The story mat is designed to spark off ideas in children and to give them confidence to write independently. It should also help to extend their vocabularies. It is in PPT format so that it can be shown to the whole class at the beginning of the lesson as well as being printed out. This was originally designed to fit in with a topic on Greek Myths but then adapted to other storm descriptions – hence the 2 versions, which are the same but with different pictures. Fully editable. Tips: Talk about the pictures and their own storm experiences Test them on some of the vocab e.g. describe the ocean waves using a simile or find three words to describe the sound of the wind Can they find any other words to add to any of the lists? Discuss how a storm can build up from a cold dark sky to torrential rain with thunder & lightning. You can illustrate this by getting the class to make sound effects – gentle patter with fingers, building up to clapping, whistling, then howling wind, thunder clap. Challenge them to use vocabulary from each section in their descriptions. For further resources see - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

These lesson plans were designed to help children to write a 5 paragraph story, one paragraph each session, using the 'story mountain'. The story mats aid children with their vocabulary, sparking off ideas and help them to write more independently. The main objectives are: I can use paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme; I can express time, place and cause using conjunctions; I can create expanded noun phrases by the addition of modifying adjectives etc. I can use adverbs. As well as the story mats and plans there is a presentation (in PPT or Smart Notebook) and 3 lesson starter PPTs. Feedback would be lovely! For further resources see - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

Plans for 4 lessons with resources. Using the presentation, (in either ppt or Smart notebook format) children establish what a non-chronological report is, it’s purpose and where they might find one. They then read an example of one as a class - about the planet Mars. After that, they plan and write their own report about a fictional planet e.g. Planet Zog. In further lessons, they read another report example - Pie Corbett’s about a Frost Unicorn, which you can download free from Teachwire. Again, they use their check-lists to find the main features. Next they draw a newly discovered alien from Planet Zog and plan a NC report about it on their ‘spidergram’ planning sheets. Finally, they write their own reports. All fully editable. Originally designed for Year 4 - Discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar. Please leave feedback if you have found these resources useful. For further resources see https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

A week's plans, originally designed for year 4. The presentation goes through the features of an instruction text. An example of an instruction text is shown - 'How to look after a pet dragon' by Pie Corbett. Children look for the main features in pairs, using their checklists. These are then checked through as a class using the presentation again. The teacher then explains that they have been to Planet Zog and have discovered a new species of alien that would make an ideal pet for children. Their task is to write instructions on how to take care of it each day, using numbered steps etc. In a further lesson, they write instructions for an alien on how to play a game e.g. football. Lesson plans, a copy of the text, checklists and templates for planning writing are all included. Everything is fully editable so you can change it to suit your children. This is part of a series of 6 non-fiction plans including reports, recount, newspaper, persuasion and explanation texts which can be bought as a bundle. For these resources and more, please see my shop. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel Feedback and suggestions welcomed.

Children study article 'Weird Egg Rock found on Mars' to find features of a journalistic text. They work in pairs using given check list and then work through these together as a class on whiteboard. You can then explain to them that alien life has been found on Planet Zog. What do they think it would be like? Display picture. They then draw their own alien found on their own planet and plan an article about it on their planning sheets. Finally they write it up on a newspaper template. Everything is fully editable. Meets these objectives - Discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar Identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own. Feedback would be much appreciated. For further resources see my shop - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

Children write instructions to make Christmas decorations and give them to other children to make. Original lessons for 6-8 year olds. Lesson 1: Play ‘Simon says’ with your class to introduce instructions, particularly imperative verbs. Then show the presentation (either ppt or Smart notebook). This demonstrates how you would write instructions for how to decorate a Christmas tree, showing the children how instruction texts are set out. Children then write out their own instructions using a checklist. Lower ability children use a template. Lesson 2: Children make Christmas decorations for the classroom. They are split into 3 groups, each making a different kind. They then write instructions on how to make their decoration. Lesson 3: Children follow these instructions to make the decorations that they did not make before. A useful exercise to see how clear their instructions really are! All fully editable. See further resources - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

An introductory ppt explains what paragraphs are. A further ppt explains how we use them in fiction / story writing. There are several activities including deciding why a new paragraph is needed. Children then have to sort a description of a ghostly house into two paragraphs. They use this as a story opening and continue the story, starting a new paragraph when appropriate. The activities on the ppt are also provided as worksheets, as well as an easier version. Fully editable. Feedback and suggestions welcomed! For further resources see - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

Children study 2 explanation texts on presentation (either ppt or Smartboard. The texts are - 'How a spider builds a web' and 'How a spider catches its prey & eats it'. After finding the features in these texts, the children write their own explanation - 'How the alien from Zog captures its prey and eats it'. Plans, checklists and differentiated planning sheets are included as well as a detailed presentation. Everything is fully editable. This is part of a series of 6 non-fiction plans including reports, recount, newspaper, persuasion and instruction texts which can be bought as a bundle. For these resources and more, please see my shop. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel Feedback and suggestions welcomed.

Before reading the play, the children research into WS on the Internet and make a fact file. After reading the opening scene the children describe the storm at sea created by the wizard. A storm word mat is included. Other activities include changing speech to play script format, looking up words in the dictionary, writing a message in a bottle and a newspaper article and describing their favourite foods. At the end of the unit, they write a book review and design their own book jacket. Originally designed for lower juniors as an introduction to WS, but could easily be adapted. I used children's versions - 'The Tempest' by Andrew Matthews and Tony Ross, Orchard Classics, plus 'Mr William Shakespeare's Plays' by Marcia Williams. Everything is fully editable so you can change it to suit your own children's writing needs. If you find these resources useful, I would love to have your feedback and also any suggestions for improvements. For more of my resources see: www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

4 worksheets to practise using adverbs of time, frequency and possibility. Fully editable. For further resources see - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

A spooky graveyard vocabulary mat in ppt which can be shown to the whole class or printed out to use individually. It is also provided in Smartboard format. This was initially designed to go with short film clip - 'Teachers TV: Writing a Ghost Story: Graveyard', which is a great clip for helping to create an eerie atmosphere and to teach children how to build up the tension in their stories. Ideas for lesson plans are included, with a link to the film clip, as well as a story planning sheet for the children. There is also a slightly easier vocabulary mat. All fully editable. Feedback and suggestions welcomed. For further resources see my shop - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

Made for Year 2 based on 2 books - 'I am not sleepy and I will not go to bed' and 'I will not ever never eat a tomato'. Includes plans with differentiation; PPTs on punctuation, contractions, commas in lists and planning a story; differentiated worksheets on all these as well as on adding 'ing' to verbs ending in 'e'. Plus 2 story writing opportunities and making a party invitation. Everything is fully editable so you can tailor it to suit the needs of your class. Please take the time to review this resource and to offer any suggestions. More resources can be found in my shop: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

Word mats are in PPT format so they can be displayed to the whole class or printed out for individual use. The first is for using expanded noun phrases and the second for powerful verbs and adverbs. There is another PPT included with a lesson about improving a disjointed character description using connectives and modifiers. There is also a plan and some printouts linked to this. Aim: to improve vocabulary and to help children to write more independently. Everything is fully editable. Feedback and suggestions welcomed! For more resources see my shop - www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

Pictures and vocabulary to use as stimuli for descriptive writing. First children could be asked to describe the scenes orally using as many of the words as they can. The pictures can also be printed out for individual use. There is a worksheet to accompany this - the children choose one scene to describe. A second ppt shows a picture of a good and a bad character. Children are asked to look up the given vocabulary and find synonyms. This is also included as a worksheet. All fully editable. Feedback and suggestions welcomed. For further resources see my shop - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

A ppt explaining the difference between the simple past and the present perfect and when to use each one. Three worksheets with multiple choice questions where the children have to choose the correct form of the verb. These are also provided without the multiple choice for higher ability children. The children watch the ppt first and complete the exercises orally or on white boards. They could write ‘Simple past’ on one side of their boards and ‘Present perfect’ on the other and hold up the correct one. They then complete the worksheets. Answers are included. Everything is fully editable. For further resources see my shop - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel

These 2 story mats are designed to improve children's vocabulary and to help them to write more independently. They are on PPT so you can display them for the whole class or print them off to be used individually. The first one is to help children to describe an alien planet. There are many different ideas for landscapes and features that they could encounter. The second is an aid to describing an alien. I would suggest that you get the children to draw their own alien first, thinking about how it moves, what is sounds like, smells like (!) and what it eats etc. Obviously they can use the mat to give them ideas. Then they will be ready to write this part of their story. The mats are fully editable so you can change them to suit your children. For more of my resources, including story mats, see my shop - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel Feedback would be lovely!

A presentation in either ppt or smart notebook explaining expanded noun phrases and prepositional phrases. Children are encouraged to make their own expanded noun phrases, using picture prompts, and prepositional phrases using 'with'. They then move on to using a variety of different prepositions. Three differentiated worksheets are included. Fully editable. For further resources including another similar lesson for more practice see - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel Feedback greatly appreciated!

Originally designed for a year 4/5 class this includes all you need for at least a week's worth of lessons. Children watch the presentation about the features of an argument text. They then read a text out as a class: 'Should whales & dolphins be kept in captivity?' and working in pairs, answer questions about it. Next they write a similar argument - Should alien creatures be kept as pets? (as we were following a space theme at the time). They have a checklist and a planning sheet to help them with this. Next they watch a presentation about an advert for a holiday on an island in the Maldives and they go on to produce their own advert for a trip to Planet Zog, or a planet of their choice, real or imagined. Again, a checklist and planning sheet are provided. All fully editable. This is part of a series of 6 non-fiction plans including reports, recount, newspaper, persuasion and explanation texts which can be bought as a bundle. For these resources and more, please see my shop. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Jazel Feedback and suggestions welcomed.

Register time consists of 15 or 20 precious minutes that could be used for practising the foreign language you are teaching your class. You can begin very simply by calling out your children's names and getting them to reply 'Oui' or 'Non'. Then move on to greetings, asking how they are, using the verb to be and numbers. At the end of the day, children can learn to say goodbye. When they have mastered this in the first language, why not move on to another? French, Italian, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Latin and Atesi (Ugandan dialect) are included. Why not ask minority children in your class to help you take the register in their language?

Register time consists of 15 or 20 precious minutes that could be used for practising the foreign language you are teaching your class. You can begin very simply by calling out your children's names and getting them to reply 'Si' or 'No'. Then move on to greetings, asking how they are, using the verb to be and numbers. At the end of the day, children can learn to say goodbye. When they have mastered this in the first language, why not move on to another? French, Italian, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Latin and Atesi (Ugandan dialect) are included. Why not ask minority children in your class to help you take the register in their language?