I am an Assistant Headteacher at an outstanding North London primary school. Throughout all my teaching career, I have strongly believed that we make the best learning happen when we inspire pupils. The resources I publish are therefore intended to do exactly that and to offer a challenging and engaging learning experience to pupils of all abilities. I hope you will find something here that inspires you!
I am an Assistant Headteacher at an outstanding North London primary school. Throughout all my teaching career, I have strongly believed that we make the best learning happen when we inspire pupils. The resources I publish are therefore intended to do exactly that and to offer a challenging and engaging learning experience to pupils of all abilities. I hope you will find something here that inspires you!
A complete lesson for Y3/4 to enable pupils to plan a ‘new’ Roman (or Greek) myth. This could be ideal if your topic is the Romans or Ancient Greece and you are looking at myth writing in English. The resources comprise a step-by-step powerpoint, an ‘ideas mat’ (with possible plots that pupils can use or adapt as they see fit) a ‘quick planning’ template that pupils can use as you guide them through the presentation and a writing frame for them to record their plan in full.
A lesson on mapwork for Y3/4 in which pupils locate and name the major rivers of the UK and some of the major towns and cities that lie along their courses. 4 river/waterway maps are included but it is highly recommended you put out a class set of good quality atlases with detailed mapping of the UK in them. Pupils will need to use their skills of comparing features across different maps in order to label the major UK rivers and answer the questions below. The activity is differentiated three ways.
A lesson explaining to pupils the significance of the Palm Sunday story and challenging them to retell it in ‘storyboard’ form. Includes a video recounting the events of Palm Sunday as told in the Bible. The pupil activity is differentiated three ways.
A geography lesson for Y2/3 in which pupils make some basic comparisons between the UK and a neighbouring European country (France), relating to both environmental, physical and human aspects of their geographies.
Main activity involves a venn diagram, differentiated two ways plus an added extension.
A lesson for KS1 about what goes on and what can be found in a Mosque. Powerpoint contains a link to a video that gives a tour by Muslims of the East London Mosque in Shadwell.
Three differentiated activities for pupils to choose between plus an extension and plenary mini quiz .
This is a complete (short: 30-40 mins) lesson on the practices of worshipers in Muslim places of worship and the beliefs behind them. There is powerpoint that includes links to short BBC video clips of Muslims worshiping at the mosque, explaining what they do and why. There are then two differentiated worksheets, both of which include a further challenge for ‘fast finishers’.
A lesson for Y2 or Y3 on the key locations on Earth (North Pole, South Pole, Equator, Northern and Southern Hemispheres) plus the directions of a four-point compass.
Activity comprises three smaller tasks and is differentiated three ways. Includes a world map with the key countries (for the questions) highlighted. However, you may prefer to use a photocopied atlas (perhaps enlarging to A3) for greater readability.
A complete, standalone lesson for Y3/4 in which pupils design a ‘room-cleaning robot’ and then use this as the context for an explanation text on how the robot functions. This can be done as an assessed piece in one extended lesson or the content could be split into separate planning and writing days. The resources comprise: an example text (WAGOLL), wordbank, design template, planning (‘flowchart’) template, L.O page header slips and a step-by-step powerpoint.
A lesson for Y3/4 focussing on the skill of historical interpretation. This lesson provides primary and secondary sources (in picture format) that pupils interpret to explain the ways in which the Anglo Saxon invaders of the 6th century AD were different from the Roman-influenced Britons that they found living here. The resources comprise a powerpoint, a sheet with information on the sources (it is suggested you enlarge this to A3), images of the sources to cut and stick (if desired) and the worksheets themselves, differentiated 2 ways.
A lesson on Ramadan with a video clip following young Muslims as they fast during the holy month, and then celebrate at Eid-al-Fitr. Three differentiated activities for pupils to complete are included, plus an extension challenge.
A complete lesson for Y3/4 on writing rhyming couplets, with water as the context for the poetry. The lesson involves plenty of partner talk and oracy so as to allow pupils to hear the effect of different rhyming structures, as well as the overall rhythms of poetry. The main activity is differentiated three ways with a word bank to support children working at all three levels of challenge.
A complete, standalone writing lesson for Y3/4 in which pupils complete a written piece to either begin or end a unit on newspapers (with an Anglo Saxon topic theme!). In this lesson, pupils complete a newspaper article breaking the news to Romano Britons that the Anglo Saxons are about to invade their shores. The resources comprise: an example text (WAGOLL), wordbank, planning template, writing frame (pages 1 and 2, with newspaper-style columns) and a step-by-step powerpoint.
This resource is ideal for use when teaching lower KS2 pupils how to find fractions of a number. The ‘1chilli’ and ‘2 chillies’ activities are intended to be trimmed into three rectangles and stuck onto the template when completed. For example, a pupil may start with the ‘1 chilli - A’ activity, find they are ready to move onto harder work and so do the ‘two chillies - A’ activity next. The template has space for up to 3 activities.
Additionally there are a pair of ‘chilli challenge’ cards that you could trim and laminate for use as an extension or to go in a ‘challenge area’ within your classroom. These challenges are ‘open-ended’ - there are a range of solutions and therefore should keep able Y3/4 pupils busy for some time!
A lesson for Y1/2 on Jewish places of worship. Powerpoint links to a video that gives a tour of the New London Synagogue. The main task is differentiated three ways and there is an extension task for fast finishers. The plenary is a short quickfire quiz.
A lesson for Y3/4 focussing on the skill of historical interpretation. This lesson provides primary and secondary sources (in picture format) that pupils interpret to decide why the Roman army was such a successful fighting force and why they enjoyed such success against the Celts when they invaded Britain. The resources comprise a powerpoint, a sheet with information on the sources (it is suggested you enlarge this to A3), images of the sources to cut and stick (if desired) and the worksheets themselves, differentiated 2 ways.
A writing lesson for Y3/4 giving pupils an opportunity to write a section of an adventure story with a polar/Arctic/Canadian/Inuit theme. The pupils are challenged to write the ending to a story they are introduced to (‘Nukilik and the Bear’) about an Inuit boy and an orphaned polar bear. This lesson can be used as an assessment piece at the start or end of a unit on adventure story writing. The resources comprise: a planning template, wordbank, story introduction to follow on from and a step-by-step powerpoint.
This powerpoint contains 82 literacy starters, each one differentiated three ways and most also including an extension challenge - a total of over 300 activities! With the exception of the ‘lipograms’, these activities are all ‘open-ended’, i.e, pupils do not ‘finish’ them. This makes them ideal for morning ‘welcome’ time (for schools that do this), where pupils arrive at different times. Equally, they can be used as regular lesson starters. Nothing needs printing for any of the activities, you literally just put the slide up on your smartboard and off you go!
The file comprises the following challenges:
Slides 2-18: ‘Word Chains’ (Y1-6) This can be good practice for pupils’ dictionary use skills - can they find a word that begins with the last letter(s) of the previous word? How long can they then make this word chain before they run out of words?
Slide 19: ‘Alphabet Sentences’ (Y1-6) A great activity for assessing how well pupils grasp what constitutes a sentence, as well as extending their vocabulary. This activity challenges pupils to create sentences where the words start with consecutive letters of the alphabet.
Slides 20-46: ‘Lipograms’ (Y4-6) Ideal for practice in using a thesaurus and extending pupils’ vocabulary, as well as assessing their sense of poetic rhythm and word choice. These activities provide a short poem with a particular theme (e.g ‘water’, ‘Spring’, ‘The Future’, etc.) and challenge pupils to re-write it with the rule that one letter is ‘forbidden’! Note: some of these are harder than others, so choose carefully when first introducing the idea!
Slides 47-62: ‘Starts and Ends’ (Y2-6) A chance for pupils to build vocabulary and practice dictionary use, this time in a slightly more competitive way! The starting and ending letters of words are provided, pupils need to think of and write down the longest words they can find/think of with those starting and ending letters.
Slides 63-74: ‘9 Letter Challenge’ (Y1-3) Useful for practicing phonics for spelling with simpler words. This activity challenges pupils to make as many words as they can using the provided letters. Note: These only have 2-way differentiation (plus an extension challenge)
Slides 75-83: Christmas Specials! These are versions of the above challenges for the festive season, complete with suitably cheesy xmas graphics!
A lesson for KS1 explaining Hindu beliefs about God and the creation of the universe and Earth. Includes a video explaining the Hindu creation story in child-friendly language. The main activity is differentiated three ways.
An example Newspaper Article about the Norman victory at the Battle of Hastings and the death of Harold Godwinson. Suitable for Lower KS2 and ideal if you happen to be studying newspaper articles in English and the Anglo Saxons/Normans/Early Middle Ages/Kings and Queens in topic! Could be used for guided reading or as model text (WAGOLL) as a stimulus for writing.
An ideal end-of-unit quiz for upper KS2 to put their knowledge of the Sikh religion to the test in a fun and accessible way.
No need to print anything - just put the slides on-screen and click through!
Note: the combination of questions and answers takes approximately 1 hour to work through with a class.