Category Archives: Inference

Run, run

Posted on 07/11/2017 by

Today I was out early, as rain is promised for later. I observed a father taking a ?3 year-old to nursery. They were crossing the road and the child had clearly been drilled to keep looking out for traffic. Suddenly … Continue reading →

Posted in ESL / EFL / EAL, Helping children understand, Inference, Share stories

Black Sheep Press

Posted on 09/08/2017 by

Black Sheep Press has a new website with lots of exciting changes and improved features. You can visit it here. I used many of the resources from Black Sheep Press while I was working with young children. The company publishes … Continue reading →

Posted in Association, Child language, Competence level, Education at home, ESL / EFL / EAL, Grammar, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy, Teaching | Tagged , , , ,

More fairy tales with Language Levels questions

Posted on 30/08/2016 by

The tenth title in the Using Language Levels series is available at £4* from TES. Entitled Fairy tales – 3, it offers a text for each tale, an extra activity, the Language Levels questions, a cover note and a record … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Competence level, Education at home, ESL / EFL / EAL, Grammar, Helping children understand, Helping language skills at home, Home schooling, Inference, Language Levels, Marion Blank, Promoting language development, Speech and Language Pathology, Speech and Language Therapy, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Pronouns

Posted on 08/10/2015 by

Further to a query on a forum on TES, I have picked out some of my resources which are particularly aimed at working on pronouns. Hope you find this helpful. See the Pronouns listing in the sidebar. Have also made … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Competence level, Education at home, ESL / EFL / EAL, Grammar, Helping children understand, Helping language skills at home, Home schooling, Inference, Promoting language development, Speech and Language Pathology, Speech and Language Therapy, Teaching | Tagged , , ,

Using Language Levels: new resources

Posted on 14/04/2015 by

I see searches for information about Dr. Marion Blank’s Language Levels just about every day. So I have been working on some new resources which feature graded questions of the sort included in Language Levels I-IV. Each set of story … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Competence level, Education at home, ESL / EFL / EAL, Helping children understand, Helping language skills at home, Home schooling, Inference, Language Levels, Marion Blank, Promoting language development, Speech and Language Pathology, Speech and Language Therapy, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , ,

The Lady and the Lion

Posted on 25/11/2014 by

I am proud to announce (with sound of trumpets) that Pip Harrison and I have got to the end of The Year of the Fairy Tale. The last set of resources based on two similar stories by the Brothers Grimm … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Competence level, Grammar, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Share stories, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy | Tagged , , , , ,

The Magic Horse

Posted on 20/10/2014 by

Read Aloud version contributed by NZ writer/teacher ©Pip Harrison …“Guards! Seize this man!” ordered the King. “Take him to prison until my son comes safely home. Fancy bringing me such a dangerous thing!” … Early Reading version  …“Look at that!” … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Competence level, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Share stories, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy, Teaching

Cinderella

Posted on 07/09/2014 by

Pip Harrison, New Zealand writer, has rewritten the well-known tale from the Fairy Godmother’s point of view. The RA is approx. 11y for older children, or to be read aloud. ‘…Amidst it all, the prince and Cinderella gazed at each … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Competence level, Grammar, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, PSHE / Virtues Programme, Share stories, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy | Tagged , , ,

The Twelve Brothers

Posted on 13/08/2014 by

“…As the young men pushed open the gate, she picked the twelve flowers. With each snip one young man after the other rose up from the garden, arms turning to great black wings, noses to beaks, legs to claws – … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammar, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Share stories, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy, Teaching | Tagged , , ,

Little Red Riding Hood

Posted on 04/05/2014 by

“Shall I walk with you?” said the wolf. “Oh, no, sir, thank you. I can quite well walk by myself and I expect you have wolf things to be getting on with.”  “Well, there is one wolf thing I could … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammar, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Share stories, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy, Teaching | Tagged , , ,

The real princess AKA The princess and the pea

Posted on 16/04/2014 by

“Pea of destiny, pea of delight, We need your help, we seek insight. Is this princess the real deal? Will she sleep or will she feel Your bumpy presence in her bed, Making her toss and turn instead?…” Find the … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Share stories, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy | Tagged , , ,

Blondine, Bonne-Biche & Beau-Minon

Posted on 11/03/2014 by

Another Traditional Tale has been uploaded to TES. If you do not get your resources from TES, you can find the ‘long and short of it’ versions (as above) here. The original story – from a book of Old French … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Grammar, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, PSHE / Virtues Programme, Share stories, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy, Teaching | Tagged , , ,

The Frog Princess

Posted on 20/02/2014 by

The first TRADITIONAL TALE is complete! See the link in the sidebar on the right. I hope people find it fun. If you do not get your resources from TES, you can find the ‘long and short of it’ versions … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Competence level, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Share stories, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy, Teaching

Go find (this wonderful book)

Posted on 21/01/2013 by

Just finished ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue (Picador, 2011), a book I found hard to put down but did not wish to finish. Even read some bits twice. Don’t look at a description of it or you may suspect it will … Continue reading →

Posted in Association, Child language, Grammar, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy

Can you see what I mean?

Posted on 06/11/2012 by

This post is to highlight a published resource I designed but cannot put on TES (although I have a section of free resources there which you can find described on the page Read for Meaning/Inference in the list on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Competence level, Grammar, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Teaching | Tagged , , , ,

Choose your martyrdom

Posted on 30/04/2012 by

Would you rather be pressed like St. Margaret Clitherow or hanged like St. Anne Line? How does your school inform small children of their fate? Will the Head tell a 6 year old he is going to be put in … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Competence level, Helping children understand, Inference | Tagged , , ,

Good listening?

Posted on 13/04/2012 by

Teachers constantly exhort children to do ‘good listening’. And of course it is an excellent idea. But those who work specifically with children who have problems with attention, language delay, learning difficulties or a combination of all of these also … Continue reading →

Posted in Association, Child language, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Teaching

A real there there

Posted on 19/01/2012 by

My grammar check immediately spots I have repeated a word, but never mind! As soon as I heard this wonderful new noun (a ‘there-there’), I found it captivating. How much more immediate than solace or consolation. Other recent activity has … Continue reading →

Posted in Grammar, Helping children understand, Inference, Promoting language development, Teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged , , ,

A Marmite relationship

Posted on 23/06/2011 by

Watch one of the men in charge of a display of birds of prey! He strides around the ring, talking non-stop in an informative but colloquial style about the birds, while his colleague gets the birds to fly. As the … Continue reading →

Posted in Association, Child language, Inference | Tagged ,

The cobbler’s children go unshod!

Posted on 06/05/2011 by

Don’t you love earwigging? Not in an unpleasant way – just overhearing because you can’t help it.

Posted in Association, Inference | Tagged ,

Look, mummy, look!

Posted on 02/05/2011 by

Many of the children who fall behind with language development have immense problems with drawing inferences: from events, from pictures, from conversation and especially from text when they get to that stage. It is delightful to observe children who do … Continue reading →

Posted in Child language, Inference | Tagged

Keep speech simple too

Posted on 20/02/2011 by

It’s not just print that needs adapting – even talk can be confusing! The words we use, the speed we go, the in-between time – all these will influence how much a child understands. Especially the child with delayed or … Continue reading →

Posted in Association, Child language, Competence level, Inference, Promoting language development, Speech & Language Pathology, Speech & Language Therapy, Teaching | Tagged , , ,