These informative and engaging resources enable students to build the skills needed to interpret and analyse the langauge used in poems. These resources also give students a strong foundation knowledge, including the SMSC implications, of the events of 9/11 - an important historical day that should never be forgotten. Students learn through the following tasks: - Collecting and discussing knowledge of the events of the day through an interactive starter task; - Reading the poem ‘Out of the Blue’ and identifying the descriptive devices throughout the poem; - Discussing a model analytical paragraph about the language used in the poem, in order to form their own success criteria; - Using a template to form their own analytical paragraphs about the language used in the poem; - Using peer or self-assessment in order to establish their success at analysing language. The following resources are provided: - Engaging and colourful step-by-step PowerPoint - Poem - Teacher lesson guidance; - Identifying worksheet; - Analysis template; - Writing to analyse help-sheet - Analysis model All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Simon Armitage’s 9/11 poem Out of the Blue.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Line-by-line analysis (with quotes); Poetic Devices/ Language Devices; Themes; Form/Structure; Poems for Comparison; Thoughts of the Poet. 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 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Simon Armitage’s 9/11 poem ‘Out of the Blue.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful throughout teaching, or for exam revision or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the key English Literature assessment objectives - suitable for all examining bodies. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. Activities within the booklet include: ‘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.’ Plus many, many more activities! I’ve also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer.

In this lesson, students learn about the key features of Anglican churches. Some of the features covered include: the font, the altar, the pulpit, the lecturn, the nave, the crucifix and stained glass windows. Students learn about the key purpose of the features, and where they can be found in the church. Students also begin to comprehend what the features symbolise. This resource pack contains a comprehensive 16-slide Powerpoint, alongside an eye-catching worksheet. Two extension activities are provided in order to challenge higher ability learners. In the past, I have used this lesson with children from across Key Stage 2 - the key learning is aligned with NC expectations for RE, and also the content prescribed by most diocese regions. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about churches in R.E. It contains comprehensive sections on: -Overview; -The Features of Churches; -The Different Denominations of Churches; -Symbols in Churches; -Personal Spirituality - Key Questions; -Key Vocabulary. 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). It is most appropriate for KS2 children.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students revising knowledge relating to South Africa, as a part of their study of place, human and physical geography. It contains the following sections: Overview and Maps; Physical Geography; Human Geography; Comparison with the United Kingdom; South Africa Timeline; Key Vocabulary. 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).

In this engaging lesson, students develop their understanding of churches and what happens in them. It was originally taught as a part of an RE unit on ‘Special Places.’ The learning is guided by a clear and colourful PowerPoint presentation, which guides students through the following step-by-step journey: -Knowledge harvesting what children already know about churches, and what they would like to find out; -Studying a number of images of different features in churches (provided) and using a template to record their findings; -Discussing and identifying what events take place in churches, and how these are commemorated; -Understanding that churches are special places to Christians, and that we should behave respectfully when we are in/ around them; -Completing a plenary activity to assess their understanding; -Self-reflecting on the extent to which they feel they have met the learning objective. This resource pack includes the comprehensive PowerPoint presentation (23 slides) and the template & pictures for the main activity (provided in 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 resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Clive King’s children’s classic ‘Stig of the Dump.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the upper KS2 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. Children love learning from these resources, whilst they are also of great use to teachers, as 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: - ‘An Interview with Barney’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;’ - ‘King’s Description’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Explain meanings of words that they know and ask the meaning of new words. Link the meaning of new words to words that they already know;’ - ‘Stig!’ and ‘Lou!’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;’ - ‘Figurative Language in Stig of the Dump’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, to create an impact on the reader.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is over 20 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).

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Ted Hughes’ 'The Iron Man.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS2 expectations within the National Curriculum framework. Children love learning from these resources, whilst they are also of great use to teachers, as 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: ‘An Interview with Hogarth’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;’ ‘Ted Hughes’ Description’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Explain meanings of words that they know and ask the meaning of new words. Link the meaning of new words to words that they already know;’ ‘The Iron Man’ and ‘The Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon’ profiles! - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;’ 'Figurative Language in ‘The Iron Man’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, to create an impact on the reader.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is 21 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).

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Clive King’s ‘Stig of the Dump.’ 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 3 and 4, but 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 chapter of Ted Hughes’ ‘The Iron Man.’ 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 3 and 4, but it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Ted Hughes’ ‘The Iron Man.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes (Violence and Destruction, Redemption and Intelligence); Hughes’ Language Devices; Important Vocabulary. 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 detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Clive King’s ‘Stig of the Dump.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; King’s Language Devices; Important Vocabulary. 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 interesting and highly-stimulating lesson enables students to describe and understand the key human and physical geography features of Egypt. Whilst gaining a wide range of knowledge about the biomes, rivers, lakes, climates and cities of Egypt, students also become familiar with a wide range of vocabulary pertinent to the KS2/KS3 geography curriculum. The lesson follows a clear, logical, bite-size learning journey, which guides students towards relevant and constructive learning objectives. Over the course of this journey, they become able to: -Remember key facts about the African continent to contextualise their learning; -Learn key facts about the area, population and main features of Egypt; -Explore further information about the climate and biomes of Egypt through watching a thought-provoking video; -Identify and range of physical and human geography features on a map-building task; -Partake in deeper thinking activities about population density and trade in Egypt; -Self-assess their progress using the learning objectives. The lesson requires access to atlases and/or web-searching devices. This resource pack includes: -A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation (14 slides); -A blank map for the Egypt map-building activity (in Word and PDF); The resources within this lesson can be easily adapted to suit home/remote learning.

In this lesson, students learn about the key symbols found across Christianity, and in particular in churches. Some of the symbols covered include: the cross/crucifix, alpha/omega, the sign of the holy trinity, and the animal symbols of the disciples. Students learn about what symbols are used for, before discussing the key meanings of the church symbols. This resource pack contains a comprehensive 15-slide Powerpoint, alongside all of the resources needed for the group ‘symbol detectives’ activity (for this task, I put the symbols and clues around the room, and have groups do a circuit of them. A creative extension activity is also provided in order to challenge higher ability learners. In the past, I have used this lesson with children from across Key Stage 2 - the key learning is aligned with NC expectations for RE, and also the content prescribed by most diocese regions. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide.

In this lesson, students learn about the a number of the main types of Christianity, including Protestant (Anglican), Roman Catholic and Orthodox denominations. Children learn about why there are different kinds of Christianity, before exploring the features of each faith and the respective churches. This resource pack contains a comprehensive 14-slide Powerpoint, alongside all of the resources needed. A creative extension activity is also provided in order to challenge higher ability learners. In the past, I have used this lesson with children from across Key Stage 2 - the key learning is aligned with NC expectations for RE, and also the content prescribed by most diocese regions. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide. Note - children will need access to computers/ books in order to complete the research task.

This engaging and informative lesson helps students to infer and deduce the hidden meanings in the introduction section of Darren Shan’s ‘Cirque Du Freak.’ Students act as ‘Text Detectives’ reading between the lines to find out deeper meanings in the introduction, using this information to make predictions about what may happen in the text. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Understanding why individual subject content was chosen for the introduction (e.g. the fear that spiders can arouse in many people); - Reading the introduction, and answering comprehension questions to demonstrate their understanding; - Functioning as ‘Text Detectives’, inferring and deducing the hidden meanings about narrator and plot that are provided within the introduction; - Using inferences from textual evidence to make insightful and evidence-based predictions about the story; - Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts; Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Newspaper Article - ‘The shape of fear - why spiders scare us so much;’ - Extract from ‘Cirque Du Freak’ - The Introduction; - Text Detectives worksheet (and teacher model answer sheet); - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with year 7 and 8 classes, however colleagues have used them for between years 4 and 9 with minimal adaptations. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This engaging and informative lesson helps students to understand the social and historical context of ‘freak shows’ in order to aid their reading of Darren Shan’s ‘Cirque Du Freak.’ Students gather knowledge about when, where, and how freak shows operated, and apply this understanding to the text. They then form and write their own arguments regarding whether they believe freak shows should be allowed. There are easily enough resources for 2-3 lessons here. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Reading and understanding information about the history of freak shows; - Answering comprehension questions and creating a timeline to demonstrate their understanding; - Reading selected extracts from the text, in order to link ideas regarding context and text together; - Forming and writing a fair and balanced argument, using a model example and a helpsheet, about whether they think freak shows should be legal; - Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts; Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Information Text - Freak Shows - Extract from ‘Cirque Du Freak’ - Chapters 2 and 8; - Timeline Template; - Balanced Argument Worksheet; - Writing to Argue Help-sheet - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with year 7 and 8 classes, however colleagues have used them for between years 4 and 9 with minimal adaptations. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

Based on the popular game show ‘Pointless’, this resource is perfect for use as a whole lesson resource, enrichment option, or revision tool. Editable, so that you can change to any other topic or change questions. (I’ve also added a blank template so that you can make your own games from scratch). Containing almost 30 slides of sound clips, interesting tasks, and suitably challenging questions, this resource is effective at both promoting engagement and enhancing learning. There are several full rounds of questions to build or revisit knowledge of characters, plot, and themes in ‘Cirque Du Freak.’ Round 1. The characters in Cirque Du Freak Round 2. Quotations from the text Round 3. Settings and Objects Round 4. Themes in Cirque Du Freak The nature of this game ensures that the resource can challenge students of all levels. A blank template has also been added, so that you can create your own games!

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Louie Stowell’s ‘Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good.’ 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 KS2. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning. The extract is provided as a PDF, and a link to the online version is also included on the first slide.