KS1 & KS2 EAL Resources
Pupils learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) not only face the challenges of learning a new language, but they also need to quickly acquire the reading skills, vocabulary, and foundational knowledge to learn a wider curriculum through English. Rockerbox News for pupils learning EAL is designed according to the philosophy that learning to read and reading to learn go hand in hand. Our 100% non-fiction platforms teach the real-world reading skills pupils need to access a wider curriculum and reach their full potential.
The Benefits of Non-Fiction as an EAL Resource
Increased Engagement and an Effective Use of Learning Time
Non-fiction content can be accessible, relevant, and conceptually interesting for EAL learners at any level. By tapping into personal interests and timely information, limited English practice times in school can be spent interacting with each other.
Vocabulary Expansion
Non-fiction enables pupils to expand their vocabulary to the technical language required to access a wider curriculum. Once pupils are familiar with the information and vocabulary non-fiction text offers, they will be freer to absorb more complex grammatical and linguistic concepts introduced through that content.
Cultural Awareness
Non-fiction eliminates more cultural barriers than fiction. It also gives you opportunities to promote cultural acceptance and understanding in your classroom.
Clues to Aid Comprehension
Titles, photographs, and diagrams can offer more detail than chapter titles and illustrations to aid your pupils as they strive to understand English text.
Critical Thinking Skills and Metacognition
Non-fiction requires pupils to use different critical thinking skills to fiction texts as they make connections to prior knowledge, use higher-level questioning, and summarise what they’ve learned. This helps to yield increased comprehension and become better learners in general.
Family Engagement
Studies show a combination of non-fiction texts and a participatory approach to learning, where learners and families are involved as actively in the learning process as possible, dramatically improves literacy learning outcomes in pupils learning EAL.*
Rockerbox News as an EAL Resource
Age and Level Appropriate Platforms
The Rockerbox News platforms have 5 levels of age and level-appropriate content for you to select for your pupils. Phonics, punctuation, grammar, and sentence structures are contextualised and taught sequentially according to the UK KS1 and KS2 national curriculum. All texts are intentionally kept concise, allowing you to combat any difficulties with attention and engagement.
Curriculum Alignment for Classroom Inclusion
Curriculum alignment for pre-teaching and reviewing concepts and vocabulary builds background knowledge for classroom inclusion.
British Accent Listen Alouds
Every Rockerbox News text and the related comprehension questions can be read aloud to a learner by the platform in a standard British accent to enhance proficiency, empower independent student-driven learning, and strengthen home-school links.
Mobile App Version to Improve Family Engagement
Families have full access to the mobile app version of Rockerbox News, meaning learning can continue as a family at home.
I don’t know many teenage boys who punch the air and shout “yes!” when they are told it is time for reading. Yet, that is exactly what is happening since we have started to use Rockerbox News in school. The students love the articles and are highly motivated to complete as many of the knowledge checkers as they can. As a teacher, it pleases me beyond measure to see their enthusiasm and engagement and it has also had the bonus of dramatically reducing my planning time. An all round winner!
Jackie Bushnell
Literacy Lead, JFK Special School
Rockerbox News is a fantastic reading resource for non-fiction text based on various topics. The topics are up to date and relevant. Many are subjects that the reader may have no previous knowledge of. They are written clearly and concisely, which quickly and effectively engages children to read more. Articles vary from bite-sized fact-based articles to much longer, complex texts, so it is very easy to provide differentiation. This differentiation really helps with children with English as an additional language and others with a lower standard of reading than their peers. The children love it.
Olga Hopper
Assistant Head at Ranelagh primary school and lead for EAL in SUFFOLk