Teach Primary Issue 18.6

The terms ninja and shinobi evoke images of mysterious, stealthy warriors, skilled in espionage, guerrilla warfare, and assassinations. What they might not be associated with is the teaching and learning of vocabulary and promoting the power of words in primary schools. But in Vocabulary Ninja , this is precisely what the deal is: you, the teacher become the ninja and your pupils are your grasshoppers. This resource is your guide to developing the ninja mentality and for making vocabulary the frontline force of every interaction and every lesson you have. What the book provides is a plethora of evidence, practical strategies, pearls of wisdom, mantras, engaging games, resources and advice on how to bring words to life. These all tap into incidental learning, explicit instruction, and independent strategy development. It also provokes us to do better and go that bit further to improve the size and depth of learners’ vocabulary, support their language development and foster their cognitive abilities and critical thinking. This is where the author talks about marginal gains, micro-ambitions and micro-successes and building vocabulary through little wins throughout the day and not wasting a single moment. It’s about getting pupils interested in playing with words and language, having an interest and awareness of words and providing rich opportunities for elaborating word knowledge, fluency and confidence by ‘bringing the rain’. As the author notes, ‘You need to be the cumulonimbus cloud that pours down onto your pupils’ shallow word pool, making it a little deeper in each moment and understanding that every raindrop matters.’ At the heart of the book is the idea of improving children’s word health to ultimately support them become better readers, writers and communicators through an enriched diet of high-quality language. It does this through simplifying any teaching processes while amplifying the outcomes for learners. Part one of this stellar resource is devoted to ‘the way of the vocabulary ninja’ and developing a ninja mindset with some brilliant chapters covering the value of vocabulary, tiers of vocabulary, early vocabulary development in the EYFS, taught vs encountered vocabulary, explicit vocabulary teaching, the vocabulary environment and improving writing standards. These are written in a very easy-going and informal style and reading the words feels like the author is having a comfortable chat with you. The chapters in themselves are a masterclass in how to get your message across and will help inform and inspire any CPD sessions. The second part of the book is packed with the actual kit and kaboodle and this includes a range of tried and tested teaching resources designed to bring vocabulary to life. Examples of the activities include word of the day, enthralling etymology, scintillating synonyms, adventurous alternatives, vocabulary laboratory and plenty more besides. A concluding section includes additional resources featuring websites and answers to activities. You might not be a walking dictionary, but you could well be a walking ninja in a state of readiness to increase the value of every opportunity the school day opens for supercharging vocabulary. This resource will get you to that point, ready to excel. Vocabulary Ninja is characterised by its vibrant and nurturing content that cultivates a love for learning vocabulary and lays the groundwork for helping grasshoppers take some significant intellectual leaps that will produce educationally significant improvements in their language skills. A practical and comprehensive addition to your teaching arsenal AT A GLANCE ENGL I SH An essential practical toolkit of strategies and resources to supercharge vocabulary A huge arsenal of practical ideas, lessons, games, resources, strategies and content Features theory, teaching approaches, photocopiable activities, vocabulary, etymology and phrases Built on five years of research, teaching and best practice A CPD resource bank for becoming a vocabulary grand master £24.99 per year | tinyurl.com/tp-VocabularyNinja Builds teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs about teaching vocabulary Promotes language growth and upgrades the role of vocabulary Help teachers promote word learning across the school day Fosters word consciousness and tackles word deprivation head-on Perfect for modelling and scaffolding writing Inspires and makes learning vocabulary memorable ...you are looking to implement a whole-school literacy system and vocabulary-rich environment that will make a significant impact on pupil confidence, oracy and academic outcomes. VERD I CT UPGRADE I F. . . REVIEWED BY: JOHN DABELL Vocabulary Ninja 92 | www.teachwire.net RE V I EWS