Teaching English Creatively

Book excerpt: What does it mean to teach English creatively to primary school children? Teaching English Creatively encourages and enables teachers to adopt a more creative approach to the teaching of English in the primary school. Fully updated to reflect the changing UK curricula, the second edition of this popular text explores research-informed practices and offers new ideas to develop imaginatively engaged readers, writers, speakers and listeners. Underpinned by theory and research, and illustrated throughout with examples of children’s work, it examines the core elements of creative practice and how to explore powerful literary, non-fiction, visual and digital texts creatively. Key themes addressed include: Developing creativity in and through talk and drama Creatively engaging readers and writers Teaching grammar and comprehension imaginatively and in context Profiling meaning and purpose, autonomy, collaboration and play Planning, reviewing and celebrating literacy learning Ensuring the creative involvement of the teacher Inspiring and accessible, Teaching English Creatively puts contemporary and cutting-edge practice at the forefront and includes a wealth of innovative ideas to enrich English teaching. Written by an experienced author with extensive experience of initial teacher education and English teaching in the primary school, it’s an invaluable resource for any teacher who wishes to embed creative approaches to teaching in their classroom.