These 3 punchy rhymes bring the past alive. Their titles are: Who Lived in the Castle?, Bowing and Curtseying, and My Castle is Old. Each contain rhyme and rhythm, while offering scope for alternative words to be slotted in (notes below provide ideas for these). There is also scope for acting-out, adding sound effects and enhancing with percussion. Suggestions for all of these are provided. They serve to prepare children for writing about castles, also enriching their vocabulary, developing their sense of rhyme and rhythm, and providing a window on the past. In addition, they promote physical development: the actions involved are fun and imagination-triggering, encouraging creative expression and physical exertion. The rhymes and illustrations are my own. 3 sheets in total -PDF.

A space project is never complete without a few aliens, and children can let their imaginations go wild with this simple writing frame. The starter phrases and illustrations will all trigger ideas, motivating even reluctant writers to have a go. The accompanying sheet of guidance notes provides all sorts of suggestions to prompt for, line by line, should any children be stuck for ideas. Follow-on rhyme ideas are also included in the Guide, with examples. This hand-illustrated, home-produced, black-and-white sheet has been used successfully in classrooms. Recommended especially for Years 2-3.

This attractive ocean picture and simple phrase-starter will inspire young children to get writing and colouring. The Ideas Sheet offers suggestions for warm-up, word-prompting, similes and further development from this simple resource. See also my Phonics in the Sea - 10 big, bright words to read on a seaside photo: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/phonics-in-the-sea-10-words-to-read-12112315

Robin colouring sheet for young children. An attractive, educational, black and white drawing of a young robin, just hatched, cracked egg nearby, in a springtime setting. Clear lines to shade between, with interesting shapes and colours to consider. See my other colouring sheets (mostly approx. pp. 6-8 in my catalogue), including hedgehog, squirrel, rabbit, butterfly, meadow and seaside.

This haiku-writing support on the theme of the Coronavirus offers a complete lesson plan for poetry development. It includes 6 haiku frames with gaps to fill, 2 example poems written by this writer (published poet), tips for preparation, guidance and development, and (at the start) key information about haiku and how they work. This thorough and clearly presented teacher resource will support poetry, literacy, PSHE, pandemic and lockdown discussion, current affairs discussions, and even maths (syllable counting)! Haiku are fun for older children, being short and offering the syllable number challenge. See my other haiku frames here for more.

A fun, attractive, seasonal writing and colouring sheet for creative expression and language-stretching, celebrating autumn leaves - their movements and colours. Similes, action words and description are invited on the lines, which wave like the floating leaves. Preparation: let children watch leaves flying and falling, and gather some to inspect and spin. Discuss the leaves’ movements through the air - gliding, floating, darting, whooshing, dancing, skipping, cartwheeling, etc. Also discuss the colours, eliciting exotic ones - lemon yellow, crimson, bronze… Think up similes together too, before handing out the sheets. See also my easier versions, and other leaf and tree writing resources, for a wide range.

Phonic short ‘a’, shown here in ‘cat’, with some extra little a’s to write over, too. Your emergent writers will enjoy writing over the pale orange letters to make the word ‘cat’ twice over, and on the three extra 'a’s in their attractive red loops. They’ll love colouring in the charming, black/white cat picture, too. For more, similar phonics activities, see my Phonic ‘o’ reading/writing sheets and my many other resources for sound/letter recognition and writing practice.

This writing sheet features the letter and phonic ‘e’ in ‘hen’ and ‘red hens’, with attractive pictures to illustrate and enhance understanding. Children can colour in the white hen, and also count the 3, adding the ‘1’ and ‘2’ given. Supports phonics, handwriting, reading, spelling, numbers, adding, and also nature and animal studies. The colour red is also highlighted, supporting colour work, and fine motor skills are developed in the colouring. If you like this sheet, see my others for different vowels, in my catalogue/shop. Click ‘newest’.

1 pig, 2 pigs, 3 pigs - this illustrated reading + writing sheet teaches the letter and sound ‘i’ with fun and meaning. Also teaches numbers and counting. The words are presented in three soft colours, for children to write over. See also my phonic sheets for o and a : https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/phonic-a-in-cat-12249906 (free) https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/phonic-a-cat-in-a-hat-12251051 https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/phonic-o-on-off-12248311 and more. (Click preference “newest”).

p, f and d are shown next to familiar pictures starting with their letters: pig, fish, dog. The words are not written out, but just brought to mind, with meaningful association. Extra copies of the letters follow the pictures, reinforcing the link. Children can write over all the pale letters. Help them sound them out as they go. See my other phonics sheets for young children, all attractively illustrated, some free.

Attractively illustrated phonics writing sheet, with pale colours (assorted) for writing over. Text - 3 lines: hello hens hello bat hello big dog There is also a ‘hello’ heading to colour in. These simple words make meaningful sentences - cheerful greetings, engaging children and helping them to start reading. I have many other phonics sheets in this catalogue.

‘My leaf’ is the title of this colouring sheet, but there are several extra leaves, of different shapes, floating and falling around the main one, reflecting the variety of leaf types to be found in our woods and parks. Some of the leaves are curling, perhaps representing autumn or just their natural tendency to curl and twist. **SEE ALSO - ** **Mini-beasts colouring sheet - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/minibeasts-colouring-sheet-12049563 + ** Butterfly colouring sheet - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/butterfly-colouring-sheet-12043732 + 3 colouring sheets with tints + hints (nature-themed) - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/colouring-sheets-with-tints-hints-3-11929704

Sh words to read and write, illustrated: fish, ship, shark, shell . Text in soft colours for over-writing. Lines below for re-writing, independently. ‘sh’ can also be over-written, at top and bottom of this full, A4 page. Simple, attractive, motivating activity. See my other Phonics sheets for more sound-writing.

This is a punchy, fun, rhyming poem that raises awareness of, and concern about, the climate crisis. I wrote it with schools in mind and am offering it free, as with all my climate crisis poems. (More to come.)

Attractive colouring sheet representing a hot air balloon with mum and child waving from basket. Supports fine motor control development, colour sense, floating concept, travel and transport topics, holidays, weather and more. **SEE ALSO: ** - BOAT ON SEA COLOURING SHEET - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/boat-on-sea-colouring-sheet-12096606

This 61-word, springtime story is easy to read. Newly independent readers will enjoy the little tale unaided, while those on the brink may need a little support as they sound out the words or make semi-informed guesses from the context. See my other stories for more confidence-building reading practice.

This funny 60-word story is easy to read. Newly independent readers will enjoy reading it alone, while those on the brink will benefit from adult support as they sound out the words or make wise guesses. The text offers a wide range of phonics and familiar words, while keeping the reader engaged. See my other stories for more reading practice.

A woodland poem example, featuring description, presented over a colourful autumn wood photo. Writing frame also included. Repetition of the opening line also features in this simple format. **Offers a framework and idea spurs **for KS2 writers, and for KS1 verbal contributions. Warm-up: go outside to experience trees (and woods?) with all the senses. Then discuss - what did the children notice? What creatures might live there, and what are they like? How would the trees be in different seasons? What might they be like on Halloween night? Enact trees together, then pretend you’re walking through a wood, finding “treasures”. You’ll find more poem guides and poetry themes here at my TES shop.