This is a short narrative in the past simple, with language exercises: true or false, cloze, match up and comprehension questions. It will be useful for years 5, 6, 7 and EAL pupils. My thanks to Ravensburger puzzles for permission to use this great picture. Isn't Flame a beaut?

Here are some starters/short activities on the language of Maths.

A reading passage with exercises.The language focus is the past simple tense. I got the template from Baiba, a member of the greatest EAL site in the world: (erm, after this one, of course!) eslprintables

This is a summary for mainstream teachers with guidelines to make sure that EAL students are included in the lesson.

This is a compilation of activities, strategies and methods of differentiation to include EAL students in mainstream English.

A short introduction to Botany Bay, with some language exercises.

Two pages - follow the instructions to colour the figures in/ write up the personal profiles/true or false/choose the correct word.

Excellent diagram of a house! A match up exercise - match the names of the rooms to the pictures and a true and false activity. The house template is from eslprintables.

A wonderful picture by the artist Trevor Mitchell, with various exercises on the present continuous tense. When I contacted the artist for permission to use his picture, I found that he lives just a few streets away from me!

A two page activity to get your students talking and writing about shapes. Parts of this could be used as starters and it could certainly lead to a survey: go onto the street and see how many shapes you can spot and in what circumstances. EAL teachers can use this to teach/reinforce prepositions and the present continuous tense.

All about trees. Where do we find trees? What lives in trees? What can they do? An activity that you can do off the cuff.

To go with the youtube clip. Pictures and words for Splat! Gap fill, with past simple focus.

A short reading comprehension with a true and false exercise and some questions. Focus past simple tense. Check out the template; it's definitely got the wow factor! I got this from the best EAL site ever - eslprintables. If you are an EAL teacher, join up. It&'ll be the best thing you ever did.

A gap fill exercise to practise the question words and a short reading passage with comprehension questions.

A nice picture, with activities. Will suit beginners and early intermediates.

A great picture, with activities to practise the present continuous tense.

A short, fun RC about an adult's awful day. The focus is the past simple tense.

This is a heart warming, short ghost story with exercises: a true/false, match-up activity and comprehension questions.

Bernard is great for fun - a sort of animal Mr Bean. Activities based on the youtube clip.

Some ideas on how to exploit pictures for teaching EAL. I also include a writing exercise to practise the past simple tense.