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.
A bright, cheery A4 size phonic alphabet chart just perfect for young children who are learning the beginning/initial sounds!
2 font styles
How to use:
Laminate the chart
Give one to each pupil to have on the desk for handy reference
Pin the phonic alphabet chart on the wall!
Just right for:
Reception/Y1
Special needs older children
Home-education
Parents
those struggling to recall letter shapes/sounds
111 SH, CH and TH consonant digraph phonic worksheets for use with any program including RWI Set 1 Speed sounds and Letters and Sounds Phase 3.
This pack contains:
38 SH worksheets
34 CH Worksheets
10 Miced SH/CH worksheets
14 TH worksheets
14 Mixed SH/CH/TH worksheets
Each of the single sound worksheets is discrete, not requiring knowledge of any other digraph.
These SH, CH and TH consonant digraph worksheets give simple, but effective practice in:
Reading and spelling basic SH, CH and TH words
Tracking the SH, CH and TH sounds in words and sentences
Proofreading
*Reading sentences and longer passages
Comprehension
Writing sentences using SH, CH and TH words.
All are provided through a variety of exercises - no room for boredom - and plenty for those who challenging along with those who need more practice.
These worksheets can help you teach the SH, CH and TH sounds to any ability or age including EFL/ESL learners.
Find SH, CH and TH activities suitable for all abilities, especially special needs including dyslexia.
The worksheets assume no knowledge of other digraphs
Two SH, CH and TH worksheets for most activities: one without consonant blend words, and one with consonant blend words
Suitable for Special Needs/intervention work
Suitable for homework to practice work given in class
These worksheets have been made as I have worked with children of differing abilities, finding out the things that children get stuck on and need help to work through, as well as those things that help to integrate phonic skills into reading and writing. Find the right worksheet for each child, so that every child can succeed.
This pack of 32 FUN CK Worksheets will help every pupil in your class successfully read and spell words ending in CK. These sheets take the pupil from hearing the new sounds in words (developing phonemic awareness) to reading and spelling CK ending words.
ESL/EFL/Special needs: The simple design of these CK worksheets ensures they are accessible to all students. From sound-it-out-boxes to aid early readers to engaging no-prep games to reinforce learning there is plenty here for all your class.
Fully differentiated: cater for the less able while stretching the more able - you won’t have any unchallenged children in your CK lesson. choose the worksheets that are right for each child.
Most worksheets are provided at 2 levels: one without a consonant blend and one with.
The worksheets assume no knowledge of other digraphs.
They can be used with any good, systematic programme of phonic instruction including all popular programmes, such as Read, Write Inc, Letters and Sounds and Jolly Phonics.
Multiple activities to keep pupils engaged while providing ample practice.
Please see the preview to see the complete set.
Suitable for:
Classwork
homework to practice work given in class
Intervention
Here are three great pictures that your pupils will enjoy colouring - just perfect for a project/unit study on the Saxons!
For Saxon costume, we have a Saxon Warrior.
For buildings, we have a Saxon hall.
For transport, we have a Saxon keel.
Use them just as colouring pages, to stimulate writing about the Saxons, or even as an activity for early finishers - but be sure to let every child have a copy at the end of the lesson!
Matching the three pictures are three, colour, A4 posters.
These can be used:
To help the children as they colour
Display poster
To encourage conversation
Download your pictures today and bring your Saxon project to life!
Extra: If you print them on to thin card and cut around the edges of each carefully, then make a stand to fix on the back of each, you can make a Saxon army, village or river scene!
Learn about Oak trees with our simple first factual decodable reading book plus a PowerPoint to make guided reading easier.
With only common basic digraphs and trigraphs it will enable your early readers to tackle this subject confidently.
Short with only 8 pages
New vocabulary is highlighted on the page where it is first met.
Everything is explained in simple language and accompanied by photos and drawings.
A clear, easy-to-read font.
The 8-slide PowerPoint has a screen to block off text until revealed and a marker to run under the text as the child/ren read/s.
It is ideal for use when studying a topic on trees or autumn.
Use it for guided reading sessions or for reading comprehension work.
Suited for both classroom use, small group and online tutoring.
Learn the life cycle of a frog with our simple first factual decodable reading book.
By only using common basic digraphs and trigraphs it will enable your early readers to tackle this text confidently.
New vocabulary is highlighted at the beginning of the book and on the page it is first met.
Each stage is explained in simple language and accompanied by photos and drawings.
A clear, easy-to-read font.
Ideal for use when studying a topic on frogs.
See how a tadpole turns into a frog.
Use it for guided reading sessions, individual reading sessions or for reading comprehension work.
5 FREE worksheets to teach CVC word with a short vowel.
This is a sample of our 72 sheet Short A CVC Words pack, which contains plenty of exercises to help children of all abilities to take their first steps in blending and segmenting.
CVC words with a short A are usually the first words a child will learn to blend, and therefore, we start the pack with child friendly exercises, with only a small amount on each page to encourage the child. Those with more confidence can tackle our more advanced sheets: there is plenty for all abilities!
The realistic pictures means that these worksheets can safely be used with older ESL/EFL/ SENd children.
A bumper pack of 72 Short A CVC worksheets for all abilities in your class, fully differentiated helping every child progress in their phonic journey:
Whether you require worksheets for word families or activities with mixed families, we have you covered.
Suitable for use with Letters and Sounds Phase 2, Read, Write Inc Set 1 and all UK Gov. approved phonic programmes.
These CVC Short A worksheets take pupils from the early stages of blending and segmenting, helping them to gain confidence, to reading short phrases made up of purely decodable Short A words. Only two more advanced worksheets include the words ‘the’ and ‘is’.
They are particularly helpful for the child who needs intentional and consistent practice with Short A words.
These short A worksheets focus particularly on the most common short vowel a endings: at/an/ap, with other endings included in mixed/non-picture sheets.
See a FREE sample of 5 worksheets from this pack here!
Use them for independent work, classwork homework: various activities for variety, with enough similarities to enable children to work independently. Here you will find ample material even for the slower learners, who can progress from the simplest sheets to the more complex as their confidence grows.
The plain design of these worksheets means that those with dyslexia or another learning difficulty will not be overwhelmed.
The realistic pictures mean that older ESL/EFL pupils do not think they are doing babyish work.
The worksheets are fully differentiated so that you can find the perfect activity for each child.
The worksheets are multisensory, utilising the power of the hand in learning phonics requiring children to trace and write as much as possible, alongside using the eyes in seeing, the ears in hearing and the lips in sounding out.
Pupils will develop phonemic awareness by blending and segmenting words and finding the beginning, middle and final sounds.
Exercises include:
Trace, cut and stick words under pictures
Trace, read and write words under pictures
Read a set of words and circle the one that matches the picture
Cut and stick: find the initial or final sound
Write the initial and final sounds
Activities working with rhymes
Change a letter and make a new word
Write the words under the pictures
Fill in the vowel, read and stick pictures next to the correct words.
Unscramble the letters
100% decodable reading comprehension; short phrases, read and draw
The following words are used (I only use words that will make sense to the majority of children as at this early stage reading must be meaningful and not just for the sake of decoding):
an: can, fan, man, pan, ran, van, nan
at: bat, cat, hat, mat, rat, sat, fat, pat
ap: cap, gap, map, nap, tap, zap
am: jam, ham, Pam, Sam, dam
plus:
bag, sad, lad
A pack of 40 ‘L Blends’ Phonic Worksheets - differentiated so plenty for all abilities.
These phonic worksheets are for any pupil of any age, including those with a special need.
The worksheets cover:
bl; cl; fl; gl; pl; sl.
There is a selection of varied tasks for each blend and then a mix of activities to help children read and spell L-blend words with a short vowel sound.
See it! Sound-it-out! Write it! is my powerful 3-step process.
These L belnds worksheets are intended to be used in a multisensory capacity so needed by young children, in which the child sees the sound/word, feels the sound with the mouth parts, and then traces/writes it.
My ‘sound-it-out’ boxes help to visually group sounds in words, guiding the pupil’s attention to the sounds to help them to sound out effectively.
These structured worksheets take the pupil through the following stages:
Hear the L Blend in familiar words (to familiarise the child with the sound)
Write the L Blend (writing adds a multisensory dimension so needed by these pupils)
Sort words by initial consonant (hearing and writing)
Decoding words with initial L-Blends
Writing/spelling words with the initial L-Blend
Reading sentences containing initial L-Blend words
Reading longer passages containing initial L-Blend words
Suitable for use with any recognised phonic programme, inc RWI, and Letters and Sounds.
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 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 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 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.
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.
Here are 12, FREE to download, Consonant Blends decodable, phonic reading books to support the blending of consonant blends words with a short vowel sound, for the very earliest stages of learning to read with phonics, WITH MATCHING WORKBOOKS to consolidate learning.
Suitable for use with all phonic programmes.
These books follow our FREE CVC words reading books, and are followed by our Graded Decodable readers, introducing common digraphs.
Together they form a FREE phonic reading scheme. Give your child a head start in reading, or help your struggling reader to succeed!
Suitable for home-education, parents, teachers, private tutors and all else who need them!
The focus is purely on sounding out with only the key words
** I, and no, go, to**
being gradually introduced.
Pictures are minimal to encourage the child to gain meaning from the text and not to guess.
Phonic words are introduced and then met again in subsequent readers, to help develop confidence and fluency.
The highly structured nature of these books helps every child to succeed.
The stories are based around farmer Tom with his animals, his wife, his son Sam and daughter, Pam, dog Jiff and the cat.
Highly suitable for special needs children who have failed with other programmes.
Many parents have told me they wished they had found these books sooner, or had found them at all, as they would have been ideal for their struggling reader.
They have been thoroughly tested by my current pupils all of whom are boys. Even my nine-year old boy pupil loves them.
Teachers can find my consonant blends worksheets here:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12653569
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 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.
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
Here are 10 fun, editable, animated reading fluency/practice slides to help your children to practice reading letter sounds and words - be that decodable words, or common sight words.
Can also be used for number recognition.
Better than flashcards! These are flashcards come to life!
Make repeated practice fun and take the pain out of learning.
Even the hard-to-motivate pupils love the animations and instant feedback so that they can feel successful.
Simply edit the text on each slide, adding the things the child/ren need/s to practice and go into presentation mode to see the animations come to life as the child reads each word on the pictures.
It is advised that you keep a copy of the PowerPoint for ease of rectification should you make a mistake while editing, and delete an animation.
Do a test run before every lesson to make sure you know where to click and that all is working as expected.
Who for:
Young children learning letter sounds/numbers/CVC words/digraph words
SEN children who need motivating to learn
Intervention work where children need repeated exposure to same things
ESL/ EFL pupils
For use by:
Home-educators
Teaching in class
Teaching online
Private tutors
What is included?
10 editable PowerPoint slides
See fishes swim, ships sail, boats move, help the farmer collect the hay bales, see the trains move along the track, help the ducks swim on the pond, take rockets to space, go up in a hot air balloon, and reach for the moon!
TRIED and TESTED on real children and they love them!