If you happen to be looking at the Stone Age to Iron Age in your topic and you need to teach fronted adverbials to Y3/4 this could be the lesson for you! The powerpoint explains step-by-step what an adverbial is, what the different types of adverbial are and how and when to start sentences with them. The examples are all in the context of a descriptive setting of a Bronze/Iron Age village. The activities (differentiated 3 ways) allow pupils to create sentences with fronted adverbials, whilst also demonstrating their knowledge of the underlying grammatical theory.

A complete lesson for Y4-6 (adaptable for Y3) about how to identify and write effective similes. This lesson is intended to take pupils right back to what the point of similes is: to create vivid imagery in the reader’s mind. From there, various ‘good’ and ‘not so good’ examples show pupils how to build that imagery most effectively. Pupils then generate the ‘success criteria’ for effective similes (the powerpoint refines these down to 3 ‘golden guidelines’). Finally, there are 3 differentiated activities ranging from quite heavily scaffolded (‘Challenge 1’) to freer writing. For higher year groups, you could make ‘Challenge 2’ the easiest and then challenge your most able writers to apply the ‘golden guidelines’ in their own similes ‘from scratch’. Please note: this lesson frames similes through the context of writing descriptive settings of a forest. You can of course edit the powerpoint directly and copy/paste, then edit the wording from the activities.

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 any primary age group about the importance of mental health. The lesson introduces the concept of mental health and then introduces pupils to the idea of mindfulness and how it can help to refocus our thoughts and feelings and leave us calmer and more content. There are two main activities: one a ‘meditation’, during which the teacher tells a short story and the children follow the instructions in the narrative to control and slow their breathing. Following this, the independent activity is a choice of mindfulness colouring activities.

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 complete lesson for lower KS2 on recognising and describing unit fractions. The starter is based on using ‘playdough’ to give pupils a concrete reference for a ‘whole’ object and how dividing it into parts gives rise to fractions. If, however, you have access to other concrete manipulatives for teaching fractions you may prefer these as a way to keep mess to a minimum! The worksheets are differentiated two ways and both have an additional challenge for ‘fast finishers’. The plenary is discussion based and is an AfL opportunity to see how well your pupils understand that fractions must be equally-sized parts of a whole.

A complete lesson for lower KS2 to deepen understanding around the process of multiplication and the fact that it is not commutative. The lesson comprises a ‘diamond 9 starter’ that could be completed in pairs/groups. There are then some worked examples in the powerpoint using ‘Singapore bar’ representations and arrays to allow two different multiplication statements to be shown. The worksheets are differentiated 3 ways, with the ‘3 chillies’ sheet including a reasoning challenge at the end.

A complete lesson for lower KS2 to introduce the concept of multiplication and represent it as repeated addition using examples based on everyday objects. The resources comprise both a step-by-step powerpoint and 2-way differentiated worksheets (in the ‘make your own’ worksheet format). The latter are word documents are therefore editable should the format/style/sizes not suit you. In terms of strategy, the worked examples are calculated using ‘grouping’, which pupils can then apply themselves either with concrete manipulatives or jottings on a whiteboard. The worksheets allow for the calculations to be represented in the ‘bar method’ format as well if you require this.

A complete lesson for lower KS2 on telling the time to the nearest minute. The resources comprise a step-by-step powerpoint presentation, a laminatable sheet of blank clocks for pupils to use to represent the times given in the guided activities and three differentiated worksheets for the main activity. There is also a discussion-based plenary. Please note: pupils should already be able to read time to the nearest 5 minutes (lesson available at this link: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/tell-the-time-from-an-analogue-clock-nearest-5-mins-11909819?theme=0) before you teach this lesson and should know how many minutes are in one hour. It’s also recommended that you have teaching clocks with moveable hands for both the pupils and a larger one for you and/or your TA.

A complete lesson for lower KS2 on telling the time to the nearest 5 mins. The resources comprise a step-by-step powerpoint presentation, a laminatable sheet of blank clocks for pupils to use to represent the times given in the guided activities and three differentiated worksheets for the main activity. There is also a discussion-based plenary. Please note: pupils should already be able to read time to the nearest 15 minutes before you teach this lesson and should know how many minutes are in one hour. It’s also recommended that you have teaching clocks with moveable hands for both the pupils and a larger one for you and/or your TA.

A tarsia puzzle for practice with telling time from an analogue clock. The challenges comprise “o’clock”, “half-past”, “quarter to/past” times, as well as times to the nearest 5 minutes and nearest minute. In addition, there are added challenges that test pupils’ knowledge of certain ‘time facts’ (e.g that there are 24 hours in a day and 12 months in a year) that are on the LKS2 curriculum but best taught through continuous provision rather than discrete lessons. Can be used in pairs or individually. Includes missing number problems to challenge pupils’ reasoning. As an extension, why not challenge pupils to create their own puzzle with similar calculation problems? **Note: This puzzle works best when enlarged to A3 **

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 Series of 3 lessons to guide lower KS2 pupils through learning their Roman numerals thoroughly from 1-50. The powerpoint covers all necessary input and includes whiteboard AfL activites, starters and plenaries. There are main activities for each day, differentiated two ways with additional challenges for early finishers. Also included is a pack of ‘snap’ cards comprising both Roman numerals from 1-50 and corresponding cards with the Arabic numeral representation on. The pupils can then pair up and play ‘snap’ to test their new knowledge of Roman numerals. For a slightly less competitive plenary/starter, you could simply use it as a matching activity for individuals, pairs or groups.

This is a short (30-45mins) R.E lesson to teach lower KS2 children about the importance of the Eid (Eid Al Adha) festival: why the concept of sacrifice is important in Islam and what happened in the original sacrifice story that is remembered at Eid (Ibrahim and Ismael). The presentation begins with a discussion-based starter with examples of sacrifices children will be familiar with from general life. The video (linked from YouTube) explains the story of the original story of Ibrahim and Ismael). The activity that follows is differentiated three ways: ‘1 chilli’: order the storyboard pictures and match with them the text, 2 chillies: pupils create their own pictures to accompany the story text, 3 chillies: pupils create their own text and images to narrate the story. Please note: It is an important belief in Islam that characters of religious significance should not be explicitly depicted in images - therefore the faces of the characters on the 1 chilli activity are hidden - the powerpoint reminds pupils completing the two more challenging activities to do the same with their drawings. It is worth reiterating this orally to your class. For those who complete quickly, an extra challenge is described on the powerpoint.

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 tarsia puzzle for practice with mentally adding/subtracting multiples of 1, 10, 100 and 1000. Can be used in pairs or individually. Includes missing number problems to challenge pupils’ reasoning. As an extension, why not challenge pupils to create their own puzzle with similar calculation problems?

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!

This lesson is intended for lower KS2 pupils who have already learned what the three states of matter are and who are ready to learn the processes of evaporation, condensation and dissolving. The initial teacher demonstration can be done with a kettle and glass (mind your hands!), then show pupils ice melting and sugar/salt dissolving in water. There are then three differentiated worksheets for pupils to demonstrate their understanding of the three processes.

This is a complete practical lesson for lower KS2 on the difference between reversible and irreversible changes. The lesson begins with an open-ended ‘odd one out’ activity intended to engage children’s deeper thinking and elicit appropriate scientific vocabulary and verbal reasoning. Depending on your school’s health and safety policy, you may or may not be able to do the very first teacher demonstration, where you burn a small amount of methylated spirit in a plate (then show them the empty plate after it has burned away!) If not, videos can easily be found on YouTube. For the 3 child-led practical parts of the lesson you will need: olive/sunflower/vegetable oil vinegar (any) sand filter paper funnels Alka-Seltzer tablets (one per pair) or similar There is then a short activity to finish off with - differentiated three ways and with an open-ended extension question to keep any ‘fast finishers’ busy! The plenary activity challenges pupils to use what they have learned to discuss whether a real-world chemical change is reversible or irreversible. Give the blue cards to one partner and the yellow ones to the other. The partners will then have to work together to arrive at a conclusion.