Hallmark UK is helping to demonstrate how well children respond when everyday methods are used to make learning fun in the classroom.
Year two and year five pupils at Whitefield Primary in Liverpool were filmed ahead of World Teacher’s Day testing a new educational pack created by Hallmark and the World Literacy Foundation that uses greetings cards to teach reading and writing.
Once the children had chosen the person they wanted to write the card to (real or fictional), they were filmed writing the message to that person. They then read out the message in front of the class.
Nadine Carroll, headteacher at Whitefield Primary, said: “We believe in ‘real reading’ – it’s a golden thread that runs through the whole curriculum. We see the use of shopping lists, letters, greetings cards and street signs as a key way of helping children reinforce their day to day learning of literacy.”
23 different languages are spoken at Whitefield Primary School and its pupils come from a range of countries, including Syria, Pakistan and Italy.
Esther Key from Hallmark, commented: “When we saw the World Literacy Foundation research that three in 10 children globally can’t read and write we wanted to do our bit to try and change things. On World Teacher’s Day, we hope this new video shows how integrating everyday methods for teaching literacy can bring fun into the classroom, helping children develop their reading and writing skills in a very effective way.”
Meanwhile, a new study* of five to 12 year olds by Hallmark shows that 26% of girls would most like to write a card to Harry Potter whereas for 22% of boys, Spiderman is the top choice.
Teachers can download the schools pack by going to www.hallmark.co.uk/pages/literacyday2016. Hallmark cards are available at stores across the UK.
