100 Ideas for Primary Teachers: Oracy

Today's young voices will be tomorrow's leading ones. This book is a stirring reminder that educators across all phases can help shape the voices that will lead us into the future. * Simon Day, Secondary Lead Teacher, English and Oracy Consultant @SpeakWithSimon1 *
This is an excellent guide to developing oracy which I would highly recommend to all those involved in primary education. The strategies listed in this book will provide teachers of all levels of experience with clear, concise and nuanced guidance on how to develop oracy in their classroom. I am certain this will be an invaluable resource for all teachers wishing to grow their repertoire of approaches to teaching oracy and using oracy as a tool for learning. * Marc Hayes, assistant headteacher and Year 6 teacher *
This book does an excellent job of distilling the extensive body of work on oracy into structured, accessible and actionable points, with clarity of purpose and principle throughout. * Rupert Knight, University of Nottingham, author of Classroom Talk @knight_rupert *
This book is full of practical ideas to help teachers develop theirs and their pupils’ talk in lessons which, in turn, may make teaching and learning more deliberate and inclusive. * Will Millard, Associate Director, SQW, @willmillard1 *
This book is absolutely brimming with practical, easy-to-implement strategies to get your students talking in class. * Amy Gaunt and Alice Stott, Directors at Voice 21 and authors of Transform Teaching and Learning Through Talk: The Oracy Imperative *
Presented in bite-sized chunks to make it accessible for busy teachers, this book is full of clear and actionable ideas for promoting high-quality talk in the classroom. * Dr Kirstin Mulholland, Assistant Professor in Education at Northumbria University *
Such a rich compendium of innovative ideas and practical guidance for planning engaging lessons, fostering interactive learning and supporting pupils to use oracy for learning and for life! * Alan Howe, Education Consultant at Oracy Cambridge *
The outcomes of this book are twofold: it will enable you to promote a culture of oracy, but most importantly, it will empower the teacher to know how to let talk flourish. A succinct and important book which codifies how to navigate student talk for learning the curriculum and beyond. * Hydeh Fayaz, Deputy Head and Associate Director at St Matthew's Research School in Birmingham @hydeh_rose *
Every teacher in the country should have a copy of this book always open on their table. Our children have important thoughts, ideas and opinions. The book’s activities equip children to both think individually and aloud to share all their thinking. They can listen, discuss, hypothesise, and decide together. Because they can talk better, children can think better, learn better and be more adept socially. They will do better in their curriculum exams. Oracy education is what makes the difference; what is oracy? Here it is, clarified in practical activities. * Lyn Dawes, Senior Lecturer in Education at Northampton University and author of Talking Points *
This wonderful book applies the principles of effective oracy provision to real classroom practice, giving a comprehensive set of activities that can be immediately implemented. I will recommend this to all the oracy leads and schools I work with. This book is simply brilliant! * Angela Schofield, Programme Development Lead at Excelsior Multi-Academy Trust *
This book is more than a resource, it’s an exquisitely constructed guide to evolving an oracy rich education for our young people. The introduction alone set my heart racing, ‘Oracy is a matter of social justice, citizenship and democracy’. Topsy sets out the central purpose of oracy in the classroom as a powerful way to deepen learning and equipping pupils to be able to use spoken language in any given situation. She offers wise caveats, key concepts for consideration and presents beautifully curated teaching ideas to support the evolution of oracy in class. One of the most exciting elements is the emphasis on both oracy for thinking /thinking for oracy and creating a culture of listening. Both elements that are sometimes hidden in plain sight. This book is both rigorous and rich and would be an incredible resource for anyone wanting to make sure oracy has both an academic and social impact. Highly recommend. * Rachel Higginson - education consultant and curator of the 'Finding my Voice' project. *