Hello, thank you for looking around my shop. I am a teaching deputy head teacher, with 16 years of experience, who works in a rural primary school. I know how wearing many hats can eat into your time but understand how important excellent resources are for engaging pupils so they make accelerated progress. I have included lots of free resources in my shop but placed a small charge for resources which have taken me many hours to create. I hope you enjoy them and use them to motivate your pupils.
Hello, thank you for looking around my shop. I am a teaching deputy head teacher, with 16 years of experience, who works in a rural primary school. I know how wearing many hats can eat into your time but understand how important excellent resources are for engaging pupils so they make accelerated progress. I have included lots of free resources in my shop but placed a small charge for resources which have taken me many hours to create. I hope you enjoy them and use them to motivate your pupils.
This is a 3 and 1/2 week unit of work that is based on the book 'Street Child' by Berlie Doherty. The book tells the story about Dr Barnados and how the ragged schools were created through the eyes of an orphan Jim. Every time I have taught this unit there has been a special atmosphere as pupils have lots of ideas to discuss philosophical and moral issues and realise how lucky they are to be alive today in England. The end of the unit has two possible choices which are either writing as Jim in a diary extract or an alternative ending to the story.
The learning objectives for this unit of work are;
• To write a diary extract as a poor Victorian child.
• To find and improve adverbs in a piece of text.
• To make a freeze-frame to show what characters are feeling in a story.
• To describe a character from a novel.
• To write as a character from a novel.
• To convey character by using colloquialism (slang).
• To understand how a character from a novel feels. + Write expanded noun phrases.
• To write a list poem.
• To describe a character from a novel.
• To make a key scene into a freeze frame, considering the characters feelings and emotions.
• To map the story of a novel.
• To map out a characters journey and feelings throughout a novel.
• To find key information about Dr Barnardos.
• To write complex sentences.
• To identify cohesive devices for paragraphs. + I can describe the effect created by different cohesive devices
• To plan a diary extract. OR To plan an alternative ending.
• To write a diary extract. OR To write an alternative ending.
This unit of work uses the 3 stage planning process of:
• Stimulate and generate
• Capture, sift and sort
• Create, refine and evaluate
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Activities can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece before you write it and then edit it to improve the piece. This can include self, peer or teacher led reviewing.
This is a PowerPoint with a Story Mountain which is invaluable for pupils planning good stories. I have also included it in a pdf version for ease of printing.
This is a word mat for the suffix ous. This is targeted at years 3 and 4 as it is part of the spelling curriculum. This is a useful resource for pupils to use to improve their spellings as well as a useful tool to improve their word choices and quality of their writing. It has two versions; one with colour and the other just in black and white to save on printing costs.
This is a 4 week unit of planning that supports pupils to write an ancient Greek Quest Myth. The beginning part of this unit is focussed on Persephone by Sally Pomme Clayton and Virginia Lee. This is used as a model and WAGOLL for pupils to write their own story. All children love Greek gods and goddesses and this unit of work has never failed in supporting pupils write some excellent myths that are richly descriptive and engaging for the reader.
I have listed the learning objectives for all of the lessons below. Also I have included all of the worksheets, PowerPoints, links and resources you will need to teach this unit straight away.
Stage 1 = Stimulate & Generate
• To write a review of an ancient Greek myth
• To use a range of strategies to explore a text
• To show understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action when performing a playscripts
• To retrieve and record information from non-fiction
• To describe using adverbial phrases and drop in clauses
• To demonstrate understanding of key details and main points of a text
Stage 2 = Capture, Sift & Sort
• To find the key features of a myth
• To start sentences using verbs, adverbs and connectives
• To write using commas to clarify meaning
• To use an increasing range of sentence starters
• To write in the style of the model text
• To edit writing to improve sentence structures and range of vocabulary
Stage 3 = Create, Refine & Evaluate
• To use expanded noun phrases and figurative language to describe
• To vary sentence structure and type for effect
• To plan a quest myth
• To write a descriptive setting for my myth
• To write a build-up in my myth
• To write a conflict
• To write a resolution to my myth
• To edit and improve my work
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Activities can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece
This is a 3 week unit of work that teaches all the skills to write a descriptive poem then perform this at the end of the unit. The book is a rich text by an excellent writer that helps support the unit as it is based about the after effects of a hurricane. Pupils really enjoy the creative process of this unit as they get to paint elaborate and engaging pictures in the reader’s minds.
I have included every resource you need to teach this unit tomorrow. Also below I have listed all of the learning objectives from the unit of work.
Stage 1- Stimulate and generate- Learning outcomes
• To write a descriptive poem
• To find the meaning of words
• To retrieve and record key facts
• To use drama to explore characters’ feelings
• To read and perform a poem
Stage 2 - Capture, Sift and Sort- Learning outcomes
• To recognise the key features of descriptive poetry
• To use figurative language such as similes
• To Identify how language contributes to meaning
• To use figurative language such as alliteration
• To use figurative language about your senses
• To use figurative language such as personification to describe objects
• To use figurative language such as metaphors
• To use descriptive language to engage the reader
• To revise, edit evaluate and improve my writing
Stage 3 - Create refine evaluate- Learning outcomes
• To plan and organise my ideas to effectively support my writing
• To revise, edit evaluate and improve my writing
• To perform poetry
Resources included:
• Hurricanes LOs PowerPoint
• Hurricanes Word Mat
• Fact file template
• Facts About Hurricane Cards
• Lesson 5 - Descriptive Poems
• Lesson 6 - ARE + GDS
• Lesson 6 – WT
• Lesson 7 – Photo
• Lesson 7- Simile WT
• Lesson 8
• Lesson 9 - S Word
• Lesson 10 – Diamonds
• Least Effective & Most Effective
• Lesson 11 - Senses
• Lesson 12 – Personification
• Lesson 13 – Metaphors
• Lesson 14 - Pictures
• Success Criteria for Descriptive Poetry Display
• Success Criteria for Descriptive Poetry
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Activities can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece before you write it and then edit it to improve the piece. This can include self, peer or teacher led reviewing.
This is a word mat I made for my class to help them choose the correct conjunctions for their writing. The list includes:
• Causal
• Comparative
• Coordinating
• Explaining
• Listing
• Opposing
• Subordinating
• Time
There is also an explanation which I stick on the back of the list as a reminder to the pupils what a conjunction is.
This is a list of over 140 fronted adverbials that include:
• How
• When
• Where
• Frequency
This is a great resource to improve pupils sentence starters that I use in most creative writing sessions in my class.
This is a sentence starter display for ADD SPICES which stands for:
• Adverbs
• Drop in clause
• Describing word
• Similes
• Preposition
• Ing word
• Connective
• Ed word
• Sub-ordinate clause
There is an explanation next to each spice jar which has the first letter of the acronym. This is a great display to have up all year round as a visual reminder to your class.
This is a 3-week unit which I have planned to support my pupils to write a short story, with a twist in the tale, for the BBC 500-word competition. It is a challenging unit as pupils learn to plan backwards so they decide upon the ending first. Pupils decide upon a theme for their short story and plan where they are going to place this throughout the short story. I have set my short story loosely around an old Fairground which allows pupils lots of scope to decide upon what happens in there or did happen in there when it was open. My class love this unit as it allows them to be creative and cunning when they write their twist in the tale.
I have listed the learning objectives for all of the lessons below. Also, I have included all of the worksheets, PowerPoints, links and resources you will need to teach this unit straight away.
Stage 1 - Stimulate and generate- Learning outcomes
• To understand the key features of a short story
• To understand themes in stories
• To decide a theme for my short story
Stage 2 - Capture, Sift and Sort- Learning outcomes
• To write an engaging setting
• To improve a piece of writing by using fronted adverbials
• To write engaging character descriptions
• To create an engaging character
• To write a twist in the tale
• To write a climatic ending with a twist in the tale
• To write a list of escalating emotions to build tension
• To use dialogue in story to give clues about the characters
Stage 3 - Create refine evaluate- Learning outcomes
• To plan and organise my ideas to effectively support my writing
• To revise, edit evaluate and improve my writing
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Activities can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece before you write it and then edit it to improve the piece. This can include self, peer or teacher led reviewing.
This is a 3 week unit of planning that supports pupils to write an alternative ending to an African folk tale about an eagle that thinks it is a chicken. The book is ‘Fly Eagle Fly’ by Christopher Gregorowski who was inspired to retell the story after his daughter became very ill. The theme of the book is about unlocking the potential in all and pupils I have used it with have always loved it. It is set in the country side of Ghana and has wonderful illustrations by Niki Daly. This is an important tale and the book has a foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
I have listed the learning objectives for all of the lessons below. Also I have included all of the worksheets, PowerPoints, links and resources you will need to teach this unit straight away.
Stage 1- Stimulate & Generate learning outcomes
• To write expanded noun phrases
• To find the meaning of words
• To understand themes in a book
• To draw inferences from the text
• To discuss philosophical ideas
• To take notes to summarise details
Stage 2 - Capture, Sift & Sort learning outcomes
• To find the key features of descriptive writing
• To use a fronted adverbial to explain how, when or where something took place.
• To write expanded noun phrases
• To write a descriptive setting
• To use and punctuate direct speech
• To use different conjunctions
Stage 3 - Create, Refine & Evaluate learning outcomes
• To plan an alternative ending
• To revise, edit evaluate and improve my writing
• To write an alternative ending in the style of another author x 2 lessons
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Activities can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece before you write it and then edit it to improve the piece. This can include self, peer or teacher led reviewing.
This is a great 2-week unit where pupils write a mini saga about a mythical creature. This requires them to really edit and refine their work as they are only allowed to use 50 words to tell the story with. I base this unit around the fantastic book; ‘The Atlas of Monsters’ by Stuart Hill & Sandra Lawrence which shows where mythical monsters come from around the world. Pupils will choose one of these mythical beasts and research them then write their myth in a challenging mini saga. This unit makes pupils in my class really consider their word choices and how best to write an engaging and effective story in such few words.
I have listed the learning objectives for all of the lessons below. Also, I have included all of the worksheets, PowerPoints, links and resources you will need to teach this unit straight away.
Stage 1 - Stimulate and generate- Learning outcomes
• To evaluate how engaging a mythical story is
• To gather information in note form
• To summarise facts about a given subject
• To retrieve and record information from text
• To discuss words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination
Stage 2 - Capture, Sift and Sort- Learning outcomes
• To evaluate and edit by assessing the effectiveness of other people’s writing and suggest improvements
• To identify the main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarise these
• To write expanded noun phrases
Stage 3 - Create refine evaluate- Learning outcomes
• To plan and organise my ideas to effectively support my writing
• To plan and organise my ideas to effectively support my writing
• To publish a mini sage
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Activities can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece before you write it and then edit it to improve the piece. This can include self, peer or teacher led reviewing.
There are 34 crucial terms for pupils aged 7 to 11 explained with examples. They are saved onto a PowerPoint for ease of use and quick reference when you are teaching.
Some of the key terms are verbs (both active and passive), adverbs, connectives, clause, paragraph, personification, similes, metaphors and many more.
This is a great resource for working on pupils speaking and listening skills. Pupils choose a category and then have to describe the object, character, adjective or nature suggestion without using that word. I give the pupils a set time of 1 minute to try to describe as many different suggestions from each category. I have included the Excel version so it is fully adaptable to suit your class.
This is a three week unit based on the book The Man Who Walked Between the Two Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. This retells the events leading up when Phillippe Petit walked on a tight rope between the twin towers in New York. It is a great book for modelling suspense and raising key issues such as the attack on the twin towers. This unit has two outcomes which are persuasive debate and autobiography writing. Pupils love this unit as they get so engaged by the dare devil Phillippe Petit.
I have listed the learning objectives for all of the lessons below. Also I have included all of the worksheets, PowerPoints, links and resources you will need to teach this unit straight away.
Stimulate & Generate LOs
• To use inference to generate questions and research for relevant information
• To write using expanded noun phrases
• To write to persuade in a subjunctive form
• To build suspense in a first person recount
• To explore the character’s feelings and emotions through drama
Cycle 1 - Capture, Sift & Sort
• To be able to identify features of a text type
Create, Refine & Evaluate
• To generate points to justify my opinion in a debate
• To use an appropriate form and modelled text to shape my writing
• To use agreed success criteria to evaluate and edit to improve my writing
• Reading LO To justify my opinion of what I have read through a debate
Cycle 2 - Capture, Sift & Sort
• To be able to identify features of a text type
Create, Refine & Evaluate
• To select and organise relevant points when planning for my writing
• To write to inform using an appropriate format
• To use agreed success criteria to evaluate my writing and edit to improve
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Activities can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece
This is a word mat for Homonyms that I use with my class. A Homonym is a word that has the same spelling or pronunciation as another word but a different meaning or origin.
This is a word mat with synonyms for:
• Good
• Bad
• Happy
• Sad
• Fast
• Slow
Each word has 40 different synonyms which allows pupils to build their vocabulary as these are commonly used words.
This is a 3 and a ½ week unit of work where pupils create their own charity inspired leaflet. The book used to stimulate the thoughts of being unselfish and thinking of others is ‘The Selfish Giant’ by Oscar Wilde. This is a great story with a strong moral of sharing one’s wealth in order to find happiness.
The end piece is a digitally created persuasive leaflet where pupils create logos, slogans and persuasive writing to produce an engaging charity inspired leaflet. This unit of work is targeted best at Year 4 - 6 pupils. I have included all the resources you need to start teaching this tomorrow. Below are all the learning objectives and resources included for the unit:
Stage 1- Stimulate and generate - Learning outcomes
• To write a letter to a persuade
• To understand themes in a book
• To draw inferences from the text.
• To retrieve and record information from a piece of text.
• To discuss philosophical ideas
• To find the meaning of words
Stage 2 - Capture, Sift and Sort- Learning outcomes
• To find the key features of a leaflet
• To write a persuasive slogan
• To write captions
• To write an engaging opening statement
• To write a heading and subheadings
• To use causal conjunctions
Stage 3 - Create refine evaluate- Learning outcomes
• To retrieve and record information from a piece of text
• To design a campaign slogan and logo
• To write an engaging opening statement
• To plan and organise my ideas to effectively support my writing
Resources Include:
• Selfish Giant LOs PowerPoint
• 1 – Sign
• 2 - Themes in a book
• 3 - Extract of the Selfish Giant
• 4 - Philosophical Questions
• 5 - The Selfish Giant Word Mat
• 6 - Key Features of Leaflets
• SEAQAB PowerPoint
• 7 – Slogans
• 8 – To write captions
• iPads & Computers
• 10 - Headings & Subheadings
• 11 – Causal Conjunctions
• 15 – Plan a Leaflet
This unit of work uses the 3 stage planning process of:
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Activities can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece before you write it and then edit it to improve the piece. This can include self, peer or teacher led reviewing.
This is a word mat of words with the prefix super. This is targeted at years 3 and 4 as it is part of the spelling curriculum. This is a useful resource for pupils to use to improve their spellings as well as a useful tool to improve their word choices and quality of their writing. It has two versions; one with colour and the other just in black and white to save on printing costs.
I have made a list of abstract nouns to help pupils in my class write more interesting expanded noun phrases. There are 82 different expanded noun phrases which are split into two categories; human qualities or characteristics and showing emotions or feelings.
This is a resource I have made to support pupils with their writing and spelling. Exposing pupils to better words choices increases their vocabulary and ultimately the quality of their work.