This week is on Explanation Texts. As we were doing the Ancient Greeks as our topic, these lessons are based on the Battle of Marathon. Children begin the week by discovering the meaning of an explanation text and its features. There is a lot of engaging lessons in discovering details about the Battle of Marathon- well differentiated also to allow the access of all learners. By the end of the week, children write a successful explanation on the Battle of Marathon, using the correct features. As well as that, there is a strong SPAG focus on relative clauses, which children are expected to use in their ‘big write’ on Friday. Included is lots of differentiated resources, detailed planning, very detailed notebook presentation and VCOP resources. I have tried this resource and it was very successful. Please leave a review and check out my other resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Morrisr9 UPDATED: powerpoint version of the notebook added.

Needing some inspiration for my reading corner, I created this display in order to show case the children’s reading books. The idea behind it is that the book templates will be printed out for children to fill in whenever they complete a book. They can draw the front cover and fill in the blurb on the back and the teacher can laminate the books and hang them from a string underneath the heading. It’s a super cute idea to show off all the books that you’re class have read and let’s face it, it looks really colorful in your reading area. Included: *The display name: “Books we’ve Read” *Book templates to print out. (See cover photo for a clearer idea).

This resource was put together as a test for my year 4 class at the end of the year to check their knowledge of SPAG. I have attached the SPAG curriculum to ensure that I have included lots of different areas of this subject. Children are tested on: * their knowledge of punctuation (commas, question marks, speech marks and apostrophes plural and possessive). * their knowledge of SPAG terminology (main/subordinate clause, frontal adverbial, determiner, adverb, suffix, preposition, contractions). This test gave me a great insight into the progress they’ve made, but also which areas that they are still not so sure on. Please leave a review and check out some of my other resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Morrisr9

I created this playscript for my Year 5 class to perform this year. We spent a number of weeks on persuasive writing, so I thought it would be a fantastic way to show off the techniques they had learned in persuasive techniques. I based it around the TV show Dragon's Den. The Assembly has 4 dragons in which the contestants must persuade to buy their products using persuasive techniques. There is a narrator role also, which explains what's going on throughout the play. This playscipt is easy to adapt and was really funny to watch as well as show off what the children had learned. Please leave a review and check out my other resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Morrisr9

A weeks worth of planning and resources for kennings. This weeks plan involves immersing children into poetry by getting them to identify the features of a kenning and to create their own by the end of the week. To make it more interesting, I have included a research day for children to collect facts for their kenning about one of Africa's top 5 animals. (lion, buffalo, leopard, elephant and rhino). At the end of the week when they are writing their kenning, they will write it on a background of their chosen animal. I have included powerpoint presentations also. These lessons also touch on alliteration. The kennings produced at the end of the week are beautiful and colourful also, they make a great display! Please review this resource and also check out my other resources if you get a chance: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Morrisr9

After hours of reading and PD on Pie Corbett’s Talk4Writing, I decided to plan my English lessons around his style of teaching. The idea behind it is fun filled, active and different so my children and I absolutely love it! Included: *4 day, detailed lesson plan. *Power Point of the story. *‘Theseus and the Minotaur’ text resource (color coded). *‘Box-it up’ planning frame. *Hot Seating Questions which allow the children to get into the mind of the Minotaur. I have put a lot of detail into the lesson plan, so it can be easily followed to apply this style of teaching to your ENglish lessons. The idea behind it is: Week 1= Imitation Phase. In this week, children need to learn off a text to fully immerse themselves in the style of writing, structure, language etc. This is done through actions and also text mapping (drawing pictures). Only when children fully understand a text type, should they begin to write. The writing of a myth will be done in week 3. (This resource is only week 1). By the end of the week, your children should fully understand the features of a myth, and should be able to recite a whole myth using their text map. It’s lots of fun and a fantastic scaffolding for children to understand before they write. Give it a try!

An editable powerpoint presentation for a workshop to give to parents in supporting their children’s reading at home. It’s 20 pages long and covers: *How to support your child in comprehension *Activities to engage with while reading *How long to spend reading with your child *Links to websites for further help It can be used from 5 y/o to 12 y/o children.

Want to teach your children how to write a postcard but cannot stomach writing about a ‘summer holiday’? Look no further. This resource is jam packed with a range of activities to inspire and motivate children to write a postcard to a friend about a mysterious creature they found. This is a 4 day series of lessons, where children will learn: the difference and importance of using informal and formal language. how to edit and plan their own work. *the style and structure in which a postcard is written. INCLUDED: *Detailed 4 day lesson plan. *Detailed and colourful notebook file AND powerpoint for your convenience. *Postcard Planning Sheet. *BFG passage to inspire writing. *Sample Postcard for annotating. *Role play formal/informal sorting cards. *Informal/Formal people sorting cards. *Success Criteria- for children to self assess and peer assess. *Postcard template for children to write their postcard on day 4. It’s attached as a zip file so that I could organise the activities into folders for you. Please let me know your thoughts on this resource :)

OBSERVATION LESSON: Today was my observation and it was day 1 for us, engaging with Persuasive Writing. The children had to identify the features of a persuasive text using the AFOREST technique. (We used this support mat and it was EXCELLENT! This resource includes: a very detailed, differentiated lesson plan, which allows you to follow it step-by-step (just like I did). Links to the texts I used. Key for annotating. Advertisements for Lower Ability pupils. To start: children will try to persuade their teacher to allow them to go for break 5 minutes early. To you (and the observer, this will show their prior knowledge of persuasion, which should be little at this stage). Main: Using a key, children will highlight and annotate a piece of persuasive writing using a key to spot the different features. There are 3 different persuasive texts for high, middle and low ability children so that they can all access the content. Plenary: Children will be placed into mixed ability groups of 4/6 and asked to SELL you a random object from the class (e.g. a pencil case) in a dragon’s den type fashion. This will show the observer (and you) the progress made since the start of the lesson as the children apply the techniques that they have learned. Please let me know your thoughts on this lesson plan.

Graded: Outstanding This is a lesson that I did for an observation today with the English coordinator. It's a lesson on Tanka poetry. Children learned what a Tanka was the day before, but today they needed to create a bank of similes, metaphors and adjectives to enhance their descriptions that they will use in their poem later in the week. I have differentiated this activity, by providing scaffolding support for the SEN/EAL children in my class. The lesson, as a whole, was intended to be a mixed ability lesson. However, as it was an observation, I needed to include some form of extra support/ scaffolding for some children. This lesson is linked to the Vikings and children need to describe what it would be like to leave their lovely homeland with the beautiful scenery. The resource includes: *a clear, detailed lesson plan, *picture to annotate *powerpoint to explain the meaning of a Tanka (if needed prior to the lesson) *basic flipchart for referall as a class *simile and metaphor sort *simile and metaphor sort (EAL/SEN).

A wonderful week of planning, resources and presentations to engage children in writing playscripts. As our topic was on Ancient Greece, the playscript that children will be writing will be based around Ancient Greek Gods. I found that this motivated the children more as they already had previous information on the topic. Children are introduced to playscipts by picking out the features in pairs and also gathering an understanding of what a 'myth' is. As the week progresses, children will then create a hero/heroine for their own playscipt by filling out a job application for that particular character. There is a planning/drafting day included also, with resources, to ensure children fully understand the layout of a playscript, along with using features of a Greek Myth. By the end of the week, children will produce an interesting Greek Myth play using the features correctly and effectively. This resource includes notebook presentation, differentiated resources, very detailed planning which points out explicitly what needs to be taught and how the lessons are to be differentiated, and also a success criteria for children to follow. I have tried these lessons myself, and my children really enjoyed them. Please leave a review and check out my other resources if you get the chance: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Morrisr9

Chapter 1 of the BFG with comprehension questions. My class love the BFG so I decided to create a comprehension on each chapter. Looks at deducing, inferring and spotting similes.

COMPREHENSION BASED ON THE SONG ‘This is me’ FROM THE MOVIE THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. SOme inference questions based off this song because: It’s something different We all love the song! The children loved listening to the lyrics and try to understand/deduct what the meaning was behind the lyrics. Word Document and PDF included of Verse 1 and Verse 2.

These playscripts allow children to create their own play while learning the features of the play-script also. I have attached fairy tales that are turned into playscripts. The features that they will learn how to use are: *Cast list * Scene Headings * Character name and : * Stage Directions The first lesson allows children to create their own list of the features of a playscript by finding them themselves. This exploratory, paired learning works best when it comes to the end product at the end of the week. Children are encouraged to choose a fairytale that they already know to alter slightly, to make the actual story part easier. There is a SPAG lesson included also on adverbs. This will help children to use them for the stage directions also.

A wonderful week of Literacy lessons planned and resourced here for Year 4 Persuasive Writing. This is week 1 of persuasive writing unit which I did last year and have made some improvements. It immerses children in persuasive language and techniques to persuade their reader. These lessons are based around 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and by the end of the week, children will create their own advertisement for a new chocolate product. Children are taught to use: *exaggeration *word-play *snappy slogans *tempting benefits *eye-catching illustrations and writing This resource package comes with a wealth of resources to ensure that all children understand and utilize the persuasive techniques needed to sell a product. (On the plus side, it's about a chocolate product, which keeps it interesting for them). Prepositions are taught as a starter also to incorporate SPAG into the week of Literacy. This package included: -a clear, detailed lesson plan -3 different powepoints -printable advertisements to annotate -illustrations for children's products -success criteria -planning grid Please leave a review and let me know what you found useful or not and I'll be happy to update the resource.

I created this document to hand out to my parents at the beginning of the school year. It’s a short snippet of activities that parents could engage with with their children. There are 7 pages, including: *Some sample questions to ask children while reading. *Rate out of 10. To allow children to form opinions on what they’ve read. *Re-tell the story. To allow children to order parts of the story. *Change the ending. This allows children to take their understanding to another level. *Strategies for parents when reading with their children. See my preview for a clearer idea of this resource.

This is a follow on lesson that I used to establish understand of possessive apostrophes (could be used as an introduction also). This package contains a powerpoint, a lesson plan and a resource that is differentiated. The activity is related to Horrid Henry which my children love.

Time to move away from the guided reading carousel and onto whole class guided reading! This lesson plan is FREE to show you step-by-step how you can carry out a whole class guided reading lesson in your class too. Outline: 10 mins teacher/student/chorus read 5 mins quick fire questions (to check understanding) 5 mins modeling the task 15 minutes task and feedback This way your whole class are being guided in their reading daily, as opposed to once a week in a teacher led group. It’s a free resource, so give it a try, let me know your thoughts, and check back later to see more resources like this! Good luck!

I’ve added these key terms (in yellow) here for you to create a working wall for your English display. These headings can be kept up all year round, even when you change genre. All you need to do is to change the work around it, accordingly. See my blogpost on my blog to see how exactly I use this display in my class. (Note: only the headings in yellow and the clouds are included).

FREEBIE! This freebie contains a book review for both fiction and non-fiction texts. It’s a sample from my recent resource: [https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-super-book-of-guided-reading-activities-11926213] Check it out for 25 pages of superhero themed activities.