Raising standards in KS1 and Special Needs: helping every child to succeed.
I have taught systematic phonics to all ages and abilities for over 30 years. My teaching degree was in Environmental Studies and I hate to see science reduced to box-ticking when there is so much to discover about the wonderful world we live in.
So, I produce Phonic resources that meet the real needs of children and teachers, along with science resources to engage children in learning about the natural world.
Raising standards in KS1 and Special Needs: helping every child to succeed.
I have taught systematic phonics to all ages and abilities for over 30 years. My teaching degree was in Environmental Studies and I hate to see science reduced to box-ticking when there is so much to discover about the wonderful world we live in.
So, I produce Phonic resources that meet the real needs of children and teachers, along with science resources to engage children in learning about the natural world.
This is a pack of 20 AR phonic spelling puzzles to help children to spell words with the phonic digraph AR.
Aims/objectives for these AR Spelling Puzzles
To help children to understand that 'ar together make one new sound.
Who can use these AR spelling puzzles?
Any child needing help to hear the letters AR as one sound in words. They can be used in the Early Years (Pre-K and K) or for Early intervention, or for Special Needs.
They can be used with all Government approved Phonic Prgorammes, including Letters and sounds/Revised (Phase 3), RWI and Jolly Phonics.
Full instructions are included in the download.
How can these puzzles be used?
Use for independent work in - great for private tutors and home education.
Use with small groups.
Use in Literacy centres.
Use how they can best serve your purposes!
Tell us how you have used them!
Find AR worksheets here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12807870
Find an AR Reading Game here
This is a National Curriculum/Common Core aligned themed mini-unit about EVERGREENS suitable for K to 1 (Years 1 to 2) and mixed Grade classes, covering Science and English: Informational texts.
The Evergreens mini-project lesson teaches:
· To know that evergreen trees stay green all
year through while deciduous trees drop their
leaves in autumn
· To know that some evergreen plants have
flat leaves and some have leaves called needles
· To know the properties of the leaves of
evergreens - strong to withstand wind and
frost
· To know that the needles are different/grow
differently depending on whether the tree is a
fir, spruce or pine.
Key vocab: evergreen, needles, leaves, deciduous, pine, fir, spruce, Holly, Ivy
The pack includes:
A full lesson plan
PowerPoint overview of the subject
Powerpoint with the 3 reading passages in a format suitable for guided reading
Fact sheet - handy easy-to-read facts for teachers to prep before the lesson or to use with pupils where appropriate
Supporting worksheets with:
· 3 de-codable, differentiated reading comprehension passages with matching comprehension activities
· 3 Differentiated worksheets to help children write about evergreens
A set of photos to be used during the lesson and/or for display.
Flashcards of key vocabulary
16 picture cards to sort into deciduous or evergreen
This is a NO-PREP Lesson – straight out of the pack!
The lesson will cover parts of the ‘plants’ element of most science curricula, providing a wonderful opportunity to teach more of/revise/reinforce the science curriculum while teaching English!
Lesson notes for a lesson about evergreens are included with all the resources you need - except evergreen leaves.
handy easy-to-read facts for teachers to prep before the lesson
pictures
19-slide PowerPoint (with a script under each slide in the notes - use in presentation mode - go to slide show, click three dots bottom left and select ‘Presentation Mode’.))
The pack includes a 31-page PDF, one 19-slide PowerPoint and one guided reading PowerPoint of all three comprehension passages.
First reading books for those just learning the initial sounds with an Initial Sounds workbook to reinforce learning.
Say the letter name and/or sound
Trace the letter
Find the things that begin with that sound
These Initial Sounds reading books can be used in two ways:
You can look at each letter as it is introduced and use the page as part of the lesson for that sound.
You can wait until all of the sounds in each book have been taught and use it for revision.
I prefer this last way, as when the child has learned 5 sounds, s/he will be so glad to recognise the sounds that have been taught in the book and it will give him/her a real confidence boost and a feeling of success. Try it and see for yourself. As you present each book, make it a moment to mark progress.
“Now you have learned some more letters, you can read this book!”
These books can be followed with our popular CVC Words reading books:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12636791
For more help teaching phonics, please see Reading Made Simple,
a 100% free phonic reading and spelling programme, written by two teachers with many years experience teaching children to read, especially those with special needs.
This is a pack of 12 ‘ar’ digraph, phonic worksheets.
They were written for children who need a slower pace and more instruction but will equally suit the young child learning phonics.
They can be used with any systematic phonic programme - including RWI, Jolly Phonics and Letters and Sounds, or Reading Made Simple.
They are designed to be used as a workbook, but can be used individually as needed.
They take the child from aurally hearing the new sound in word, to gradually reading and writing words with the ‘ar’ sound.
They particularly suit those with dyslexia, or suspected dyslexia, who have failed with other approaches to learning phonics.
They are highly systematic, and have a limited amount on each page as young/special needs pupils tire easily.
These ‘ar’ phonic worksheets work on my ‘sound-it-out’ principal for special needs: See it! Sound-it-out! Write it! Thye utilise ‘sound-it-out’ boxes (Orton Gillingham style) to group sounds in each word to visually guide the pupil to sound out the new words.
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success and culminates in the reading of two passages, with reading comprehension activities alongside.
For more help, see Reading Made Simple, a 100% FREE systematic Reading and Writing programme for all ages and abilities.
This book is one of a series. See also:
or Phonic Worksheets
ee Phonic Worksheets
a-e Phonic Worksheets
This is a National Curriculum aligned themed mini-unit about Pine Trees, teaching about EVERGREENS suitable for Years 1 to 2 and mixed Grade classes, covering Science and English: Comprehension.
The Pine Trees mini-project lesson teaches:
To know that pine trees are evergreen trees
To name parts of a tree: leaves/needles/flowers/cones (and you can add in extra like branches and trunk)
To know that they have needles rather than leaves
To know that the cones are the flowers.
To know that the cones contain the seeds - to make more of own kind/reproduction (Y2)
To know how the pine tree disperses its seeds: by releasing them on a fine day once ripe (Y2).
To be able to name some creatures that rely on the pine seeds for their food supply (Y2)
Key vocab: evergreen, needles, cones, flowers, seeds
The pack includes:
A full lesson plan
PowerPoint overview of thesubject
Powerpoint with the 3 reading passages in a format suitable for guided reading
Fact sheet - handy easy-to-read facts for teachers to prep before the lesson or to use with pupils where appropriate
Supporting worksheets with:
· 3 de-codable, differentiated reading comprehension passages,
· 3 Differentiated Other recording worksheets for written work
· 1 sheet to draw and describe a cone
· 1 sheet for younger pupils to tick the animals that feed on pine seeds.
A set of photos to be used during the lesson and/or for display.
Flashcards of key vocabulary
Find out what happens in spring with this delightful, 44-slide PowerPoint.
Young children will be delighted by the original photos portraying all aspects of spring.
From lengthening days, to plants, to baby animals this Spring PowerPoint will give the teacher plenty of stimulating material to explore many different aspects of spring. There is so much to learn!
Aspects of spring covered in the Spring PowerPoint include:
•Length of day
•Weather
•flowers
•leaves
•Seeds growing
•Pollination
•Baby animals
•Birds
•Frogs
•Butterflies
Full narration notes are provided
No sounds but there is a little writing on most slides, but fuller notes are provided for teachers on an accompanying PDF.
The teacher can enlarge upon the notes, bring in personal anecdotes, or remind the children of lessons already learned, so helping the children to relate what they are learning to their own experiences.
See beautiful flowers, cute lambs, a bird in her nest, blossom trees and more.
Learn something about the fascinating life of insects and how they help the flowers by pollinating them.
If you like this PowerPoint, please tell others!
A colouring page for every letter of the alphabet. Colour the things that begin with each sound. One object on each page (except A) starts with the previous initial sound. Can the child find it?
Encourage neat colouring to aid pencil control.
Correct phonic ‘i’ sound and ‘q’ written with ‘u’.
I made these sheets for one of my pupils who is delayed in speech. He loved colouring and this was a way to motivate him. They helped him to successfully learn all 26 initial sounds.
They can be used by all children and though suitable for use with all schemes, do progress in order - so if the phonic programme your child/ren is/are using does not follow the order of the alphabet, then maybe wait until all of the sounds have been taught.
If you are teaching your own child, you may be interested in our totally FREE, phonic, reading and spelling programme, Reading Made Simple.
Here is a super bumper pack of 32 pages of lined, spring-themed writing paper for young children (5 to 8).
Everything you could need to make writing attractive this spring!
Original hand-drawn pictures.
Wide-ruled
Full and half page layouts
A variety of themes; choose from:
Daffodils
Bluebells
Rabbits
Butterflies
Lambs
Bees
A mix of black and white and colour - with most designs in both.
Reward good writing with a coloured frame - and watch the children grow ten feet taller!
This is a graded, phonic reading proramme consisting of 22 books introducing the sounds: ck,oo, ee, sh, ch, th, ng, ing, ar fro beginner readers with phonics.
They form their own phonic reading programme which can be used where other programmes have failed.
These books continue on from either the Decodable CVC Readers for Older Pupils, or from my Basic CVC readers pack.
If your child has been left behind in school, or is not making progress in reading, then try Reading Made Simple. It will teach the same things as your child’s school phonic programme but in a more structured way.
For best effect, use alongside my FREE Spelling/writing programme, Reading Made Simple.
Words Lists can be found here.
Each book is thoroughly decodable using taught phonic skills only. Sight words are introduced in a structured manner.
This part of the programme follows on from our CVC Words Reading Books and Workbooks and our Consonant Blends Reading books.
A set of matching workbooks for each sound is provided to help each child to progress soundly.
Special Features of these graded phonic reading books:
As each new phonic sound is introduced, words from that phonic family are practiced and words met in previous readers revised, while new words from phonic sound families already taught are gradually introduced.
Because of this highly structured nature they are suitable for all children to enable good progress , but particularly for those who are struggling to learn to read.
The books should be read in sound order as above.
They only use the sight words: he, we, me, be, she, so, give, have, says. they, are
The pictures are minimal and do not encourage guessing so that meaning has to be gleaned from the text.
Each book tells a simple story with humour where possible
They have been tried on tested on many children now, including some with profound difficulties.
Matching workbooks consolidate and revise learning.
Vocabulary repeats so aiding reading fluency and building security and confidence.
They are based on the latest research and evidence based methods.
If your child is struggling to learn to read for whatever reason, these books can help.
Who are the graded phonic reading books for?
Young learners
Special needs learners
Those with dyslexia, or a processing difficulty of any kind.
They can be used by parents, classrooom assistants, schools (where state rules allow teachers to choose their own phonic scheme) and private tutors.
They can be used with Letters and Sounds Phases 3 and 4, and RWI Speed Set 2.
Full instructions, including a suggested lesson plan and hints for hearing a child read are included.
You can help a struggling reader today.
This is a pack of 12 phonic worksheets to teach ‘I-E’ (silent ‘e’, Magic ‘e’, Long Vowels) words.
These ‘I-E’ Phonic Worksheets can be used with very young children, although I made them for children who have processing difficulties and need more systematic teaching.
They are:
highly systematic
have a limited amount on each page as these pupils tire easily.
Pupils should be confident blending with consonant blends (Phase 4 Letters and Sounds for example).
I use ‘Sound-it-out boxes’ for new words, where digraphs are grouped together to give the child the visual reminder to make one sound.
The worksheets include activities to:
Develop blending and segmenting
Give needed repetition to to develop word recognition
Develop phonemic awareness - much needed by early learners
Tracking activities - to see and recognise the new sound in words
Comprehension activities
Writing practice
Reading of longer passages
Fluency triangles
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success! Help a struggling reader today.
You will find it hard to find such a comprehensive programme of systematic phonic instruction for a special needs child for such a price.
This is a pack of 12 phonic worksheets to teach ‘U-E’ (silent ‘e’, Magic ‘e’, long vowels, split digraphs) words.
These ‘U-E’ Phonic Worksheets can be used with very young children, although I made them for children who have processing difficulties and need more systematic teaching.
They are:
highly systematic
have a limited amount on each page as these pupils tire easily.
Pupils should be confident blending with consonant blends (Phase 4 Letters and Sounds for example).
I use ‘Sound-it-out boxes’ for new words, where digraphs are grouped together to give the child the visual reminder to make one sound.
The worksheets include activities to:
Develop blending and segmenting
Give needed repetition to to develop word recognition
Develop phonemic awareness - much needed by early learners
Tracking activities - to see and recognise the new sound in words
Comprehension activities
Writing practice
Reading of longer passages
Fluency triangles
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success! Help a struggling reader today.
You will find it hard to find such a comprehensive programme of systematic phonic instruction for a special needs child for such a price.
This is a pack of 12 phonic worksheets to teach ‘O-E’ (silent ‘e’, Magic ‘e’, Long Vowels) words.
These ‘O-E’ Phonic Worksheets can be used with very young children, although I made them for children who have processing difficulties and need more systematic teaching.
They are:
highly systematic
have a limited amount on each page as these pupils tire easily.
Pupils should be confident blending with consonant blends (Phase 4 Letters and Sounds for example).
I use ‘Sound-it-out boxes’ for new words, where digraphs are grouped together to give the child the visual reminder to make one sound.
The worksheets include activities to:
Develop blending and segmenting
Give needed repetition to to develop word recognition
Develop phonemic awareness - much needed by early learners
Tracking activities - to see and recognise the new sound in words
Comprehension activities
Writing practice
Reading of longer passages
Fluency triangles
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success! Help a struggling reader today.
You will find it hard to find such a comprehensive programme of systematic phonic instruction for a special needs child for such a price.
This Silent E set of decodable books forms a continuation of the Reading Made Simple phonic, graded, reading scheme covering sounds a-e, i-e, o-e and u-e. There are 9 books with 4 matching ‘workbooks’, one for each sound.
Popular with home educators, These books can also be used where other programmes have failed.
This set follows:
CVC Readers
Consonant Blends Readers
If your child has been left behind in school or is not making progress in reading, then try Reading Made Simple. It will teach the same things as your child’s school phonic programme but in a more structured way.
This part of the programme follows on from our CVC Words Reading Books and Workbooks and our Consonant Blends Reading books.
This pack of graded reading books further develop reading ability by introducing the Silent or Magic ‘E’ rule
If you are looking for a phonic reading program for your child, look no further, whether you want to give your child a head start in reading, or have a child who has fallen behind at school. As these books are so highly structured they have been tried and tested to help those with even profound difficulties. It just takes an adult to understand the programme, and apply it diligently, with awareness of their child’s needs and every child can read.
These books can be coupled with my free spelling /writing programme which can be found at Reading Made Simple, to form a complete, FREE literacy programme.
Many home educators already use this programme with excellent results.
You will find it hard to find a reading programme like this, for a cheaper price.
It is easy enough for a parent to use and to help their child - many already do.
Special Features of these graded phonic reading books:
The books are graded and therefore should be read in sound order as listed above, as each builds on the one before.
They only use the sight words: he, we, me, be, she, so, give, have, says. they, are
The pictures are minimal and do not encourage guessing so meaning has to be gleaned from the text.
Each book tells a simple story with humour where possible
They have been tested on many children, including some with profound difficulties.
Matching workbooks consolidate and revise learning.
Vocabulary repeats so aiding reading fluency and building security and confidence.
They are based on the latest research and evidence-based methods.
If your child is struggling to learn to read for whatever reason, these books can help.
Who are the graded phonic reading books for?
These books can be used by older struggling readers with dyslexia or any with a processing difficulty of any kind.
Parents
Classroom assistants
Private tutors
Home educators
Reading intervention
They were written for Reading MadeSimple but can be used with Letters and Sounds Phases 3 and RWI Speed Set 2.
Full instructions, including a suggested lesson plan and hints for hearing a child read, are included.
You can help a struggling reader today.
For more help please see Reading Made Simple.
This is a pack of 46 phonic worksheets to teach ‘OO’ as in moon and OO as in book.
These ‘OO’ Phonic Worksheets can be used with very young children, although I made them for children who have processing difficulties and need more systematic teaching.
They are:
highly systematic
have a limited amount on each page as these pupils tire easily.
Pupils should be confident blending with consonant blends (Phase 4 Letters and Sounds for example).
I use ‘Sound-it-out boxes’ for new words, where digraphs are grouped together to give the child the visual reminder to make one sound.
The worksheets include activities to:
Develop blending and segmenting
Give needed repetition to to develop word recognition
Develop phonemic awareness - much needed by early learners
Tracking activities - to see and recognise the new sound in words
Comprehension activities
Writing practice
Reading of longer passages
Fluency triangles
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success! Help a struggling reader today.
You will find it hard to find such a comprehensive programme of systematic phonic instruction for a special needs child for such a price.
This is a pack of 12 ‘or’ digraph, phonic worksheets.
These ‘OR’ Phonic Worksheets can be used with very young children, although I made them for children who have processing difficulties and need more systematic teaching.
They are:
highly systematic
have a limited amount on each page as these pupils tire easily.
Pupils should be confident blending with consonant blends (Phase 4 Letters and Sounds for example) and know the digraph AR.
I use ‘Sound-it-out boxes’ for new words, where digraphs are grouped together to give the child the visual reminder to make one sound.
The worksheets include activities to:
Develop blending and segmenting
Give needed repetition to to develop word recognition
Develop phonemic awareness - much needed by early learners
Tracking activities - to see and recognise the new sound in words
Comprehension activities
Writing practice
Reading of longer passages
Fluency triangles
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success! Help a struggling reader today.
You will find it hard to find such a comprehensive programme of systematic phonic instruction for a special needs child for such a price.
This is one of a series. See also:
ar Phonic Worksheets
ar Phonic Game
This is a pack of 42 phonic worksheets to teach ‘CK’.
These ‘CK’ Phonic Worksheets can be used with very young children, although I made them for children who have processing difficulties and need more systematic teaching.
They are:
highly systematic
have a limited amount on each page as these pupils tire easily.
Pupils should be confident blending with consonant blends (Phase 4 Letters and Sounds for example).
I use ‘Sound-it-out boxes’ for new words, where digraphs are grouped together to give the child the visual reminder to make one sound.
The worksheets include activities to:
Develop blending and segmenting
Give needed repetition to to develop word recognition
Develop phonemic awareness - much needed by early learners
Tracking activities - to see and recognise the new sound in words
Comprehension activities
Writing practice
Reading of longer passages
Fluency triangles
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success! Help a struggling reader today.
You will find it hard to find such a comprehensive programme of systematic phonic instruction for a special needs child for such a price.
Lesson outline and resources for EYFS/Y1 lessons about squirrels.Helps children to use the local environment to explore and answer questions about squirrels in their habitat.
A bundle Pack including:
26 slide PowerPoint - great as a lesson starter or for reinforcement
18 Worksheets which can stand alone, or be used as follow-up after the PowerPoint - includes background info for teachers and lesson ideas to aid planning
A pack of A4 and A6 photos for display, or to encourage observation and develop language and writing skills.
Children love squirrels and they provide an easy way to help children to learn about animals in the local environment.
A pack of resources to help you teach ‘ck’.
It can be used with any phonic programme, including Letters and Sounds, Read, Write, Inc. and Jolly Phonics.
Suitable for all children but especially those who have special needs or need a slower pace.
(Optional) First watch the free video lesson, (included int he download) then do the activities to reinforce the new sound.
Suitable for use with all phonic programmes including Read, Write Inc…
A great little pack for classroom, home education, private tutoring and special needs/catch-up work.
Ideal to send home for parents to support learning at home.
Pack includes:
How to teach the sound ‘ck’ Lesson Notes
ck flashcard
ck word flashcards
Sentences to read
Speed reading practice sheet
ck Worksheet
Assessment worksheet - help to know what further work needs to be done
Short reading book to practice cvc and ck words.
2 ck games - a matching pictures to words game and a board game for 2 players.
Written by an early years specialist teacher with 30 years experience of teaching systematic phonics to all abilities, especially special needs.
Teachers - see our ‘ck’ worksheets in our worksheet pack for Phases 3 and 4 of Letters and sounds, where we cover ‘ck’ words with and without a consonant blend. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12009694
A brief guide for teachers as to the kinds of insects that may be seen on an insect hunt - teaching what a true insect is and the different categories of insects for identification purposes.
Includes a spotting sheet which can be given to children as they hunt for insects, and a recording sheet.
Suitable for home or school use.