We had noticed in our class that some children found the task and skill of editing their work difficult, not because they were not trying but because they didn’t know where to start. We added in editing windows to try and help focus the children’s attention and give them a narrower section of text to start with. The editing widows are adapted for particular purposes and can be used to help children focus their editing in a range of writing tasks. Proven to aid children in particular who struggle to identify areas to improve their work and to concentrate higher abilities on a criteria they may not have included to improve their work. Included are editing windows focusing on: Range of punctuation Subordinate and relative clauses Adverbial phrases. Examples of the criteria are offered on each window alongside a purpose or definition of the feature to aid children in using them. Cut out the central panel and children can place the window over a paragraph or section of their work at a time. We laminated our windows for longevity purposes. Hope they prove just as useful to your class as they have mine!

A fifteen-lesson unit based on an Outsiders theme. This was a three-week unit that looked into what it was like to be an outsider from three different literary examples: “The Island” by Armin Greder; “Friend or Foe” by Michael Morpurgo and “Eric” by Shaun Tan. Each book was used to demonstrate different ways someone can be an outsider and (given the current context of the UK and historically) was thought-provoking and provided interesting discussion and debate as to how the characters should be treated. The children were incredibly captured by the vivid imagery in “The Island” as a means to hook them into the topic. Included are the individual lessons that build towards each writing unit at the end of the week. A letter; a newspaper report and finally a narrative. The tasks are differentiated through the children’s selection of audience, perspective and purpose, with some writing opportunities presented as a bronze, silver and gold style of challenge - you may assign a child a writing challenge or allow them to select the challenge they feel capable of doing. This style of differentiation is particularly evident in the final narrative piece whereby children should apply the themes that they have experienced into their own writing to either retell the story from another’s perspective; create their own outsider-themed story from a stranger’s viewpoint (person/item/animal) or by telling an untold scene from the story. This is the independent section of the unit, where children should consider what structures and language that they see in narratives to shape their own. The powerpoints for each lesson are included, as well as the resources that were used to develop grammar, structure and writing. The lessons, provide ample opportunity for rich language and writing for a range of purposes and audiences.

This is a game that can be played between children in Year 6 and high achievers in Year 5 (however the question cards are editable so can be made applicable for other year groups). Children make their way around the school, earning merits which they use to buy rooms of the school - rooms are editable so you can make it appropriate to your school! We printed the board game off in A3 on card. To earn merits, they gain rent from other players who land on their owned rooms OR answer Maths questions. Children start with 30 merits and compete until players are bankrupt. The game is so well-known in its gameboard version but can be such a helpful revision tool for children to practice what they have learned in lessons. The focus is on Maths revision and comes with 16 question cards based on a range of topics covered in Year 6: Multiplication Division Shapes Ratio BODMAS Decimals Answers to the questions are on the flip side of the cards.

This lesson is designed to give children an active maths lesson where they do not realise explicitly they are being taught maths but rather see it as part of a fun, challenging experience with their classmates. It contributes towards the goal of keeping children physically working to at least a moderate intensity of thirty minutes a day and has proven to capture children’s attention across ranges of ability. The presentation attached guides you through each activity that the children complete, whereby they complete a series of games as teams and then are tasked with adding up their scores in the form of fractions. This gradually gets more challenging but will allow children to show their understanding of grouping fractions to create whole numbers or to create other fractions and work as a team. This lesson in particular covers fractions for Year 6 (comparing, ordering, adding, subtracting and multiplying), however it is easily modifiable to suit other topics of maths and other year groups. I will be uploading further lessons at a later date. To begin the lesson, the children complete a simple warm up moving round the space, this can be practicing their times tables to having a number card and completing commands if the statement said matches their card. They will then join a group designated by the colour of the card/beanie bag and complete the activities. The lesson requires either tables moved to the sides of the room or hall space to be effective. It also requires: an assortment of cones, beanie bags, mixture of different coloured balls or similar item, hoops.

This is a lesson for early on in a World War 2 unit of work or to provide children with some contextual knowledge for the period surrounding World War 2. It contains a presentation giving key information and events that preceded the war with explanations as to their importance. Differentiation is involved in the recapping of events and the ordering of the timeline, furthermore a detailed paragraph considering the significance of the events is offered. Also included are the planning for the lesson and the resources for the timelines.

Part of the War Horse - Historical Story Writing Unit of work (3 weeks). https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/historical-stories-war-horse-war-game-and-one-boy-s-war-12205177 This lesson is a cross curricular lesson that incorporates historical inquiry to tie in with a later English lesson. Children have been reading War Horse in class and are now going to use what they have been exposed to in the story to study the importance of historical accuracy when writing about a specified time period. The lesson looks into the term anachronism in order to then allow children to research factual information, the daily life of those in World War 1 and their hobbies and roles in society with the aim of identifying features that they can include in their own writing for contextually accurate pieces. Attached is the presentation for the lesson, the lesson plan and some research for children to use if they do not have access to books on the time period of internet access.

Completed this activity with my Year 6 class but suitable for most year groups. Takes a short amount of explanation but then children can complete in groups or independently. Puts the onus on the children to think of their own word/arithmetic problems and checks their own understanding. Quite a simple task to run: children are presented with a room template with three doors containing a different answer on the front; they create a question card from one of their topics thus far and a correct answer for the question which aligns with one of the doors. These can then be compiled into a class set which can be preserved and used as you see fit, such as during wet breaks, golden time, a challenge during a lesson. This can added to as the year goes on and a way of revisiting topics. Files contain: room template, question card template, explanation of activity (editable).

Year 5/6 topic A lesson presentation and accompanying resource that shares examples of the exploits of the Ancient Maya and allows children to discover their uses to them at the time but also begin to make connections with our lives today. Children will complete an ordering activity whereby they decide on a hierarchy of importance for the inventions and subsequently justify their choices referring the explanations used within the lesson presentation and their own opinions.