Author Archives: nmackenz

This blog post is designed to give you the arguments for why Read Aloud should be a priority in your classroom. I will try to address some of the issues identified above and more. [N.B. This post will be followed by another post which will focus on the ‘How’ of Read Aloud.] We teach childrenContinue reading “The Power of Read Aloud Part 1”

Welcome back – I apologise for the long break in between blogs. There are a number of reasons why I haven’t added a posting for a while, but I am back now.   I hope you will find this posting helpful. “To become truly literate, children need to learn to create, comprehend and use single modeContinue reading “Draw, Talk, Write and Share (DTWS) Update”

Lately I have been called on to explain what the science of reading is by education systems, schools and colleagues. This blog posting is designed to support these discussions. I hope you will find it helpful. Wherever possible I have provided direct quotes with references so that you know where the information is coming fromContinue reading “EXPLAINER: What is the science of reading?”

Establishing the routines in that first five weeks of school is critical and settling into school may be a different challenge in 2021 as some of the usual opportunities to orientate children to spaces and expectations were not possible. What follows are just a few things that you may like to consider if you areContinue reading “‘Big school is different’: Getting started – the first five weeks of school.”

What follows is an excerpt from an article I wrote quite some time ago. It was published in an English journal that no longer operates, so I have taken the liberty to share this excerpt via this blog. Mackenzie, N.M (2009).Becoming a writer: Language use and ‘scaffolding’ writing in the first six months of formalContinue reading “Language use and scaffolding writing”

This short post builds on the previous one focused on Intentional Teaching. When parents teach children to do something – they expect that the child will quickly start to build increasing control of the new process. Think about the parent teaching a child to do up their buttons. They do not start the teaching processContinue reading “Parents are good at intentional teaching”

Hi everyone, I trust you are all keeping well and avoiding first-hand experience with COVID 19. This post has been bubbling around in my head for a while. It has come about because of teachers asking me for a definition or explanation of ‘Intentional Teaching’. I hope this very short post helps remove some ofContinue reading “Intentional teaching: what is it?”

This is the third of three short posts for parents who have children who are learning to read. The first post focused on reading TO your child/ren, the second on reading WITH your child/ren and this third one offers some support for helping your child to read for themselves. What is reading?     . .Continue reading “Helping your child with reading: 3. Children reading BY themselves”

“Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift.” Kate Di Camillo This is the second of three short posts designed for parents of children who are learning how to read. The first of the series focused on reading TO your child/ren.Continue reading “Helping your child with reading: 2. Reading WITH your child”