TS-9.3

Off the Shelves Brilliant titles foryou andyour students to explore 50Teachingand LearningApproaches (S.MansellandA.Gravells,SagePublishing,£19.99) What good is educational theory? Plenty – but it’s not always practical towade through thickets of research and lengthyarticles for somethingyou can use in thatY9 lesson next Tuesdaymorning.That’swhere this book comes in.Subtitled ‘Simple,easyandeffective ways to engage learners andmeasure their progress’ ,Mansell andGravells’bookpresents a number oftechniques to get groupsworking together and engaged in a topic.Each chapter is two to three pages long and follows a set format.Atable at the start provides basic information,such aswhetherthe activity is suitable for a large or small group.That’s followedby sections onwhat the activity involves,what it can be used for,the resources needed,advantages anddisadvantages,how tomeasure progress and further reading.A table of ideas and a comprehensive index complete the offering,making it a great repositoryofteaching inspiration. Reviewed by Terry Freedman AreYourKidsNakedOnline? (ChrisandLisaGood,AyknoMediaGroup,£7.59) The title is rather alarming, but that’s probably the point. Aimed at parents and subtitled How to protect your tech-savvy kids from online self-destruction , the book’s thesis is essentially that today’s kids know full well what they’re doing when it comes to using technology, but lack the maturity required to appreciate and understand the potential long-term consequences of their actions. The authors’ aim is to therefore help parents develop their own sophisticated understanding of the technology their children are using, complete with all its assorted jargon, so that they can be in a better position to prevent their kids from getting into trouble. It’s written for an American audience, and thus cites a different legal framework, but the basic advice remains sound. From sexting to ‘sharenting’, taking in the dark web along the way, it’s a book that teachers can both recommend to parents and get some use from themselves. Reviewed by Terry Freedman ClosingtheReadingGap (AlexQuigley,Routledge,£16.99) In this follow-up to Closing theVocabulary Gap ,the formerteacher,school leader and regular TS contributortakes as his starting point the 23%of pupilswho, in 2019,left primary school having not reached the expected level for reading. Fromthere,Quigleyproceeds to clearly and concisely set out why reading is the ‘master skill’of school,and explainwhat teachingveterans andNQTs alike can do to teach itmore effectively.Along theway,readerswill get to delve into an illuminating historyof reading,familiarise themselveswith somewell-explained scientific principles behind the processes of reading and see frequentlycited barriers to reading in awhole newway. There’s also a highly informative chapter on the uses and experiences of reading in other subjects,giving it an appeal that ought to extendwell beyond the confines ofyour English department. teachwire.net/secondary 50