I love making resources that take concepts from the curriculum, and express them in an abstract and engaging way. I have seen great improvements in the grades of the children in the classes as I teach as a result of this labour intensive (but ultimately rewarding) approach.
My big passion is reading. Whether it is a comprehension activity or something with a maths or grammar focus; you can guarantee that reading skills to develop understanding will underpin it.
Richard
Reading for Success
I love making resources that take concepts from the curriculum, and express them in an abstract and engaging way. I have seen great improvements in the grades of the children in the classes as I teach as a result of this labour intensive (but ultimately rewarding) approach.
My big passion is reading. Whether it is a comprehension activity or something with a maths or grammar focus; you can guarantee that reading skills to develop understanding will underpin it.
Richard
Reading for Success
Children have been captivated by the animals of Africa for decades. In this reading package, you can find out all about the ‘big five’ animals to spot; their habitats and behaviour; and how we can help to save them from extinction.
There are eight reading activities, aimed at 8, 9, 10 and 11 year olds, testing children’s reading skills right across the curriculum.
As with all of my reading comprehension projects, my aim is to create stimulating text that will actually get children into reading. I started writing my own material in 2014 after feeling bored by a lot of the comprehensions on offer. Using this approach, I have introduced my students to many stories and topics that may not be on the curriculum, but are important for young people to know.
Contents
Lion Factfile – Group facts about lions into categories
Meet a Lion – Look at words and phrases in context
Save The Elephants – Summarise main idea and extra detail
The Man and The Elephant - Sequence a fable
The Big Five – Identify cause, effect and solution
Decline of the Black Rhino - Analyse information in a graph
Big Five – Who’s not on the list? – Compare, select and justify using evidence
Who am I – Use cryptic clues and keywords to identify animals
Answers
BONUS KAHOOT QUIZ!
In the teacher notes for this item, there is a link to a Kahoot quiz which can be used at the end of the unit. It tests retention of facts from the texts and speed processing skills. A fantastic way to finish the material!
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This product has been designed to put you in control. There is a Powerpoint file, so you can edit it, delete slides, change the order, print it or share it digitally. The great benefit of this is that your children can complete this as a worksheet or on a digital device – or even a bit of both!
I often share this with children on tablets, but obviously I copy the file and remove the answers first! Sometimes, they read the text on a tablet and answer the questions on a sheet.
However you use this, I’m sure you will find a way that works for your students – and save some paper and photocopying costs in the process.
Here is a reading pack on Cinderella for grades 1 and 2.
It includes a number of activities that encourage children to develop close reading skills, including a wordsearch and spot the difference (which are building blocks to help children find information in texts), as well as comprehension questions and a sequencing activity.
As with all of my products, I aim to make them enjoyable for children to engage with reading, helping them to develop a love for literature.
This is the first product I have produced like this. I will await feedback on this before developing similar packs on other fairy tales and nursery rhymes.
My aim is to create a bundle that explores traditional tales, before moving children on to writing creative stories of their own.
Here is a reading pack on Cinderella for grades 1 and 2.
It includes a number of activities that encourage children to develop close reading skills, including a wordsearch and spot the difference (which are building blocks to help children find information in texts), as well as comprehension questions and a sequencing activity.
As with all of my products, I aim to make them enjoyable for children to engage with reading, helping them to develop a love for literature.
This is the first product I have produced like this. I will await feedback on this before developing similar packs on other fairy tales and nursery rhymes.
My aim is to create a bundle that explores traditional tales, before moving children on to writing creative stories of their own.
These comprehensions are taken from real newspaper reports of major news events that made the world stop in its tracks. These are important stories for your children to understand, as they play a significant part in recent world history.
The comprehensions focus on:
The sinking of the Titanic
9/11
The Asian tsunami
and
The assassination of JFK
There are a variety of questions styles, testing skills in retrieval, inference and deduction. Answers are provided, and children are given an indication of marks on offer so this is good preparation for reading tests and assessments.
As with all of my work, I try to make the subject matter interesting and exciting for the children to engage with. As these stories may be familiar, I have made some of the questions particularly challenging, focussing on the parts of the story that your cohort won’t know about.
Find out about the mysteries of Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster. Discover the heartbreak of the tsunami and the sinking of the Titanic. Revisit the shooting of JFK and Apollo 13. Marvel at the miraculous escape of the miners in Chile. Find out why we have Christmas trees. Learn about soldiers stories from World War One…and much much more!
This collection of reading activities are a selection of some of my favourites. I have put them together as a bigger collection to allow teachers to plan a whole year’s worth of reading comprehensions for their children.
Each activity contains a range of challenging questions which test inference, deduction and retrieval skills – ideal preparation for reading assessments. Children are also given an indication of marks on offer for each question, and teachers are provided with answers.
As with all of my reading activities, I try to make the subject matter informative as well as engaging. Children get the chance to find out about a whole range of interesting stories and topics that may not be covered in the curriculum.
CONTENTS:
2 - 10 Stories of Survival
11 - 22 Mysteries of the World
23 - 30 Soldier’s Stories – World War One
31 - 36 The Queen and the Royal Family
37 – 42 Christmas
43 – 50 Days that made the world stop
51 – 74 Answers
I have received excellent feedback, for which I am very grateful. This should give you confidence in the products I offer. Hope you enjoy these!
Apollo 13
Plane crash in the Andes
Mine rescue in Chile
Castaway
This collection of four guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, tests children’s inference and deduction skills. It will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children explore these remarkable stories for themselves.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
PLEASE SEE MY NEW PACKAGE - AGAINST ALL ODDS - Four more amazing stories of survival!
It is over 100 years since World War One. This remarkable set of TEN guided reading activities uncovers the horror, humanity and humour of life in the Great War.
Each activity focuses on a different part of the war, such as life in the trenches; the Christmas Truce and the assasination of Franz Ferdinand. Also, find out about the fascinating story of the British soldier who spared the life of a young Adolf Hitler.
These guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, test children’s retrieval, inference and deduction skills. They will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children explore these stories for themselves.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
BIGFOOT. LOCH NESS. LORD LUCAN. MARY CELESTE. ROSWELL. TURIN SHROUD.
Does an ape-like biped roam the forests of North America?
Is there a monster lurking in the depths of a Scottish lake?
Is the face of Jesus miraculously printed in a piece of linen?
Did Lord Lucan really kill the nanny?
Do aliens exist?
Where were the crew of the Mary Celeste?
Answer these questions and more in this exciting Guided Reading resource looking at some of the greatest mysteries of the world.
This collection of six guided reading activities, aimed at 10 and 11 year olds, tests children’s comprehension, retrieval, inference and deduction skills. It will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children try to solve these mysteries for themselves.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
In December 2015, Star Wars - The Force Awakens was released and became the highest grossing movie at the box office in history.
Star Wars is just one of several series of movie blockbusters - and the children in your class can find out all about them in this guided reading compilation!
JAWS…STAR WARS…JAMES BOND…HARRY POTTER
These guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, test childrens’ retrieval, inference and deduction skills.
Questions and answers are provided, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
Your children will love finding out about the stories behind some of the world’s movie blockbusters!
Children will be fascinated to discover exciting facts about Brazil.
There are 2 levels of questions to suit all learners:
A red border for simpler questions
A green border for more advanced questions
An extension activity is also provided.
You can use this as a comprehension exercise, a guided reading activity, a geography lesson or as part of a literacy project. Children can complete as homework, and develop their general knowledge about this amazing country.
If you like this, then perhaps you might look at my 'Around the World in 8 Days' product. This includes seven more countries for you to read about.
Explore the world in just eight days with this comprehension reading compilation.
Children will be fascinated to discover exciting facts about the following countries:
China
India
Italy
Russia
Brazil
Australia
Egypt
South Africa
Each activity comes with 2 levels of questions to suit all learners:
A red border for simpler questions
A green border for more advanced questions
An extension activity is provided with each activity, and each activity should take about an hour in total.
You can use these as a comprehension exercise, a guided reading activity, a geography lesson or as part of a literacy project. Children can complete as homework, and develop their general knowledge about the world around them.
Enjoy your travels!
NOW WITH BONUS QUIZ ON KAHOOT! IDEAL FOR END OF UNIT. https://create.kahoot.it/#jumble/24391ecb-8e85-4ae3-9ddb-801ce9c79c93
This is the story of the Chilean miners who spent more than two months trapped underground.
It is part of my ‘Stories of Survival’ guided reading series, available on TES. I hope you and the children find it of use.
This guided reading activity is aimed at 10-13 year olds. It focuses on the London Blitz in World War Two.
It is part of my ‘Diaries of World War Two’ resource which is available for £1 from TES.
Questions and answers are provided. I hope you and the children you teach find it useful.
Explore World War Two through these fascinating fictional diaries of servicemen, nurses, civilians and Jews.
The diaries focus on the Blitz, the Holocaust, D-Day, Pearl Harbour and Hiroshima
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.