This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Tom Palmer’s ‘Arctic Star.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in upper KS2. I originally used this with Year 5-6 children, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening section of Onjali Q. Rauf’s ‘The Lion Above the Door.’ The resource pack includes the extract needed. This is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. A vocabulary check helps to secure children’s understanding of any new or unfamiliar language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in years 4-6, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of J.M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in Year 5 and 6, but it could feasibly be used with slightly older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Lisa Thompson’s ‘The Small Things.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in lower KS2. I originally used this with Year 3-4 children, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s fluency and comprehension skills through reading Julia Donaldson’s ‘The Paper Dolls.’ The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in years 1-2, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Sujata Bhatt’s poem 'Search for My Tongue.’ They are perfect for aiding the progress of students learning poetry either in KS3 and KS4 in preparation for poetry/unseen poetry at GCSE, as the tasks draw on English Literature assessment objectives - suitable for all examining bodies - it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. The booklet is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers). Activities within the booklet include (amongst many others): ‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’ ‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ ‘Diary Entry’ - to help students to ‘Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. Make an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ ‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of J.K Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.' Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS3 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. Children have found these resources extremely engaging, and for teachers there is explicit information within each task regarding which comprehension strands the task is designed to demonstrate. They also relate to key extracts, characters, and themes from the story, ensuring that children gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: - 'Context: Magic' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Know the purpose, audience and context of the writing and drawing on this knowledge to support comprehension.' - 'J.K Rowling's Description of Harry' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.' - 'Severus Snape' and 'Ron Weasley' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Study setting, plot, and characterisation, and the effects of these.' - 'Vocabulary Inspector' - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: 'Learn new vocabulary, relating it explicitly to known vocabulary and understanding it with the help of context and dictionaries.' Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is 24 pages in length!) I've also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on a separate document (included).

These engaging, comprehensive lesson resources aim to improve students’ understanding of Beatrice Garland’s conflict poem ‘Kamikaze’ with a particular focus upon the language, structure, and subject matter used within the poem. By the end of the lesson, students demonstrate their knowledge of the text analytically, through assured, appropriate, and sustained interpretations. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Knowledge harvesting what they know about Japan, World War II and kamikaze pilots, developing their contextual understanding to aid their reading of the poem; Reading and interpreting the poem, using a provided line-by-line analysis, and interactive group activities; Developing their understanding through inferring and analysing key language and structural choices; Analysing how the predominant themes are conveyed through Garland’s language and structure choices; Self/ Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: 1.Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and substantial; (including a hyperlink to a reading of the video) 2.Research template; 3.Copy of poem; 4.Deeper thinking worksheet; 5.Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; All resources are provided as word documents (for easy editing) and PDF documents (to ensure consistency of formatting between computers). There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to middle-ability year 10 and 11 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for KS1 children learning about Neil Armstrong as a part of their history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in His Life; Important Vocabulary; Neil Armstrong Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension of the opening chapter of Eoin Colfer’s ‘The Legend of Spud Murphy.’ It contains a link to the online chapter (on the first slide - also provided as PDF). This is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in years 2-3, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

In this engaging lesson, students develop their understanding of Moses, through learning about the ten plagues of Egypt. They are encouraged to think deeply about the meanings that can be taken from the story, and consider ideas such as punishment and God’s power. The learning is guided by a clear and colourful PowerPoint presentation, which guides students through the following step-by-step journey: -Knowledge recall - gauging children’s prior knowledge of Judaism - including Jewish persecution in Egypt and Moses’ early life; -Watching an engaging, age-appropriate video about the ten plagues, and attempting to recall them all ; -Considering the severity of each of the plagues, and discussing some of the moral and ethical implications of the story; -Considering their own attitudes towards the ideas presented in the story; -Writing a newspaper report about the plagues from the perspective of an imaginary Egyptian journalist, using the provided newspaper template; -Completing a plenary to assess their understanding. This resource pack contains a comprehensive 16-slide Powerpoint, the hyperlinked video and the newspaper template (in both Word and PDF). In the past, I have used this lesson with children from across Key Stage 2 - the key learning is aligned with curriculum expectations for RE, and also the content prescribed by most diocese regions. All images are licensed for commercial use.

In this engaging lesson, students are introduced to the Buddha and the key concepts of Buddhism. They learn about how the Buddha proposed that people should live their lives and consider the different spokes on the ‘Eightfold Path’ wheel. The learning is guided by a clear and colourful PowerPoint presentation, which guides students through the following step-by-step journey: -Recalling their prior learning about how Christians live; -Reflecting upon an image of the Buddha, and thinking about what the different features in the image show people about how to live; -Learn key facts about the Buddha and how he suggested that people should live their lives, including following the ‘Eightfold Path.’ -Considering how they could apply some of the principles of the Eightfold Path to their own lives. -Comparing and contrasting some of the key teachings of Christianity and Buddhism; -Self-reflecting on the extent to which they feel they have met the learning objectives. This resource pack includes the comprehensive PowerPoint presentation (16 slides) and the worksheet needed for the Eightfold Path task (in both Word and PDF). There is everything that you need here to teach the lesson. In the past, I have used this lesson with children from across Key Stage 1 - the key learning is aligned with curriculum expectations for RE, and also the content prescribed by most diocese regions. All images are licensed for commercial use.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for Year 3 teachers, parents and children when covering ‘Length and Perimeter’ in mathematics. The content is organised into the following sections: -Overview: Learning areas covered, key definitions, why this learning is important; -Measuring Lengths; -Comparing Lengths and Equivalent Lengths; -Perimeter; -Key vocabulary. The resource is designed to be printed onto either A3 or A4, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This engaging and informative lesson enables students to make insightful and developed interpretations regarding the character of Ebenezer Scrooge in ‘A Christmas Carol.’ In particular, they explore how his character is originally introduced, and then developed throughout the appearances of the three ghosts. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Reading and understanding the selected extracts to determine the key traits of Scrooge's character at different points in the text; - Noticing trends in Scrooge's character throughout the text, observing how he has developed from the opening of the text through completion of a 'Character Arc.' - Analysing Dickens' intentions in developing the character of Scrooge throughout the text; - Peer assessing each other's learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Selected extracts demonstrating Scrooge's development; - Character Arc template; - Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to mixed ability year 10 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising knowledge of The Mali Empire. It contains comprehensive sections on: Overview and map; Key People and Events - Sundiata Keita, Rise of the Empire, Mansa Musa, the Pilgrimage, the Demise of the Empire; Timeline of Major Events; Key Features: Culture, Religion, Major Settlements; Key Vocabulary; Top Ten Mali Empire Facts. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for Year 2 teachers, parents and children when covering ‘Place Value’ in mathematics. The content is organised into the following sections: -Overview: Learning areas covered, key definitions, why this learning is important; -Counting in 2s, 5s, 10s, and 3s; -Comparing and Ordering Numbers; -Read, Write and Present Numbers to 100; -Key vocabulary. The resource is designed to be printed onto either A3 or A4, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students revising knowledge relating to Germany, as a part of their study of place, human and physical geography. It contains comprehensive sections on: Overview and Maps; Physical Geography; Human Geography; Comparison with the United Kingdom; Germany Timeline; Key Vocabulary. The organiser is designed to help children to learn the relevant place, human and physical geography knowledge from the KS2 Geography National Curriculum: -‘understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom and a region in a European country’ -‘physical geography, including: climate zones, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes’ -‘human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy.’ The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This fun and original assembly assists children in understanding the value of peace, through: Understanding what peace is, and recognising why it is important; Looking at examples of behaviour that is peaceful and not peaceful and considering what can be done to promote peace; Learning strategies to demonstrate peacefulness in their own lives. This session is tried and tested, and has always been really well received in the past. The slides are visually engaging and well-presented, and the subject matter is tailored to the interests and needs of young people. The session also includes a link to a powerful and engaging video, showing children how their small input can help to create peace in the world. Furthermore, there are interesting scenarios (with scripts provided) that enable children to consider how to act peacefully in different situations. Various discussion prompts are also presented, to enable children to understand how peace can be a force for good in their own lives. The slides are fairly self-explanatory, but I’ve included to pages of notes to assist the speaker. Hope that you find this useful!

This is the perfect resource for teachers looking to build students writing skills across the curriculum. Aiding students in the four key areas of their writing (Openers, Vocabulary, Connectives, and Punctuation) and also addressing a few common writing mistakes, my students now ask for this whenever they are asked to complete writing tasks, in any of their subjects. It is extremely visually engaging, and can also be used as a poster. Nothing needs to be done to this resource. It is already in A3. Simply print off and laminate. Alternatively, you can buy the Descriptive Writing Big Bundle (All descriptive devices lessons, structuring and organising writing lesson, capturing the readers attention lesson, and the literacy writing mat) for £4.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about Nelson Mandela as a part of their history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in His Life; Important Vocabulary; Nelson Mandela Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use.