Capital Letters Activity
An English activity focusing on capital letters, when to use them and what they look like.
The PowerPoint shows the children all capital letters and the children then practise writing the capital letters. Children then write the capital letter to match the lower case letter. The Capital Letter Monster then eats some of the capital letters from the alphabet and children have to identify which letters have been eaten and write the capital letters on their whiteboards. Children are then shown sentences with missing capital letters and have to fill in the missing letters. The children will enjoy the fun element of having a monster eating the capital letters and I have used this in class when children have forgotten capital letters in their written work.
Full Stops Lesson
A complete English lesson covering how and when to use full stops. The lesson explains what a sentence is and when we need to use full stops. It focuses on the use of full stops only and not capital letters as I have found that children can struggle with learning both at the same time. During the main input children have to identify sentences and add full stops. The lesson includes three differentiated worksheets and a plenary.
Aimed at Early Years and Year 1 children although could be used as a recap session or as part of an intervention or booster for Year 2 children.
A sentence writing booster/intervention that can be printed off to create a booklet of activity worksheets for Early Years and Key Stage 1 children who need support to improve their writing.
The PowerPoint covers five weeks and introduces children to 34 of the 100 high frequency words/hfw. Each week covers reading the focus high frequency words, writing the focus words, using words to finish a sentence, joining sentences and then writing a sentence including a conjunction. There are 7 or 8 activity sheets for the children to complete each week.
I have used this activity to encourage children to improve their sentences using conjunctions.
The intervention helps children to gain confidence when they are writing sentences.
A sentence writing booster/intervention with a focus on using adjectives in sentences. The sheets can be printed off to create a booklet of activity worksheets for Early Years and Key Stage 1 children who need support to improve their writing. The PowerPoint covers five weeks, introduces children to new adjectives and also introduces children to 31 of the 100 high frequency words/hfw.
Each week covers -
reading the focus high frequency words
practising to write the focus words
introducing the children to new adjectives for children to discuss the meaning of
writing sentences including adjectives
filling in missing key words and adjectives in sentences
There are 7 activity sheets for the children to complete each week.
I have used this activity to encourage children to use adjectives in their written work.
The intervention helps children to gain confidence when they are writing sentences.
Writing Activity Book
A set of 30 pictures each with a question to be answered for example describe the bear, who lives here? Children to answer the question using all of the skills that they have learnt in English.
This activity book could be used with KS1 or KS2 and the teacher could add a challenge for example you must include a question, you must use commas in a list.
The activity book gives the children an opportunity to write freely and demonstrate their abilities.
Word Collector Book
A word collector book for children to collect a range of words that they can then refer to and use in their written work.
The pages in this book are -
Amazing Adjectives
Valuable Verbs
Adventurous Adverbs
Noble Nouns
Words instead of nice
Words instead of said
Words linked to size and shape
Words linked to colours
Words linked to emotions
Words linked to characteristics
Words linked to the five senses
Words linked to material
Each page includes either a definition or some key words.
Children could have their own copy of the word collector book or there could be a class copy completed with the children.
The word collector book helps to expand children’s vocabulary and encourages children to consider the words that they choose to include in their written pieces.
Aimed at Key Stage 1 children however could also be used with Lower Key Stage 2 children.
Planning a Story
An English activity to help children to plan a story in a step by step manner. This activity breaks down story planning into small chunks and enables children to plan each stage of the story. The activity encourages lots of talk and children enjoy sharing their ideas about the story. The activity encourages children to think about and describe their character, the setting and the time of their story. Children then plan the problem, what happens first, then and next and then the solution and the ending. The activity gives children different ideas and demonstrates to children that not all stories need to be the same as we all have different ideas and suggestions. I often take several days to work through this activity and to build story plans with the children and find that rereading our story plans regularly helps children when they reach the writing stage. This activity could be used in Early Years to introduce story planning and oral retelling of a story to the children or in Key Stage 1 to support children with story planning and story writing.
Writing a Story
An English story writing activity to support children when writing a story. Children plan their story using a story plan. This activity then demonstrates to the children how to write each part of their story using the story plan. I use this activity over several days to support children to write their story and will often cover several parts in one lesson with mini plenaries in between reminding children what their writing needs. Children like the little girl who pops up to ask questions to improve the story.
The activity could be used in Early Years for orally retelling a story or in Key Stage 1 for writing a story.
HFW Flashcards
A set of high frequency word flashcards covering the first 100 hfw. The words are split into ten colour coded groups with ten words in each set meaning that the class can focus on ten words at a time. Each card shows the high frequency word in different fonts.
HFW Activity Cards
A set of hfw activity cards to practise writing and spelling the first 100 high frequency words. The 100 words are split into ten colour coded groups with ten words in each group. Each word has an activity card for children to practise writing the word and an activity card for the children to practise spelling the word.
Suitable for Early Years and Key Stage 1 children.
Adjectives Complete Lesson
A complete English lesson for introducing adjectives.
The Powerpoint explains when to use adjectives. Children are then given the opportunity to think of adjectives to describe objects. Children must then identify adjectives in sentences. The lesson includes three differentiated worksheets and a plenary where children have to identify which word is not an adjective.
Conjunctions Complete Lesson
A complete English lesson for introducing conjunctions.
The lesson explains what conjunctions are and when to use them. The lesson focuses on and, but, so and because and demonstrates how to use each of these conjunctions. The lesson is interactive. Children must select the correct conjunction to use in sentences and select the correct ending for sentences and make sure that the sentence makes sense. The lesson includes three sets of differentiated worksheets with three worksheets in each set. There is a plenary at the end of the lesson where children must read a sentence including a conjunction and decide whether the sentence makes sense.
Aimed at Key Stage 1 children.
Read a Picture - Vocabulary - PowerPoint
A set of ten pictures and accompanying sentences introducing new vocabulary.
For each picture children have to identify a word within the sentences for example the word that describes the cakes or the word that tells you what the bird is doing. Once they have identified the word and talked about it’s meaning they then need to find other words that they could use instead for example they could replace large with huge, oversized. For the next activity children need to read a sentence and talk about what they think one of the words within the sentence means.
This activity PowerPoint introduces children to new vocabulary and encourages them to use the picture and the whole sentence to discuss what they think words mean. For some children they will be able to read the sentences independently however for other children I will read the sentence to them or with them depending on their ability. This activity focuses on vocabulary and discussing word meaning and not on children’s reading ability.
Read a Picture - Vocabulary Worksheets
A set of 20 worksheets with ten different pictures. Each picture includes 2 worksheets focusing on vocabulary. For one activity children need to identify a word within the sentence for example the word that describes the size of the book and then find alternative words that could be used instead. For the second activity children need to think about what they think a word means using the picture and the whole sentence to support their thinking and are then given a picture to draw linked to that word for example draw something that is precious to you. Some children will be able to read the sentences independently however for some children I will either read the sentence with them or read the sentence to them depending on their ability as these worksheets focus on vocabulary and not reading ability.
These worksheets can be used as part of guided reading sessions.
Aimed at Key Stage 1 children.
Maths Exit Tickets
A set of 50 Maths exit tickets based on the Year 1 Maths curriculum.
Exit tickets can be used at the end of a lesson to assess children’s knowledge and understanding. They can be used to assess what the children have learnt during the lesson or their prior knowledge. These Maths exit tickets can be used to assess Maths knowledge about number. Each ticket contains a Maths problem for the children to solve. The Maths problems include missing numbers in number sentences, counting in 2s, 5s and 10s, place value, one more and one less.
These exit tickets can be printed and laminated or displayed on the Interactive Whiteboard. Each child could solve the same problem or they could all have their own ticket - this method is useful for differentiating and assessing the Maths knowledge of specific children.
Phonics Exit Tickets
A set of 39 phonics exit tickets based on the Year 1 English curriculum.
Exit tickets can be used at the end of a lesson to assess children’s knowledge and understanding. They can be used to assess what the children have learnt during the lesson or their prior knowledge. These phonics exit tickets can be used to assess phonics knowledge. Each ticket contains a grapheme and words that the children could use with the grapheme missing. Children can therefore say one of the words from their card or can work out the words and then see if they can think of their own word.
These exit tickets can be printed and laminated or displayed on the Interactive Whiteboard. Each child could answer the same question or they could all have their own ticket - this
method is useful for differentiating and assessing the phonics knowledge of specific children.
Aimed at Early Years and Key Stage 1 children.
Year R Reading Cards
A set of 15 reading cards for Year R children. Each card contains one question or activity for the children to complete linked to their reading book.
These cards can be printed and laminated for use during guided reading or free reading sessions.
Year 1 Reading Cards
A set of 15 reading cards for Year 1 children. Each card contains two questions or activities for the children to complete linked to their reading book.
These cards can be printed and laminated for use during guided reading or free reading sessions.
Year 2 Reading Cards
A set of 16 reading cards for Year 2 children. Each card contains two or more questions or activities for the children to complete linked to their reading book.
These cards can be printed and laminated for use during guided reading or free reading sessions.
Spellings Practise Powerpoint
An activity to support children to learn to spell the 45 Year 1 Common Exception Words and to practise using these words in sentences. The children are shown the word and then shown the letters that they need to write the word. Children then use the letters to write the word on their whiteboard. They are then shown how to spell the word correctly. The following slide gives an example of the word being used in a sentence with an accompanying picture eg I am happy __ . Children to then practise spelling the missing focus word again before the correct spelling of the word is revealed in the sentence.
This activity covers nine weeks with 5 spellings to learn each week and includes lists of spellings to send home for children to learn.
This activity could also be used as part of a spelling intervention or booster group to support children to learn to spell Year 1 CEW.
Spellings Practise Worksheets
A set of spellings lists covering all of the Year 1 common exception words.
Each spelling list contains 5 words for the class to learn per week with nine weeks worth in total. Each week includes an activity for children to practise writing the spellings and an activity for children to fill in the missing words using the spellings for that week.
These sheets can be sent home as home learning.
Read a Picture PowerPoint
A set of ten pictures each with a retrieval activity and an imagination activity.
For the retrieval activity, children need to look at the picture and then answer retrieval questions about the picture.
For the imagination activity, children look at the picture and answer questions involving their imagination. This gives the children the opportunity to explain their thinking.
Read a Picture Worksheets
A set of 20 worksheets with ten different pictures. Each picture includes a retrieval worksheet including retrieval questions for children to answer and an imagination worksheet which involves one of a range of activities including writing sentences, drawing a picture to answer the question or writing questions.
These worksheets can be used as part of guided reading sessions.
Aimed at Key Stage 1 children.
Read a Picture - Sequencing and Predictions - PowerPoint
A set of ten pictures each with sequencing and prediction activities.
For the prediction activities, children need to answer questions about the picture eg what do you think happened before the fish found the treasure chest or what do you think will happen next.
For the sequencing activity, children need to sequence sentences about the picture or complete sentences explaining what they think happened in the story.
This PowerPoint encourages lots of discussion and talk from the children.
**Read a Picture - Sequencing and Predictions - Worksheets
**
A set of 20 worksheets with ten different pictures. Each picture includes a sequencing worksheet and a prediction worksheet. The worksheets include a range of activities.
These worksheets can be used as part of guided reading sessions.
Aimed at Key Stage 1 children.
For my Read a Picture Bundle including three Read a Picture PowerPoints and sets of worksheets see https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/read-a-picture-powerpoints-and-worksheets-12378068
Year R Reading Sheets
A set of 8 reading worksheets to complement the Year R reading curriculum. Each worksheet contains a series of questions or activities for the children to complete. The sheets focus on different areas of the curriculum for example the setting, the characters, my favourite part of the story.
These worksheets involve lots of drawing activities for the children to complete.
These sheets can be used as part of a Guided Reading session and encourage children to focus on different parts of their book.
Year 1 Reading Sheets
A set of 10 reading worksheets to complement the Year 1 reading curriculum. Each worksheet contains a series of questions or activities for the children to complete. The sheets focus on different areas of the curriculum for example story sequencing, the title of the book, settings and characters.
These sheets can be used as part of a Guided Reading session and encourage children to focus on different parts of their book.
Year 2 Reading Sheets
A set of 14 reading worksheets to complement the Year 2 reading curriculum. Each worksheet contains a series of questions or activities for the children to complete. The sheets focus on different areas of the curriculum for example story sequencing, adjectives and word meanings, questions.
These sheets can be used as part of a Guided Reading session and encourage children to focus on different parts of their book.
Developing Inference Skills
A set of nine pictures with guided questions and example sentence openers.
The pictures and questions support children to develop inference skills. Each slide on the PowerPoint includes a picture for children to look at and talk about followed by questions that appear one at a time for children to think about. Each question is followed by an example sentence opener to encourage children to answer in full sentences.
My class have thoroughly enjoyed being reading detectives and through practise will now provide reasons and explanations for their answers. The PowerPoint can be used as a whole class activity or with small groups during guided reading sessions.
Aimed at Early Years and Year 1 children although could also be used to support Year 2 children.
Visualisation Activity Sheets
A set of 25 Visualisation Activity Sheets.
These activity sheets are designed to encourage children to read or listen to sentences and then to visualise what the sentences are trying to convey. The activity sheets encourage children to look or listen for and respond to clues within the text. Visualisation is an important skill for children to develop and will support them in their future reading especially as they move on to longer texts with less pictures.
This set of Visualisation Activity Sheets starts with five simple visualisation activities for example I am thinking of a black cat, children then need to visualise and draw a black cat. The activities then move on to visualising where, who and when. The last five activity sheets then require the children to visualise why something is happening.
The Visualisation Activity Sheets can be used during guided reading sessions and the children really enjoy creating their own pictures. The sheets also open up
opportunities for discussion.
These activity sheets are aimed at Early Years and Key Stage 1 children.
A set of 30 English Worksheets covering different areas of the Year 1 English curriculum. These worksheets are suitable for practising and revising the different areas of the curriculum.
The worksheets cover –
capital letters
lower case letters
alphabet work
adjectives
punctuation
common exception words
sentence writing
rhyming words
conjunctions
compound words
plurals
adding un
adding -er, -est, -ing and -ed.
The sheets include useful hints and explanations to support the children in completing the sheets.
The English worksheets would be suitable for a home learning activity and require no additional teaching resources. They could also be used in Year 2 to practise the English skills that children learnt in Year 1 or throughout Year 1 to practise skills. They are bright and colourful and have an alien theme to capture children’s interest and imagination.
The sheets are aimed at Year 1 children or as revision for Year 2 children.
Word Collector Book
A word collector book for children to collect a range of words that they can then refer to and use in their written work.
The pages in this book are -
Amazing Adjectives
Valuable Verbs
Adventurous Adverbs
Noble Nouns
Words instead of nice
Words instead of said
Words linked to size and shape
Words linked to colours
Words linked to emotions
Words linked to characteristics
Words linked to the five senses
Words linked to material
Each page includes either a definition or some key words.
Children could have their own copy of the word collector book or there could be a class copy completed with the children.
The word collector book helps to expand children’s vocabulary and encourages children to consider the words that they choose to include in their written pieces.
Aimed at Key Stage 1 children however could also be used with Lower Key Stage 2 children.
Words instead of Nice Lesson
A complete English lesson covering words that can be used instead of nice.
The PowerPoint gives children examples of alternative words that they can use for nice and builds a list of alternative words - this final list could then be printed out for the children to use when they are writing. Children are then given a sentence with the word nice in and they have to replace the word nice in the sentence - children could rewrite the sentence on their whiteboards and replace the word nice or could simply write an alternative word for nice. The lesson includes three differentiated worksheets and a plenary where children have to find the odd word out eg amazing, helpful, caring and explain why it is the odd word out.
Adjectives Lesson
A complete English lesson for introducing adjectives.
The Powerpoint explains when to use adjectives. Children are then given the opportunity to think of adjectives to describe objects. Children must then identify adjectives in sentences. The lesson includes three differentiated worksheets and a plenary where children have to identify which word is not an adjective.
Aimed at Early Years and Key Stage 1 children.
HFW Reading Intervention/Booster
A reading intervention covering 100 high frequency words/HFW.
The words are split into 13 sets with five activities for children to complete for each set. The activities are - read the words, find and colour the star words, match and colour words starting with upper and lower case letters, read the sentences including hfw and use the picture to fill in the missing word and read the sentences and draw a picture to match the sentences.
Please note that the sets do not contain equal numbers of words due to needing to construct sentences that make sense.
Aimed at Early Years and Year 1 children.
For Set 1 Only please see https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/hfw-reading-intervention-booster-set-1-only-12209401
Reading Pictures - Developing Inference
A set of nine pictures with guided questions and example sentence openers.
The pictures and questions support children to develop inference. Each slide on the PowerPoint includes a picture for children to look at and talk about followed by questions that appear one at a time for children to think about. Each question is followed by an example sentence opener to encourage children to answer in full sentences.
My class have thoroughly enjoyed being reading detectives and through practise will now provide reasons and explanations for their answers. The PowerPoint can be used as a whole class activity or with small groups during guided reading sessions.
Aimed at Early Years and Year 1 children although could also be used to support Year 2 children.
For an example slide please see https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/reading-a-picture-developing-inference-example-12132390
Initial Sounds
A phonics activity for practising and revising initial sounds. Children say the initial sound and then read words including the initial sound. Children must then identify the alien word.
Phonics Activity - Digraphs and Trigraphs
A phonics activity for practising and revising vowel digraphs and trigraphs or special friends sounds. Children can practise writing real and alien words on their whiteboards using focus sounds. The activity could be used during phonics lesson, as an intervention for any children requiring extra support or in the lead up to the phonics screening.
A good activity to support children to recognise sounds plus spell and read words.
Phonics Workbook - Digraphs and Trigraphs
A fun phonics activity workbook covering vowel digraphs and trigraphs.
Each new ‘special friend’ sound has three workbook pages - one to practise writing real words, one to identify alien words and one to complete a sentence using the focus sound in a word. There is a space on the sentence writing page for children to draw a picture to match their sentence.
This activity workbook could be completed as part of a group, independently or could be sent home as home learning/homework. I have also used this workbook as Early Morning Work for children to practise their phonics. The workbook supports children to become more confident with each focus sound and as the activities are repeated for each new sound the children can become more independent when completing the workbook.
Aimed at Early Years and Year 1 children
although could be used in Year 2 for a booster group or intervention.
Sentence Writing Intervention
A sentence writing booster/intervention that can be printed off to create a booklet of activity worksheets for Early Years and Key Stage 1 children who are struggling with sentence writing. The PowerPoint covers five weeks worth of activities and introduces children to 35 of the 100 high frequency words/hfw. Each week covers reading the focus high frequency words, writing the focus words, cutting and sticking words to make a sentence and then writing a dictated sentence.
I have used this activity to encourage children to write sentences with capital letters and full stops and to hold and repeat the sentence in their head.
The intervention helps children to gain confidence when they are writing sentences.
Using Adjectives Intervention
A sentence writing booster/intervention with a focus on using adjectives in sentences. The sheets can be printed off to create a booklet of activity worksheets for Early Years and Key Stage 1 children who need support to improve their writing. The PowerPoint covers five weeks, introduces children to new adjectives and also introduces children to 31 of the 100 high frequency words/hfw.
Each week covers -
reading the focus high frequency words
practising to write the focus words
introducing the children to new adjectives for children to discuss the meaning of
writing sentences including adjectives
filling in missing key words and adjectives in sentences
There are 7 activity sheets for the children to complete each week.
I have used this activity to encourage children to use adjectives in their written work.
The intervention helps children to gain confidence when they are writing sentences.