I am an experienced Primary school teacher with over twenty years experience in EYFS, KS1 and KS2. I have made and used all of the interactive topic based lesson plans, power-points and resources in this shop with my classes. I hope you enjoy using them with your classes too.
I am an experienced Primary school teacher with over twenty years experience in EYFS, KS1 and KS2. I have made and used all of the interactive topic based lesson plans, power-points and resources in this shop with my classes. I hope you enjoy using them with your classes too.
Resource 1 Halloween powerpoint lesson. Fully resourced with 9 pupil worksheets.Learning objectives
• To know the origins of Halloween.
• To compare long ago Halloween customs, superstitions and rituals with those celebrated today.
• To create and perform spells and spine-chilling descriptions about Halloween.
• To work co-operatively with a partner or small group to discuss answers and ideas about Halloween and create a short role play.
Fun, interactive lesson which begins with pupil experiences of Halloween. Simple historical origins, customs and superstitions are introduced through riddles, mapwork, completing captions in speech bubbles, role play and idea showers. There are opportunities for pupils to complete structured written tasks and develop literacy ideas through writing spells (using ‘the witches’ from MacBeth) and short descriptions. The lesson includes nine pupil worksheet activities which link (optional) to the lesson and include a creepy picture description, Haunted house spine chilling vocabulary, witch / monster descriptive template, Halloween activity mat (jumbled words, wordsearch, maze, pumpkin decorating, draw the other half), a spell template, co-ordinates activity, Pumpkin acrostic poem template and a 32 card Halloween Quiz.
This lesson can also be broken into 2-3 lessons if all of the templates are used.
Resource 2: Halloween Quiz of 32 quiz cards
Resource 3: Horror Story Planning Template
Resource 4: Bats 2 week planning grid including learning objectives and ideas for a topic on Bats.
Resource 5: Bats Factsheet.
Resource 6: Halloween wordsearch x2
KS1/Y3 Powerpoint lesson (s) of 65 slides on the topic ‘Norman castles.’
Learning Objectives:
• To recognise and name the features of castles.
• To explain who William of Normandy was, where he came from and what he was famous for doing.
• To compare the similarities and differences between motte and bailey and stone built castles.
• To explain how the first castles were made.
• To give reasons why castles were built in specific places and in specific ways.
• To recap the features of a castle using the correct historical words.
• To know that castles were gifts or rewards in Norman times.
• To make a non-fiction booklet about castles.
The slides are easy to follow and devised to encourage partner/trio discussion and collaboration through key questioning and small group activities. The slides can be divided easily into four separate lessons (following the learning objectives) or interchanged depending on how quickly or in depth you want to take over each aspect of this topic. Slides 1-5 use pupil knowledge as a starting point assessment through a ‘what am I?’ activity. Slides 6-13 focus on features of castles. Slides 14-22 focus on William the Conqueror and include a paired map activity using atlases. Slides 23-36 look at early motte and bailey castles and include a short clip from Youtube. Included is a simple DT planning sheet for pupils to design then build a motte and bailey castle and a separate comparison worksheet. Slides 37-45 focus on castle defences and include a labelling worksheet and an ‘attack and defence’ activity. Slides 46-48 encourage pupils to consider the purposes of castles in war and peace time. Slides 49-59 can be used as a castle features class quiz or a paired assessment. Slides 59- 63 look at famous castles belonging to Normans. Slide 64 is a non-fiction template for pupils to use to make notes about their knowledge of Norman castles. The final slide offers a suggestion for making a ‘castle’ booklet.
Halloween complete KS2 pp lesson of 57 slides.
Learning objectives
• To know the origins of Halloween.
• To compare long ago Halloween customs, superstitions and rituals with those celebrated today.
• To create and perform spells and spine-chilling descriptions about Halloween.
• To work co-operatively with a partner or small group to discuss answers and ideas about Halloween and create a short role play.
Fun, interactive lesson which begins with pupil experiences of Halloween. Simple historical origins, customs and superstitions are introduced through riddles, mapwork, completing captions in speech bubbles, role play and idea showers. There are opportunities for pupils to complete structured written tasks and develop literacy ideas through writing spells (using ‘the witches’ from MacBeth) and short descriptions. The lesson includes nine pupil worksheet activities which link (optional) to the lesson and include a creepy picture description, Haunted house spine chilling vocabulary, witch / monster descriptive template, Halloween activity mat (jumbled words, wordsearch, maze, pumpkin decorating, draw the other half), a spell template, co-ordinates activity, Pumpkin acrostic poem template and a 32 card Halloween Quiz.
This lesson can also be broken into 2-3 lessons if all of the templates are used.
How to write a biography. Upper KS2. Set of five complete lessons with all worksheets and pupil resources. Includes a Biography checklist, sample biographies about Queen Victoria and Nelson Mandela, a blank biography spider-gram, blank planning templates (scaffolded) and a fact sheet about Mary Anning. The series of lessons include opportunities for pupils to give peer feedback and analyse two sample biographies.
I have used these with Y5 and Y6 and have also extended the unit to include famous people which the children asked for or who we were covering in topic work eg Louis Pasteur, famous explorers/sports achievers.
Learning objectives.
Lesson 1
• To explain what a ‘biography’ is in my own words.
• To name people who have had a biography written about them.
• To list the features of a biography.
• To identify the features in a short biography of a famous person.
Lesson 2
• To explain what a ‘biography’ is in my own words.
• To recall the features of a biography.
• To plan then write a biography about someone in my family and use the checklist to include the main features.
• To give helpful feedback to my partner.
Lesson 3
• To read a biography about Nelson Mandela.
• To use the Biography Checklist and identify whether the main features have been included in the biography about Nelson Mandela.
• To identify areas where the biography could be improved.
Lesson 4
• To choose a famous person for a biography.
• To plan your ideas on a writing frame and listen to the feedback about the features from your partner.
• To write an interesting biography which includes all of the main features.
Lesson 5
• To use the factsheet about Mary Anning, taking out information which would be interesting in a biography.
• To write an interesting biography about Mary Anning which includes all of the main features of a biography.
William Shakespeare Famous person fact sheet.
Includes key events and important stages in his life, broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos.
I have used this with pupils in Years 3-6 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about a famous person in a range of genres (newspaper report, biography, letter or diary writing, fiction, non-fiction etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the topic followed up with a written comprehension exercise.
Tim Peake: Famous person fact sheet.
Includes key events and important stages in the life of the British astronaut, broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos.
I have used this with pupils in Years 1-4 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about a famous person in a range of genres (newspaper report, biography, letter or diary writing, fiction, non-fiction etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the topic followed up with a written comprehension exercise.
Anne Bonny and Mary Read – Female pirates. Famous person fact sheet.
Includes key events and important stages in their life broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos.
I have used this with pupils in Years 1-4 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about a famous person in a range of genres (newspaper report, biography, letter or diary writing, fiction, non-fiction etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the topic followed up with a written comprehension exercise.
Linked topics: Pirates, Famous people, Ships and the Sea.
Florence Nightingale Famous person fact sheet.
Includes key events and important stages in their life broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos.
I have used this with pupils in Years 1-4 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about a famous person in a range of genres (newspaper report, biography, letter or diary writing, fiction, non-fiction etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the topic followed up with a written comprehension exercise.
Queen Victoria Famous person fact sheet.
Includes key events and important stages in their life broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos.
I have used this with pupils in Years 1-4 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about a famous person in a range of genres (newspaper report, biography, letter or diary writing, fiction, non-fiction etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the topic followed up with a written comprehension exercise.
Martin Luther King Famous person fact sheet.
Includes key events and important stages in their life broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos.
I have used this with pupils in Years 1-4 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about a famous person in a range of genres (newspaper report, biography, letter or diary writing, fiction, non-fiction etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the topic followed up with a written comprehension exercise.
Samuel Pepys Famous person fact sheet.
Includes key events and important stages in their life broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos.
I have used this with pupils in Years 1-4 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about a famous person in a range of genres (newspaper report, biography, letter or diary writing, fiction, non-fiction etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the topic followed up with a written comprehension exercise.
Famous artists and paintings cards. Set of 60 cards with a painting by a range of inspirational and well-known artists. The cards can be used to encourage recognition of the most well-known artists and their work. I have included a few examples of sculpture, stained glass, pottery, design. The images I have chosen range from 11th to 20th century from worldwide artists. Pupils can use them as a paired or group ‘guessing game’. Can be placed in the class library area or the ‘Early Finisher’ box/tray. I have used these to help pupils develop work on or research about a famous piece of artwork that they like by finding images of other work by the same artist or derivatives of that style, writing a descriptive piece about the work or a subjective paragraph about what the work means to them. Can be used by Y2 -Y6. Useful for topics on Art, Famous Paintings/Artists, using art as a starting point for writing or historical reference.
I made this resource for Y5 to research simple facts about their sporting favourites in a practical and fun way. the children loved to activity and really enjoyed reading each-other’s work which we made into a colourful display. Useful fun activity for any event in the annual sporting calendar (World Cup, Olympics, Rugby etc).
September Welcome back! Y1-Y6 Powerpoint lesson(s) of 50 slides. Includes simple class and paired games, talk activities and worksheets to help your pupils restart their year together and restart their friendships. The power-point explores feelings, belonging and finding out about the interests of other pupils in the class including hobbies, favourite books, sports etc. There is a section at the end to help pupils model how to make a new friend and how to start/sustain a conversation/make an arrangement to do something. The modelled activities use images of animals to help remove self -consciousness and help pupils take a step back from their own situations.
Learning objectives
To find out about adults and children in my class so I feel comfortable about talking to them.
To recognise that I belong to more than one different group and be able to identify those groups.
To describe feelings about being in a group and help others feel welcomed and included.
To use the story of Kung Fu Tsu to understand positive behaviour towards
To know and practise strategies for making new friends.
To describe how a good friend behaves.
To explain how it may feel for someone who is uncomfortable in social situations and offer solutions to help them.
Ernest Shackleton Famous person fact sheet.
Includes key events and important stages in his life broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos.
I have used this factsheet with pupils in Years 1-4 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about Ernest Shackleton in a range of genres (newspaper report, biography, letter or diary writing, fiction, non-fiction etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the topic followed up with a written comprehension exercise.
Links well with topics on Explorers, South pole/Antarctica, Famous people, Ships and sailors, Frozen Earth.
Chinese New Year Bundle
Powerpoint 1: KS1 and KS2 Assembly/Lesson.
A simply written whole school assembly to cover the main aspects of Chinese New Year . Can be used as a stand-alone lesson. Music can be easily slotted in (link included). 37 slides include:
Music (links to Chinese Dragon Dance, Festival music) and hymns.
Geographical information about China’s location in the world .
Lunar calendar, Chinese zodiac, Chinese New Year celebrations and traditions, Lantern festival.
Poem ‘Chinese New Year’ by Wendy Larmont.
A short prayer.
Powerpoint 2: Animals of the zodiac KS1 and KS2 Assembly/ Lesson.
A story of how the 12 animals were chosen to represent the years on the Chinese Calendar. Can be used as a stand- alone lesson. Links to royalty free music included.
27 slides include:
Links to Chinese Dragon Dance, Festival music and hymns.
The Jade Emperor’s race and the animals who enter it.
Zodiac wheel and animals which represent the dates.
A short prayer.
Resource 1 : Glossary workbook
A stand- alone lesson on glossaries or part of topic on Chinese New Year.
Activities are organised into a short workbook.
Learning objectives:
To know that a glossary is an alphabetical list of words with definitions found in a non-fiction book.
To put words in alphabetical order.
To match words about Chinese New Year to the correct definitions.
Page 1. An information page about Chinese New Year.
Page 2. Vocabulary relating to Chinese New Year. 4 words to order alphabetically and set out as a glossary.
Page 3. Questions about vocabulary.
Page 4. Alphabetical order guide for pupils.
Page 5. Create 3 questions from the information text to ask a partner to include words from the glossary cards.
Set of 16 ‘Chinese New Year’ glossary cards for pupils to cut out and order into alphabetical order.
Page 6. Answers - alphabetical order.
Resource 2. Picture writing descriptions (paragraphs).
Four images to stimulate language and descriptive paragraph writing.
Resource 3. Three different worksheets with 3 different images (9 images in total) with key vocabulary for each image to support writing.
Resource 4. Set of 12 Chinese animal zodiac cards with picture of the animal and their personality/ characteristics.
Resource 5. What is your Chinese zodiac sign? Pupils can work out their animal year and write it in Chinese letters.
Resource 6 Write your name in Chinese characters. Not an exact match but will give children an idea of how the Chinese alphabet is structured.
Resource 7. Chinese zodiac animal code breaking maths (20 questions in total to practice place value and rounding 10, 100. Multiplication and division using 2 and3 digit numbers. Decimal multiplication. Answers included.
Resource 8. Instructions make a simple fortune cookie.
Resource 9 The traditional tale of Nian the Lion the basis for the traditions of Chinese New Year. Can be read aloud, small group guided reading or as a factsheet or comprehension text or Drama starting point.
Wassily Kandinsky complete Art lesson for Primary pupils.
Learning objectives
• To learn about the work of the artist Wassily Kandinsky.
• To look at shapes, colour and lines in Kandinsky’s artwork and talk about what they might represent.
• To understand an example of abstract art.
• To experience the link between art and sounds when creating my own artwork.
• To create my own composition using shape, colour and lines and explain my work to my partner.
The lesson includes brief information about Kandinsky’s life and how he painted using examples of his paintings and a simple explanation of abstract art. There are opportunities for pupils to work in paired tasks to discuss abstract composition and emotional interpretation.
Art task includes: 12 squared-grid (included) for drawing Kandinsky style concentric circles. Pupils are encouraged to collect recycled plastic lids or bottle tops for a group task to make a large collaborative Kandinsky circle picture. There is a short-paired task to reinforce primary and secondary colour mixing and a Primary colours ‘design’ activity (worksheet). There is also an opportunity for the class to use a range of materials (pastels, chalk, paint, crayon) to create their own abstract piece inspired by music (own or teacher’s choice) with an evaluation sheet for their finished masterpiece!
This lesson can be edited and used as suitable for your class and time or space constraints. Can be a stand-alone lesson or linked to topics such as Colour, Famous people/Artists, Abstract Art, Famous paintings, Feelings and Emotions.
Features of seaside towns: Set of 2 KS2/3 power-point Geography lessons.
Each lesson is broken into short focused activities. There are opportunities for pupils to recall prior learning, watch a youtube clip (hyperlink), and identify geographical features. Each set of slides contain images to help pupils ‘get a feel’ for the geography of the seaside. Includes 5 pupil worksheets, paired activities, short written tasks.
Great to link with cross curricular topic such as Maps and Plans, Seaside, Holidays, All about me, Local Study.
Lesson 1
Learning objectives
I can identify and describe physical features in the environment.
I can identify and describe human features in the environment.
I can identify and describe the geographical features of the seaside.
I can use key vocabulary to describe the seaside features for example:
body of water coastline harbour pier landform.
I can apply my knowledge when talking about Scarborough.
Lesson 2
Learning objectives
I can explain how land is used in a seaside town.
I can describe how seaside towns attract tourists.
I can explain the difference between seasonal and non-seasonal jobs at the seaside.
I can use key vocabulary to describe the three types of jobs people have for example:
primary jobs secondary jobs tertiary jobs.
I can use my knowledge of a seaside town to explain some of the problems that are caused by tourism.
KS1 and 2 Bread and grains complete ppt lesson.
Learning Objectives:
To name the grains used to make bread.
To name other foods which are made with grains.
To explain when the growing cycle begins and ends.
To understand what a farmer does to make sure grains get from the earth to our tables.
To sequence the stages of making bread.
The slides include photographs of grains, bread and farming. At specific points there are short paired talk activities and simple activities with worksheets for key point.
There are 2 video links – flour production and making bread plus a research worksheet for different bread descriptions. There is a homework research task to interview family members about their views on bread.
Links with Cross curricular topics of ‘Seasons’, ‘Autumn’, ‘Food’, ‘Farms’, ‘Food production’ and ‘Harvest’.
Volcanoes: Series of 5 KS2 power-point Geography lessons.
Each lesson is broken into short focused activities. There are opportunities for pupils to talk about volcanoes, take notes from a YouTube clip, look up geographical vocabulary in a dictionary, watch short clips of volcanoes in action including recent volcanic eruptions in Iceland and the Roman eruption of Vesuvius, compare composite and shield volcanoes, use maps and atlases to locate decade volcanoes and tectonic plates. The final 2 lessons of the series are a research task to investigate their own volcano. There is an extension activity to write a short True/False quiz which could be used as an assessment activity at the end of the unit. Each set of slides contains images to help pupils ‘get a feel’ for volcanoes and their locations.
Links with cross curricular topics such as ‘Earth’, ‘Disasters’, ‘Weather’, ‘Extreme events’, ‘Our Planet’, ‘Fire’.
Lesson 1
(Pupil worksheet 1: Label cross section of volcano, Worksheet 2: Viscosity experiment, Worksheet 3: Compare composite and shield volcanoes)
Learning Objectives
To recognise the features of volcanoes by their formation and shape.
To explain the differences and similarities between volcanoes.
To locate volcanoes on a map and identify countries where volcanoes are located.
To understand why volcanoes erupt and the effects of a volcanic eruption.
To know the names and locations of well- known volcanoes in the world.
Lesson 2
(Pupil worksheet 4: Order the stages of an eruption)
Learning objectives
To explain how a volcanic eruption happens in my own words.
To use key vocabulary and understand their meaning.
To label a diagram of a volcano correctly.
To know what tectonic plates and fault lines are.
How tectonic movement causes volcanoes.
Lesson 3
(Pupil worksheet 5: Effects of volcanic eruptions)
Learning Objectives
To explain the positive and negative effects of a volcanic eruption.
To know the definitions of the geographical terms ‘active ‘and ‘dormant’.
To understand how volcanoes are monitored.
To know how prediction and planning are used to keep people safe.
Lesson 4 and Lesson 5
(Pupil worksheet 6: Decade volcanoes mapwork, Worksheet 7: Research worksheet PLUS 18 volcano fact cards, Worksheet 8: Quiz questions template.
Learning objectives:
To research a well- known composite (stratovolcano) and a well- known shield volcano and its eruption.
To use the research template as a guide to make sure your research covers important information.
To use the information found to make an information booklet.
To add facts, data information, images and a quote to your booklet.