Hello and Welcome to my shop! I have a mixture of resources based on my experiences. Mostly, you will find resources for the Primary-Curriculum which have been developed in accordance with my experience teaching Primary. Secondly, you will find music-related resources developed in accordance with my musical training (BA Music - Oxford University). Finally, you will find GCSE A-Level appropriate resources that I developed when I was a student. I hope you will find something of use to you. :)
Hello and Welcome to my shop! I have a mixture of resources based on my experiences. Mostly, you will find resources for the Primary-Curriculum which have been developed in accordance with my experience teaching Primary. Secondly, you will find music-related resources developed in accordance with my musical training (BA Music - Oxford University). Finally, you will find GCSE A-Level appropriate resources that I developed when I was a student. I hope you will find something of use to you. :)
This is a collection of 80 different starter activities that are ideal for settling and focusing a class in Upper Primary School (Y4-6 England / P5-7 Scotland). The theme of each starter activity is a different International Day according to UNESCO’s list of International Days. This includes a selection of International Days deemed applicable, relevant, or of interest to young people.
Purpose and Theory
The idea of these activities is not to inform or teach students about these days in any depth or detail (this will be saved for lessons.) The aim is to introduce and inform students of different international days but ultimately, activities are designed around and linked in with the theme of the day in question. The aim is to help settle students and prepare them for learning through a range of calming activities which are based upon engaging topics that are relatable and relevant to their lives beyond the classroom. In some cases whole lessons could be made out of the theme of day, in which case the starter activity could be used at the start of that lesson. In other cases, activities would work well at the start of the day when students first enter the classroom.
Timings
A vast range of activities is included that aim to target a range of different skills. These activities are designed to take between 5 – 15 minutes, depending on the needs of your class and how long they may need to settle. If being used at the start of the day or immediately after lunch, 15 minutes is recommended to help put students in the mindset of learning and engagement.
Differentiation Opportunities and Inclusion
Starter activities are not designed to be overly taxing. In many cases, differentiation opportunities and limited choices are available. Most activities include an “early finisher extension task”. Equally, it isn’t recommended that the resource always be used prescriptively. Should you feel a starter would require too much brain power for a class / group of students, differentiation is recommended or indeed, not using the starter for that day. The idea of this resource is a bank of ideas. You could follow each day prescriptively or you could do some tasks but not others or you could take a task and adapt it to different day or topic if that suits your students / topic better. If students particularly enjoy one task, why not use the activity idea again on a different topic?
Activities
A range of activities are used that target a variety of different skills. Activity examples include: themed boggle, drawing, A-Z challenges, craft challenges, poster designing, quizzes / riddles, hang-man, Pictionary, acting, The Telephone Game, acronyms, wordsearches, maths problems, strategy and planning challenges, guided discussions, team-building challenges, leadership challenges, design challenges, research activities, colouring, acrostics, translation activities, coding etc. Use of technology is optional in some cases.
A collection of 4 worksheets that aim to improve understanding of conjunctions and build confidence applying conjunctions into sentences. These worksheets are ideal for younger children of primary-age. The worksheet focus on 4 selected conjunctions: and, so, but, because. The focus of the worksheets is on identifying these conjunctions and using them in sentences.
The first 3 worksheets are a collection of differentiated, scaled application tasks. Each worksheet focuses on applying conjunctions into sentences. The task takes a form of a fill-in-the-blank with the options provided. One worksheet uses the conjunctions and / so. The second worksheet uses the conjunction but / because. The third worksheet includes all four conjunctions: and, so, but, because. By providing three tiered worksheets this will enable the sheets to be distributed according to ability whilst still having all pupils complete the same style of task. This way, every student has a maximised opportunity to succeed. Sentences include common phonetic words appropriate for children aged 5-7 to read mostly independently. Sentences feature content relatable to children of this age.
The fourth worksheet is a colouring activity where students are asked to separate conjunctions from other words through colouring. This worksheet is designed to help children identify conjunctions from other words. Ideal for developing understanding of what sorts of words are conjunctions, before a child starts to apply these words to sentences.
Worksheet pack would work well alongside the lesson on introduction to conjunctions also available from this author’s shop.
Designed as a lesson to introduce younger children to conjunctions. The lesson provides a simple explanation of what a conjunction does. The lesson focuses on four different conjunctions: and, because, but, so. It shows children what each of these conjunctions mean and shows examples of how they can be used in sentences.
The lesson takes the form of a highly interactive presentation that is structured in four chunks as follows:
What is a conjunction?
Examples of conjunctions (introduced to the 4 chosen conjunctions)
Using (four-chosen) conjunctions in sentences
Activities
By using just 4 conjunctions, it is hoped that younger children will develop a basic understanding and competency of conjunctions and how to apply them to their writing without becoming overly confused or overwhelmed. This lesson helps to introduce younger children to the principles of conjunctions in sentences, so they can later progress onto to using more advanced conjunctions with minimal difficulties, drawing on the foundational understanding gained in this lesson.
The lesson is highly interactive and students are encouraged to take an active role in their own learning. It is certainly not a lesson to sit and listen too. Students are asked questions throughout and encouraged to problem-solve to come up with their own solutions; the lesson offering its own solutions for reference as it progresses.
Throughout the lesson aims to be applicable to wider literacy skills, writing, and real-life skills. Showing children examples of conjunctions in sentences occurs throughout the lesson, with the third section showing multiple step-by-step processes of how sentences can be constructed with conjunctions. Every time a sample sentence is provided, the topic of the sentence is always something relevant and appropriate for younger children for example sentences about animals, food, the beach, games etc.
The final section of the lesson includes four suggested activities. These take the form of games to add a physical element to the lesson. Games include musical corners and a listening game. There is also a short, simple rhyme included at the end to help children remember what a conjunction is and the examples they’ve looked at.
Colour and subtle animations are used throughout to aid memory and provide aesthetic interest. A worksheet pack is also available from this author’s shop which would accompany this lesson, however this is not compulsory. There is enough content within this resource to be a standalone lesson, therefore, removing the need for any worksheet based activities.
A whole lesson on conjunctions aimed at children in upper-primary school / lower high school (Yr4-8 England) (P5-7 /Scotland). The lesson takes the form of a highly interactive presentation which is structured as follows:
What is a conjunction?
Examples of Conjunctions
Application of conjunctions into sentences
Activities
Section one on “What is a conjunction”? encourages the children to find their own answer through discussion. A recap is provided of clauses - main and subordinate clauses and how conjunctions interact with these to form sentences.
Section two on examples of conjunctions aims to help students create a word bank of different conjunctions that they will be able to apply to their writing. This is delivered by showing pupils examples of sentences with conjunctions and guiding them through identifying the conjunction in each case. By including sentences at this point, it helps the students to already start to develop their application and understanding of how conjunctions fit into sentences.
Section three on application of conjunctions into sentences is broken down into small chunks. The section is structured by different purposes a conjunction may have in a sentence for example: comparison, adding information, giving a reason etc. At each point at least three examples of conjunctions are given including an example of how they fit in a sentence. Students are encouraged to take an active part in their learning by the section being structured with various pause points do students to have a go themselves. The section aims to cover many examples of conjunctions but in a way that is relevant to writing. Small chunks help the volume of information to be less overwhelming. Every conjunction mentioned has at least one example sentence included.
Section four includes 3 different activities.
The first activity is a writing activity. To help engage students, the activity includes a highly relatable, relevant and interesting topic. Students are asked to reflect on a recent problem they had and write an “agony aunt” newspaper article describing the problem and solution using conjunctions.
The second activity is a scavenger hunt activity which involves students searching for conjunctions in different books. This activity does not involve any writing and is designed as an active learning task. It could easily be completed as individuals, pairs, or teams.
The final activity is a game of Simon Says that has been adapted to include different types of words including conjunctions. This game helps to add fun to your lessons whilst reinforcing the topic and encouraging leadership and listening skills.
The whole lesson aims to be relevant to student experiences and interests and applicable beyond the lesson throughout. Students are encouraged to take an active part in their learning as the lesson is interspersed with many opportunities for engagement through questions, short tasks, longer tasks, and games.
Colour and
Collection of 3 resources covering the use of adverbs to enhance speech writing and further describe how someone may be speaking.
The lesson bundle contains a presentation which can be worked through as the main bulk of the teaching and lesson input, a collection of accompanying worksheets and a quiz.
Presentation
The bulk of the lesson can be structured and delivered using the presentation. The presentation is interactive and engaging throughout, allowing students to take an active role in their learning. The presentation is moves through 4 parts to allows for scaffolded teaching:
Learning intentions, keywords covered, context
Worked examples
Application to sentences and writing
Activities
Throughout the lesson there is opportunity for students to work through examples interactively, answer questions, and complete short tasks all of which lead to a final application task at the end and some accompanying games / application activities.
The presentation is structured clearly with simple colour and animation used throughout to engage and aid memory.
Worksheets
4 worksheets are included in the worksheet pack. Learning intentions are typed onto all worksheets. Each worksheet looks to target real-life skills and application. Worksheet content is as follows:
Wordbank activity
Application to sentences (scaffolded) activity
Application to sentences (independent) activity
Cut and stick activity
Each worksheet aims to be applicable to further curriculum areas, further writing, and relevant to every-day experiences. All worksheets have clear instructions.
Quiz
The lesson can be completed with a quiz. The quiz includes 35 questions in total, organised into 4 rounds. The idea of 35 questions is that in a typical class of 30, every child can answer a question. Having 4 rounds means the whole quiz would need not be completed in one sitting.
Each round is structured as follows:
Multi-choice questions looking at adverbs relevant to speech verbs.
Multi-choice questions on adverbs relevant to specific scenarios involving speech.
Multi-choice questions on adverbs relevant to feelings and how feelings can impact speech.
Multi-choice questions on application to sentences.
All questions are multiple-choice to enhance accessibility for all children. Answers are provided at the end of every round to allow pupils to self/peer assess.
Tes paid licence
A 35-question quiz on looking at adverbs that can be used when writing speech to describe better describe how someone is speaking. Ideal plenary activity / easy assessment activity.
The quiz is simply structured with 4 rounds. The first 3 rounds have 10 questions and the final round has 5 questions. The total of 35 questions is designed so that in an average class of 30 students, every student can answer at least one question. Each round is slightly different to target different ways of thinking and maximise the applicability of the quiz beyond the lesson to everyday circumstances and further writing. Each round is structured as follows:
Multi-choice questions on adverbs to describe specific speech-related verbs such as “yelled” “whispered” “announced” etc.
Multi-choice questions on adverbs that are appropriate for certain circumstances where someone may be speaking for example delivering a presentation, ordering in a restaurant etc. These questions are structured as “odd one out” to add some variety.
Multi=choice questions on adverbs that relate to how a person’s feelings can affect how they speak for example, how someone may speak when they feel unwell, or feel happy or feel sad etc.
Multi-choice questions focused on application to sentences.
The multiple-choice element helps the quiz to remain accessible to a wider range of abilities. Finishing with a sentence based round helps ensure the quiz is applicable to wider English / literacy lessons. All questions aim to cover common scenarios and common speech verbs to ensure the quiz is applicable to further writing and the wider curriculum, and is relatable to the students. Answers are included at the end of each round so students can self assess / peer mark their quizzes.
Colour and simple animations are used throughout to keep the quiz aesthetically engaging.
The quiz would work well in conjunction with the lesson on “using adverbs in speech writing" and “using adverbs in speech writing" worksheet pack, also available by this author. This is not necessary, however. The quiz will work well as a standalone resource.
A collection of four worksheets designed to consolidate student’s knowledge and help them practise using adverbs when writing speech. The four worksheets are each designed to target different skills, with each one aiming to be applicable to practical applications such as sentence writing and further learning. The four worksheets are as follows:
Workbank activity - designed to help students expand their vocabulary and build up their knowledge of ambitious adverbs and the contexts they could be used. The worksheet provides students with 8 different verbs applicable to speech with space to write 3 or more adverbs that could be used in a sentence with each verb. The worksheet concludes by encouraging students to write 3 sentences of their own using the examples they have just created.
Application to sentences - ideal worksheet for students who may struggle to create sentences independently. This worksheet provides students with sentences and asks them to fill in the gaps with appropriate adverbs to complete the sentences. This allows students to practise applying adverbs to real-life contexts without the need to create anything independently.
Application to sentences - independent sentence writing. This worksheet is ideal for students who will benefit from the challenge of creating the whole sentence, with adverbs, independently. To help students create sentence themes, the worksheet provides 4 briefs for students to write short paragraphs of speech on. One example brief is: a conversation between a couple debating where to go on holiday. One partner wishes for a beach resort and the other wishes for a countryside, cultural trip.
Cut and stick activity - more practice of choosing adverbs appropriate for different contexts. This activity is well-suited for not involving any writing. Answers provided on a separate sheet.
All worksheets are structured simply with learning intentions typed at the top, clear instructions underneath, then the activities evenly and fairly spaced.
Worksheet pack would work well in conjunction with the lesson on using adverbs in speech writing also available from this author’s shop, however, this is not necessary. The worksheet pack can also be used as a standalone resource.
This resource is a whole lesson on the topic of creative writing and writing speech that specifically looks at including adverbs when writing speech to further describe how a character is speaking. The lesson includes an interactive presentation that can be worked through. The presentation is highly interactive through regular questions, short and long activities, games, and worked examples so that students take an active part of their learning journey and engage a range of senses and skills. The presentation is structured in 4 parts as follows:
Why should we consider adding adverbs to our speech writing? Including a reminder of what adverbs are and how we use them.
Worked Examples
Application to Sentences
Activities
Worked Examples
The worked examples help students create a word bank of adverbs that they can then use in their sentences. To help students think about appropriate adverbs and their contexts, the presentation breaks the subject down into different features of speech; taking each feature one at a time. This section is structured as follows: adverbs to describe feelings, adverbs to describe volume, adverbs to describe pace, adverbs to describe tone, adverbs relevant to the situations that someone may be speaking in, adverbs relevant to someone’s motivation for speaking.
Students take an active part in gathering this knowledge by being involved in class discussions which will lead to the creation of class mind maps. To accompany these class activities, the presentation goes through its own mind maps for each of the factors so that students should finish this section with a bank of words they can apply to their sentences.
Application to Sentences
This section begins with a short passage of text involving a conversation between several characters containing no adverbs. The presentation then looks at the conversation a sentence at a time and shows how an appropriate adverb could be added to each sentence. The presentation takes this section sentence at a time to increase accessibility. By looking at multiple sentences, it allows for a range of adverbs to be demonstrated in appropriate contexts. Students are encouraged to complete the task in their own books, choosing their own words, along with the presentation. The presentation gives an example at each point to help those who may lack confidence to choose independently.
Activities
The presentation concludes with 2 activities. Including:
Sentence building dice game
Charades
Each activity looks to develop different interpersonal skills such as leadership, communication, confidence, alongside academic learning.
Subtle colour, images, and animations are used throughout the presentation to aid memory and ensure the presentation is aesthetically engaging.
A 30-question quiz on alternatives ways of saying “said”. Ideal plenary activity / easy assessment activity.
The quiz is simply structured with 3 rounds of 10 questions. The total of 30 questions is designed so that in an average class of 30 students, every student can answer at least one question. Each round is slightly different to target different ways of thinking and application. Each round is structured as follows:
Multi-choice questions on how someone may speak when feeling a certain way
Multi-choice questions on how someone may speak when performing a certain action
Multi-choice questions applying alternative said words to sentences
The multiple-choice element helps the quiz to remain accessible to a wider range of abilities. Finishing with a sentence based round helps ensure the quiz is applicable to wider English / literacy lessons. All questions aim to cover common scenarios and said words to ensure the quiz is applicable to further writing and the wider curriculum. Answers are included at the end of each round so students can self assess / peer mark their quizzes.
Colour and simple animations are used throughout to keep the quiz aesthetically engaging.
The quiz would work well in conjunction with the lesson on “alternatives for said” and “alternatives for said” worksheet pack, also available by this author. This is not necessary, however. The quiz will work well as a standalone resource.
A 30-question quiz on alternatives ways of saying “very”. Ideal plenary activity / easy assessment activity.
The quiz is simply structured with 5 rounds. In total there are 30 questions across the 5 rounds - this is designed so that in an average class of 30 students, every student can answer at least one question. Each round is slightly different to make the quiz as engaging as possible. The 5 rounds are as follows:
Multiple choice questions
True or false questions
Spot the odd one out
Application to sentences questions (multiple choice)
Quick-fire multiple choice questions
The multiple-choice element helps the quiz to remain accessible to a wider range of abilities. Finishing with a sentence based round helps ensure the quiz is applicable to wider English / literacy lessons. All questions aim to cover common adjectives to ensure the quiz is applicable to further writing and the wider curriculum. Answers are included at the end of each round so students can self assess / peer mark their quizzes.
Colour and simple animations are used throughout to keep the quiz aesthetically engaging.
The quiz would work well in conjunction with the lesson on “alternatives for very” and “alternatives for very” worksheet pack, also available by this author. This is not necessary, however. The quiz will work well as a standalone resource.
A collection of 3 quizzes on the topic of synonyms and expanded vocabulary. The 3 quizzes have been produced to aid differentiation and specific tailoring to the needs and abilities of the students.
Each quiz follows a similar structure. The quizzes are organised into 5 rounds with approximately 30 questions for the overall quiz to ensure that in an average class of 30, every child can answer at least one question.
Each round targets slightly different skills and questioning to help keep children engaged: multi-choice questions, true or false questions, odd-one-out etc. All questions have a multi-choice element to ensure the quiz is accessible to a wider range of abilities.
Answers are provided for all questions in all quizzes. For the Primary Age / Medium quizzes, animation is used to reveal the answers. This allows the quizzes to be fully interactive. Students can select the answer they feel is right and animations will remove the incorrect answers to leave just the right answer. For the harder quiz, answers are provided at the end of each round for students to self or peer mark.
All quizzes focus on common frequency words to increase the applicability of the quiz to children’s writing and every-day language use.
Having all 3 quizzes available will aid differentiation, scaling, and scaffolding so every child can complete a quiz individually tailored to their needs and abilities.
A 30-question quiz on synonyms and expanding vocabulary designed for children in upper-primary / lower secondary school (KS2/3 for schools in England… P4 - S2 for schools in Scotland). The quiz is structured in four rounds, with each round asking a different type of question to help keep children engaged. The four rounds are as follows:
Multiple-choice
True or False
Odd one out
Sense or non-sense, multiple choice
30 questions allows for every child in a typical class to 30 to answer at least one question each.
The quiz is highly interactive. To answer each question, students can physically select the answer they wish on an interactive whiteboard or computer device and that will reveal the answer. The incorrect answers will disappear to leave only the correct answer. Answers are provided for all questions.
All questions are multiple-choice to make the quiz more accessible to a wider range of learning needs and levels. All questions are short and simple. Bogus options are designed to include common words with simple phonic sounds to allow more children to read all questions and answers independently.
The quiz focuses on common descriptive words organised by theme - round one on feelings, round two on size, round three on landscapes etc. to ensure that the words are more relevant and applicable to every life. This will help the quiz feed into future writing and reading activities.
Colour and simple animations are used throughout to make the quiz more aesthetically engaging.
This quiz is the second of three quizzes on this topic. The first quiz is labelled “easy” and the third quiz is designed with a higher level of difficulty. You may wish to download all 3 quizzes and distribute them according to the needs of your pupils. The three quizzes are available in a bundle on the author’s shop. :)
A 30-question quiz on synonyms and expanding vocabulary designed for primary-aged children. The quiz is structured in four rounds, with each round asking a different type of question to help keep children engaged. The four rounds are as follows:
Multiple-choice
True or False
Odd one out
Sense or non-sense, multiple choice
30 questions allows for every child in a typical class to 30 to answer at least one question each.
The quiz is highly interactive. To answer each question, students can physically select the answer they wish on an interactive whiteboard or computer device and that will reveal the answer. The incorrect answers will disappear to leave only the correct answer. Answers are provided for all questions.
All questions are multiple-choice to make the quiz more accessible to a wider range of learning needs and levels. All questions are short and simple. Bogus options are designed to include common words with simple phonic sounds to allow younger children more independence to read for themselves.
The quiz focuses on common descriptive words such as big, small, fast, slow, tall, short, happy, sad etc. to ensure that the words are more relevant and applicable to every life. This will help the quiz feed into future writing and reading activities.
Colour and simple animations are used throughout to make the quiz more aesthetically engaging.
A 20-question quiz on synonyms and ambitious vocabulary. Ideal plenary activity / easy assessment activity to finish a unit of work on ambitious vocabulary / descriptive writing. A brief definition of synonyms is provided at the start of the quiz.
The quiz is simply structured with 4 rounds of 5 questions. Each round is slightly different to make the quiz as engaging as possible. The 4 rounds are as follows:
Multiple choice questions
True or false questions
Spot the odd one out
Application to sentences questions (multiple choice)
The multiple-choice element helps the quiz to remain accessible to a wider range of abilities. Finishing with a sentence based round helps ensure the quiz is applicable to wider English / literacy lessons. All questions aim to cover common adjectives and synonyms to ensure the quiz is applicable to further writing and the wider curriculum. Answers are included at the end of each round so students can self assess / peer mark their quizzes.
The quiz finishes with an extension task encouraging students to come up with their own 5 question quiz on synonyms and ambitious vocabulary that they can give to a classmate.
Colour and simple animations are used throughout to keep the quiz aesthetically engaging.
Resources to cover at least a whole lesson looking at alternative ways of saying “said” in order to expand vocabulary and enhance independent writing. The two resources in this bundle are a presentation to be worked through as the input part of the lesson and a worksheet pack.
Presentation
The presentation is highly interactive involving questions, short and long activities, games, and worked examples so that students take an active part of their learning journey and engage a range of senses and skills. The presentation is structured in 4 parts as follows:
Why should we consider alternative words for said?
Worked Examples
Application to Sentences
Activities.
Worked Examples
The worked examples help students create a word bank of alternatives for said that they can then use in their sentences. To help students think about alternatives for “said” the presentation discusses the impact of feelings on how a person may speak. The presentation then works through common feelings and how someone may speak with each of those feelings. Students take an active part in gathering this knowledge by being involved in class discussions which will lead to the creation of class mind maps. To accompany these class activities, the presentation goes through its own mind maps for each of the chosen feelings so that students should finish this section with a bank of words they can apply to their sentences.
The presentation begins by giving students a short passage of speech where “said” is used repetitively to emphasise the lack of interest and information this creates. This passage of speech is then returned to at this point in the lesson as the presentation works through swapping out all the “said” for an alternative word chosen from the previously created word bank. The presentation takes this section sentence at a time to increase accessibility. Students are encouraged to complete the task in their own books, choosing their own words, along with the presentation. The presentation gives an example at each point to help those who may lack confidence to choose independently.
The presentation concludes with 4 activities. Including:
Word Association game
Sentence building dice game
Charades game
Real-life applicable task involving sentence writing.
Each activity looks to develop different interpersonal skills such as leadership, communication, confidence, alongside academic learning.
Subtle colour, images, and animations are used throughout the presentation to aid memory and ensure the presentation is aesthetically engaging.
Worksheet Pack
Collection of 3 worksheets. The 3 worksheets are scaled to assist with differentiation and developing a range of skills. A summary of the 3 worksheets is as follows:
Word Bank exercise - students are given a grid with 10 different phrases that describe how someone might speak for example: “talking loudly”, “asking a question”," addressing an audience" etc. Students are asked to complete the grid with 3 appropriate “said” words for each phrase that could be used to describe someone talking in that way. This task is to help children develop a bank of alternative words and think about appropriate context for each choice.
Complete the sentence application task - students are provided with 10 sentences containing speech with the “said” word missing. Students should read the sentence and fill in the missing “said” word for each sentence. This task is ideal for students who would struggle to independently think of their own ideas for sentences whilst still allowing them opportunity to apply their alternative “said” words to the context of a sentence.
Independent Sentence Writing Application - the final worksheet should challenge older learners to construct the whole sentence independently, remembering to correctly use an alternative “said” word. In this worksheet, students are provided with 5 scenarios where a conversation is taking place for example: two friends playing Minecraft together, friends organising a party etc. Students are asked to write a brief conversation that the characters might have in each of the given scenarios. This task allows students more independence to apply their knowledge of the given topic to a relevant scenario.
The bundle is designed to include ample resources so that you can choose which resources best suit the needs of your children. All activities and teaching is designed in a way that aids differentiation and in accordance with the National Curriculum (UK).
Quiz
The collection concludes with a 30 question quiz organised into 3 rounds. The idea of 30 questions is that ina typical class of 30, every child can answer at least one question. The rounds are structured as follows:
Multi-choice questions on said words to describe feelings.
Multi-choice questions on said words that describe situations where someone is speaking.
Multi-choice questions applying to varying said words to sentences.
Multi-choice questions help the quiz to be more accessible to a wider range of abilities. Each round aims to include common said words, feelings, and situations to enhance the relevancy and relatability of the activity to the children and their wider learning. Answers are provided at the end of each round so pupils can peer/self assess.
A collection of 3 worksheets on the topic of expanded vocabulary, specifically looking at alternatives words for “said” when writing speech in creative writing. The 3 worksheets are scaled to assist with differentiation and developing a range of skills. A summary of the 3 worksheets is as follows:
Word Bank exercise - students are given a grid with 10 different phrases that describe how someone might speak for example: “talking loudly”, “asking a question”," addressing an audience" etc. Students are asked to complete the grid with 3 appropriate “said” words for each phrase that could be used to describe someone talking in that way. This task is to help children develop a bank of alternative words and think about appropriate context for each choice.
Complete the sentence application task - students are provided with 10 sentences containing speech with the “said” word missing. Students should read the sentence and fill in the missing “said” word for each sentence. This task is ideal for students who would struggle to independently think of their own ideas for sentences whilst still allowing them opportunity to apply their alternative “said” words to the context of a sentence.
Independent Sentence Writing Application - the final worksheet should challenge older learners to construct the whole sentence independently, remembering to correctly use an alternative “said” word. In this worksheet, students are provided with 5 scenarios where a conversation is taking place for example: two friends playing Minecraft together, friends organising a party etc. Students are asked to write a brief conversation that the characters might have in each of the given scenarios. This task allows students more independence to apply their knowledge of the given topic to a relevant scenario.
Learning intentions are typed onto every sheet. Sheets are presented clearly and simply.
This resource is a whole lesson on the topic of creative writing and writing speech that specifically looks at expanding vocabulary use through choosing alternative words for “said”. The lesson includes a presentation that can be worked through. The presentation is highly interactive involving questions, short and long activities, games, and worked examples so that students take an active part of their learning journey and engage a range of senses and skills. The presentation is structured in 4 parts as follows:
Why should we consider alternative words for said?
Worked Examples
Application to Sentences
Activities.
Worked Examples
The worked examples help students create a word bank of alternatives for said that they can then use in their sentences. To help students think about alternatives for “said” the presentation discusses the impact of feelings on how a person may speak. The presentation then works through common feelings and how someone may speak with each of those feelings. Students take an active part in gathering this knowledge by being involved in class discussions which will lead to the creation of class mind maps. To accompany these class activities, the presentation goes through its own mind maps for each of the chosen feelings so that students should finish this section with a bank of words they can apply to their sentences.
Application to Sentences
The presentation begins by giving students a short passage of speech where “said” is used repetitively to emphasise the lack of interest and information this creates. This passage of speech is then returned to at this point in the lesson as the presentation works through swapping out all the “said” for an alternative word chosen from the previously created word bank. The presentation takes this section sentence at a time to increase accessibility. Students are encouraged to complete the task in their own books, choosing their own words, along with the presentation. The presentation gives an example at each point to help those who may lack confidence to choose independently.
Activities
The presentation concludes with 4 activities. Including:
Word Association game
Sentence building dice game
Charades game
Real-life applicable task involving sentence writing.
Each activity looks to develop different interpersonal skills such as leadership, communication, confidence, alongside academic learning.
Subtle colour, images, and animations are used throughout the presentation to aid memory and ensure the presentation is aesthetically engaging.
This lesson looks at ways of improving writing through expanding our vocabulary. In this lesson the focus is on alternatives ways of saying “very” in our descriptions of nouns and verbs. The lesson encourages students to use singular, more ambitious vocabulary to emphasise extent, rather than repeatedly using “very” coupled with a more mundane descriptive word.
The lesson bundle contains both a presentation which can be worked through and a collection of accompanying worksheets.
Presentation
The bulk of the lesson can be structured and delivered using the presentation. The presentation is interactive and engaging throughout, allowing students to take an active role in their learning. The presentation is moves through 4 parts to allows for scaffolded teaching:
Learning intentions, keywords covered, context
Worked examples
Application to sentences and writing
Activities
Throughout the lesson there is opportunity for students to work through examples interactively, answer questions, and complete short tasks all of which leads to a final application task at the end.
The presentation is structured clearly with simple colour and animation used throughout to engage and aid memory.
Worksheets
2 worksheets are included in the worksheet pack. Learning intentions are typed onto both worksheets. Each worksheet looks to target real-life skills and application.
First worksheet is a word bank creating activity which can include thesaurus skills if desired. Students are given a table with simple descriptive phrases involving very and are asked to provide alternatives without using “very”. This can serve as a useful word bank that they can refer to when writing in future.
Second worksheet is a written sentence application task. Students are given 4 brief descriptions with “very” phrases underlined. They are asked to re-write the descriptives with alternatives for the very phrases. Each description covers a real-life applicable topic. An extension task is provided for students to expand their learning out to writing their own brief description on a recent day out.
Quiz
The lesson can be completed with a quiz. The quiz includes 30 questions in total, organised into 4 rounds. The idea of 30 questions is that in a typical class of 30, every child can answer a question. Having 4 rounds means the whole would need not be completed in one sitting.
Each round covers a slightly different style of questioning to help keep the children engaged. Answers are provided for every question at the end of each round.
All questions are multiple-choice to enhance accessibility for all children.
This is a collection of 2 worksheets on the topic of expanded vocabulary. These worksheets look at alternative ways of saying “very” in descriptive writing. Both worksheets look to target different skills.
First worksheet is a word-bank / thesaurus skills activity. Students are given a grid with 20 basic descriptive phrases involving the word “very” and are asked to find alternatives. There is the option to use a thesaurus should this be a desired target skill. Worksheet is presented clearly with learning intention included.
Second worksheet focuses on application to sentences and writing. The worksheet includes four short descriptions with “very” phrases underlined. Students are asked to re-write the sentences with an alternative for the “very” phrases. Sentences look to target common adjectives. The content of all descriptions is designed to be applicable to real life scenarios that a student can relate too, and may need to write about in their own life. The worksheet finishes with an extension task inviting students to produce their own descriptive paragraph on a recent day out. Learning intention is typed onto worksheet.
These worksheets would work well in conjunction with the available lesson on “alternative ways of saying very”, however, this is not a necessity.
This resource is a whole lesson on expanded vocabulary, specifically looking at alternatives ways of describing something without using the word “very”. The lesson takes the form of a presentation which is structured into four parts:
Learning intentions, key words, context
Worked examples
Application to sentences and writing
Activities
Throughout the lesson there are regular opportunities for student interaction to ensure students have an active part in their learning. Such interaction is aided in the form of questions (to which the answers are given in the presentation), scaffolded examples that the students can complete along with the presentation, and scaffolded opportunities for application.
The powerpoint covers three worked examples where students where can have an active part in working through those examples along with the presentation. The lesson invites students to have a go themselves before offering suggestions and demonstrations of how an answer could be reached.
Similarly, the lesson demonstrates application to sentences in a worked example that the students can try out and follow first, before encouraging more independent work at the end.
Two activities are included which are designed to be real-life applicable independent tasks. Both activities target different skill sets. The first activity is a survey writing activity. The second activity looks at thesaurus skills and the use of a thesaurus to expand vocabulary. Both activities are clearly explained with examples in the lesson.
Colour and images are used throughout to provide aesthetic advantages and aid memory. Slides are simply structured with animations and titles. Slides are not overloaded with information, but teaching is broken down into smaller chunks, included interactive activities throughout to help keep students engaged and enhance understanding.
Lesson would work well in conjunction with the worksheet pack on “alternative ways of saying very”, also available in the shop, however, this is not necessary. The lesson involves enough content to not require additional worksheets / activities.
