Tom Needham

NEW POST: The Application of Theory. tinyurl.com/y9qoh9tf. Research that has informed my practice. @tombennett71 @Xris32 @AlwaysLearnWeb @olicav @teacherhead @bennewmark @joeybagstock @DavidDidau @Rosalindphys @adamboxer1 @daisychristo @Doug_Lemov @mssfax please share

NEW Is reading comprehension even a thing? And if it is, how should we teach it? open.substack.com/pub/daviddidau…

New Event! Check out "In Action Masterclasses: Rosenshine, Nuthall, Ausubel and Engelmann" with me, Bennie Kara, Tom Needham and Sarah Cottinghatt. June 25th Online . Live or via recordings. eventbrite.com/e/in-action-ma… @eventbritehelp

Teaching vocabulary shouldn’t mean leaving kids to guess from context. A story-based, explicit approach, inspired by Engelmann’s Theory of Instruction, can make new words both clear and engaging.

@BarbaraBleiman @FayeGriffiths8 @EngMediaCentre Thanks Barbara

@Tom_Needham_ See link below to 'Spotlight on Literacy', as recommended by @FayeGriffiths8, for link to @EngMediaCentre free resource.

Can anyone recommend a handwriting intervention for secondary school?

@DavidDidau Thanks David

@Tom_Needham_ Is this of any use? learningspy.co.uk/writing/handwr…

@brmorris10 @MrsSpalding Thanks. Much appreciated

@Tom_Needham_ This, from @MrsSpalding,was incredibly helpful…

@intothewayside1 Thanks very much

@Tom_Needham_ We’ve started using this, early days but seems promising. Very comprehensive and you need to be selective depending on what time you have available for intervention with this but fairly usable teachhandwriting.co.uk/key-stage-3-4-…

We teach the lowest 10%. No one else does this successfully; some of the best-known ‘reading interventions’ actually ignore or avoid this group.

@UnsworthAcademy Great to hear that the Personal General Approach is useful!

In English, Year 11 have been experimenting with characterisation in non-fiction writing. We're loving a technique shared by @Tom_Needham_ on his blog using fictional stories for emotive impact. Here's how one student applied this to exploring attitudes to crime and punishment.

Jake has written a brilliant explanation of how to harness the power of examples and non-examples when teaching vocabulary. Well worth a read!

@dare_richard @JonOwenDI Richard....are you now not using Corrective at all then?

@Tom_Needham_ @JonOwenDI The materials feel better quality. The interleaving of topics feels more effective. Students seem more engaged with CMC.

@JonOwenDI Hi Jon, hope you're well. Is CMC or Corrective Maths a better option for secondary students?

@JonOwenDI Brilliant thanks Jon

@Tom_Needham_ Yes Tom, all is well, hope you're all good. CMC is the preferred option. I'll blog about the reason why soon, but one reason is that students struggle to reach mastery in CM, especially when it comes to the long multiplication operation. Hope this helps.

@dare_richard @JonOwenDI Thanks Richard.....why CMC over Corrective?

@Tom_Needham_ @JonOwenDI We've come to prefer CMC.

@Ann142434 @MrZachG Clark.pdf aft.org/sites/default/…

@MrZachG Hi Zach if you could recommend one article on this subject to send to my Director of Curriculum what would it be? My school district and most teachers are still all in on inquiry based ed.

As schools reckon with past mistakes in inquiry-based curriculum and instruction, they also have to confront the fact that they told teachers it was research-based. It may feel like the rug’s being pulled, but sticking with what doesn’t work means kids don’t learn.

Ian is right. @SCottinghatt's book is brilliant. A superb contribution to the In Action series. Look out for Hidden Lives of Learners (Bennie Kara) and Direct Instruction (@Tom_Needham_ ) coming soon.

Here are my slides from ResearchEd National Conference 25 tomneedhamteach.wordpress.com/2025/09/14/my-…