Literacy/English | Centre for the Use of Research & Evidence in Education (CUREE)

Using mind-maps to raise standards in literacy, improve confidence and encourage positive attitudes towards learning

Aim: To improve childrens confidence and develop a can-do culture through the school, to develop a visual and kinaesthetic (VAK) approach to teaching and learning and to motivate pupils and teachers through a different approach to learning.

Opening Minds: A competency-based curriculum for the twenty first century

Aim: Improve transition for students from Key Stage 2 into Key Stage 3. Help to develop transferable skills and competencies such as literacy, numeracy and ICT in the Key Stage 3 curriculum. Embed Learning to Learn and Emotional Intelligence into the curriculum. Create engagement in independent learning through an innovative & engaging curriculum for students in the 21st century. Extend and challenge the most able and engage those with the potential to become disaffected in KS3, creating a resilience in learning that will become habitual and transferable. Embed ICT throughout the curriculu

Can we improve the standard of speaking and listening during group work?

Aim: The aims of our project were to improve the overall standard of speaking and listening in the classroom, enabling the children to share their ideas. We particularly wanted to improve their listening skills, to encourage the children to listen carefully to others. Our third aim was to improve on the childrens abilities to engage in conversation and be able to comment and extend on other children's ideas.

Developing the Writing Skills of Pupils for whom English is an Additional Language

Aim: to identify how teachers can improve the narrative writing skills of Year 3 pupils for whom English is an additional language (EAL pupils).

The Role of Handwriting in Raising Achievement

Aim: To establish whether fluent handwriting can be a factor in raising achievement.

Using email to assist reading

Aim: 1) To see if computer-mediated communication between boys at two different schools can enhance the reading ability and interest of Year 9 boys with low reading levels. 2) To make use of the opportunities for anonymity which email offers in order to allow teachers to assume multiple roles in the teaching of literature.

Can thinking skills offer a framework to support young children's comprehension in literacy?

Aim: The study sought to explore the extent to which young children of 5/6 years of age could be encouraged to articulate their thinking and the way they perceive themselves as learners. In particular the researcher aimed to investigate whether the use of thinking skills strategies within a Year 1 class could improve the childrens comprehension of literacy texts and encourage a wider participation within the class members through speaking and listening.

Teaching punctuation

Aim: To identify reasons why some pupils in Year 8 have difficulty with basic punctuation, to explore teachers' perceptions of pupils' difficulty with punctuation and their pedagogic strategies for supporting pupils with punctuation problems and to suggest strategies which are likely to help pupils use punctuation successfully

Investigating the Teaching of Writing Frames: Raising Standards In Boys' Writing

Aim: To investigate how writing frames can be used to improve the standard of boys writing.

Teaching conditional spelling rules in the classroom: an intervention strategy for teaching the split digraph rules a-e/o-e

Aim: To explore the impact of computer presentations on motivation and learning in the classroom, to investigate whether it is best to teach related spelling rules within a given timeframe, or rules that differ from each other and to assess whether the learning of a related rule strengthens the knowledge of the first rule learned or whether it interferes with it.