Daniel Willingham · Flash cards · John Hattie

Why doesn’t The Literacy Blog advocate the use of flash cards?

There are a number of reasons why I think that phonic programmes that advocate the use of flash cards are barking up the wrong tree. The use of flash cards is a legacy of old fashioned phonics programmes, which emphasise the visual/graphemic at the expense of the aural. Presenting children with flash cards, which are… Continue reading Why doesn’t The Literacy Blog advocate the use of flash cards?

John Hattie · Karin James · Marieke Longcamp · New Sientist · Tiffany O'Callaghan

Teaching literacy skills the write way

I’ve blogged on the subject and importance of writing by hand a number of times before: here, here, and here. I return to the subject because this week’s New Scientist (29th October 2014) devotes no less than the cover page, an editorial and four of its pages to how the latest technology may be affecting the ways… Continue reading Teaching literacy skills the write way

Human Cognitive Architecture · John Hattie · John Sweller · K Anders Ericsson · Peter Daniels · phonics

What human cognitive architecture has to tell us about instructional design in phonics teaching.

The following post is what I intended to get across at the recent researchEd conference and didn’t have time to finish! The post covers some of the important issues raised by John Sweller, Paul Kirschner, John Hattie, Daniel Willingham, David Geary and others in a number of academic pieces published on human cognitive architecture and… Continue reading What human cognitive architecture has to tell us about instructional design in phonics teaching.