! That’s 1,000,000,000,000,000! To put it into even more perspective, that’s over 1,000,000 ants for every human.
• The blue whale is an enormous creature that ever lived on Earth and can reach over 100 feet. The longest blue whale recorded is a female, measured at 110 feet 17 inches in 1909. The heaviest blue whale was another female hunted in 1947. At 189,999.865 kg (190 tons), the creature weighed the equivalent of around 2,500 people!
• Pigeons are very intelligent and one of the few to have passed the ‘mirror test’ of self-recognition.

Doris the Loris

Doris, the loris, has a story for everyone, from adventure to silly stories. But will she be able to come up with a way for her animal friends to enjoy her stories wherever they are? Set in the Sumatran rainforest, this story is full of exciting wildlife, and the plot and themes of the tale make it great for reluctant readers.

• The giant Pacific octopus has three hearts, nine brains, and blue blood. 2 hearts pump blood to the gills, while a big heart circulates blood to the rest of the body; a central brain controls the nervous system, while there’s a tiny brain in each of the creature’s eight arms. Blue blood is rich in protein that improves the animal’s ability to transport oxygen in cold environments.
• Animals with smaller bodies and faster metabolism, such as flies, chipmunks, and squirrels, see in slow motion. It allows them to see more information in one second than a larger animal like an elephant.

A squirrel

• At birth, a panda is smaller than a mouse and weighs about four ounces.
• The bears are brilliant. They have better navigation skills than humans, their memories are excellent, they have a sizeable brain-to-body ratio, and they even use tools for play and hunting. However, when separated from their mothers, cubs can cry for weeks, and grieving is typical among the animals.

The Bear Who Came to Babysit

Arno and Bibi are in for a surprise when their babysitter turns out to be a bear! The story follows their daily routine as ordinary events are infused with chaos and humor. Hilariously throughout, the story features stunning illustrations that will make children laugh out loud.

• Animals have complex dreams and can retain and recall sequences of events while they’re asleep. Research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that firing patterns of a collection of individual cells in a rat showed that it was dreaming and that its dreams were connected to actual experiences.
• Houseflies hum in the key of F major! They flap their wings around 190 times per second, which the human ear interprets as a pitch along the F major scale.

A housefly

• Sea otters hold hands while sleeping, so they don’t drift apart. When a baby is too small to hold hands, it rests on the mother, and when the mother has to go hunting, she wraps her pups in seaweed to stop them from floating away.
• African grey parrots voluntarily help each other to obtain food and perform selfless acts, even to individuals they’re not ‘friendly’ with.
• Even if a pig could fly, other pigs would not be able to witness it, as they’re incapable of looking up! The anatomy of their neck muscles and spine limits the movement of their head, so they can’t look upwards.

Wake-Up Time on Bumble Farm

When the rooster fails to wake up Farmer Faye, chaos unfolds on Bumble Farm! The story features a range of farm animals and their animal sounds and is an excellent way for children to practice reading out loud. With repeated refrains, a fun narrative, and humorous illustrations, the story is perfect for inspiring learning on farm animals.

• Prairie dogs touch their front teeth to identify one another, giving the appearance of kissing. Some scientists even believe that the creatures do this
• Mantis shrimps can punch at 50 miles per hour, an acceleration that’s faster than a .22-caliber bullet!
• Female lions do 90 percent of the hunting, while males protect their pride.
• Wild barn owls eat around four small mammals every night – that’s 1,460 yearly! They usually swallow their food whole before regurgitating bits of fur and bone as an owl pellet.

A Tale of Two Feathers

When two birds find mystery feathers, they realize that some animals come out at night while others are more active during the day. Perfect for teaching about nocturnal and diurnal animals, the story features repeated refrains and alliteration, making it fun to read aloud.

• A narwhal’s tusk is a tooth built inside out. This tooth is almost like a piece of skin with sensory nerve endings.
• The oldest known domesticated dog dates back to 329 BC! Ancient Egyptians revered Saluki dogs and were even mummified after they died. Plus, there are carvings in present-day Iraq resembling a Saluki, which date back to 7000 BC.
• A study by Florida’s Dolphin Communication Project that observed bottlenose dolphins’ feeding habits showed that they turned to their left side 99.44% of the time. As this places the dolphins’ right side and right eye close to the ocean floor as they hunt, it suggests that the creatures have an even higher right-side bias than humans (between 70 and 95% of humans are right-handed).

Bottlenose dolphins

• Farmers can protect cows from being bitten by flies by painting them with zebra-like stripes. The stripes cause a kind of motion camouflage that’s akin to an optical illusion for flies.
• While it’s wildly believed that magpies have a compulsive urge to steal shiny things, they may be nervous about such objects. In one study by Exeter University, magpies picked up a shiny object twice out of 64 tests!

The Messy Magpie

Morris the Magpie thinks he’s lucky when humans drop shiny gifts in the forest. However, they may not be the gifts that he first thought of! Exploring themes like teamwork, recycling, and the impact of litter on wildlife, the story is a fun resource to inspire learning on looking after the environment.

• Sperm whales communicate through clicks called codas. One study of sperm whales in the Caribbean identified codas unique to their regional groups, suggesting that they may identify individuals and family or social groups.
• A grizzly bear’s bite is so strong that it can crush a bowling ball; the creatures have a bite force of over 8,000,000 pascals!

A grizzly bear

• Reindeer’s eyes change color with the Arctic seasons. In the summer, the tapetum lucidum (TL) in a reindeer’s eye is gold to reflect most light directly through the retina. However, by the time winter has come around, the TL has changed to a deep blue, which reflects less light out of the eye.
• A sea lion was the first non-human mammal to demonstrate that it can move to the rhythms of a song. In 2013, Ronan the sea lion moved to Earth Wind and Fire’s ‘Boogie Wonderland’ at the University of California Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Laboratory!
• Starfish eat inside out. To catch their prey, they use tiny suction cups to grab hold of their food; their stomach exits their mouth to digest the food before re-entering the body when they’re done eating!

Starry-Eyed Stan

Stan is the most talented singing starfish in the bay, but will his talent be enough when danger strikes? This underwater story is full of beautiful illustrations of ocean wildlife and explores themes like friendship and teamwork in a way children will find engaging.

• To catch prey, humpback whales work together, swimming in an upward spiral and blowing bubbles underwater, forming a ‘bubble-net’ – a spiral of bubbles that’s difficult for fish to escape!
• In New Zealand, ducks surf waves to catch prey or move through the water more quickly.

A duck

• Wild chimpanzees in Guinea have been observed consuming fermented palm sap, making them tipsy!
• The first thing a caterpillar eats is its eggshell. Once it hatches, the creature consumes the remainder of the protein-rich outer layer of the egg, called the chorion.

The Cautious Caterpillar

Cody the Caterpillar is nervous about becoming a butterfly. She’ll need support from her minibeast friends to embrace her exciting transformation! As well as teaching children about the lifecycle of a butterfly, this story is excellent for encouraging discussions about transitions and changes in life.

• Frogs undergo repeated freeze-thaw cycles without dying. As they’re cold-blooded, their body temperature takes on the temperature of the environment around them. So during their winter hibernation, frogs can freeze over themselves when temperatures drop below freezing.
• A group of ferrets is called a business.
• A 2013 study published in PNAS found that bottlenose dolphins have specific whistles for one another.
• A giraffe’s tongue is black! Scientists think that this is, so they don’t get sunburnt while they eat.

A giraffe

• Bees can beat their wings around 200 times a second, allowing them to move the same amount of air as a pair of more enormous, more slowly beating wings, such as those of a bird.
• Emperor penguins leap into the air while swimming, a move known as ‘porpoising’. While this action coats them in micro air bubbles that help reduce underwater friction, scientists think it’s also a form of play!

The Runaway Iceberg

Gaspar and Rossi find themselves on an unintended adventure when the ice breaks as they float away at sea. They’ll need the support of some extraordinary animal friends to make it home. Fantastic for a topic on polar regions, this story features stunning illustrations throughout to bring the events to life.

• It can take a month for a sloth to digest a single leaf, and most only have a bowel movement once a week!
• Alligators can grow for more than 30 years and often don’t hit their full size until they’re 33!

An alligator

• Snow leopards’ vocal cords are less developed than other large cats, meaning they can’t roar. Instead, they make a sound that resembles a purr, known as a puff.
• Hedgehogs have between 5000 and 7000 spines on their back. They raise and lower them to respond to threatening situations; each spine lasts for about a year before it falls out and is replaced.

Don’t Hog the Hedge!

Hattie, the hedgehog, wants everything ready for her Big Sleep, but she may need the help of some unexpected visitors to discover what makes for a happy hibernation! The autumn story is perfect for teaching children about hibernation.

• Unlike most amphibians, axolotls don’t develop lungs and remain in the water for their lives. As a result, they can rebuild their jaws, spines, and even their brains without scarring, while they can grow to maturity without undergoing metamorphosis.
• Naked mole rats have an incredible resistance to cancer thanks to unique conditions in their bodies that prevent cancer cells from multiplying. As a result, the creatures can live for up to 37 years.
• While rhinos are generally solitary creatures, they spend much time with oxpeckers, also known as ‘tick birds’. Oxpeckers perch on the back of rhinos and live off the parasitic insects in the rhinos’ thick skin. The birds’ loud cries can even alert rhinos of potential danger.

Ronald the Rhino

Ronald the Rhino starts to feel down when he thinks about the other animals in the Javan forest. They all seem to be unique, and he feels inadequate. However, some animal friends are around to help him see how special he is. The rhyming story explores themes like friendship and self-confidence, making it great to inspire discussions.

• Researchers from the University of Guelph found that squirrels take in the orphaned pups of their late family members, which is peculiar considering how solitary and territorial red squirrels are.
• Pangolins dig burrows for sleeping and nesting that contain large circular chambers; some are so big that they can stand up in them.

A pangolin

• African bullfrogs produce mucus membranes that solidify into cocoons to stop their skin from drying out in the heat. The creatures can survive in the cocoons for up to seven years while they wait for rain.
• Cats may be one of the few animals that can’t taste sweet things. However, while they lack the receptor for sweetness, cats can taste something that we humans can’t, for instance, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is the compound that supplies the energy in every living cell.

Harold’s Worst Nightmare

Harold lives a pampered life, but when a new kitten arrives in the house, his world is turned upside down! How will he cope? And will he find a way to get along with Muffin, his owners’ new pet? This story is a great way to discuss sibling relationships.

• Kangaroo rats can survive without drinking water, as they get all the moisture they need from seeds in the desert environment.
• Giant anteater’s tongues are two feet long – the longest of any known mammal.
• When a male moth catches the scent of a female moth, he’ll travel miles to find her based solely on the smell.

A moth

• A study by researchers at the University of Northampton found that when cows were separated from their preferred partner, their heart rates increased as a sign of stress.
• When bunnies feel worried, they clench their facial muscles and change their body position.

Formidable Sid

It’s Pet Day in Willow Class, and the children can’t wait to bring their animals into class. However, one pet seems to stand out as they talk about their pets. Read the story to discover if Sid is the violent monster Violet makes him out to be.

• Crocodiles can live to 100.
• Ravens are intelligent enough to play tricks on one another. For example, if one raven knows another is watching it hide its food, it will pretend to put the food in one place but hide it in another. They’ve also been known to push rocks on people to prevent them from climbing to their nests and play dead beside a beaver carcass to scare other ravens away from the food, while they can even imitate human speech.
• Rats laugh when being tickled.
• Tigers have striped skin and fur, and each tiger’s stripes are unique.

A tiger

• Flamingos can only eat with their heads upside down and are one of the few animals that can move their top jaw while eating. Plus, their pink color comes entirely from the pigment in their food!
• A dog’s sense of smell is about 100 000 times stronger than a human’s! They have 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, compared to our six million, while the part of their brain responsible for analyzing smells is 40 times stronger than ours, proportionally speaking. However, dogs have only one-sixth of our number of taste buds.

The Pack of Pompeii

Learn about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD with this imaginative retelling, told from the perspective of three dogs! The story is educational and engaging for a history or volcanoes topic.

• Butterflies have taste receptors in their feet which are 200 times stronger than human taste buds. When they land on plants, they use these sensors to see if the plant is edible.
• Spur-winged geese are poisonous thanks to their diet of blister beetles.
• When vampire bats bite their prey, their saliva functions as an anticoagulant, preventing their victim’s blood from clotting and allowing the blood to flow freely when they feed.

Spur-winged geese

• Once an anaconda has found its prey, it suffocates its victim. Next, it opens its mouth wide, with stretchy ligaments allowing it to swallow its prey whole. It can range from large fish and rodents to caiman (relatives of crocodiles) to jaguars!

Rainforest Calling

Daisy can’t wait to log onto South American webcams and learn about the rainforest. However, she doesn’t expect to find Pedro the potoo trying to get through to the humans destroying his home! Will Daisy be able to help the animals? This story explores pertinent issues like habitat destruction and climate change.

• To ensure their dominance, queen mole rats can produce a substance in their urine that makes other females infertile.
• When dragonflies and damselflies mate, they form a heart with their tails.
• A female peacock is called a peahen.

A peacock

• Cats don’t meow to communicate with one another but rather to get attention from humans.
• Elephants have developed a human-specific alarm call. While the low rumble may be an emotional response to the threat that other elephants pick up on, it’s possible that elephants voluntarily make the calls to warn others about specific dangers.

The Zoo Vet

Many animals are unwell, and the vet is having a busy week. Will he be able to find the proper treatment for a variety of animals? The fun story encourages children to discuss what’s wrong with each patient and is a chance for children to enjoy lots of familiar animals.

• All clownfish are born male. While they can switch their sex, they will only do so to become the dominant female of a group, and this change is irreversible.
• Hartebeest run in zigzag patterns to decade predators.
• Anteaters don’t have teeth, but their long tongues allow them to eat 35,000 ants and termites daily.

An anteater

• A polar bear’s fur isn’t white – it’s see-through! Instead, they have black skin underneath the hollow and transparent hair that allows them to absorb as much heat as possible from the Sun.
• Koalas get their name from an Aboriginal term, ‘ no drink’. Koalas get nearly all their moisture from leaves and rarely drink water

Part of the Party

Karri Koala wants to go to the Mummy and Daughter Disco, but she has two dads. So after calling a meeting to see who else feels left out by the event, she comes up with a way to ensure all her friends and their families can be part of the party! The story is excellent for inspiring discussions about inclusion and diversity.

What is the most incredible animal on the planet?

With millions of species to choose from, it isn’t easy to narrow the list down to a few of the most interesting! However, the list below features ten of the most incredible animals based on appearance, cuteness, and behavior.

• Bearded vulture – This creature’s phoenix-like appearance makes it beautiful.
• Goblin shark – The last representative of sharks that lived around 125 million years ago, the goblin shark can grow up to more than 13 feet in length and has been caught in every central ocean.
• Blobfish – With a density only slightly above that of water, the blobfish has a relatively simple hunting technique, simply floating along and waiting for creatures to wander into its mouth.
• Snow leopard- Perhaps the most beautiful of the big cats, snow leopards are solitary creatures who primarily rest near cliffs and ridges.

A snow leopard

• Narwhal – Often called ‘sea unicorns’, a narwhal’s tusk makes it look like a mythical creature.
• Seahorses – Male seahorses have pouches on their stomach, which the female deposits her eggs in, meaning the male ultimately gives birth!
• Great white shark – This fear-inducing predator can smell blood from three miles away.
• Assassin bugs – Assassin bugs hunt ants before turning their victims’ exoskeletons into outerwear, which they wear to confuse future predators.
• Bengal tigers – The ultimate meat-eaters, Bengal tigers can consume up to 60 pounds of meat in one meal, and whatever they don’t eat, they bury in the ground and eat later.
• Cheetah – The fastest animal in the world, cheetahs can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than three seconds.

A great white shark

What are some weird things animals do?

• The horror frog breaks its bones to produce claws that puncture their way through the frog’s toe pads! It is likely to be a defense mechanism.
• Rats urinate on their food to mark it and ensure it’s safe.

A horror frog

• Sea cucumbers squirt their internal organs out of their bottoms to protect themselves against predators. Eventually, their organs grow back.
• Pandas aren’t fussy about where they sleep and will fall asleep wherever.
• Sloths live in trees, but once a week, they make the slow, tiresome journey to the ground to go to the toilet.

A sloth

Weird animal anatomy facts:

• Fish have four nostrils.
• Deadly box jellyfish have advanced eyes that can create shadows, shapes, and motion.
• When frogs swallow, their eyeballs move inside their mouth to push the food down.
• A tick’s eyes are on its back.
• Sperm whales don’t have upper teeth.

A sperm whale’s skeleton

Amazing animal abilities:

• Bats shoot out high-pitched sound waves into the night and use the echoes to pinpoint the location of their prey.
• With a running start, pumas can leap over 12 meters.

A puma

• Hummingbirds can fly upside down.
• Dung beetles can pull weights 1,141 times heavier than their body weight, making them the strongest animal on the planet!
• The alpine ibex can walk on steep, nearly vertical walls.

An alpine ibex

What is the most random animal?

Pink fairy armadillo

The fairy armadillos are elusive and rarely seen by humans. However, they’re local to central Argentina, and their two large sets of claws that allow them to dig quickly have earned them the nickname ‘sand-swimmers’.

Japanese spider crab

The Japanese spider crab has the largest leg span of any arthropod in the world, reaching up to 3.8 m in length! While the creature weighs around 19 kg, it’s just 15 inches long. It has eight legs and two arms – which it uses for feeding. Each feeding arm is about 1.5 m long.

Dumbo octopus

Dumbo octopuses live at least 4,000 m below the surface, making them the deepest-living genus of all known octopuses. Its ear-like fins have earned it the name ‘Dumbo’, after the elephant character in the Disney film. Dumbo octopuses don’t have an ink sac, as they’re unlikely to encounter predators in the deep sea.

Naked mole-rat

Naked mole rats can move all of their front teeth separately. They don’t drink water; they get hydration from their plant-based diet. A single colony can make tunnels that are 2.5 miles long,

Dugong

Dugongs are herbivorous marine mammals that exist on a diet solely of seagrass. Their closest land relative is the elephant, and you can estimate their age by how many rings they have on their tusks. The creatures communicate with barks, chirps, squeaks, and trills.

Babirusa

Babirusas are found in rainforests of Indonesian islands. While they’re members of the pig family, they differ from normal pigs in several ways: their snouts are less specialized, and they have two-chambered stomachs like sheep and other ruminants. In addition, they’re omnivorous and eat almost anything.

Aye-aye

The aye-aye is a long-fingered lemur that’s local to Madagascar. It has rodent-like teeth that grow perpetually and a specialized thin finger that it uses to pull grubs out of wood. It’s the largest nocturnal primate, and its eyes change color as it ages.

Maned wolf

Maned wolves are found in central and eastern South America, including northern Argentina, South and Central Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and southern Peru. Their thick red coat makes them distinctive, and genetic studies show that they’re neither a fox nor a true wolf; the maned wolf is a distinct species – the only member of its genus.

Creature trivia to share with your friends and family

Why not test friends and family with some of the questions below?

1. What is a group of crows called?
2. Lemurs are only local to one country – what is it?
3. Which breed of dog has the best sense of smell?
4. Which mammal has the most powerful bite in the world?
5. What animals are included in the ‘big five’ in Africa?

Answers

1. A murder of crows
2. Madagascar
3. The bloodhound
4. The Hippopotamus
5. Lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and the cape buffalo

A bloodhound

What animals have no blood?

Flatworms, nematodes, and cnidarians (jellyfish, sea anemones, and corals) don’t have a circulatory system and, therefore, do not have blood.

What are the most intelligent animals?

• Chimpanzees
• Goats
• Elephants
• Dolphins
• Crows
• Bees
• Octopuses

Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions worldwide and share many similarities and differences. Read on to find out more!

People who follow the Islamic faith are called Muslims, and there are around 2 billion Muslims in the

world today.

People who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ are called Christians, and there are around 2.4 billion Christians today.

What are the similarities between Christianity and Islam?

At first, it seems that the two religions are very different, but there are many similarities between Christianity and Islam. Both religions have a similar place of origin – the Middle East. Christians believe Jesus, the son of God, was born in the Middle East in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago. Muslims believe Islam was founded over 1400 years ago in Mekkah, known today as Saudi Arabia.

Christians and Muslims believe that there is only one God (unlike religions such as Hinduism). Muslims and Christians also believe that all humans are children of God. Both religions are monotheistic – meaning one God. Christians and Muslims believe that the word of their God was revealed to them through prophets; both believe that Jesus was a prophet who performed miracles!

Other similarities between Christianity and Islam are:

• They both believe practicing their religion is good for them because it creates harmony and peace.
• They believe that Satan is real and tries to tempt people away from God and commit sins.
• They believe that paradise/heaven and hell are real literal places.
• Christians and Muslims believe that the body is sacred and should be treated respectfully.
• They also believe that Jesus was born to Mary, a virgin.
• They both believe that family is the foundation of their beliefs, and it dramatically impacts society.
• Muslims and Christians believe that obeying God creates peace and harmony among people and brings blessings in life after death.
• Both faiths believe that Jesus will return from Heaven.
• Both faiths also believe in the afterlife.
• Both religions believe that humans will have a day of judgment and will be judged for the lives they lead on earth. For Christians, it determines whether they will go to Heaven or Hell for the rest of eternity. Muslims, refer to the afterlife as Akhirah – they will stay in their graves until the end of the world when they have their day of judgment. Then, they will come before Allah (God), and if they have lived a good life, they will go to Jannah (Heaven); if they have lived a bad life, they will go to Jahannam (Hell).

What are the differences between Christianity and Islam?

There are differences between the two religions. Here you can find the main differences:

• A key difference is that Christianity is founded on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and those who follow this are called Christians. Muslims believe that the prophet Muhammad shares the word of God and the teachings of Islam (Peace Be Upon Him). Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is believed to be the final prophet who taught Allah’s law and revealed the Islamic faith through the angel Gabriel.
• Islam views Jesus as a messiah, sent to guide the children of Israel and a messenger of God, not the son of God. At the same time, Christians believe Jesus to be the messiah of the Hebrew scripture (a religious text) and the son of God. Muslims believe that Allah (God) passes messages down to earth through prophets like Jesus and Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), and all prophets should be respected but not worshipped. The vital difference here is that Muslims view Jesus as a human prophet and do not believe Jesus is divine.
• Christianity and Islam have different scriptures, another word for a religious text. For example, Muslims follow the Quran, but Christians follow the Bible.
• Religions have differing beliefs about the Holy Spirit. For example, Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is God, but Muslims believe the Holy Spirit is the angel Gabriel.
• Similarly, Christians believe in the Doctrine of the Trinity; God exists simultaneously as The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. In Islam, the plurality of God would be seen as a denial of the belief in one God – Allah.

CVC Words

A CVC word is a single-syllable three-phoneme (sound) word that follows the pattern of consonant sound, vowel sound, and consonant sound. While some are three-letter words, not all CVC words have only three letters. Read through this teaching wiki to learn all about CVC words.

What are CVC words?

CVC words are single-syllable three-phoneme words that follow the pattern of consonant sound, vowel sound, and consonant sound. Learning about CVC words is essential in phonics as it can help kids read, write, and rhyme three-phoneme words.

CVC words help introduce kids to reading by first learning the sounds of the individual letters, digraphs, or trigraphs and blending those three sounds into a whole word. Digraphs are two letters that make one sound. Trigraphs are three letters that make one sound.

Some CVC words may contain four or more letters but only have three phonemes (sounds). Examples of CVC words include:

• pet
• log
• bark
• beep
• shop
• thing
• night

‘Bark’, ‘beep’, and ‘shop’ have four letters but only three sounds; ‘b-ar-k’, ‘b-ee-p’, and ‘sh-o-p’. ‘Thing’ and ‘night’ have five letters but only three sounds: ‘th-i-ng’ and ‘n-igh-t’.

These words are great for introducing younger pupils to phonemic awareness, the ability to hear and manipulate the sound in words.

Children working within Phase 2 or Level 2 will only have been taught the digraphs ‘ck’, ‘ff’, ‘ss’, ‘ll’. Therefore, a suitable CVC word for a child working within Phase 2 or Level 2 could be three single letters or a combination of single letters and digraphs, ‘ck’, ‘ff’, ‘ss’, or ‘ll’.

You could use CVC words: sip, bun, cuff, and mess.

How Can I Teach CVC Words?

Spending time to secure oral blending and segmenting of CVC words is crucial to developing the reading and writing of CVC words. In addition, CVC words will be decodable at different levels or phases depending on which graphemes are used, so CVC words can be used for reading and spelling as new graphemes are introduced.

Teachers can use a few different activities to help facilitate learning and understanding of CVC words. This could include:

• Using sound buttons to support children as they decode and read decodable words.
• Experimenting with replacing the consonants at the beginning and ends of the word to help them become more familiar with rhyming and similar-sounding words.
• Using phoneme frames to support writing CVC words.

What Is Decoding?

Pupils begin to learn about CVC words by ‘decoding’ the words. Decoding is when a pupil sounds out each letter in a word and blends those sounds to make the sound of one three-letter word.

What Is A Word Family?

A word family is a group of words with a joint base with different prefixes and suffixes. For example, in the case of a CVC word, a word family could be a cat, bat, tat, or dot, got, and rot.

Seasons are distinct divisions of the meteorological year based on how the weather, climate, ecology, and daylight hours change in the United States. They can also be found in astronomical patterns, such as solstices and equinoxes.Top of Form

When do Certain Seasons Start?

Season	Start date	End date
Winter	December 1	Feb 28 (29 in a leap year)
Spring	March 1	May 31
Summer	June 1	Aug 31
Fall	Sep 1	Nov 30

The above chart details the start of each season from a meteorological sense! Of course, different astronomical movements claim the titles of “first day of spring or summer or winter, etc.” but for the case of explaining the scientific aspects of the seasons, we will operate under the above dates!

For most of this article, we’ll focus on the northern hemisphere when discussing timeframes, months, and seasons since the United States is in the northern hemisphere.

Also, the United States is a temperate region. The U.S. experiences moderate rainfall, occasional mild drought, warm summers, and cooler winters. Because the United States is such a large landmass, this will vary between states. However, in a meteorological sense, the country’s whole is classed as temperate.

What are the Four Seasons?

We experience four distinct seasons. These are winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Winter

In the United States, winter tends to see people wrapped in thick coats, scarves, hats, and gloves. The air brings a chill, and many regions experience cold snaps where snow and ice are expected.

Animals can change the way they live to adapt to their harsher environments. Some may hibernate, store food, or even change the color of their fur to survive. On the other hand, humans will heat their homes, light the fire, and enjoy some winter holiday celebrations.

The coldest months in the Northern Hemisphere (where the United States is situated) tend to be December and January. Temperatures can dip below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s the temperature when water starts to freeze!), and frost can occur.

As you get closer to the equator, temperatures rise, and the climate becomes less varied. Seasons are more subtle, and people living on the equator may not notice a change between meteorological winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Spring

In spring, the bare tree branches come to life again with greenery. Seeds take root, vegetation and plants begin to grow, and spring flowers emerge. Those hibernating animals will awaken and rely on some of the food they stored before hibernation to increase their body weight quickly.

Humans can transition from their thicker winter coats to something a little light. However, rainfall can still be pronounced throughout spring, and while milder, spring days can still carry quite the chill.

You will mainly see a lot of rain in April, as “April showers tend to bring May flowers!” Therefore, taking an umbrella with you on outings is a must, especially if you live in a region where the weather can be unpredictable.

Summer

Summer is the warmest season of the year. However, with our increased understanding of global warming and climate change, scientists notice that our summers are getting even hotter! Temperatures can hit record highs, and it’s not unusual to experience days, if not weeks, of temperatures over 86 degrees Fahrenheit!

If temperatures become too high, they can cause animal, plant, and human issues. In addition, droughts can cause water shortages, and the old and vulnerable can dehydrate. Forest fires have also been recorded in states like California as the heat becomes unbearable and the land becomes so dry that the threat of brush fires increases.

With the warmest weather and the most hours of daylight comes the most abundant plant, vegetation, and flower growth. Gardens look beautiful and colorful, and scents can fill the air. Plants can grow incredibly quickly, and homegrown vegetables ripen ready to be picked.

Fall (Autumn)

As temperatures cool once more, the trees can change color, leaves start to change colors and fall, and animals begin storing food for the winter. Some animals, such as birds, migrate to warmer climates so they don’t have to adapt to chiller climates.

More crops tend to ripen, ready to be harvested, while daylight hours decrease slowly. Humans tend to celebrate the harvest with festivals traditionally. Americans, in particular, visit farms, especially pumpkin farms or apple orchards, during October for Halloween, and Thanksgiving in November is the culmination of the fall month harvest!

What Causes The Seasons?

If you’ve ever wondered, “why do we get to summer and winter?” we need to look at the astronomical seasons to discover what causes them.

The seasonal cycle is dictated by the Earth’s position concerning the sun. Our planet rotates around an axis. We can’t see this axis, but we know it’s there!

The northern or southern hemispheres will be closer to the sun, depending on the time of the year. As a result, the most relative hemisphere to the sun will experience summer, while the hemisphere the farthest away from the sun will experience winter. This picture can help you understand the seasons a little easier.

While the meteorological definition of the seasons is based solely on dates, the astronomical definition looks at the position of the Earth and its distance from the sun.

Winter and summer seasons have the shortest and longest days of the year. The shortest day of the year occurs in the winter in the United States because this is when the northern hemisphere is furthest from the sun. Winter solstice appears on December 21 or 22 and is classed as the first day of astronomical winter.

The longest day of the year occurs in the summer when daylight hours are longer because the northern hemisphere is closest to the sun. The summer solstice occurs around June 20 or 21 and is classed as the first day of astronomical summer.

It would make sense that when the northern hemisphere experiences its winter solstice, the southern hemisphere experiences its summer solstice and vice versa.

What is an Equinox?

While the solstices mark the shortest and longest days in the United States, equinoxes occur when the axis that the Earth rotates around becomes almost parallel to the Sun. As a result, the day and night of the equinox are practically equal.

The vernal or spring equinox occurs in the United States around March 20. The autumnal equinox occurs around September 22. Therefore, when the northern hemisphere is experiencing its autumnal equinox, the southern hemisphere is experiencing its vernal equinox and vice versa.

What is the Difference Between Spring and Summer?

The seasons of spring and summer differ for several reasons. These are mainly due to the position of the Earth with the Sun at these points of the year.

From March until the end of May, the Earth is mid-way between the extremes of winter and summer. As a result, it is often seen as a transitional season, where the weather becomes milder, but it isn’t as warm, and there aren’t as many daylight hours as in the summer.

In summer, the Earth is at the closest point in its orbit around the Sun. So in terms of weather, climate, ecology, and temperature make the season more extreme.

For humans, our moods can also shift between spring and summer. For example, the dawn of more daylight hours can boost our sense of positive well-being. It is why it’s so important to get outdoors when the weather is warm and balmy.

With the appropriate sun safety measure such as sun cream, a hat, and sunglasses, your kids can enjoy days out over summer break at the park or on the beach!

Facts About The Seasons

• Plants and trees lose their leaves in response to the shortening days and cooler temperatures of fall.
• The winter is often a difficult season for animals, and food is scarce. As a result, many animals hibernate or migrate during these colder months.
• Some trees remain green in all four seasons. These trees are called evergreen trees.
• In tropical or subtropical places, there are two seasons: rainy (monsoon) and dry. That’s why the rain changes more than the temperature.

Main Vocabulary when Talking about The Seasons

• Axis. An axis is a pole that fits inside a wheel. Imagine an imaginary pole inside the earth.
• Climate. The weather conditions for a given location over some time.
• The Equator. An imaginary line around the Earth, another planet, or a star that runs east-west at 0 degrees latitude.
• Equinox. The time when the plane of Earth’s equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun.
• Globe. The Earth.
• Pole. The extreme north or south point of the Earth’s axis.
• Rotate. To turn around a center point or axis.
• Tilt. Slide back and forth.

Silence: a teacher’s greatest enemy. And although you’d imagine that a silent classroom must be the sweetest sound in the world to teachers, without 30 or so children screaming ‘miss’ into your ear (an image we can all relate to), silence is the last thing you want in an ESL classroom.

Getting the conversation flowing and learners interacting is essential so children can develop their speaking and listening skills. It also makes children feel more at ease in the classroom and more comfortable engaging in the lesson. Finally, it helps to create a positive learning environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

So how to break this impenetrable wall of silence? By having a store of handy English conversation class topics for teaching. We’ve gathered some great topic ideas that you can use to start conversations for adults or children in your ESL conversation lessons.

These are great for breaking through silences and helping your learners to develop their conversational vocabulary and speaking skills. So, check out these 35 different English conversation class topics for teaching with questions you can use as prompts to give your learners.

35 English Conversation Class Topics for Teaching

1. Family

• What family members do you live with?
• What family members are you close to?
• Do you have any siblings?

1. Friends

• Who is your best friend?
• What do you and your friends do together?
• What’s your favorite memory you’ve shared with a friend?

1. Holidays

• Where is your favorite place to go on holiday?
• Where would you go if you could go worldwide for a holiday?
• What is your favorite holiday experience?

1. Games

• What are your favorite games to play at home?
• Do you prefer video games or board games?
• Do you think playing games are good for you? If so, why?

1. Shopping

• What is your favorite thing to buy?
• How often do you go shopping?
• Do you like/dislike shopping? Why?

1. Home Town

• What’s your area like?
• Do you like where you live? Why?
• What’s the best/worst thing about where you live?

1. Future

• Where do you see yourself in ten years?
• What do you think will change in the next 100 years?
• What do you most want to achieve in your life?

1. School

• What’s your favorite subject? Why?
• What’s your least favorite subject? Why?
• What’s the best thing about going to school?

1. Jobs

• What do you think the best job is? Why?
• What jobs do your family members have?
• What job do you think you’ll have when you’re older?

1. Food

• What’s your favorite food?
• What’s your least favorite food?
• What would you choose as your last meal?

1. Environment

• What’s bad for the environment?
• What can we do to help improve our environment?
• Why do people care about the environment? Why is it important?

1. Health

• Have you ever been ill? How did it feel?
• What things can we do to stay healthy?
• What happens when you’re ill? Who looks after you, and how?

1. Restaurants

• What’s your favorite restaurant? What kind of food does it serve?
• Describe a bad restaurant experience.
• If you had your restaurant, what would it be like?

1. Sports

• Do you enjoy playing sports? Why?
• What’s your favorite/most minor favorite sport?
• Do you enjoy watching sports? Why/why not?

1. Superpowers

• What superpower would you have if you could have any?
• What would the world be like if there were real superheroes?
• Would you rather be a superhero or a supervillain?

1. Money

• What would you buy if you had all the money in the world?
• Is money important? Why?
• Can money be a bad thing?

1. Would You Rather

• Would you rather be an astronaut or an actor?
• Would you instead learn how to fly a plane or a rocket ship?
• Would you rather live under the sea or in space?

1. Gifts

• What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
• What’s the worst?
• Do you enjoy giving gifts? Why?

1. Weather

• Do you prefer it when it’s warm or cold?
• Do you like the snow? Why?
• What’s your favorite summer memory?

1. Films

• What’s your favorite film genre? Why?
• What’s your favorite film?
• Who would you choose if you could pick any film character?

1. Books

• Do you enjoy reading? Why?
• What’s your favorite type of book?
• Why is reading perfect for you?

1. Celebrations

• Do you celebrate your birthday? How?
• What is your favorite festival/celebration?
• What would it be for if you could create your own national holiday/festival/celebration? What would happen?

1. Feelings

• When was the happiest you’ve ever been?
• When was the angriest you’ve ever been?
• What scares you the most?

1. Aliens

• Do you think aliens exist?
• If aliens made contact with you, what would you do?
• Would you rather live in space with aliens or stay here on Earth?

1. Seasons

• What’s the best season?
• What’s the worst season?
• Describe the differences between each season.

1. Hobbies

• What do you like to do in your spare time?
• If you could take up a new hobby, what would it be?
• What hobby have you had in the past that you don’t do anymore? Why don’t you do it?

1. Television

• What’s your favorite TV show?
• What do you like about watching TV?
• Who is your favorite TV show character?

28. Desert Island

• Who would it be if you lived on a desert island with one person?
• Which three items would you take to a desert island and why?
• What would be the hardest thing about living on a desert island?

29. Music

• Do you enjoy listening to music? What kind?
• How does listening to music make you feel?
• Who is your favorite artist/singer?

30. Birthdays

• Do you enjoy celebrating your birthday? Why?
• How did you spend your last birthday?
• How would you spend your next birthday if you could choose to do anything in the world?

31. Dreams

• What’s the last dream that you can remember? What happened to it?
• What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?
• What’s the best dream you’ve ever had?

32. Animals

• What’s your favorite animal, and why?
• If you could be any animal, which would it be, and why?
• Would you rather be an animal or a human? Why?

33. The Supernatural

• Do you believe in ghosts? Why/why not?
• Do you know any good ghost stories?
• If you were a ghost, where would you haunt?

34. Celebrities

• Do you have a favorite celebrity? Who is it, and why?
• Do you think celebrities are essential? Why?
• Would you like to be a celebrity? Why/why not?

35. Fears

• What are you most afraid of and why?
• Can you describe a time when you faced fear?
• Why do you think we develop fears of certain things? Why don’t we all have the same worries?

A common noun is a type of noun or naming word. It refers to general objects, places, people, and animals that don’t have specific names.

Unlike a proper noun, a common noun does not need a capital letter unless they are at the start of a sentence. In English, all nouns fall into one of these categories, along with concrete nouns, which refer to physical objects like a dog, a building, or a tree, and abstract nouns, which are intangible concepts such as love, justice, and fear.

People’s names are proper nouns, as are the names of specific places, days of the week, and the names of particular companies and products. Proper nouns are always capitalized, not dependent on where they are in the sentence. Sometimes pronouns are used instead of nouns in sentences.

Examples of common nouns are:

• city;
• car;
• hat;
• butterfly;
• orange;
• bread;
• cat;
• cheese;
• toy;
• child;
• pet;
• world.

Common Noun Example Sentences

“The butterfly landed on the young girl’s hand.”

In this example, the common noun butterfly is used. We can tell it’s a common noun because it isn’t capitalized and doesn’t refer to a specific person, place, day, or name.

Can you spot the other common nouns in the sentence above?

The nouns girl and hand are also common nouns used in the sentence. But if the sentence used the girl’s name, for example, “the butterfly landed on Laura’s hand,” then this would be an example of a proper noun.

“On Tuesday, she bought a new hat.”

This sentence uses the familiar noun hat. The sentence also includes the noun Tuesday, which refers to a specific day and must be capitalized.

“The car broke down when he was on his way to work.”

This sentence includes the typical noun car and the typical noun work. There are no proper nouns in this example.Top of Form

When should you use common nouns?

So, now you know what common nouns are, when should you use them? Well, common nouns are used to describe a specific group of objects or a concept. Therefore, it can be classified as a common noun since it is a ‘thing’ in a general sense.

Let’s go through some examples of things that are common nouns:

Professions or Jobs

When describing any job, the name of the said job is classified as a common noun. For example, doctors, teachers, chemists, singers, chefs, nurses, lawyers, etc.

• The lawyer paced around her office.
• The doctor looked over his notes carefully at the end of the day.
• The singer went through a series of vocal warm-ups every night before performing.
• The nurse was late for his shift because he missed the bus.

People

Generally speaking, people are referred to as common nouns. However, this excludes when they are called by name, as all names require capitalization as they are proper nouns. Instead, common nouns are used when referring to people using a title. For example, familial words like father, mother, sister, etc., are all common nouns.

• My father works in another country, so I only see him during the holidays.
• The girl ran to her friend’s house to tell her the good news.
• My mother is the most important woman in my life.
• The boy tore apart his bedroom, searching for his favorite jumper.

There are some instances in which common nouns like mother and father become proper nouns. For example, this happens to the word ‘mother’ when it is used to address someone or as a name directly. It can also be the case for words like ‘sister’ etc.

• The girl cleared her throat, “Mother, would you please pass me the salt?”
• Tommy handed Sister Thompson his homework at the end of the lesson.

Objects

Common nouns are used to refer to objects. For example, trousers, cars, plates, fences, chairs, etc.

• The boy packed up his car for university.
• Jenny loaned her favorite pair of jeans to her best friend but never got them back.
• The boat rocked from side to side because of the strong winds.
• Mrs. Brown’s neighbors came over to help her paint her garden fence.

Concepts and Ideas

In addition to describing specific objects, common nouns can be used to tell more abstract things like concepts, ideas, and emotions. For example, love, guilt, peace, kindness, hate, etc.

• All of the world leaders met together to discuss how to achieve world peace.
• As soon as you walked into the room, the feeling of love was overwhelming.
• The teenagers were heavily invested in popular culture.
• It was essential to the mother that her children learned empathy from a young age.

How to recognize a common noun?

Now that you know what common nouns are and when to use them, it should be pretty easy for you to recognize them. So let’s put your knowledge to the test with a few practice sentences.

Sarah chose to do her research project on Mother Theresa, a Catholic nun, missionary, and saint known to have performed two miracles.

• For her project, Sarah asked her mother to take her to the library so that she could pick out some books.

The word mother is used in both of these sentences, but in one case, it is capitalized, and in the other, it is not. Do you know why this is? Can you spot which of these is a proper noun and which is a common noun?

Let’s look at some instances when words can be both proper and common nouns, depending on their context. This is the case for jobs which, as mentioned before, are common nouns. However, it becomes a proper noun if you use a position to refer to someone’s specific title. For example:

• Professor Jane Reid was the head of the English department at the university.
• Constable Henry Smith wanted to work in law enforcement since he was five.
• Her colleagues congratulated Doctor Amy Winston after a very successful surgery.

Let’s look at how these job titles can be written as common nouns.

• Jane Reid was the professor in charge of the English department at the university.
• Henry Smith worked hard to become a constable in the police force.
• The other doctors congratulated Amy Winston after she performed a very successful surgery.

For the most part, the rule is that common nouns are general names, and unless they are part of a title or at the beginning of a sentence, they do not require a capital letter.

Place value is how much each digit in a number is worth and relates to its position, or place, in that number. For example, 627 comprises 600, 20, and 7, or 6 hundred, 2 tens, and 7 ones – rather than six, two, and seven. If you swap these digits around, their place value changes. For example, 762 is made of the same three numbers, but each has a different value now.Top of Form

As you may have noticed, places further to the left are worth more, getting smaller as you move to the right. It doesn’t only start at hundreds; you can keep going higher by adding more and more digits for thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and so on. It also doesn’t end at the ones. After a decimal point, you’ll keep going down in size with tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. Again, these can carry on infinitely.

How do we know that 600 is more significant than 60 or six? After all, zero means that there is nothing there, so surely they’re all the same. Of course, that’s not the case. Zero is a placeholder, telling us the place value of the other digits in a number. The same goes for 0.5 and 0.05 or 0.005. The zeros tell us that the numeral 5 is worth something different in each and that these numbers are getting smaller.

What is a place value holder?

You may hear this term mentioned when teaching place value to your children, so you might wonder, “What is a place value holder?”

A place value holder is a numeral – 0 – used to ensure all other digits are in the correct place. It has no value and helps us identify which number is in the ones, tens, or hundreds column.

When considering place value holders, it’s best to look at an example. So let’s look at the number 308. We can look at this as 3 × 100, 0 × 10, and 8 × 1.

But why is there a number in that column if there are no tens?

In this instance, the 0 in the tens column of 308 is a place value holder. We know there are no tens in this number, but we still need a 0 – a place value holder – in that column. Otherwise, we’d end up with 38, which is a different number.

Can you spot the place value holder in each of these numbers?

• 10,683
• 20.55
• 2.01
• 203

Why do we use place value in Maths?

We use place value to understand how to read numbers, recognizing strings of digits as the specific numbers they represent. But we don’t know we’re doing it until we step back and think about it. Further use of place value requires much more thought, which is partitioning. It is where we take a conscious look at place value and split numbers into their different units, just like we did above to show that 627 = 600 + 20 + 7.

To clarify this, we can use place value columns or grids like the one below, where the constituent digits are placed according to whether they’re ones, tens, hundreds, etc.

Using a grid allows children to understand the different values of digits when separated and acts as a great visual representation. Try giving children a number and ask them to split it into the correct columns. The more confident a child becomes, the bigger the number they can try. This skill is vital for much of the Maths work they’ll be doing in primary school.

A secure understanding of place value provides the essential number knowledge needed to complete calculations, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It also lets us work with decimals and understand how to round numbers.

Place value and the four operations

A sum like 842 + 531 would be tricky to do straight away; we certainly can’t start taking 531 leaps on a number line. That’s where partitioning and place value come in to make things easier. We can split complicated questions into more straightforward calculations by breaking up the numbers and taking each place value in turn.

For example, we can work out this addition problem by adding the ones, the tens, and the hundreds, then putting it all together. 2 + 1 = 3, 40 + 30 = 70, and 800 + 500 = 1300, making the total 1373. Place value makes multi-digit calculations easier with manageable chunks.

Subtraction works in a very similar way. For 842 – 531, we can take away the numbers by their place value. So, 2 – 1 = 1, 40 – 30 = 10 and 800 – 500 = 300. Then, we have our answer, 311.

Multiplication and division have a few more steps for numbers this large, as we need to times or divide the whole number by the entirety of the other number, not just the ones by the ones or the tens by the tens. But let’s look at an example with 3-digit and 1-digit numbers to see how the same idea applies.

We can break down 972 × 3 into 900 × 3 = 2700, 70 × 3 = 210 and 2 × 3 = 6. Adding these together gives us 2916.

972 ÷ 3 works the same way. 900 ÷ 3 = 300, and 70 ÷ 3 = 20, with ten left over to add to the final sum. 10 + 2 = 12, and 12 ÷ 3 = 4. When we add those up, we get 324.

Place value is vital for children to use the four operations with large numbers. It lets them follow more manageable steps to reach their answer. There are helpful ways to make this even more accessible, including the column method for addition, subtraction, and multiplication and the bus stop method for division. They all rely on looking at the different digits and understanding how their place value affects the overall result.

Even when a calculation has a number that seems easy to use, like ten, 100, or 1000 (the powers of ten), we have to ensure we’re always aware of place value. So, for example, we need to focus on the tens column when we add or take ten from a number. Then, we can use the zeros at the end of these numbers for multiplication and division to determine the answer.

10 has one zero, so to multiply by then, we move everything one space over to the left and put a zero in the one’s space. If we’re working with decimals, this space will already be filled by the digit in the tenth column, and we don’t need to worry about the final step. 100 has two zeros, so we move everything two spaces to the left and put a zero in any empty places. Getting the hang of it?

For division, we go the opposite way and move the number however many spaces to the right as there are zeros. Sometimes this will mean using decimal places we weren’t using before, so don’t forget to include the decimal point if you need to.

Remember, this only works when the first digit is 1. So if we wanted to multiply or divide by 20, for example, we couldn’t use this method, but the place value would still be significant.

Decimal place value names

So, now that we’ve covered the basics of place value and decimals, what are the decimal place value names? Initially, it can be a little confusing, and the names themselves are tricky to pronounce! If you’d like a summary to hand while you’re teaching this, then here’s a helpful table of decimal place value names for you:

Decimal	Fraction	Name
0.1	1 ⁄ 10	One tenth
0.01	1 ⁄ 100	One hundredth
0.001	1 ⁄ 1,000	One thousandth
0.0001	1 ⁄ 10,000	One ten-thousandth

It’s unlikely that you’ll ever need to use a decimal smaller than one ten-thousandth. To give you an idea of how small one ten-thousandth is, a single human hair usually weighs about 0.0003-0.0006 grams (that’s three to six ten-thousandths). Many high-tech lab equipments can’t handle measurements as small as this!

Of course, this raises a tricky question: What’s its name if we’ve got a number like 1.032? Well, luckily, there’s a handy formula to help make this easier:

1. Write the number before the decimal point, just as you usually would.
2. Then, write the decimal point as “and”.
3. After this, you’ll need to consider how many decimal places there are. Again, the example above tells us that we’re dealing in thousandths.
4. Since there are 32 thousandths, we arrive at the following name:

One and thirty-two thousandths

It’s that simple!

Place value and rounding numbers

Many tests, including the NAPLAN Numeracy test, will ask for answers to be rounded. Whether we’re rounding decimals or whole numbers, we rely on place value once again. Children must understand which digit to look at when rounding to a certain number of decimal places, or the nearest ten, hundred, thousand, etc.

They’ll have to look at the appropriate column and the one to the right. If it’s lower than five, they round down, changing the remaining places to zero or removing them if the placeholder isn’t needed. If it’s five or higher, they round up, adding one to the place value column they’re rounding to and, again, dealing with any placeholders they may need.

Here are a couple of examples. To round 8437.52 to the nearest ten, you look at the tens column, which has the numeral 3, and the column to the right with the numeral 7. It is higher than five, so we add one to the tens column, making 8440. If we were rounding the same number to one decimal place, we’d look at the tenth column (5) and the one to its right (2). This time, the digit is minor than five, so we round down to 8437.5.

A sub-heading is a mini-headline given to a subsection or paragraph within a central piece of writing.

What does Sub-Heading Mean?

A sub-heading is a mini-headline given to a subsection or paragraph within a central piece of writing. Subheadings are smaller than the main heading but more extensive than the paragraph text of the article.

Subheadings often appear in non-fiction writing, such as instruction or informational texts. They capture the reader’s attention to keep them reading down the page, following each sub-heading.

Without sub-headings, texts would be long paragraphs of text. That isn’t easy to read through!

Importance of Using Sub-Headings

The primary purpose of sub-headings is to grab the reader’s attention. They’re meant to stand out, which is why they’re written in a large font and are snappy.

Some sub-headings are purely informational. Subheadings act as a guide to serve the reader through the page until they’ve found what they’re looking for.

For example, if you’re reading a recipe, you might scan to find the ‘Ingredients’ sub-heading so that you can read what ingredients you need.

You might also find sub-headings listed on the contents page of a non-fiction text. It allows the reader to find the right page based on the sub-heading.

Interesting sub-headings are used in texts such as newspaper articles or blog posts. They encourage the reader to keep reading and help break the text into manageable chunks.

Subheadings are like hooks – they get the reader to stop, look, and read through the information.

How to Write Interesting Sub-Headings

When writing a sub-heading, it’s essential to know what content will be written in the paragraph underneath. So, first, establish what the section is about and the most critical part of the paragraph.

Sub-headings should ideally be:

• Useful – To benefit the reader;
• Unique – To share information that the reader may not be aware of;
• Ultra-Specific – To ensure the reader knows what is being said;
• Urgent – To get the reader’s attention.

Heading and Sub-heading Examples

Subheadings and headings have similar functions, but there’s one key difference between them.

Headings appear once at the beginning of the text, whereas multiple sub-headings can occur throughout the text. The header is the title, and the sub-headings split the text into sections or paragraphs.

Subheadings are sometimes called mini-titles. It can be helpful to think of them that way because they provide titles for specific text sections.

Here are some heading and sub-heading examples: the header is highlighted in red, and the sub-heading is in blue.

Example 1 (Fact File)

Ocean Creatures

Clownfish and Anemones: Friends for Life

Clownfish have a symbiotic relationship with anemones.

Blue Whales: The Largest Mammal on Earth

Not only are blue whales the most notable species of whale, but they’re also the largest mammal on Earth.

Example 2 (List)

Countries in Europe

A-C

• Albania
• Andorra
• Armenia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bosnia
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czechia

D-F

• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France

Example 3 (Biography)

The Life of Santa Claus

Father Christmas’ Early Years

When Father Christmas was a little boy.

A Fateful Meeting with Rudolph

On one fateful day, Santa came across a reindeer different from any other.

Example 4 (Contents Page)

The Most Delicious Pastries in the World

• Paris’ Best Croissants (1-2)
• Japan’s Mouthwatering Mochi (3-4)
• Dreamy Brazilian Sonho (5-6)
• Crunchy Cannoli from Italy (7-8)

How many sub-headings should you use?

How many sub-headings you use usually depends on your writing content and how much of it there is.

Subheadings help break up a text and make it more manageable to read and scan. So, if the text is short, it might not even need sub-headings at all.

On the other hand, longer writing pieces may need many more sub-headings. It varies from text to text.

Generally, however, sub-headings should be used to break up text sections. For example, if the next paragraph moves onto an entirely different subject, it would be a good idea to use a sub-heading above it to signal that you’re moving on to something else.

The thought process is similar to when to start a new paragraph, but you don’t always need a sub-heading for every new paragraph. Instead, subheadings should group linked paragraphs and separate the general sections of a piece of work.

For example, suppose you were writing a non-chronological report about mammals that live in the Amazon rainforest. In that case, you might have sub-headings for each mammal or each rainforest layer.