Speaker: Sarah Conway, American English PrePrimary and Primary Publisher
How did teachers’ feedback shape this new course?
Sarah Conway: Teacher feedback was absolutely vital to the way that we conceptualized the new edition of Share It!, Share with Friends! We dedicated a lot of time to research. We spoke to teachers. We sent out surveys. We helped focus groups and most importantly and most enjoyably, we went out on school visits. We went out into classrooms where we could see how teachers and students were working with the course. And that taught us a lot about how teachers prefer to work on phonics and pronunciation with their learners, which meant that we were able to bring that strand of the course into closer alignment with how teachers prefer to teach it and how students prefer to learn. Moving from phonics to pronunciation and then onto word study as the levels go up.
What features of Share with Friends! do you think teachers will be most excited about and why?
Sarah Conway: I think teachers will be most excited to see that we've enhanced the coverage of grammar and vocabulary that are in Share with Friends! This was something that was very well received in the first edition. But what we heard from teachers was that they wanted a little bit more, more opportunities to practice, more coverage of the grammar and vocabulary topics. And I'm really glad that we've been able to include that in the new edition.
How did you ensure that Share with Friends! includes elements that will appeal to both students and teachers?
Sarah Conway: We wanted as many students as possible to see themselves reflected in the materials that they use to learn English. So we introduced some new characters. I can't wait for you to meet Simon and Raya who join the group of friends in Shareville. What the students will see is that Simon and Raya grow up with them. After fourth grade, they go away for summer holidays and they have a glow up and then when they come back for 5th and 6th grade, their personality shines through in a new and different way from when they were younger. And teachers know that when students are engaged, when they see themselves represented in their materials and when they're interested in their materials, it makes teaching more effective and more enjoyable as well.
If Share with Friends! had a theme song to represent the publishing process, what would it be and why?
Sarah Conway: Share with Friends! has a theme song and actually, it does represent the publishing process. Especially for me personally, the line about making some friends along the way, which you'll hear if you listen to the course song. For me, the best thing about working on Share with Friends! is that it was an opportunity to work with colleagues that I hadn't worked with before, which has been brilliant.
