Dr. Seuss loved playing with words and rhymes to create fun, imaginative and engaging poetic stories. We hope these lesson ideas help to encourage a love of performance poetry in children. Here is a two-part lesson plan. Firstly, exploration and recital of The Cat in the Hat, and then suggestions on how you can support your class in planning and developing their piece of Dr. Seuss inspired performance poetry.

(a) A 16-word word search (b) Answers

A bundle of five KS2-aligned teaching resources on David Baddiel’s hilarious blockbuster novel The Parent Agency. These resources encourage the reader to: Use spoken language to speculate and explore ideas Grow their confidence and competence in using spoken language and listening skills Engage critically with the story Write imaginatively focusing on creative uses of language Be an active and critical reader

Activity sheets for David Walliams’ brand new book Slime!

Download this free bundle of resources for Oliver Jeffers’ incredible picture book Here We Are. Design a guide leaflet to inform other people about how they can take care of planet Earth, design a poster to welcome someone to planet Earth, and learn about the stars in the sky!

There are roughly 10,000 stars that are visible to our human eyes. However, only a few hundred stars have been given proper names in the history of astronomy. Play a guessing game with a friend. Look at all the words in the grid. Can you guess which ones are the names of star constellations? Draw a star next to the names you think will be the true constellation names. Then research each name and tick off the correct answers. The winner is the person who guessed the most correct answers.

Task: Now that you’ve met Toto, Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Lion, choose one of the characters and create a character profile for them. Use information from the text and your own imagination to create the profile. CURRICULUM LINKS: (KS1) Understand both the books that they can already read accurately and fluently and those that they listen to by: drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher answering and asking questions CURRICULUM LINKS: (KS2) Understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by: checking that the text makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and explaining the meaning of words in context asking questions to improve their understanding

David Walliams’ Fing activity sheets for 7-12 year olds.

The Ice Monster, the epic adventure from multi-million bestselling author David Walliams, takes our heroine Elsie on a voyage from the Natural History Museum to the icy North Pole! At the Museum, she meets the wicked Professor, who brings the Ice Monster back to life with his incredible machine… This British Science Week, we’re celebrating the amazing scientific achievements of the Natural History Museum, and imagining all the marvelous inventions we could create! Suitable for KS2 pupils.

WELCOME TO EARTH Design a poster to welcome someone to planet Earth. Make it bright, colourful and packed full of useful information.

Test your knowledge of the story. See how many quiz questions you can answer correctly. Use the book to help you find the answers.

Midnight is the time when all children are fast asleep, except of course for… the Midnight Gang. That is when their adventures are just beginning… Can you find all the words? They go up, down, sideways, diagonally and even backwards!

Task: Choose one of the characters from the story and create a character profile for them. Use information from the text and your own imagination to create the profile. Ideas to think about: • What does he/she look like? • What does he/she do? • What is his/her personality like? • What are his/her favourite foods or hobbies? • What are the things that he/she doesn’t like? • What family does he/she have?

A bundle of 12 KS2-aligned resources to accompany David’s Baddiel’s body-swap blockbuster novel Head Kid! These resources encourage the reader to: Develop positive attitudes to reading Understand what they read in books they can read independently Identify themes and conventions in fiction books Participate in discussion about books Explain the meaning of words in context Identify how language, structure, and presentation contribute to meaning Ask questions to improve their understanding of a text

TASK: Use the information in Chapter Two to explain what the main problem in the story is, and what the plan is to resolve it. Think about what has happened to Toto and Dorothy. What do they want to do? What is stopping them from achieving their goal? What do they need to do next? Do you think the plan will work? CURRICULUM LINKS: (KS1) Understand both the books that they can already read accurately and fluently and those that they listen to by: checking that the text makes sense to them as they read and correcting inaccurate reading predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far CURRICULUM LINKS: (KS2) Understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by: drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences

Pax was only a kit when his family was killed and he was rescued by “his boy,” Peter. Then Peter has to move in with his grandfather. and must leave Pax behind. This is the story of Peter, Pax, and their independent struggles to return to each other in the face of war. This discussion guide leads the reader through the key themes and ideas, craft, and structure of Sara Pennypacker's novel Pax. The guide includes extension activities to research the issues raised in the book in more detail, and an interview with author Sara Pennypacker.

(a) Think about how Frank and Gilbert feel at different points in the story. What might they write in their diaries? Imagine you are each character. Choose an exciting part of the story. Write diary extracts for each character. (b) Extract Grid

What is Ruby saying? Based on your interpretation of what Ruby says, what do you think she is implying?

Colour in Tiger and Sophie.

TASK: Discuss the phrase ‘Home is home, and home is best’ with your classmates. What do you think it means? What does the word ‘home’ mean to you? Imagine you meet someone who doesn’t know the word ‘home’. Draw and describe your idea of ‘home’. CURRICULUM LINKS: (KS1) Understand both the books that they can already read accurately and fluently and those that they listen to by: drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher answering and asking questions CURRICULUM LINKS: (KS2) Understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by: checking that the text makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and explaining the meaning of words in context asking questions to improve their understanding