The A to Z of Essential Resources
To celebrate 2023, here is the A to Z of Essential Resources. We’re highlighting our top new releases, some long-time favourites, and the unique service we provide. Enjoy!
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Category: Primary
Blogs related to primary school subjects, teaching, learning, and more. Written by recognised author-educators and experienced staff. Each blog is tagged for easy filtering.
How to use SOLO Taxonomy in the classroom
It may be baby steps at first, but soon it will be strides. First Steps with SOLO Taxonomy shows primary and secondary school teachers how to implement this powerful model of learning.
Aotearoa New Zealand Histories primary resources
Aotearoa New Zealand and You and Discovering Aotearoa New Zealand – two series of engaging Aotearoa New Zealand Histories resources that align with the refreshed curriculum and create meaningful learning.
Inspiring ideas to help students with narrative writing
Dawn McMillan is an internationally recognised writer of picture books and educational texts. Her background is primary school teaching, with a special interest in writing and reading processes. She offers an insider’s guide to narrative writing.
Explicit teaching works
Dr Helen Walls, The Writing Teacher, explains why we should move away from constructivism and towards explicit teaching.
It’s back – Get your New Zealand teacher planner for 2024
Be ready to go when 2024 rolls in with The Essential Planner. Eye-catching designs and tailor-made for primary and intermediate school, this is the essential NZ teacher planner.
How to teach music using music resources in primary schools
Including music as a meaningful part of the curriculum can be challenging, particularly for those teachers unfamiliar with the subject. We draw on our primary school music resources to bring you easy and engaging activities to incorporate music into your classroom.
Start at sentence level for writing success
Sentence structure is a key component of teaching writing at primary school. Following the release of How to Teach Writing, Spelling and Grammar, author Christine Braid explains how to build sentence knowledge clause by clause.
Four easy drama activities to excite your students
Are you calling out for new ways to excite your students? We have you covered with four fun and easy drama activities to mix things up in your classroom!
Build students’ appreciation and understanding of science experiments
Implementing science experiments can be daunting for primary school teachers. Likewise, students can struggle to see their relevance to their lives. Julia Burton’s primary science resources want to help both appreciate and understand experiments.
Review: How to Teach Writing, Spelling and Grammar
Professor James Chapman reviews How to Teach Writing, Spelling and Grammar by Helen Walls with Christine Braid
How to build confidence in struggling readers
Few skills are more important in today’s world than reading. Yet, even though it is crucial, reading literacy has tracked downwards in New Zealand in the last 20 years. So how can we support struggling readers and build reading confidence?
The essentials of teaching basic facts in primary school
It may seem old school, but fluency in basic facts in primary school is a crucial skill to progress further with mathematics. Fluency goes beyond memorising the times tables – it involves understanding and applying mathematics.
Three excellent ideas for teaching problem solving
Having engaging mathematics resources on hand is important for getting primary school students enthusiastic about the subject. Read on for creative ways to teach problem solving and get students looking forward to their next maths class.
Learning to write – it’s time to change how we teach
Author Helen Walls discusses the benefits of learning to write, reevaluates current teaching approaches and uses research to identify methods that better serve students.
The Top 22 Teacher Resources of 2022
The end of the year is upon us and what a year it has been. We wanted to say thank you for all your support and share with you the highlights of our year and the top 22 teacher resources of 2022, as decided by you!
SOLO Hexagons: a powerful systems thinking strategy
SOLO Hexagons is an effective systems thinking strategy to support and advance student thinking about complex subjects, from a surface level understanding to a more conceptual level.
Essential Planner 2023: The most loved teacher planner
We’ve just released The Essential Planner 2023, one of the most loved teaching planners for junior to senior primary school teachers. It is the perfect teacher planner to organise your teaching year.
Successful transition from early childhood to primary school
The transition from early childhood (ECE) to primary school impacts children and their family. Communication and pedagogical awareness are crucial elements for transition.
How to engage young readers
Leaning on his time as a teacher, Paul Mason, highly published children’s writer, reflects on how he puts the child at the heart of what he writes – wanting children to see themselves in his stories.
Why every child needs to learn science at school
Learning science in school is a great way to develop students’ critical and creative thinking skills while engaging them in activities.
Tips for teaching dyslexic readers
Students with dyslexia struggle to learn to read and spell. Compared with their peers (of the same intelligence, age or year level), dyslexic students progress at a slower rate and participating in reading, spelling and writing activities involves much more effort for them.
Taking action with SOLO Taxonomy and hexagonal thinking
Last article in a four part series from Pam Hook, explores how SOLO Taxonomy and Hexagons can shift students’ understanding to a conceptual or SOLO extended abstract level.
How do you teach struggling readers to read?
Most classes include at least a couple of struggling readers, but how can teachers offer support to improve their literacy skills?
Connecting and comparing ideas about Earth’s systems with SOLO Taxonomy
In the third part of the series, Pam Hook explores how SOLO Hexagons can support students to move to a deeper level of understanding – the SOLO relational level – in relation to climate change.
Integrating climate change into your curriculum
Why is climate change important to young people’s learning? In Years 7–11, students are already experiencing rapid physical, emotional and social changes in their own lives. As they see it, climate change may be just one more disaster that no one can do anything about.
Using SOLO Taxonomy to determine prior knowledge and bring in ideas about Earth’s systems
Second of a four-part series by Pam Hook on SOLO Hexagons and SOLO Taxonomy – a fusion and powerful strategy for teaching systems thinking.
SOLO Taxonomy and hexagonal thinking in the classroom
Pam Hook presents the first of a four-part series on SOLO Hexagons – a fusion of SOLO Taxonomy and hexagonal thinking as a powerful strategy for teaching systems thinking.
Three easy ideas for learning maths at home
Sometimes students (teachers and parents!) need a break from content-heavy lessons. Here are three easy ideas for learning maths at home – all you need is a deck of cards!
The magic of reading aloud with Jill Eggleton
Author, Jill Eggleton, on how reading aloud to children helps to naturally create meaning and a better understanding of how language works – including making sense from print.
Tales of teaching with Story Seekers
An interview with Tania Withers, Head of ESOL at St Joseph’s Catholic School in Wellington, about Essential Resources’ popular literacy resources, Story Seekers.
Awesome ideas for learning at home: Part 3
Angie Simmons writes about awesome online science tools for learning at home. She offers tips and tricks in the blogs series to make learning at home the best it can be.
Awesome ideas for learning at home: Part 2
Author, Angie Simmons, writes about awesome ideas for learning at home. She offers tips and tricks in the blogs series to make being at home situation the best it can be.
Let’s Get Coding
Angie Simmons writes about ways in which parents can help their children learn coding and technology. She also provides ideas that are not online learning.
Creating digital stories develops digital fluency
Author, Angie Simmons, explains how creating digital stories leads towards problem solving and technology integration which seamlessly weaves together the pedagogy.
Building an understanding and appreciation of poetry with Vaughan Rapatahana
Author and poet, Vaughan Rapatahana, answers questions around the importance of poetry and how to understand and develop an appreciation for it.
