The use of familiar, real-life materials helps students to feel more comfortable in class, and the structured teaching of literacy skills gradually improves their reading and writing skills.
Ofsted has been campaigning for schools to make more use of whole-class teaching, whose neglect it regards as one of the reasons for under-achievement in other subjects.
In this space last week, we reported that a sixth-grade class dubbed the Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA), is supposed to begin teaching students in September inside a New York public school.