Day of the Dead Mexican pp lesson with activities and worksheet resources. Learning objectives I know what’ El Día de Los Muertos’ means in English. I can say which language it is translated from and where the celebration originates. I know where Mexico is located on a map. I can explain the features on the Mexican flag. I can name the objects placed on the Day of the Dead altars. I can explain the symbols and rituals carried out by the Mexican people on the specific celebration days. I can describe how sugar skulls are made and why they are important. I can write a non-chronological report using my knowledge about ‘The Day of the Dead’ celebration. Includes six pupil worksheets, opportunities for partner work, simple map task and links to You Tube clips about the celebration and how to make ‘papel picado’. Great KS2 lesson as a stand-alone or as part of a series of lessons with a cross curricular topic eg Mexico, Aztecs, Halloween, Celebrations etc

Diwali KS1 and KS2 Assembly. A simply written whole school assembly to cover the main aspects of Diwali which can be used in the days preceding or on 1st November. Power-point of 25 slides which include: Suggested music (links to Diwali Festival Song for pupils to sing-a-long and Anuradha Pal playing Tabla drum to celebrate Diwali fireworks) and hymns. Date of Diwali each year. Meaning of Diwali and the theme of good over evil/light over dark. Diwali preparations and celebrations. The story of Rama and Sita. A short prayer.

KS1&2 Christmas Nativity story sequencing activity. Learning objective: To sequence and retell the Christmas story in order. Pupils cut out the boxed images and descriptions and sequence the story onto a storyboard template. There are three templates attached which support differentiation and reading levels. Higher Ability (Timeline 1) template is numbered only and pupils order the story into the numbered boxes. Middle Ability (Timeline 2) is differentiated using key words from the main text in the numbered boxes. Lower Ability (Timeline 3) order the story into the numbered boxes with the support of key sentences which they can match to the main text. After completing the activity the pupils can retell the story using the timeline sequence as a prompt.

Neil Armstrong Famous person fact sheet. Includes key events and important stages in their life broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos. I have used this with pupils in Years 1-4 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about a famous person in a range of genres (newspaper report, biography, letter or diary writing, fiction, non-fiction etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the topic followed up with a written comprehension exercise.

Victorian Christmas Traditions. KS1 and 2 power-point of 58 slides (including worksheets). This power-point can be used as a complete stand-alone lesson which can be edited into topic sections or as an additional spin off to related topics which encourage the pupils to think about how a Victorian Christmas is celebrated and how the traditions we know today originated. I have kept the information simple with a mix of slides, and lots of additional fun linked activities including a quick dictionary definition exercise, a short youtube clip, book exercises (written tasks), paired talk activities, 11 worksheets. Christmas traditions covered are: Tree, decorating the tree and the home, presents, crackers, cards, dinner, entertainment and games. Learning objectives • To know the origins of Christmas traditions in the United Kingdom. • To compare Christmas traditions today with Victorian Christmas traditions. • To express opinions and views about Victorian Christmas and compare what it was like for rich people and poor people. • To work co-operatively with a partner or small group to discuss answers and ideas about Christmas traditions. Worksheet 1: Matching task. Victorian and present-day Christmas tree decorations. Worksheet 2: Venn diagram – rich and poor Victorian Christmas. Book activity: Label the evergreen decorations. Worksheet 3: Write a message / joke for a cracker. Worksheet 4. Follow Instructions. How to make a Christmas cracker. Book activities: Christmas cards. Worksheets 5,6,7: 3 blank templates with a Victorian border for Christmas card designs. Worksheet 8: Work out the Figgy Pudding recipe used by the Victorians but written in old English. Worksheet 9: Blank plate templates for a Victorian and present-day Christmas dinner. Worksheet 10: 6 Victorian Parlour games on cards. Worksheet 11: Victorian traditions blank writing summary for each tradition. Each slide includes pictures which illustrate the key learning points. Useful alongside lessons or topics on Christmas, celebrations, Winter, entertainment, Victorians.

Harvest Assembly and supporting powerpoint. This assembly is complete but can be mixed or edited according to time limitations or pupil numbers/abilities. There are sufficient parts for 2 classes of KS2 pupils or pupils reading and taking acting/ speaking roles. The Assembly begins with a short introduction and information about harvest traditions and moves onto crops and grains harvested with a harvest Alphabet. The powerpoint has images which support the pupil text if you wish to use it. There are suggestions for well known songs and hymns at key points in the assembly. There is a prayer of thanks in the form of a poem which leads onto thanks to the parents/carers for their harvest donations. A short play depicts the theme of sharing with those who need it and moves onto supporting our planet and the climate issues it faces. (a summary of props is included on the playscript). The assembly ends with a ‘Happy Harvest’ where pupils can show their paintings or pictures as they read out short captions. My class made bread and we inserted pictures of the baking process (including the sticky hands and floury faces!) into the powerpoint. Also, the small recorder group played a short song and we took their photos and inserted them into the powerpoint. The children’s scripts were numbered so they sat in order of speaking (and moved if they had more than one part) and their script cards (their words) were mounted on Autumn pictures or collages made by the children and held up for the audience to see after speaking. I hope you enjoy this assembly and have fun with your children.

Vincent Van Gogh complete Art lesson for Primary pupils. Learning objectives To learn about the work of the artist Vincent Van Gogh. To look at shapes, colour and lines in Van Gogh’s artwork and talk about what they might represent. To understand how to create movement in a picture by using lines and thickness of paint. To try out Van Gogh’s techniques in my own artwork. To create my own still life composition using shape, colour and lines and evaluate my work. The lesson includes brief information about Van Gogh’s life and how he painted using examples of his paintings. There are opportunities for pupils to work in paired tasks to discuss Van Gogh’s painting techniques and use of pattern and shapes in his paintings to create depth, texture and movement. Art tasks include: Creating pattern using 3 of Van Gogh’s examples (worksheet), using pattern techniques on a blank outline of a tree to create movement (worksheet), warm and cold colours and colour wheel worksheet. There is also an opportunity for the class to use a range of materials (pastels, chalk, paint, crayon) to create their own still life piece inspired by ‘Sunflowers’ with an evaluation sheet for their finished masterpiece! This lesson can be edited and used as suitable for your class and time or space constraints. Can be a stand-alone lesson or linked to topics such as Colour, Famous people/Artists, Art, Famous paintings, Feelings and Emotions.

Earth Day KS1 and KS2 Assembly. A simply written whole school assembly to cover the main aspects of Earth Day which can be used in the days preceding or on 22nd April. A short video link (on last slide) can be easily slotted into the assembly if you chose. Power-point of 24 slides which include: Suggested music, video clip and hymns. Date of Earth Day (22nd April). How Earth Day began and the UN choice of Earth Day as the signing of the Paris Agreement. The issues of waste pollution and the impact on the planet. Earth Day projects and the importance of trees. Fossil fuels and the impact of global warming. What can we do? Some suggestions. An Eco champion – Greta Thunberg. ‘A poem for climate change’ (Can be read aloud) and a link to the ‘paper’ animated version (BBC). Final prayer. Optional video clip of David Attenborough ‘BBC Planet Earth celebration’. Links well with topics on environmental issues, climate change, global warming, people who make a difference, current world climate issues.

Florence Nightingale KS1 complete lesson(s) pp of 49 slides and worksheets. Slides 2-6 begin with a 3-clue riddle for the pupils to solve; Slides 7-8 are learning objectives and a class poll; 9-15 focus on hospitals; 15-37 focus on Florence’s life with supporting worksheets and opportunities for paired talk. Slide 38 - a link to Youtube showing the children how to make a lantern; Slide 39 - a link to a clip about Florence’s life (13 mins);40-46 Hygiene and hand washing and a leaflet activity; 47-49 Florence’s life and a fact sheet for pupil use. Can be used as a one-off lesson or developed into 2-3 lessons using all of the worksheets and activities. Useful to link to topics on ‘Keeping healthy’, ‘People who help us’, ‘Famous people’, ‘Victorians’. Learning objectives To recognise a photograph of Florence Nightingale and explain her job. To describe what hospitals were like during the Crimea War before Florence Nightingale’s visit. To explain the changes Florence made to hospitals and caring for the soldiers. To explain how Florence’s work in the Crimea has changed how nurses work today.

KS1 A fun Pirate themed powerpoint lesson. Secret Agent Academy is a lesson (s) set in a ‘real’ stolen goods context where pupils are ‘trained’ for a special mission to catch a pirate villain. They create Agent Code Names and numbers, work as part of an Agent Cell, and take an oath of secrecy. Their mission consists of 4 main tasks which include cracking reverse alphabet and number codes, Maths number problem solving challenges and a geography map/flag challenge. Slides 2-9 include a simple introduction to ‘what is a code?’ followed by a chance to practise cracking simple words using a reverse alphabet code before pupils enter the Secret Agent Academy. Slides 10-16 focus on creating their own secret agent cell (decided by equivalent numbers maths task), creating code names, handshakes and taking the Agent’s promise etc Learning Objectives Solve an important mission for the Prime Minister by: • Using number, reasoning and geographical skills to resolve a ‘real life’ situation. • Deciphering messages using simple codes. • Working out problems and puzzles to track and catch a pirate! Slides 17-20 setting out the mission. Slides 21-24 Mission 1: Crack a number coded message. Slides 25-30 Information about Edward Teach/Blackbeard in preparation for Mission 2. Slide 31 Label the pirate ship worksheet. Pupil template and answers provided. Slide 32 Mission 2: Create a Wanted Poster (template provided) Slide 33-38 Mission 3: Island geography of the Caribbean Islands. Pupil worksheets provided. Slides 39-43: Identifying the Blackbeard’s hideout from the clues covered. Worksheet and answers provided. Slides 44- 51: Solving number puzzles to track Bluebeard through underground caves. Pupil worksheet and answers provided. Slides 52 A message from the King for returning the treasure. There is a template for pupils to use at the end of each mission to record their Agent cell report plus spare code grids in case the children catch the code bug and want to make up their own coded messages!

The Moon. KS2 power-point of 41 slides. This power-point can be used as a complete stand-alone lesson or as an additional spin off to related topics which encourage the pupils to think about the Moon and how it affects Earth. I have kept the information simple with a mix of slides and activities including short youtube clips, NASA clips, paired talk activities, homework moon observation (diary activity) and a challenge to make a quiz about the information learned. Each slide includes pictures which illustrate the key learning points. There are worksheets which support the power-point including: A Moon description activity, Word Mat, Lunar sequencing, Phases of the Moon factsheet, Phases of the Moon sorting cards (make 2 sets and play ‘pairs’ or ‘snap’, a high tide and low tide worksheet, how the Moon causes tides worksheet, Moon Diary template. Useful alongside lessons or topics on Space, Sun and Planets, Space travel, The Sky. Learning objectives • To understand the relationship between the Moon and the Earth. • To recognise and explain the ‘Phases of the Moon’. • To use key scientific vocabulary about the Moon in descriptions and explanations for example: satellite eclipse phases rotation axis orbit • To know that gravity from the Moon and Sun has an effect on Earth.

India today: Series of 6 KS2 power-point Geography lessons. Each lesson is broken into short focused activities. There are opportunities for pupils to recall prior learning, participate in a short quiz, take notes from a YouTube clip, scrutinise and compare population graphs and weather tables (included on slides), research native animals and use maps and atlases to locate India’s key cities and geographical features. Each set of slides contain images to help pupils ‘get a feel’ for the geography of India as well as simple cultural information such as a greeting in Indian (Hindi) at the beginning and end of lessons. Great to link with cross curricular topics such as ‘India’, ‘Rainforests’, ‘Weather’, ‘Ghandi’ etc. Lesson 1 Learning Objectives I must find India in my atlas. I should recognise some of the features of India. I could describe where India is in the world using geographical words. Lesson 2 Learning objectives I must be able to spot the main features of India. I should find and label the features on my map. I could write a description about two features. Lesson 3 Learning Objectives I must describe a tropical climate. I should explain the temperature in different locations. I could interpret the climate data and temperature chart for each month. Lesson 4 Learning objectives: I must explain the definition of the term ‘population’. I should interpret the population table and identify the challenges for living in India. I could compare population graphs for Indian cities and explain population issues. Lesson 5 Learning Objectives I must explain the definition of the term ‘population’, ‘tropical climate’ and ‘weather’. I must order the ten most populated cities in India. I should explain how the location of Indian cities affects population size. I could explain how the weather and climate support the life of the Indian people. Lesson 6 Learning Objectives I must identify some features of natural beauty in India. I should identify and research some of the areas of natural beauty which come from India. OR I should identify and research some of the animal, fish and birds which come from India.

Local study Traffic problems set of 4 worksheets. KS2. Worksheet 1: Pupil traffic survey for pupils to investigate traffic flow on a street nearest to their school (morning, lunchtime, afternoon). The worksheet is simple to use with pictures for easy completion. Pupils count using a tally. Great for small group with an adult. I used this and gave a different group of 6 the task on a specific day of the week. All pupils had a chance to carry out the survey. By the end of the week, we had a picture of the road traffic problems over the course of a week at three different times of the day. Was great for comparison work. Worksheet 2: A set of follow up questions stemming from the survey plus 4 questions asking pupils their opinions about the road after the survey eg how safe do you feel riding a bike on this road? Worksheet 3: Problems caused by traffic through a picture/phrase matching task. Worksheet 4: Improving traffic issues by using road signs in town centres. Links well with work on Cities, Transport, Local Study.

The Solar System. KS2 power-point of 31 slides (including worksheets). This power-point can be used as a complete stand-alone lesson or as an additional spin off to related topics which encourage the pupils to think about the Solar System and the planets. I have kept the information simple with a mix of slides and activities including a short youtube clip, paired talk activities, 7 worksheets. Learning objectives • To know that the sun is the centre of the solar system. • To know some interesting facts about the sun. • To name the eight planets which orbit the sun. • To organise the planets in order of closeness to the sun. • To know the names of other cosmic bodies in the solar system. Worksheet 1: Facts about the Sun. Worksheet 2: Ordering the planets mnemonic. Worksheet 3: Ordering the planets cut and stick activity. Worksheet 4: Labelling the planets. Worksheet 5: Cosmic objects in the Solar System. Resource 6: Planets fact cards. Worksheet 7: Planets research activity grid. Each slide includes pictures which illustrate the key learning points. Useful alongside lessons or topics on sun safety, summer, space and planets etc.

Africa today: Series of 6 KS2 power-point Geography lessons. Each lesson is broken into short focused activities. There are opportunities for pupils to recall prior learning, participate in a short quiz, take notes from a YouTube clip, scrutinise and compare population graphs and weather charts (included on slides), research native animals and use maps and atlases to locate Africa’s countries and geographical features. Each set of slides contain images to help pupils ‘get a feel’ for the geography of Africa as well as simple information such as greetings flags of countries in the different regions at the beginning of lessons. Great to link with cross curricular topics such as Continents, Deserts, Weather, Animals, Tourism etc. Lesson 1 There are 4 supporting pupil worksheets with this lesson. Learning Objectives I must find Africa in my atlas. I should recognise some of the countries and features of Africa. I could describe where Africa is in the world using geographical words Lesson 2 Two supporting worksheets and a short class warm up quiz. Learning objectives I can explain the 5 main areas of Africa. I should find and label some of the countries from each region on my map. I can shade a map showing the features of Africa. Lesson 3 There are 2 supporting pupil worksheets with this lesson. Learning Objectives To identify the different climate zones in Africa. To describe and explain the climate found in each zone. To explain the temperature in different locations. To interpret a climate data and temperature chart. Lesson 4 : 1 pupil worksheet and mapwork Learning objectives: I must explain the definition of the term ‘population’. I should interpret the population table and identify the challenges for living in Egypt. I could compare population graphs for Egyptian cities and explain population issues. Lesson 5: 1 pupil worksheet and discussion activities. Learning Objectives I must explain the definition of the term ‘population’, ‘desert climate’ and ‘weather’. I should explain how the geography of Africa determines where people settle. I must be able to say how Africa’s natural resources helps people make a living. I should explain how tourism supports the African people. I could name important African exports. Lesson 6 Learning Objectives One pupil worksheet. Research task with grid and quiz task. I must identify some features of natural beauty in Africa. I should identify and research some of the areas of natural beauty which come from Africa. OR I should identify and research some of the animal, fish and birds which come from Africa.

Close up picture quiz. Set of 20. Have fun identifying close up and cropped pictures of everyday objects, food and creatures which will challenge visual perception and creativity. Suitable for KS1 and KS2 as an individual, paired or group activity or competition. Do your pupils have an eagle eye?

A set of four creepy pictures for pupils to describe using spooky vocabulary and phrases. Useful for writing a single descriptive paragraph rather than a whole story. Great to link to topics on ‘Halloween’, Night and Day, Darkness, Sci-Fi etc

KS1/KS2 Matching pairs character cards. Set of 48 cards (24 pairs) for pupils. Useful for matching and pairing games, stimulating language and for book quizzes. Cut each picture, laminate or cover and pupils can use the cards more than once. Alternatively, the images can be used for pupils to use as part of a glue/stick activity. Images include the names of paired characters from books and movies for example: Pumba and Timon, Romeo and Juliet, Peter Pan and Wendy, Dr Who and the Daleks.

EYFS /KS1 Christmas Snap matching cards. Set of 20 simple picture cards (10 pairs) for younger pupils. Useful for matching games, stimulating Christmas vocabulary and for memory games (eg Kim’s game/Snap). Cut each picture, laminate or cover and pupils can use the cards more than once. Alternatively, the images can be used for pupils to use as part of a glue/stick activity. Images include simple everyday items and objects associated with Christmas for example: Santa, christmas tree, holly, snowflake etc.