This lively whole class game involves stealing words and wearing blindfolds - it causes a real buzz of excitement around creating complex sentences. It is one of my most involved games, but very easy to get the hang of. You’ll need a full lesson to play it. A fun whole class grammar game promoting the use of subordinating conjunctions in complex sentences. My class loved it - I hope yours will too.

I can identify unstressed vowels I can spell words with unstressed vowels Children (and adults!) often spell words with unstressed vowels incorrectly (how about these: diffrent, intresting, seprate, evryone…). This dice game encourages learners to engage with this tricky group of words. Players identify and sort unstressed vowel words into groups. They record them on a game sheet. No marking - peer assessment built in (answers are on the reverse of cards). There is a competitive element to add some fun, but it could just as easily be played collaboratively. I have included ideas on how to quickly differentiate the game, to include all learners. There is also a quick warm sorting activity. My class enjoyed it. I hope yours do too. All you need is 1-6 dice. The rest is all here.

Two dice games for KS2: ‘Point or show quantity’ pupils explore the two basic functions of determiners. ‘Introduce the noun’ pupils add determiners to noun phrases and sort determiners into groups. Both games have a competitive element but are tightly focused on the following objectives: I know that determiners have two jobs: ‘pointing’ or ‘showing quantity’ I can use determiners accurately in sentences I can use a wide variety of determiners to introduce nouns I can sort determiners into groups Determiners can get a little confusing for primary school aged children when you get beyond simple ‘a’ or ‘an’ activities. How far you go with your class is best judged by you (of course!). Through the presentation (which you may wish to simplify, depending on how far you wish to go with determiners) and engaging dice games, children will use lots of talk, and really engage with this tricky-to-define but important group of words.

I can spell ‘ie’ and ‘ei’ words Lots of children (and adults) get mixed-up when spelling 'ie' and 'ei' words. Is the rule 'i before e except after c' actually helpful? This dice game encourages children to explore the rule and decide for themselves. Here are some words that keep to the rule: field, shield, brief, chief, belief, believe, unbelievable, relief, relieved, piece, achieve receive, conceit, deceive, deceit, conceive, misconceive, perceive, perceivable, ceiling, receipt Here are some that don't: neighbour, weigh, counterfeit, foreign, kaleidoscope, their, caffeine, leisure, protein, seize, weird ancient, deficient, glacier, proficient, society, science, sufficient, species Play the game ‘Follow the rule/break the rule’, classifying words into two groups. After the game, the class could consider if this rule may work best: “i before e except after c, but only if it rhymes with a bee!”

This is a fun and engaging whole class activity about organisation within a paragraph. Using a non-fiction context (information about space) pupils go to a paragraph party. They have to work out who is hosting the party (the topic sentence), who is the uninvited guest (information that doesn't belong) and various other activities. In short, it's a lively and memorable way of exploring non-fiction paragraphs.

Create poetry on any subject using this engaging dice activity. Why not kick your next topic or writing project off with a some poetry? This works well as a stand alone activity or as part of a writing unit, to develop adventurous language. Assessment focus: I can use figurative language and word play I can assess another writer’s work (peer assessment) I can draft, edit and publish my own free verse Follow the steps of this fun two part lesson (approximately 2 hours needed) and pupils will be able to create poetry on any subject. Simply give pupils a picture they can write on, and let the activity do the rest. What’s included? A detailed explanation of the activity, with real classroom examples Resources to try the activity with an image of a Viking archer (but you could replace the image with anything you like - the activity will work just as well!) Differentiated activity sheets, with many examples of short lines, verbs, prepositions, personification, alliteration, metaphor and simile Peer assessment prompt sheet I use this approach a lot, often with great success. Give it a try!

Create stunning descriptive sentences about WW2 settings. During this sentence building activity, young writers describe damaged homes, a pier and a pavilion. You could quickly edit the images and the word banks to match landmarks in your local area. We went on to use the sentences we created in stories set during WW2. Enjoy!

This session teaches children one way of structuring a biography paragraph. Prior to the session, children will need to have gathered some information for the biography they are going to write. Everything else you need is here! You are buying: - a detailed lesson plan; - a 'paragraph party' resource, based on Anne Frank's life; - a presentation, including suggested shared/modelled writing.

A brilliant lesson on homophones and near homophones, suitable for Year 5 and Year 6. Assessment focus: I understand the term ‘homophone’. I can give definitions of many common homophones. I can spell common homophones. You are buying: - a detailed lesson plan; - ‘mistaken identity celebrities’ PowerPoint; - mistaken identity scavenger hunt; - self –assessment tool (on powerpoint); - engaging dice game differentiated 2 ways - plenty of challenge - answer checkers provided; - SEN/low attainers activity; - an extension activity for those who finish. You’ll love this session - a fun way to explore homophones and near homophones.

Do you want your class to learn about the language of explanation whilst also learning how to host parties and start fires in the wild? Try the dice activity ‘Cause and effect’. Assessment focus: I can use causal connectives to extend a sentence or begin a new sentence. When writing explanations, many children find it difficult to discern between conjunctions that join sentences (eg because, so) and adverbs/adverbials that begin a new, closely related sentence or at the very least follow a semi-colon (eg however, as a result of). This activity gives children lots of opportunities to use causal connectives (because, so, so that, however, consequently, this means, this will, this may, as a result of this) orally and in sentences. Most importantly, it helps them to think about whether they are extending a sentence or beginning a new one. This could be used before my other popular resource for explanation writing: ‘Explain yourself’. That activity enables children to develop a full explanation, whereas this narrows the focus to sentence skills.

I can use a hyphen to combine words and create compound adjectives. Explanation Children need to understand how hyphens can be used to avoid ambiguity (e.g. man eating shark versus man-eating shark, or recover versus re-cover). Also, an understanding of hyphens can add descriptive depth to noun phrases (e.g. the creature) when they are used to form compound adjectives (the ferocious-looking creature). In the compound adjective ‘ferocious-looking’, the hyphen shows that the two component words have a combined meaning. Aim: using the ‘dice guide’, roll to create six compound adjectives with hyphens that you could use before a noun (e.g. muddle-headed monster). Write definitions for your compound adjectives on your ‘game card’. Keep unusual or ridiculous combinations too! Have fun playing with words!

KS2 poetry with patterns - 4 lessons - fully resourced. I love using ‘Amulet’ by the amazing Ted Hughes as a model for children’s poetry writing. Here are four sessions that explore this rich and powerful poem in creative ways. By the end of session 4, children will have created powerful poems of their own. Objectives covered: Part 1 Understanding a poem I can discuss a poem in a group, listen carefully to others and build on my own ideas. I can explore the meaning of tricky words and phrases. I can infer what the poet may have been thinking. Part 2 Reciting a poem I can read using intonation to add meaning I can visualise a poem I can recite a poem from memory Part 3 Exploring nouns and noun phrases and gathering ideas I understand the terms noun and noun phrase I can use precise nouns and rich descriptive language Part 4 Creating poems of our own I can create a magical poem with patterns Your class will love creating poems in the style of Ted Hughes!

37 spelling questions linked to the Y5/6 spelling list and other patterns and rules that Y5/6 need to know. Complete each challenge to solve the Christmas joke puzzle! The answer is at the end of the sheet - don’t show your pupils. It’s a festive way of assessing spelling!

A fun version of consequences that aims to develop awareness of determiners, adjectives, noun, verbs, adverbs and prepositions.

If you are confident with your classroom management, this game works well in a lesson observation. Children compete in teams, dropping relative clauses into prepared sentences. Children try out different roles, from author to reporter, and work collaboratively. I have found that children were quickly able to apply this skill in their writing after a session playing this game. Differentiation included, if needed. Give it a try!

Your class will enjoy playing: 'Will you or won't you?' This is a brilliant way of motivating children to use modal verbs accurately in sentences. Children have to play against each other. One child is trying to go to a sleepover and the other other is desperately trying to avoid it. Sounds bonkers? Well, maybe a little, but it certainly generates a lot of sentence work and discussion. Children will all know what modal verbs are by the end of the lesson. That's a promise. All instructions and resources included - just add dice and counters.

Prepositions can be a tricky group of words for some children. Through these three games, children will become very comfortable at knowing, classifying and using prepositions and prepositional phrases. First, play the memory test - some surface level learning that ensures that children know some examples of prepositions. Next, play the sorting game. This goes a little deeper, and children learn the different functions of prepositions. In the final game, children move on to prepositional phrases and use them in sentences. The last game is differentiated 3 ways to support those that need it and challenge those that are ready. Play these games over two lessons and your class will be confident at explaining the functions of prepositions and able to use prepositional phrases within written compositions. Explanations of the concepts, rules and resources all included, as always.

I can say and write simple, compound or complex sentences If children become confident at using a blend of simple, compound and complex sentence structures, their writing will be varied and accurate. For many young writers, this is not easy to achieve. These sentence skills must be revisited and rehearsed over and over again. Practising sentence skills could get boring! This lively dice game, to be played in pairs, generates lots of purposeful talk about sentences. Children collect game cards to win! If children record their sentences, it also generates plenty of good examples to refer back to during whole class sessions. The activity is differentiated three ways. At its most basic, children generate a mixture of the three sentence types. On track writers try a wider variety of subordinating conjunctions. More able writers are moved on to creating sentences with a greater number of clauses. I used this for myth writing. If you wanted to, the ‘game cards’ and sentence examples on the ‘dice guides’ could be easily changed to match any story or text. It’s a great way of learning or revisiting these three important sentence types. *I have added a version of the game with Beowulf game cards and another version with ‘ough’ words, to demonstrate how the game can be adapted to different texts or spelling patterns.