Kathrine Mortimore - Literacy in Secondary Schools

The Leading, Language and Literature Podcast

This is the third in a series of podcasts where I focus on a particular part of English instruction or English related matters in detail. In this episode I’m talking to Kathrine Mortimore. Kathrine is the Associate Assistant Principal at a secondary school in Torquay and author of the book: Disciplinary Literacy and Explicit Vocabulary Teaching: A whole school approach to closing the attainment gap.

We discuss:

• The most effective or important approaches to establishing an accurate reading age for students
• Whether targeted vocabulary instruction in every subject looks different depending on the subject
• How can using PowerPoints vs Booklets make a difference for students who struggle to read
• If there is any noticeable correlation between behaviour and literacy levels
• How knowledge organisers and retrieval practice aid student literacy
• On tutor reading programmes: how to do them well when tutors aren’t necessarily English teachers
• And if Kathrine had to recommend 3 cornerstones of an effective literacy programme in a school, what would they be?

I’m extremely grateful to be able to talk to people like Kathrine, who are clearly experts in their field and are ready with a litany of practical examples and strategies to go away with.

If you want to be kept up to date on when educational chat like this happens, then be sure to subscribe to the podcast and/or follow me on Twitter @chrisjordanhk

Links:

New Group Reading Test

Bringing Words to Life by Isabel Beck et al

Closing the Reading Gap by Alex Quigley

Reading Reconsidered: A Practical Guide to Rigorous Literacy Instruction by Doug Lemov et al

The Writing Game by Robin Hardman

The EEF’s advice on disciplinary literacy

Scarborough’s Reading Rope

Alice Visser-Furay - @AVisserFuray