Vocabulary

• Word of the day - spelling, definition, put it in a sentence

• Quiz at the end of the week

Write a story

• If a student is late or disengaged, ask them to write a story as to why they were late or disengaged. 

• The story doesn't necessarily need to be true, but if the story is creative and well-written, they can be excused.

Make big readings more approachable

• When approaching a lengthy or complex text, students can break it down into manageable steps:

  • Look at the structure – Note headings, subheadings, images, graphs, and other visual features.

  • Make predictions – Based on the title and visuals, what do you think the text will be about?

  • Consider the author’s purpose – Is the text meant to inform, persuade, entertain, or something else?

  • Skim for key terms – Identify new, unfamiliar, or topic-specific words before reading in detail.

  • Identify evidence and facts – Look for supporting information that backs up main ideas.

  • Write a question – What do you want to learn or understand better from this text?

• Breaking the reading down this way helps students focus, build comprehension, and feel more confident tackling complex material.

Frayer model vocabulary

• Students explore a keyword or concept by completing four boxes:

  • Definition – Students write a clear, concise definition of the word or concept in their own words.

  • Characteristics – Students list the key features or attributes that describe the word or concept.

  • Examples – Students give real-life or lesson-based examples that fit the concept.

  • Non-examples – Students identify what does not fit the concept to clarify understanding and prevent confusion.

• Why it works: Engages students actively, deepens understanding, and helps teachers spot misconceptions.

• Here is a template to use in your classes.

Sentence stems

• Give students starters to guide academic responses:

  • “The main reason for this is…”

  • “One example that supports this is…”

Summarise in 10 words

• At the end of a task, students summarise the concept in exactly 10 words.

Graph it

• Turn class data (opinions, quiz scores, experiment results) into a quick bar or pie chart.

Scale it

• Ask: “If this process/system/event were scaled up/down, what would change?” 

• Useful in geography, biology, economics.

Teaching paraphrasing/rephrasing

• The “Cover and Write” Method

  • Students read a short passage.

  • They cover it up (no peeking!) and write it again in their own words.

  • Then compare with the original — what’s too close? What’s genuinely rephrased?

• Chunk and Summarise

  • Break text into small sections.

  • Ask students to summarise each in one short sentence.

  • Then link the sentences back together for a paraphrased version.

• Change the Structure, Not Just Words

  • Explicitly teach ways to restructure:

    • Change order of information.

    • Combine two sentences into one (or split one into two).

    • Switch from passive → active voice.

    • Use synonyms carefully but focus on clarity, not word swaps.

• Paraphrase Races

  • • Give students a short text. They must paraphrase in:

      • 5 words

      • 10 words

      • A tweet-length sentence (25 words)

      • A full rephrase.

    • Shows them how to flexibly work with meaning.

• “Explain It to a Friend”

  • Students imagine they’re explaining the passage to a younger sibling or a friend who knows nothing about the topic. This shifts their focus from copying words to communicating ideas.

Email your parents (or a trusted adult)

• Once a week, get students to email their parents with an update of what they are doing in class

• It could also be a teacher, a trusted adult or a sibling

• Give them sentence stems and prompts

• Ensure the email is professional and mature

Plagiarism and academic integrity

• Run an activity where you teach students how to paraphrase to avoid plagarism

• Ask all students to sign an oath declaring they will uphold Academic Integrity, and they are signing a contract to understand what will happen if they breach this

• Do this in the first week or second week, but not on the first day

• TPT use Waste of Humanity has examples of these in her TPT shop. 

Imaginative narrative

• Get students to write a story to put themselves in the shoes of someone you are trying to imagine (like a soldier in WWII, or someone living in the slums of Mumbai)

Notetaking strategies

• Analysing and evaluating - what to leave out, add in, substitute, change words

• Rule-based strategy - delete information not needed, remove repeats, combine information as lists, write a topic sentence

• One-sentence paraphrase - synthesise what you have learnt into one sentence

• Reciprocal teaching - summarise the info taught, what do you understand and need help with, what words didn't you understand, predict what this means for the world. Encourages metacognition