I've worked in primary teaching for over 10 years and specialise in creating fun and engaging educational resources, particularly for Geography and History.
I've worked in primary teaching for over 10 years and specialise in creating fun and engaging educational resources, particularly for Geography and History.
This lesson is part of Exploring Brazil, a Geography unit designed for students in KS2 (Y4-6), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
The presentation first locates Brazil in the world’s climate zones and asks children to infer what the country’s weather and climate might be like.
Next, students look at three areas of Brazil in more detail – Manaus in the Amazon, Teresina in the caatinga desert region and Porto Alegre in the south of the country – and investigate a climate graph.
There are two activities:
Activity 1:
Students first investigate three climate graphs, looking at temperature and rainfall. Their challenge is to match each graph to an area of Brazil, explaining their reasoning for their choices. It is differentiated 2 ways:
Easier – Students match two statements to each climate graph, then match each graph to one of the three cities/regions.
Harder – Students write sentence describing the temperature and rainfall patterns in each climate graph, then match each graph to one of the three cities/regions.
Activity 2:
Students create their own Brazil climate graphs in Microsoft Excel using step-by-step instructions.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This resource is designed for teaching the Great Fire of London KS1 History unit. You can download the planning for free here. It is suitable for Year 2 children and more able Year 1 children.
The presentation introduces the context of the Great Fire of London and challenges children to find reasons for the rapid spread of the fire. The literacy-based activity reinforces this learning .
Two differentiated worksheets challenge children to match reasons for the Great Fire of London with sentence starters:
- the standard activity sheet gives five possible reasons
- an easier activity sheet gives just two reasons to choose from per sentence starter
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Exploring Spain, a Geography unit designed for upper KS2 students (Y4-6), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
In the presentation students recap the 8 points of the compass and locate Spanish cities using these compass directions. They also learn how to locate cities in relation to each other (e.g. Valencia is north of Alicante).
The activity challenges students use all 8 compass directions to locate Spanish cities. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students locate Spanish cities (with answer clues + cities marked on the map)
Medium – Students locate Spanish cities (with answer clues)
Harder – Students locate Spanish cities (no answer clues)
Extension – Students locate Spanish cities in relation to each other.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of a wider Geography unit called Great Missenden – A Village Settlement which is designed for students in upper KS2 (Y4-6).
The presentation introduces students to the concept of settlements and asks them to categorise them by size (e.g. hamlet, village, town, city, conurbation). It then introduces them to a range of human geographical features found in settlements (e.g. post offices, sports stadiums).
In the activity students identify a variety of human geographical features found in settlements. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students identify the features of settlements with normal clues.
Harder – Students identify the features of settlements with jumbled up clues.
Extension – Students identify which types of settlements these features are usually found in.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of a wider unit called Exploring St Lucia and is designed to teach KS2 students about a contrasting non-European country.
This lesson looks at similarities and differences between St Lucia and the UK including:
– location in the world
– population
– languages
– currency
– heads of state
– physical geography
– types of employment
In the partner activity students sort statements about the countries into two groups – those describing St Lucia and those describing the UK. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students sort statements about St Lucia and the UK (using stickers and a worksheet).
Harder – Students sort statements about St Lucia and the UK (completed in an exercise book).
Extension – Students think of similarities & differences between St Lucia and the UK.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This fun jigsaw activity is a great geography resource for reinforcing children’s knowledge of the world.
It is also available as part of the Our World topic, an introduction to the geography of Planet Earth for KS1 and lower KS2
The presentation introduces students to a map of the world and highlights physical features including the continents, oceans, rivers and mountain ranges.
The jigsaw puzzle activity is differentiated six ways. The age brackets below are a rough guide:
6 pieces – EYFS
12 pieces – EYFS/Y1
24 pieces – Y1/2/3
36 pieces – Y2/3/4
48 pieces – Y3/4/5
60 pieces – Y4/5/6
A guide map is included for students in Early Years and KS1. Challenge more able KS2 students to complete the puzzle without the guide map.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This set of resources is designed for teaching the Great Fire of London KS1 History unit. You can download the planning for free here. It is suitable for Year 2 children and more able Year 1 children.
The presentation introduces Samuel Pepys and extracts of his diary which recorded his eyewitness account of the Great Fire of London . The activity challenges children to investigate this primary source to find out more about the events of September 1666.
There are two differentiated worksheets:
- one has an extract from Pepys’ diary and comprehension questions
- one has an extract from Pepys’ diary and comprehension questions with coloured text to help children find the answers
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This resource is designed for teaching the Great Fire of London KS1 History unit. You can download the planning for free here. It is suitable for Year 2 children and more able Year 1 children.
The presentation explores the immediate aftermath of the Great Fire of London and how the city changed when it was rebuilt. A true/false partner activity then reinforces this learning .
There are two differentiated worksheets which challenge children to read statements about what they have learned and decide whether they are true or false. It is recommended that children do the activity in pairs to promote partner discussion.
The two worksheets include:
- a standard activity sheet which gives 14 true/false statements
- a harder activity sheet which also challenges children to come up with their own true/false statements
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Mountain Environments, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y4-6).
First the presentation recaps the structure of the Earth and how its crust is split into tectonic plates. It then investigates the different ways tectonic plates can move and how two tectonic plates colliding can form fold mountains (e.g. the Himalayas).
The differentiated activity challenges students to work out which tectonic plates formed different fold mountain ranges around the world.
Easier – Students have to find one tectonic plate.
Medium – Students have to find two tectonic plates.
Harder – Students find the name of each mountain range and two tectonic plates.
Extension – Students complete a cloze procedure paragraph about fold mountains.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Investigating Rivers, a unit designed for upper KS2 (Y4-6).
First the presentation looks at sources of water and highlights the importance of this critical resource. It then introduces the main processes of the water cycle including key concepts such as evaporation, condensation and precipitation.
The activity then challenges students to label a diagram of the water cycle. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students have all the label clues.
Medium – Students have only four label clues.
Harder – Students have no label clues.
Extension – Students complete a cloze procedure paragraph about the water cycle.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Investigating Rivers, a unit designed for upper KS2 (Y4-6).
It challenges students to think about all the different ways we use water and where we get it from. Are these necessary (needs) or luxury (wants)?
Students then categorise these uses of water as agricultural, recreational, commercial/industrial or community. Lastly, they consider how we can balance human water requirements with those of Earth’s wildlife.
In the activity students sort photos of different water uses into six different categories:
Household
Commercial/industrial
Recreational
Agricultural
Community
Wildlife
In the extension activity, students classify each water use as either necessary or luxury and explain their reasoning.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Our World, a Geography unit designed for students in KS1 and lower KS2 (Y1-3), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
It aims to help younger students understand where they live. It looks at where Earth is in the solar system and then which continent, country and place they call home.
In the activity students write sentences about where they live. There are two differentiated worksheets:
Easier – Students fill in cloze procedure sentences to describe where they live.
Harder – Students write full sentences to describe where they live.
Extension – Students sort the names of countries, continents and planets into the correct categories.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Understanding Trade, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y5-6).
First the presentation asks students to consider how everyday products arrive in our supermarkets. It then introduces and explains the concept of supply chains, looking specifically at the chocolate supply chain. There are two activities:
Group Activity:
The group activity challenges students to order the chocolate supply chain.
Writing Activity:
An accompanying writing activity is based on ‘The Story of Our Chocolate Journey’ (available on YouTube). It challenges students to sequence and explain the processes involved in the chocolate supply chain. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students use a writing frame.
Harder – Students write in an exercise book using a vocabulary prompt.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Exploring the United Kingdom, a Geography unit designed for KS1 and lower KS2 (Y2-4).
The presentation first introduces students to satellite photos before going on to challenge them to match satellite photos to famous UK landmarks (e.g. Wembley Stadium, Edinburgh Castle).
In the activity, students use their geography detective skills to describe satellite photos and infer which famous UK landmark or feature each one is. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students write description of each satellite photo on a writing template sheet.
Harder – Students stick satellite photos into their exercise book and write descriptions next to them.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Exploring the United Kingdom, a Geography unit designed for KS1 and lower KS2 (Y2-4).
N.B. If students are new to compass directions, use Introduction to compass directions to introduce the topic prior to this lesson.
First the presentation reminds students of the four cardinal compass directions. It then encourages them to use compass directions to describe the position of towns and cities around the UK.
In the activity, students have to find UK cities using compass clues. There are two differentiated activity worksheets:
Easier – Students locate cities using compass clues and starting letter clues.
Harder – Students locate cities using compass and harder starting letter clues.
Extension – Students complete cloze procedure sentence about the location of cities in the UK.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Understanding Trade, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y5-6).
The presentation starts by recapping what imports and exports are. It goes on to look at the UK’s top ten exports – mainly manufactured products – and the human and physical factors which help UK exports in this area.
In the activity, students use Microsoft PowerPoint to create a table of the UK’s top ten exports. They then use an online chart maker to produce either a pie chart or bar graph to illustrate this data. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students use step-by-step instructions with some data already filled in
Medium – Students use step-by-step instructions
Harder – Minimal instructions – IT experts only!
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Investigating Rivers, a unit designed for upper KS2 (Y4-6).
Students are first introduced to the three stages of a river – the upper course, middle course and lower course – and some of the key features of each. The presentation then challenges students to think about the characteristics of rivers in these different stages (e.g. altitude, channel width, water speed).
In the activity, students match descriptions to each stage of a river. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students match colour-coded descriptions to either the upper, middle or lower course of a river.
Harder – Students match descriptions to either the upper, middle or lower course of a river.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This set of resources is designed for teaching the Great Fire of London KS1 History unit. You can download the planning for free here. It is suitable for Year 2 children and more able Year 1 children.
The presentation introduces key vocabulary and then takes children through the main events of the Great Fire of London in 1666. The follow-up activity helps children chronologically order these events over the five days of the disaster.
It is recommended that children do the sequencing activity in mixed ability pairs. If necessary, it is possible to stick the activity into an exercise book.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Our World, a Geography unit designed for students in KS1 and lower KS2 (Y1-3), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
This Geography lesson is a fun introduction to satellite photos. The presentation first helps students understand what satellite photos are. It then challenges them to investigate satellite photos of a variety of world famous human and natural landmarks (e.g. Eiffel Tower, Victoria Falls).
It is accompanied by two activities:
Speaking and Listening Activity
In mixed pairs or trios, students match the photos of 16 world famous landmarks to their satellite photos, explaining their reasoning as they do so.
Writing Activity
Students investigate satellite photos and write sentences explaining which landmark they think each one is. E.g. “I think this photo is Stonehenge because I can see a circle of huge stones surrounded by grass.”
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Understanding Trade, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y5-6).
First the presentation helps students understand what trade is and introduces the concepts of imports and exports. It does this by linking these ideas to every day products we buy. It also looks at the different scales of trade – local, national and international.
The activity then challenges students to match up products with statements about the company which makes them and where they are produced/manufactured.
Easier – Match the products to the statements (on stickers)
Harder – Match the products to the statements (written)
Extension – Students complete a cloze procedure paragraph about trade.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.