Tag: Discovery Education

Dynamic digital content for primary schools

Alehousewells Primary School in Kemnay uses Discovery Education Espresso to support teaching and learning in every year group. Teacher Jenny Alexander shares how the platform’s dynamic digital content engages pupils and helps them to progress in subjects such as Phonics and Maths.

A WHOLE SCHOOL RESOURCE

At Alehousewells we use Discovery Education Espresso to support teaching and learning across the school. I’m currently teaching in P2, P4 and P7 and Espresso works well in every year group. Our pupils love the resources and they can be used to support a wide range of subjects.

ENGAGING DIGITAL CONTENT

Espresso’s digital content appeals to young children and is very engaging. They make connections quickly, because they enjoy the videos so much! The clips are short and to the point and the explanations are simple. My pupils concentrate because they don’t have to sit and listen for too long. They like the presenters and the different characters.

PROGRESS IN PHONICS

Espresso is great for teaching phonics. There are lots of videos to explain the different phonetical sounds. Before Espresso, I used another phonics resource but after P1, there was a gap with nothing to progress the different sounds. I found that Espresso could really bridge that gap. Once the children have learned the initial sounds, they move on to phonetical vowels, such as the different ways in which they can say ‘A’. Mastering tricky sounds is important and Espresso supports this very well.

TEACHING GRAMMAR

I use Espresso to teach grammar and it explains things very clearly. The videos are a good starting point for introducing new rules or concepts. I sometimes think that they explain things better than I can! I use the clips for teaching punctuation rules such as when to use commas and semi colons. There are also some great follow-up activities to check pupils’ understanding and make learning fun.

SUPPORTING MATHS

Espresso is my go-to resource for teaching Maths. I always look in Espresso first, to see if there is content to match the learning outcomes that my pupils need to cover. I teach the topic side of Maths and Espresso has some great videos to support this. It’s easy to find resources for teaching about fractions, time, length, measurement, money and much more.

HOME LEARNING

Recently, I used Espresso to support my own children with home schooling. I found it very helpful, because if they were struggling with work that had been sent home, I could simply log on and find a video clip to support their learning. Espresso’s videos can be used to reinforce or to explain ideas more effectively. They’re very accessible and help children to understand things in a different way.

TOPIC LEARNING

Another way that I use Espresso is for topic learning, and it’s good for that. If we are doing a particular topic e.g. The Vikings, I ask the children to log on for independent work. They can explore the different resources and videos and learn something new. So rather than me simply using Espresso as a teaching tool, I’ll ask the children to use it as a research tool and see if there is anything they want to include in their own learning. They really enjoy this.

A GO-TO RESOURCE

Espresso has recently been updated and has lots of new features which will make it even easier to use. You can allocate work to individual pupils or classes and the children can scan in with QR codes. We’re looking forward to using these new tools. Espresso is definitely one of our go-to resources!

Bringing literacy to life with Discovery Education Espresso

The King Fahad Academy in London uses Discovery Education Espresso to support teaching and learning from Early Years to KS2. English and Reading Coordinator Haneen Al Jaaf shares how the platform’s real-world digital content engages pupils, saves teachers time and brings English lessons to life.

A GO-TO RESOURCE

I’ve been using Discovery Education Espresso since I joined the King Fahad Academy in 2014. We follow the National Curriculum and Espresso supports our teaching in every subject. Espresso’s digital content is very appealing for children because it’s so interactive. They particularly like the English resources and the phonics videos are a firm favourite.

FUN PHONICS

Espresso Phonics introduces letters and sounds in a fun way, helping pupils with reading and spelling. For me, the best thing about Espresso Phonics is its simplicity. The videos are short, to the point and focused on each learning objective. They’re presented by colourful animated characters which makes them very engaging. My pupils associate the different sounds with each character, which makes learning memorable. It’s simple but very effective.

PUPIL PROGRESS

Assessing progress is easy with Espresso Phonics, thanks to the various built-in activities. Pupils can practice sorting new sounds and segmenting words before putting these skills into practice. Having phonics videos and activities together in one place is so useful for me because it saves planning time.  I simply add a video and quiz to my PowerPoint and I’m ready to go! I know that my lesson will be engaging. The content is visual and I don’t have to ask the children too many questions.

GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION

I also use Espresso to teach grammar and punctuation in KS1 and KS2. The platform helps me to make lessons engaging, while meeting the National Curriculum. Each learning objective has its own video to introduce the concept with practical examples. Some children find grammar and punctuation lessons boring, but Espresso makes it fun.  The videos take learning further by showing the children how to improve their writing and make it even better.

PERSONALISED LEARNING

One of the best things about Espresso is that it allows me to differentiate learning. Working with a very diverse cohort including EAL learners, it’s essential for me to be able to do this. My pupils have individual Espresso logins, so it’s easy to assign work directly. There is also a feature called Studio which by assigning ‘boards’ with embedded quizzes to pupils, lets me see what they’ve completed and assess progress. Let’s say a child in Year 6 is struggling with fronted adverbials. I can assign a bespoke grammar lesson in Studio by uploading a video, text and quiz. It’s a great way of providing targeted learning support. 

SAVING TEACHERS TIME

Espresso provides lots of tools and guidance to save teachers time. Each channel has a detailed Teacher Guide, with an overview of the content and how it matches curriculum objectives. This is helpful for evidencing because I can show that I’m delivering exactly what’s needed.  Espresso also reduces my workload in terms of preparation and marking. I don’t have to look elsewhere for resources and I can use the built-in Quiz tool to tick off my formative assessments.

INSPIRING IDEAS

As well as saving time, Espresso also provides me with fantastic teaching ideas – particularly through the ‘Spotlight on Strategies’ series. Written by teachers for teachers, ‘SOS Strategies’ offers creative, practical ideas for using digital media in the classroom. My favourite is ‘6 Word Story’, which asks the children to describe an image in six words. I also enjoy Discovery Education’s Tuesday Tutorials – online training sessions which help me to get the most out of Espresso.

PERFECT POETRY

Espresso has some great resources for teaching poetry. Recently, one of the poems that we were studying was quite challenging. We were teaching online at the time which wasn’t ideal, but Espresso saved our lives! It helped the children to access the text and to understand it. For me as a teacher, it was great to have everything in one place – the poem, worksheets and quizzes – and to be able to assign it remotely.  I created a Studio Board with some tweaks for my lower ability pupils, shared it on Google Classroom and we were ready to go!

ENCOURAGING READING

As an English teacher, I’m passionate about encouraging a love of reading. Not all children have access to books at home and digital content can be a powerful hook for today’s young learners. Espresso includes lots of short, digital articles that appeal to my pupils and inspire them to look for books on the same topic. It’s so important to help children enjoy reading and to make it fun. Espresso does this in lots of ways.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORT

Espresso really is an amazing resource. It saves teachers time and inspires pupils, helping them to become independent learners who can take the initiative. What really makes Espresso stand out for me is the exceptional customer service. This is a company that really wants to help teachers; not just to provide excellent resources but to support every step of the way. As a practitioner, it’s important for me to be able to access information quickly. If I ever need help or support, the team at Discovery Education are always there.

Discovery Education Espresso – A Diverse Resource for Schools

Eno Chance is a Reception teacher and Year Group Leader at Moss Hall Infant School in London. Between herself and the Year Reception teaching team (Maggie O’Keefe, Miki Kanai and Tonique Kerr) they have been Espresso users for over 10 years. They explain why the platform appeals to young learners and share how Espresso’s growing diverse content helps children to see themselves reflected.

A RICH RESOURCE

Discovery Education Espresso is rich in resources and covers all areas of learning. We like the videos which can be used to introduce topics and the interactive games which we use to assess learning. Espresso appeals to young children, because the images and videos make it accessible. It’s easy to combine Espresso’s digital content with books, and we often use the two in tandem.

EASY TO SEARCH

The search engine in Espresso is very effective. It allows us to find the resources quickly. It covers different strands, so we can search for a particular topic and it gives us different but related content. The search bar is easy to navigate and the filter is good too. Keywords can be typed into the search bar, and it sorts the results clearly. It’s actually very easy to use and this simplifies my planning.

TOPIC TEACHING

Recently our Reception class topic was People in Our Community. We were learning about the police and teaching the children about how they help us in our day-to-day lives. It was easy to find relevant videos within Espresso to bring this to life. This term we’ve also been learning about the seasons, and Espresso has lots of great content to support this too. The children particularly enjoyed the seasons sorting game. We used the game to see how much they had learned and it was very effective.

DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES

As teachers, we try to give children a range of ways to access the curriculum and to appeal to different learning styles. Our children are keen visual learners. Being able to see and hear what they are being taught is important. Repetition is important too. Espresso is ideal for supporting visual learning and for scaffolding. We can revisit the videos, ask questions, or use them as a comprehension tool.

EYFS FRAMEWORK

The Espresso platform provides resources that can support us with meeting the EYFS Framework expectation. The content is current. As well as giving the children accurate information it also supports the recall aspect of learning. Because the resources are always there, we can refer back to Espresso at any time to support the children. Having Espresso as a ready-to-use tool is so helpful.

THE WORLD AROUND US

It’s so important that we teach children about the world around them, and Espresso is great for this. It provides lots of accurate information, particularly when it comes to topics such as religion, festivals and celebrations. As teachers, we might not be completely knowledgeable about all religious practices. So having Espresso as a resource has helped us hugely. During the Autumn, when our topic was celebration, we looked at Diwali, Hannukah and Christmas and found some good digital content that we could use as teaching tools.

DIFFERENCE AND DIVERSITY

Espresso has continued to grow in providing resources to meet diverse needs. For us this is key. As a school we are very diverse. We have pupils from across Europe, Asia and Africa and a significant number of EAL learners too. It’s so important that these children can see themselves reflected, for their wellbeing and sense of self-confidence. The platform is becoming more and more diverse and is constantly being updated.

RELEVANT FOR TODAY

In summary, I would definitely recommend Espresso to other EYFS teachers. It’s a current resource which reflects the learning needs of children today. The platform even has its own news service and content linked to current events, such as the situation in Ukraine. Information is communicated in a way that children can understand at the appropriate level. We even use Espresso to support home learning.

Discovery Education Espresso – An Engaging Digital Resource for Prep Schools

Charlotte Baly is Director of Studies at The Roche School, a co-ed prep school in South London. Having used Discovery Education Espresso throughout her teaching career, Charlotte explains why the platform is one of her go-to resources.

MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES
Espresso gives me a library of engaging, subject-specific content which I can easily add to my lessons. The platform has lots of great videos and research articles, especially in the Foundation Subjects. In RE, for example, it gives me a range of different media that I can use in my planning. I always use it when teaching about Islam, because it allows me to cover the subject in depth. There are some excellent videos and interviews with practising Muslim children, which my students find very engaging.

PERFECTLY PITCHED
The pitch of Espresso’s videos is really suitable for children. The language used is topic- appropriate and the accompanying visuals and text make everything very accessible. Some of the videos feature children being interviewed, which makes them relatable. So, for example if we’re learning about a religious celebration, Espresso often shows this in a whole family context, with children talking to camera. It’s as if they are speaking to the students in my classroom, which is lovely.

ENGAGING CONTENT
When it comes to making lessons more engaging, Espresso is an invaluable resource. The interactive content creates an active learning experience for my students. Digital resources are naturally more appealing to children, but Espresso also provides lots of excellent offline content and activities to embed learning. It allows my students to engage with information in a variety of ways, which definitely increases their engagement.

STUDENT RETENTION
Espresso also supports retention, especially when it comes to the Foundation subjects that we don’t study every day. Because my students are full engaged when they use Espresso, their subject knowledge is retained. In this way, Espresso contributes to their attainment as they go through the curriculum and move up into new year groups.

SUPPORT WITH PLANNING
As a teacher, I’m always looking for resources to support my planning and to help me showcase subjects in new and different ways. Espresso helps me to vary the content I use and it’s so helpful to have everything in one place. If I’m teaching about a country, for example, I simply type this into the search bar, and find Fact Files, articles, videos and other resources. I can quickly see how everything fits with my lesson objective and I don’t need to look elsewhere.

INDEPENDENT LEARNING
I like to encourage independent learning and Espresso is great for this. My students can use the platform to look up things for themselves, which is wonderful. It helps to build their research skills, because there are so many different resources to choose from. It also gives them a safe space to search and I know that everything they find will be age-appropriate and relevant.

CURRICULUM MATCHED
Espresso is very well mapped to the National Curriculum and the topic based content is particularly strong. There are lots of Fact Files, spanning different subjects. I find these particularly useful, because they present information in a way that is really accessible for children. And you can tell that that they have been researched thoroughly. All of Espresso’s content is of a very high standard.

A HIGH QUALITY RESOURCE
Espresso is a tool I’ve relied on throughout my teaching career. It’s always been something that I’ve known to reliably provide resources that include high quality subject knowledge and activities, particularly in the foundation subjects. The pitch is really good, which is one of the reasons why my students enjoy using it so much. It’s super accessible, aids retention and it makes learning fun too.

Discovery Education Espresso – A Dynamic Digital Resource for Bilingual Schools

Suzanne Haigh is the Headteacher of Kensington Wade School, an award-winning, bilingual nursery and prep school in West London. At Kensington Wade lessons are taught in English and Chinese, giving children complete fluency in both languages. Having used Espresso throughout her teaching career, Suzanne explains how the platform supports bilingual learning while providing educators with an invaluable bank of curriculum-matched resources.

Kensington Wade opened in 2017 and as a bilingual immersive provider, we’re recognised as one of the most innovative schools in London. With over 100 students on roll, we deliver half of our lessons in English and half in Chinese, giving children a completely bilingual education. We split the school day in two and teach one language in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

I’ve used Espresso for many years and have been delighted to see how it can support teaching in a bilingual environment. Espresso has a translate function, which makes it easy for us to switch between two languages. If we’re teaching about the Gunpowder Plot in History for example, we can take resources and quickly translate them online. This means that the same content can be taught in Chinese, which is so helpful. With other products, our Chinese teachers have to make their own translations. But with Espresso, the process is seamless.

Espresso gives us an extensive bank of curriculum matched resources, and we use it widely in many of our lessons, whether we’re teaching in Chinese or English. The videos, texts and interactives can be applied to lots of different subjects and teachers can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. Whether they’re teaching Science, Maths, English or Humanities, they can find relevant content to bring lessons to life.

We really like Espresso’s interactivity. The visual interface is appealing to children and helpful for those who speak little English. In Maths, Espresso makes learning more accessible. The Hundred Square is a particular favourite, because teachers can add or remove numbers to build student confidence, while helping them to develop mathematical language. In English, we use Espresso for grammar, spelling and punctuation. And in Humanities for subject research, to help the children go further.

One of the best things about Espresso is that it gives children a safe space to learn. We encourage students to use Espresso independently with their own login. Each week, we ask students to complete pre-learning at home. Quite often we’ll share links from Espresso, so that they can familiarise themselves with new topics. Recently, our Year 2 students were learning about the past tense in English. We asked them to watch an Espresso video and complete the linked activity, before starting the lesson in school.

Pre-learning helps our students to develop curiosity and gives them the chance to be more successful, which boosts their confidence and engagement. When we’re teaching skills in grammar, punctuation, spelling and maths, it’s helpful if students have practiced beforehand so they can be more successful in class. It’s great to have a resource like Espresso to support our pre-learning activities.

Our students are very proficient at picking up an iPad and using it for educational reasons, whether for research, games, activities or preparing work. They are used to accessing learning through technology and they actively embrace it. Espresso is a particular favourite because it feels familiar to them. They recognise the different characters and this acts as a cue. They think ‘I know what I am doing. I’m about to have a lesson about English….”, which is reassuring and builds confidence.

Espresso is an incredibly valuable bank of resources for our school. It’s helpful and supportive for teachers. And because it provides so much more than just videos and worksheets, it’s engaging for students. Espresso’s interactives allow our students to directly engage with a task. To fully participate in their learning and to make progress. As a product, we feel that it is good value for money. As a daily learning platform, we haven’t found anything better than Espresso.