Category Archives: readilearn

Race into Reading with National Simultaneous Storytime 2023 – #readilearn

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Are you ready for National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) next Wednesday 24 May?

This year’s NSS book is The Speedy Sloth, written by Rebecca Young, illustrated by Heath McKenzie and published by Scholastic.

Follow this link to the Australian Library and Information Association where you can register for the event and download some wonderful (and free) teaching resources.

About The Speedy Sloth

The blurb

It was finally time for the event of the year,
Spike couldn’t believe it—
THE GREAT RACE was here!
The other sloths said it couldn’t be done,
but Spike didn’t care, she was ready to run!

About the author

Rebecca Young is an award-winning author from Sydney. Her first book, Button Boy, illustrated by Sue deGennaro, was a Notable Book for the 2012 CBCA Awards and has been published internationally. In 2016, Teacup, illustrated by Matt Ottley, won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature in the NSW Premier’s Literacy Awards.

About the illustrator

Heath McKenzie is an award-winning children’s book illustrator who has written and illustrated countless books for children. Heath lives in Melbourne with his wife, two kids, dog, and a fish that he considers more of a lodger than a family member.

About National Simultaneous Storytime

Continue reading: Race into Reading with National Simultaneous Storytime 2023 – readilearn

Celebrating World Poetry Day on 21 March – readilearn

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Tomorrow Tuesday 21 March is World Poetry Day – a day for appreciating and supporting poets, and for reading and writing poetry. It’s time to open your favourite book of children’s poetry and read your favourites to your children.

Poetry is a wonderful tool for learning language. When children listen to or recite poetry, they are learning the rhythms and sounds of language, exploring ideas and how to express them, expanding vocabularies, deepening understanding in nuances of meaning, and having fun with thoughts and their expression.

Children are exposed to rhythm and rhyme from their earliest days through nursery rhymes, chants and songs as well as the text of picture books. It is important for children to have opportunities for appreciating and exploring poetry into and throughout their school years. Our Australian Curriculum places poetry firmly into the literature strand of English teaching each year. But it is not necessary to relegate poetry just to a poetry unit of work when stipulated by the curriculum. Poetry, rhymes, chants and songs can be easily incorporated into the daily class program. World Poetry Day should be an unnecessary excuse.

Continue reading for teaching ideas: Celebrating World Poetry Day on 21 March – readilearn

Welcome to our new readilearn website – #readilearn

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I’m very excited to announce that my new readilearn website is now live:

Hello and welcome to my new website. I hope you like it as much as I do. I am delighted with what web designer Rebecca Timmis has developed for me. The new site has many of the same features that will be familiar to you from the old site. In addition, there are many new features and improvements.

One thing you may notice straight way (in addition to the layout and images) is that you can now access the free resources without needing to register or go through the checkout. This feature makes it easier for you to download the free printable resources and access the free online resources.

Premium resources can still be purchased individually but, as before, an annual subscription provides the best value. If you subscribed to or purchased resources from the original site, you should still be able to access them using the same login information. Email me at hello@readilearn.com.au if you experience any difficulty. The best way to find out about the new site is to have an explore.

While you may no longer be able to follow this blog, you will still be able to keep up to date with news and new resources by subscribing to the newsletter which I’ll continue to publish on the last day of the month. I have two new interactive resources ready to add to the collection later this month, so keep an eye out for those.

Please contact me with any comments or feedback about the new site or resources you’d like added. I’d love to hear what you think.

Now I’d like to tell you a little about the amazing web designer Rebecca Timmis.

About Rebecca Timmis

rebecca_timmis

Rebecca Timmis is an author, illustrator, web designer and game developer based in Queensland’s sunny Gold Coast. She has been building WordPress and custom PHP websites for over 15 years, specialising in database architecture (much more exciting than it sounds). Rebecca is passionate about helping people create and build their online presence. Her favourite clients are non-profits, particularly those in the wildlife sector, and other creatives like herself.

When she’s not coding websites, Rebecca writes and illustrates for children. Her first junior fiction series, MerTales, was published by Albert Street Books in 2021. She also developed a game for the series, MerTales: Mermaid Rescue, which is available for free on Google Play and the AppStore.

Learn more about Vanilla Web Designs at https://www.vanillawebdesigns.com.au
Learn more about Rebecca’s writing, illustration and game dev at https://rjtimmis.net

Source: Welcome to our new readilearn website – readilearn

Wishing you a Happy and Safe 2022/23 Holiday Period – #readilearn

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As schools in Australia close for our long Christmas/summer holidays, I take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a very happy and safe holiday period, however you celebrate it. May moments of joy be abundant and opportunities to relax and refresh plentiful. Most of all, may you find time for those things that bring you most enjoyment. Life is, after all, meant to be fun.

I will be taking a blogging break for a few weeks to rest and recuperate after a very busy year. I’m hopeful that, early in 2023, we’ll have a fresher new-look website (after it’s had a chance to rest and rejuvenate too).

With best wishes for the Christmas period and wondrous possibilities in 2023.

Norah

Continue reading: Wishing you a Happy and Safe 2022/23 Holiday Period – readilearn

Cheese on Toast, a new picture book by Kelly Louise Jarris – #readilearn

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Today it is my pleasure to review a fun new picture book Cheese on Toast, written by Kelly Louise Jarris. This post is part of a Books on Tour promotion.

About author Kelly Louise Jarris

As a mother of four boys, Kelly Jarris has been lucky enough to see the diversity in each child, which is how the characters came about for her first book, Wonderful Wishes. Kelly also writes and appreciates stories from life experiences, with her recently released picture book, Imagine Our Special Place. Her sister’s journey with terminal cancer inspired Kelly to write a book that touches on sibling bonds, imagination and feelings of the unknown. Her third, fun picture book is Cheese on Toast.

Kelly has a background in veterinary nursing and was once an Australian wildlife rescuer.

Visit Kelly Louise Jarris at her website.

About Cheese on Toast

“I don’t want this yucky roast.

I just want some cheese on toast.”

Mum has prepared a delicious roast for dinner full of healthy vegetables like green beans, peas and carrots, but her son is not pleased. Will mum be able to convince him to give it a try?

This quirky, fun book is about a little boy who would rather have cheese on toast than mum’s yummy roast. Cheese On Toast is designed to get kids involved in the story while reading out aloud.

This catchy rhyme encourages reluctant readers to recite the words and participate in the story.

Kids can look out for a secret little carrot character hiding on each page, making it a little interactive for even the youngest readers.

What I like about Cheese on Toast

The child narrator of Cheese on Toast will be familiar to many parents with his insistence on having cheese on toast for dinner, rather than the lovely roast meal that his mum has prepared. Some children will eat anything that’s put in front of them, (I had one of those.) while some tend to the fussy side. (I also had one of those.) Getting the fussy ones to accept new tastes can be problematic for parents. Why not look on the lighter side with a fun picture book?

The rhythmic rhyming text with the repetitive refrain ‘What I really want the most, is some yummy cheese on toast’ encourages children to

Continue reading: Cheese on Toast, a new picture book by Kelly Louise Jarris – readilearn

Getting ready for Christmas with Lessons and Activities for P-2 – #readilearn

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As the countdown to the end of the school year and the Christmas holidays gets underway, here at readilearn, we ensure that learning continues when the Christmas fun begins.

Who celebrates Christmas?

Do you know which children in your class celebrate Christmas with their families? Conduct a survey to find out. While you may already know, the survey can be an interesting way to begin discussions of different cultural traditions celebrated by children in your class.

These discussions should always be respectful and inclusive. It is essential for children, and all of us, to see that what we have in common is more important than any differences.

How many school days until Christmas?

This calendar helps to count down the last fifteen days of term and provides an opportunity for children to present information about their family’s traditions. The Countdown Calendar can be used to countdown to Christmas or, for inclusivity, to the holidays.

Inclusive friendship trees

Build self-esteem and confidence as well as friendship skills with Friendship trees. They are easy to make and are a great way to ensure the children keep thinking friendly thoughts about each other.

Children make their own friendship tree and, every day, they write anonymous positive messages of friendship and affirmation to place in each other’s trees. At the end of the term, children take their trees home to read and enjoy over the holidays.

A template for the trees, examples of friendship messages, and editable message strips for distribution to the children are also available.

Another fun way to encourage the children to work together on a joint project of which they can be proud is to create a 3D classroom tree display. While children are proud of their individual contribution, they recognise the importance of everyone working together. The tree becomes a visible reminder of the importance of team work. It can be the focus of a beautiful classroom display.

Christmas Activity Book

The Christmas Activity Book has 30-pages and 22 different activities, and is perfect for use at home or in the classroom.

It includes:

  • games to play alone
  • games to play with others
  • literacy activities
  • maths activities
  • word puzzles
  • number puzzles
  • logic puzzles
  • poems to write
  • and much more.

Advent Activity Calendar

The December Advent Activity Calendar 2022 suggests an activity a day for each December day in the lead up to Christmas. Twenty-four easy, fun activities for children and families.

Literacy

Continue reading: Getting ready for Christmas with Lessons and Activities for P-2 – readilearn

Little People Big Emotions by Kylie Mort and Tiina Morton – #readilearn

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Today it is my pleasure to review a beautiful new picture book Little People Big Emotions written by Kylie Mort, illustrated by Tiina Morton and published by Serenity Press. This post is part of a Books on Tour promotion.

About the author Kylie Mort

Kylie Mort is many things, but she is a wordsmith at heart. An International Amazon #1 Best-Selling Author with multiple award-winning publications, she is also an App Developer with a NEW FREE APP, available on Google Play and The Apple App Store, that supports essay writing in targeted Question and Answer templates. “How to Write with Kylie Mort” guides students one sentence at a time through a step-by-step process that concludes with a complete and easily downloaded full essay! Due to her educational background as a qualified and registered secondary school teacher, Kylie’s main day-to-day activity is mentoring and coaching as an online tutor.

She likes to connect to the world from her farm in North-East Victoria, Australia.

About Little People Big Emotions

The Blurb

Sometimes my mind is a curious butterfly that flits from one idea to the next…a playful puppy that can’t concentrate…a busy blender that mixes things up…a mean monster that makes me feel bad. That’s OK because my parents and teachers know how to help me deal with all the emotions that feel so BIG. I can learn what to do when my mind is a mean monster…a busy blender…a playful puppy…and a curious butterfly…and I smile, knowing I am safe, and loved, and special. Focused on building resilience, self-worth and positive mental health in our young people, this is a beautifully inspiring parenting resource written by an internationally best-selling author qualified in Education, NLP, Performance Coaching and Psychology.

What I like about Little People Big Emotions

Little People Big Emotions is immediately captivating. The cover with its bold, bright colours and fun bouncy lettering invites us to enter. The joyous mood continues as we turn the pages, past the colourful title page to the first spread, where we encounter butterflies flitting across the landscape.

Continue reading: Little People Big Emotions by Kylie Mort and Tiina Morton – readilearn

Activities and professional development in 2023 at your fingertips! – #readilearn

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Article by Gerard Alford, director of itc publications and thinkdrive.

With 2022 rapidly drawing to a close, it’s now time to start thinking about ideas for 2023.  Let’s explore some now!

Students love to participate in classroom decoration. Building on this, why not create a fish-themed classroom with aligned class activities. It will grow an appreciation for the majestic waterways, rich reefs and sea life that surrounds us.

You could also, on day one, set expectations by asking students: what sort of teacher would you like me to be this year? And then add the follow-up question: well, what type of student will you try to be?

Another great way to relate to students while also relaying important educational content is to focus lessons or classroom systems around the concept of sports and pastimes.

For example:

  • What are the chances? Students rate the chances of an outcome occurring using the terms, Will happen, Might happen, Certain. E.g., Next year, no one in our class will play a sport with a ball.
  • Systems of Communication – using umpire signals for a sport, what is the umpire communicating? E.g., Start of a game, high tackle, etc.
  • Sporty names: Using sporting team names to introduce or revisit the sounds and names of letters.

Inspired to incorporate some or all of the activities and concepts above? May I suggest the itc 2023 Early Years teachers’ diary, the itc innovative teachers’ companion. This diary has the usual planning and recording materials; however, it also contains an array of specialist K-2 lesson ideas and professional readings – including a full breakdown of the ideas touched on above!

There are also professional readings on:

  • Health and wellbeing tips
  • Phonics and word knowledge
  • Puppet play
  • Cooperative learning
  • And much more!

The activities have been assembled by a large team of writers, including Norah Colvin from readilearn, and the activities are referenced and aligned to the Australian curriculum and the Early Years Framework.

Continue reading: Activities and professional development in 2023 at your fingertips! – readilearn

Ideas for Celebrating World Nursery Rhyme Week 2022 – #readilearn

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Next week, from 14th – 18th November, is World Nursery Rhyme Week. Why not celebrate by revisiting some of the children’s (and your) favourite nursey rhymes. Children in our F – 2 classrooms can explore language features and use them as a springboard for writing, recitation, and role play. Children in older classrooms may like to investigate their (often dark) origins and history.

The aim of World Nursery Rhyme Week is to promote the importance of nursery rhymes in early education. The five official nursery rhymes for this year’s celebration are:

The Big Ship Sails

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive

Five Little Speckled Frogs

B.I.N.G.O.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

However, you are welcome to use any nursery rhymes you like, and here at readilearn we have some resources to assist your teaching.

readilearn nursery rhyme resources

Humpty Dumpty

Teach literacy skills and develop creative thinking and imagination with Humpty Dumpty.

The Humpty Dumpty suite of resources includes:

The Accident — Humpty Dumpty’s Fall is an original story that innovates on the nursery rhyme by providing a scenario that might lead to Humpty’s falling from the wall. It is a digital estory which can be displayed and read on the interactive whiteboard. It can be read as a story on its own or as part of the writing unit Humpty Dumpty — a story in five sittings. (Note: if you wish to implement the writing unit, do so before reading the story.)

Humpty Dumpty — a story in five sittings is a series of five lessons in writing based upon the nursery rhyme. Each lesson provides opportunities for children to think creatively and imaginatively and to write using a basic narrative structure. It presupposes children already have an idea of sentence structure and some experience writing stories of their own.

Of course, before attempting to read or write an alternative, it is important that children are familiar with the nursery rhyme. We have that covered too, with a printable copy of the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty to download.

Continue reading: Ideas for Celebrating World Nursery Rhyme Week 2022 – readilearn

It’s a Kind of Magic – Teacher notes – #readilearn

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I’m delighted to tell you that It’s a Kind of Magic, Stories and Spells by Second-Rate Sorcerers is now available for purchase. The anthology is a collection of over 35 stories and poems written by authors young and old, emerging and established.

The book launch last Saturday was a lot of fun with story and poetry readings from the book. Authors, poets, children and their parents came in costume to set the mood for the festivities.

After listening to the readings, children did craft activities before trick-or-treating around the shopping centre where they received treats from all the stores whose participation had been organised by the launch host, The Mad Hatters Bookshop. What amazing collaboration to make the day so special for all involved.

It was a great morning and I thank The Mad Hatters Bookshop, Michelle Worthington (publisher and editor of the book and international award-winning author) and Kayt Duncan (author and story teller extraordinaire) for their hard work in making the event such a success. What an amazing team.

It’s a Kind of Magic, Stories and Spells by Second-Rate Sorcerers is available from Amazon and the Book Depository. You might even find it in a local bookstore, like The Mad Hatters Bookshop where the launch was held on Saturday. Proceeds from sales of the book support the charity Children’s Rights Queensland.

If you missed the launch, many of the stories may be viewed on the Storytime with Anthology Angels YouTube channel. If you wish to find out additional information about the writers, many of them have their own websites and are active on social media.

I have written some teacher notes for the book, which I hope you will find useful. You can read them here or download a free PDF copy here.

It is easy to find opportunities for using the book when teaching the English Curriculum as reading aloud by the teacher and opportunities for children to read independently are an essential part of each school day. The stories and poems are short and can be incorporated in the program or turned to when a diversion is needed to settle the class or when there a few minutes wait-time between lessons and activities.

I’ve listed the stories and poems under the following headings so that you can easily find a story or poem that features particular characters, settings, events, themes or language features you are teaching.

Poems and Rhyming Stories

Annie the Wonder Witch by Deborah Huff-Horwood, page 68

Continue reading: It’s a Kind of Magic – Teacher notes – Readilearn