I stumbled upon The Literacy Shed the other day completely by accident and was immediately blown away by what this British teacher had compiled. In his own words:
The aim [of The Literacy Shed] is to provide high quality resources that can be used in stand-alone literacy lessons, can form the basis for a whole literacy unit, or can support literacy units that you already have in place.
So What Is The Literacy Shed?
What does this free website offer? Amazing short videos collected from around the web with great teaching ideas for each. On the left side of the main page, you’ll see the vast collection divided into a large array of genres, including such interesting topics as The Thinking Shed, The Numeracy Shed, The Inspiration Shed, The Sports Shed, and The Fairy Tale Shed, to name just a few. I started in The Mystery Shed and immediately got lost in the great videos there.
The videos come from a variety of sources and definitely kept me engaged. (I won’t tell you exactly how long I spent watching them, but it was way more than I originally intended!) For each video, the curator has provided comprehension questions, as well as writing suggestions, along with ideas for the teacher. Some of the videos would be best used with elementary students, while others are suitable for high school learners. (To be honest, you could also use some of them very well for staff discussions and learning.)
While the site was originally begun to target visual literacy, all types of literacy skills are now included, including numerical, cultural, and media. This makes it a wonderful resource. You really need to take a look at The Literacy Shed today and then please let me know how you will use it with your students.
