This is a set of 7 lessons on the Great Fire of London with aims, activities, vocabulary and references to the National Curriculum. The lessons use Vlad and the Great Fire of London and have linked resources, but you can use and adapt in whatever way is most useful to you and your class. I love this topic and have tried to include plenty of talk, drama activities and images that bring it to life, in a way that will excite children, and give them the tools to write and discuss with enthusiasm. The Big Questions aim to give them a wider perspective and stretch their understanding. I visit schools linked to my book ‘Vlad and the Great Fire of London’, for information about this please look at the Reading Riddle website. If you have found this useful please give it a review :) and look at my other free resources.

Six images from our book Vlad and the Great Fire of London, to put in order and make a timeline of the events. For an extension activity children can write further detail and add information about when the fire was finally extinguished. Further free resources are available on my TES shop and if you have found this useful please give it a review so others know :) The images are taken from the 2nd Edition of Vlad and the Great Fire of London and information about this and my school visits can be found on the Reading Riddle website.

A map of London in 1666 with a grid to mark key sites of the Great Fire. Children mark sites such as Pudding Lane, Tower of London and the fields where Londoners camped after the fire. They are given the grid references to colour the area burned by the fire. This map covers the journey taken by Vlad and Boxton in the picture book of the events of the Great Fire (Vlad and the Great Fire of London by Kate and Sam Cunningham, which is available on Amazon). The map can be used with the book or works independently too. There are other free resources around the Great Fire of London available from my shop. For information on my storytelling and drama sessions please visit the Reading Riddle website.

Using the events of the Great Fire of London, this planning enables children to take an alternative character and write their story. Using drama the children consider the events and write a story set in September 1666. For further ideas and planning see the Reading Riddle website. Vlad and the Great Fire of London is available from Amazon or The National Archives bookshop.

Key vocabulary for the history topic, the Great Fire of London, with illustrations to support KS1 children of varying abilities. I hope the sheet is a useful resource in its own right links with our book, Vlad and the Great Fire of London, illustrated by Sam Cunningham. The book is available from all sales outlets including the Reading Riddle website. Further resources, materials and updates are also available on the shop and Reading Riddle website.

A powerpoint presentation introducing the Great Fire of London and what impact it had on the city. It includes information on where London is, what was in London and what it looks like now. It is the resource mentioned in lesson 1 of the seven history lessons in the Reading Riddle shop. It is also available as a video on the Reading Riddle YouTube channel. Images are taken from our book, Vlad and the Great Fire of London. Find more activities and resources on the Reading Riddle website.

The planning and resources are based on the research and illustrations from the picture book Vlad and the Florence Nightingale Adventure. It works well with the book but can also be used independently. Florence Nightingale’s influence included working to make hospitals cleaner, train nurses to be professionals and gathering data to determine what changes improved healthcare. The lessons cover these ideas and include looking at hospitals past and present, timelines, science investigation on hygiene, the role of a nurse now and in history, first aid and making a difference and data gathering. There are links to RE, PSHE, Science, English and Maths. Within the lessons are Big Questions link to the topic to promote speaking and listening. There are powerpoints and resources to support lessons. Planning for English lessons on persuasive writing and instructions has been downloaded separately. For further information about the Vlad series of books (Vlad and the Great Fire of London, Vlad and the First World War), school visits, lesson resources and encouraging reading with families see the Reading Riddle website.

A mixture of images of materials and clues from 1666 and now, that lead to discussion about things that caused the Great Fire of London to spread. This resource relates to the lesson plan available for free from the shop. The images can be cut up and sorted into the relevant era. They then provide a starting point for comparing what houses were made from and how close they were placed. The images are ideal for talking about similarities and differences in life now and hundreds of years ago and are also connected with resources for our book Vlad and the Great Fire of London. All illustrations are the copyright of Reading Riddle. More activities and ideas are on our Reading Riddle website and YouTube channel.

A differentiated lotto game matching pictures to phrases and introducing vocabulary around the Great Fire of London. Pictures are taken from my book Vlad and the Great Fire of London illustrated by my son. There are 6 target boards with varying levels of difficulty in the phrases so the game can be played by mixed ability groups. The game is in a word document so can be adapted according to your needs. I have added other free resources around this topic and although you don’t need the book for any of the materials, it is available from Amazon if you want to use it. Information about my storytelling events are on the Reading Riddle website.

This lesson helps children consider the London refugees after the Great Fire of London. It considers what happened to them and what they took when they fled. They are then encouraged to make links with modern refugees and discuss the differences between now and 350 years ago. it gives the opportunity to reveal and challenge misconceptions about life in seventeenth century. It also raises awareness that people have often had to flee danger at different times and in different parts of the world. It includes a lesson plan, powerpoint (with a copy of Charles II proclamation on the London refugees and how to help them) and differentiated work sheets showing similarities and differences between now and then. The images are taken from my book Vlad and the Great Fire of London. I hope it is useful. If you like this and are interested in me coming in to do storytelling you can further information on the Reading Riddle website.

A list of activities starting with going to the library in the holiday and following through with reading activities. Research clearly shows that children who have access to a choice of books at home with be more successful readers. The Reading Riddle website aims to bring together ideas, websites and information on reading for parents and teachers.

Questions about non fiction fact books on a prompt sheet. These are intended to help parents to discuss books with their children. There is a separate sheet of questions about fiction books. Reading Riddle is a free website that aims to support parents and gives information about reading with children.

This powerpoint summarises the what, who, why, when and how of Remembrance Day. It uses simple language and clear illustrations from the picture book, Vlad and the First World War. The powerpoint is editable to suit your specific audience but the illustrations are the copyright of Sam Cunningham so should not be used elsewhere. If you want any further information on the book or the first book Vlad and the Great Fire of London please visit the Reading Riddle website.

These documents include the rationale, list of activities and record sheet for a set of activities targeted at children who find handwriting and controlling pencils difficult. The aim is to strengthen their grip and improve their ability to control pencils. I put this together after having been asked to do these activities with children by Physios and Occupational Therapists over the years, and having been told that often a barrier to the writing was an inability to hold a small grip. Obviously larger pencils and pencil grips also help but these mini-workouts were targeted at children who still had difficulties and had is many cases had less access to activities needing fine motor control at a younger age.

This classroom activity looks at war memorials and considers who they are for, what they are made from and what images are used. Children then use this to design a memorial of their own. Through this activity the children think about why we have memorials and the wide range of people and animals who are being remembered. For further information about the Vlad flea books visit the Reading Riddle website.

These resources support a set of lessons on purposeful persuasive letter writing (KS2). Based on research I did to write Vlad and the First World War, they focus on Walter Tull and Phoebe Chapple. Both could have been awarded the Military Cross, but prevailing attitudes discriminated against them. The lessons support writing a letter to persuade the Ministry of Defence to award them posthumously. It includes a set of lesson plans linked to the literacy curriculum, templates for making notes and crib sheets if you want to focus on the letter writing rather than note taking. There are website links for research and 2 videos summarising their lives. Government offices respond to letters so if sent will receive a letter back. Further resources are available on the Reading Riddle website along with information on my books and school visits.

A list of questions that parents can use to talk about the book they have read with their child. These are the same questions on the classroom fiction question sheets, but on one sheet that can be shared with parents. This could be included as homework or in reading records to extend the reading experience between parents and children. Reading Riddle is a free website that aims to encourage parents and help them become more confident when reading with their children.

This is a word mat including vocabulary needed to write as part of a topic on Florence Nightingale. It uses illustrations from Vlad and the Florence Nightingale Adventure. Look for the other planning and resources on the topic from my shop on TES or on the Reading Riddle website Check out the website for information on the books, author visits and links to other resources.

Editable vocabulary on sweet wrappers for display. The words were brainstormed by my class so obviously you can use them or edit and add your own according to your class. I hope they are useful.

This lesson can be used in connection with the larger Florence Nightingale plan or as a stand alone lesson. Create a poster persuading people to wash their hands properly. Linked to the science investigation on hygiene the aim of this lesson is to produce text for a poster. For other free lesson plans and resources see my TES shop or the Reading Riddle website The website also includes information on the books and author visits.