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.

A lesson for lower KS2 on poetic metaphor and personification, using poetry about water as the context. The powerpoint introduces the idea via the concept of similes (so pupils should understand similes before teaching this content). The differences and similarities between metaphor and personification are then explained. The lesson then gets pupils to discuss ‘good’ and ‘not so good’ examples of metaphors and uses this to draw out ‘success criteria’ (guidelines) for writing good metaphors. The main activities are then differentiated 3 ways.

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 prompting pupils to reflect on the messages in two important stories about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): Muhammad and the Old Woman The Rich Man and the Poor Man The main task prompts pupils to think about how to apply the lessons in these stories to their own lives. There is an extension for those who require a further challenge.

A complete lesson for teaching Alan Peat’s ‘tell: show 3’ sentence type - a very useful device for instantly making setting and character descriptions more interesting. This lesson is in the context of describing a forest setting. However, both the files are editable should you want to change this. The resources comprise a powerpoint with detailed explanations and examples of the sentence type, along with three differentiated sheets to get pupils writing their own t:s3 sentences by the end of the lesson!

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 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 is a complete lesson for lower KS2 pupils who are studying Hinduism in RE and have already had a basic introduction to the concepts of Ahimsa, Karma and Dharma. There is a starter intended to ‘hook’ the children in by getting them to ask the questions - these questions could then be used in an alternative plenary in which pupils can answer their original questions. The reading activity could be completed in groups of four (one card each) or pairs (two cards each). There are comprehension questions at the bottom for the pupils to ask each there peers after reading each section. Finally, the main written activity is differentiated three ways to allow children to apply their new understanding of Ghandi and his beliefs.

Use these differentiated resources in a practical 3D shape lesson in lower KS2 on prisms and non prisms. You will need to source the items for the children to investigate: balls Toblerone boxes Smartie boxes fruit cans or similar matchboxes teabags (the ‘pyramid’ (tetrahedron) kind) pencils ice cream cone wrappers toothpaste boxes There is a template that starts pupils off at the ‘1 chilli’ (i.e. easiest) level and allows them to choose how their level of challenge progresses from there. Ask your TA to trim the activities along the black lines into rectangles and pupils can come up to collect the one they want when ready!

A complete lesson for lower KS2 that introduces subtraction with regrouping. The resources comprise a powerpoint with animated base-ten blocks to show what is happening when numbers are subtracted, a template for children to ‘create their own worksheet’ and 2-way differentiated activities that pupils can add to the template to suit their own level of challenge. The worksheets are uploaded as Word documents and are therefore fully editable - please feel free to replace ‘Mr Drakes’ and ‘Mrs Nichols’ with members of staff from your school! There was originally a separate set of resources for different partners within the class (hence the ‘blue’ and ‘yellow’ labels).

A lesson for KS1 on Sikh places of worship, featuring a video which edits together the most useful parts of older content that give a tour of a Gurdwara for a child audience. Activities are differentiated three ways and include a challenge for any 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 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 for Y5/6 that takes some of the themes of the final sections of The Journey , e.g refugees arriving in a new and strange country, and uses them as the inspiration for writing haikus. The lesson begins with a ‘diamond 9’ activity to get children discussing the feelings that a refugee finally stepping into safety might experience. There is then a brief recap on syllables using a fun paired game. Pupils are then introduced to haiku as a form and, through good and ‘not so good’ examples, draw out the success criteria themselves. For teachers less confident with spontaneous shared writing, there is a ‘crib sheet’ with key questions and ‘think out loud’ points. For the independent activity, pupils can select an image to write a haiku about and the help sheet has examples for each image which pupils can use to base theirs on if needed.

An assembly that I used during an assessment day for an deputy head position (I got the job!) This is a presentation with some embedded videos (links to YouTube - please check that they work with your school’s firewall/intranet before using) that starts with the famous ‘marshmallow test’ before exploring the life stories of three very different ‘geniuses’ (Einstein, Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs) and relating their successes and struggles to the growth mindset. Pupils are then confronted with three scenarios and asked to think what a person with a growth mindset would do and what a person with a fixed mindset would do in each of them.

A complete PSHE lesson lasting 30-45 mins for Y3/4 on the importance of oral hygeine. The slides explain how ‘Toothless Tom’ and ‘Peraly White Paul’ (resemblance to Joey Essex is purely incidental!) came to have teeth that look the way that they do. Pupils than work in pairs/groups to answer the differentiated questions on post-its that can be attached to the images.

A lesson for KS1 on the five pillars of Islam, with three differentiated activities for pupils to choose between and a quiz for the plenary.

A set of 16 ‘top trumps’ cards with three sets of four-digit numbers describing the vital stats of a number of modern cars. Can be used in number of ways when learning about place value with 4-digit numbers: playing the traditional ‘top trumps’ game in pairs as a lesson starter, using one set of numbers (e.g ‘wheelbase’) to order the cards, comparing and ordering the numbers for one particular car, etc. The context is intended to engage those pupils who may not always see the relevance of mathematical concepts - hence the set includes plenty of luxury and sports cars as well as those more modest motors we teachers are likely to be spotted in!

A debate lesson for Y5 English at the beginning of a unit on writing balanced arguments, to complement a geography topic on Global Trade. The motion is ‘globalisation is a force for good in the world’, with eight fictional characters who stand on different sides of the argument. Through hot-seating and diamond four activities, this should help get some in-depth discussion going in your classrooms about the hidden costs of our cheap and plentiful consumer goods in the West, whilst acknowledging that standards of living would probably be worse across the board without worldwide commerce. Happy teaching and please do leave your feedback.

A lesson to introduce the topic of ‘creation stories’ for Y1/2 that focuses on encouraging pupils to see the complexity and variety of nature in comparison to the man-made world and prompting them to think about how it may have been created. This then prepares them to hear various religions’ creation stories in the following weeks as well as the scientific theory. The main activity in the lesson is a chance to leave the classroom and go to the school field/Forest Schools area/nearby park/garden to look for examples of complexity and beauty in nature. This is followed by a ‘follow-up’ activity to evidence the learning in the lesson input, which is differentiated three ways.