After hours of reading and PD on Pie Corbett’s Talk4Writing, I decided to plan my English lessons around his style of teaching. The idea behind it is fun filled, active and different so my children and I absolutely love it! Included: *4 day, detailed lesson plan. *Power Point of the story. *‘Theseus and the Minotaur’ text resource (color coded). *‘Box-it up’ planning frame. *Hot Seating Questions which allow the children to get into the mind of the Minotaur. I have put a lot of detail into the lesson plan, so it can be easily followed to apply this style of teaching to your ENglish lessons. The idea behind it is: Week 1= Imitation Phase. In this week, children need to learn off a text to fully immerse themselves in the style of writing, structure, language etc. This is done through actions and also text mapping (drawing pictures). Only when children fully understand a text type, should they begin to write. The writing of a myth will be done in week 3. (This resource is only week 1). By the end of the week, your children should fully understand the features of a myth, and should be able to recite a whole myth using their text map. It’s lots of fun and a fantastic scaffolding for children to understand before they write. Give it a try!

So if you are viewing this resource, you NEED to check out my other product on myths first as this is a follow on from it. Traditional Tales and Myths- Understanding the features Children cannot and should not be writing their own myth without first of all familiarising themselves with the text type. Having completed that step, they can then begin to think about planning their very own myth. This resource includes: *3 day detailed lesson plan. *Toolkit template for children to write down the features and necessary things needed in order to write a successful myth. *Myth adaption sheet for drawing their new idea to change the myth. *Pictures to caption- this confirms children’s ability to order the story. *Theseus and the Minotaur text for reference. *Vocab cards for tricky words/pictorial representation. *Drama ideas: such as text tennis, text mapping etc. The idea behind this week of teaching is that children are reciting/acting out the text each day, confirming their understanding of the story structure/sentence structure orally. Once children can do this, they will be able to write their very own version. They are encouraged this week to change one part of the myth in order to write their very own myth. For example: instead of Theseus and the Minotaur, it could be Theseus and the Lemontaur, who is a half lemon, half horse who throws lemons at Theseus? By the end of these lessons, children should be able to write their very own adaptation to the myth: Theseus and the Minotaur. But as stated earlier, this is a follow on from this lesson: Traditional Tales and Myths- Understanding the features Want this product as part of a bundle at a discounted price? Check out: The BUNDLE Give it a try!

These playscripts allow children to create their own play while learning the features of the play-script also. I have attached fairy tales that are turned into playscripts. The features that they will learn how to use are: *Cast list * Scene Headings * Character name and : * Stage Directions The first lesson allows children to create their own list of the features of a playscript by finding them themselves. This exploratory, paired learning works best when it comes to the end product at the end of the week. Children are encouraged to choose a fairytale that they already know to alter slightly, to make the actual story part easier. There is a SPAG lesson included also on adverbs. This will help children to use them for the stage directions also.

If you are teaching your class about myths or simply just want a comprehension activity that is SLIGHTLY different from the norm, then this resource is for you. Included: *Text *Questions to check understanding (inc ordering events, decoding meaning etc) *Creation Station- where children create their own labyrinth. *Adjective Alley- children create amazing adjectives and phrases to describe the minotaur. *The New Minotaur- children will get their creative juices flowing and create a Minotaur of their own, perhaps even half human, half unicorn. An enjoyable, creative way to check and extend children’s understanding of what they’ve read. Also an excellent addition to your myths topic, if you’re teaching it. Check out: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/myths-understanding-the-features-11943412

Time to move away from the guided reading carousel and onto whole class guided reading! This lesson plan is FREE to show you step-by-step how you can carry out a whole class guided reading lesson in your class too. Outline: 10 mins teacher/student/chorus read 5 mins quick fire questions (to check understanding) 5 mins modeling the task 15 minutes task and feedback This way your whole class are being guided in their reading daily, as opposed to once a week in a teacher led group. It’s a free resource, so give it a try, let me know your thoughts, and check back later to see more resources like this! Good luck!

A 3 day series of lessons on suspense and mystery. These lessons allow children to write in a suspense style by using ellipses, short sentences and making the reader think that there is something hidden. These lessons involve video clips and setting a spooky scene my turning off the lights during the reading of these paragraphs. Included: A powerpoint Detailed, differentiated lesson plan Spooky pictures to spark writing Sample of mysterious writing for WAGOLL (What A Good One Looks Like) Picture of the finished product from two Year 4 girls.

This week is on Explanation Texts. As we were doing the Ancient Greeks as our topic, these lessons are based on the Battle of Marathon. Children begin the week by discovering the meaning of an explanation text and its features. There is a lot of engaging lessons in discovering details about the Battle of Marathon- well differentiated also to allow the access of all learners. By the end of the week, children write a successful explanation on the Battle of Marathon, using the correct features. As well as that, there is a strong SPAG focus on relative clauses, which children are expected to use in their ‘big write’ on Friday. Included is lots of differentiated resources, detailed planning, very detailed notebook presentation and VCOP resources. I have tried this resource and it was very successful. Please leave a review and check out my other resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Morrisr9 UPDATED: powerpoint version of the notebook added.

I’ve added these key terms (in yellow) here for you to create a working wall for your English display. These headings can be kept up all year round, even when you change genre. All you need to do is to change the work around it, accordingly. See my blogpost on my blog to see how exactly I use this display in my class. (Note: only the headings in yellow and the clouds are included).

I created this document to hand out to my parents at the beginning of the school year. It’s a short snippet of activities that parents could engage with with their children. There are 7 pages, including: *Some sample questions to ask children while reading. *Rate out of 10. To allow children to form opinions on what they’ve read. *Re-tell the story. To allow children to order parts of the story. *Change the ending. This allows children to take their understanding to another level. *Strategies for parents when reading with their children. See my preview for a clearer idea of this resource.

OBSERVATION LESSON: Today was my observation and it was day 1 for us, engaging with Persuasive Writing. The children had to identify the features of a persuasive text using the AFOREST technique. (We used this support mat and it was EXCELLENT! This resource includes: a very detailed, differentiated lesson plan, which allows you to follow it step-by-step (just like I did). Links to the texts I used. Key for annotating. Advertisements for Lower Ability pupils. To start: children will try to persuade their teacher to allow them to go for break 5 minutes early. To you (and the observer, this will show their prior knowledge of persuasion, which should be little at this stage). Main: Using a key, children will highlight and annotate a piece of persuasive writing using a key to spot the different features. There are 3 different persuasive texts for high, middle and low ability children so that they can all access the content. Plenary: Children will be placed into mixed ability groups of 4/6 and asked to SELL you a random object from the class (e.g. a pencil case) in a dragon’s den type fashion. This will show the observer (and you) the progress made since the start of the lesson as the children apply the techniques that they have learned. Please let me know your thoughts on this lesson plan.

A wonderful week of Literacy lessons planned and resourced here for Year 4 Persuasive Writing. This is week 1 of persuasive writing unit which I did last year and have made some improvements. It immerses children in persuasive language and techniques to persuade their reader. These lessons are based around 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and by the end of the week, children will create their own advertisement for a new chocolate product. Children are taught to use: *exaggeration *word-play *snappy slogans *tempting benefits *eye-catching illustrations and writing This resource package comes with a wealth of resources to ensure that all children understand and utilize the persuasive techniques needed to sell a product. (On the plus side, it's about a chocolate product, which keeps it interesting for them). Prepositions are taught as a starter also to incorporate SPAG into the week of Literacy. This package included: -a clear, detailed lesson plan -3 different powepoints -printable advertisements to annotate -illustrations for children's products -success criteria -planning grid Please leave a review and let me know what you found useful or not and I'll be happy to update the resource.

A broad selection of morning challenges to keep your children busy when they come in in the morning. Included are: VCOP morning challenges Maths morning challenges Improving sentences Vocabulary Enough to keep them busy for months.

A weeks lesson plan introducing children to non-chronological reports. Speaking and Listening is incorporated into these lessons also by allowing children to pretend they are news reporters. Children will be taught how to 'hook' their readers in and write in factual sentences.

This resource is a fun way to encourage children to read the high frequency words in Reception. They will need to be cut out, with the elephant stuck to the back of the word and then laminated. Once they're done once, you'll have them forever. It consists of a selection of the high frequency words at Reception level, with a colourful background to keep them interested. You will need to print two copies of this resource in order to play the game. I played it in groups of 4: *Give each child in the group an even amount of cards. *Instruct them to leave them all in front of them (elephant facing up). *The first child must place their first card down, sound it out/read it. *The next child repeats etc until there is two of the same words placed one after the other. *They all must race to say SNAP if two cards sitting on top of each other are the same word. *The person to say it first, gets all of the cards in the pile and they begin again. This resource can be used as an extension activity for early finishers, or as a revision tool at the end of the year, or even as your weekly game to expose children to these words more frequently. Please leave a review and check out my other resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Morrisr9

I created this playscript for my Year 5 class to perform this year. We spent a number of weeks on persuasive writing, so I thought it would be a fantastic way to show off the techniques they had learned in persuasive techniques. I based it around the TV show Dragon's Den. The Assembly has 4 dragons in which the contestants must persuade to buy their products using persuasive techniques. There is a narrator role also, which explains what's going on throughout the play. This playscipt is easy to adapt and was really funny to watch as well as show off what the children had learned. Please leave a review and check out my other resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Morrisr9

This resource is a fun way to encourage children to practice their phonics or the upcoming phonics screening. They will need to be cut out, with the elephant stuck to the back of the word and then laminated. Once they're done once, you'll have them forever. It consists of a selection of a selection of real and pseudo words, with a colourful background to keep them interested. You will need to print two copies of this resource in order to play the game. I played it in groups of 4: *Give each child in the group an even amount of cards. *Instruct them to leave them all in front of them (elephant facing up). *The first child must place their first card down, sound it out/read it. *The next child repeats etc until there is two of the same words placed one after the other. *They all must race to say SNAP if two cards sitting on top of each other are the same word. *The person to say it first, gets all of the cards in the pile and they begin again. This resource can be used as an extension activity for early finishers, or as a revision tool at the end of the year, or in preparation for the phonics screening test. Please leave a review and check out my other resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Morrisr9

A colourful, helpful resource which helps chlildren write the ee sound correctly. I have used lines and dots to indicate a one letter one sound and a digraph. Children will end the activity by attempting to write their own sentence using the ee sound. Lines are provided for children to write on. I put alot of time and effort into my lessons. Please leave a review and check out some of my other resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Morrisr9

Graded: Outstanding This is a lesson that I did for an observation today with the English coordinator. It's a lesson on Tanka poetry. Children learned what a Tanka was the day before, but today they needed to create a bank of similes, metaphors and adjectives to enhance their descriptions that they will use in their poem later in the week. I have differentiated this activity, by providing scaffolding support for the SEN/EAL children in my class. The lesson, as a whole, was intended to be a mixed ability lesson. However, as it was an observation, I needed to include some form of extra support/ scaffolding for some children. This lesson is linked to the Vikings and children need to describe what it would be like to leave their lovely homeland with the beautiful scenery. The resource includes: *a clear, detailed lesson plan, *picture to annotate *powerpoint to explain the meaning of a Tanka (if needed prior to the lesson) *basic flipchart for referall as a class *simile and metaphor sort *simile and metaphor sort (EAL/SEN).

***THE SPOOKY, MYSTERIOUS SANTA CLAUSE*** I don't know about you, but I struggle to think of things to keep the children busy on the last week of term. So I can up with this this week to try and bring some interesting writing together. It's basically suspense and mystery planning based on creating a spooky Santa Clause. A 4 day series of lessons on suspense and mystery. These lessons allow children to write in a suspense style by using ellipses, short sentences and making the reader think that there is something hidden. These lessons involve video clips and setting a spooky scene my turning off the lights during the reading of these paragraphs. A powerpoint, plan and resources are included.