KS1/Y3 Powerpoint lesson (s) of 65 slides on the topic ‘Norman castles.’ Learning Objectives: • To recognise and name the features of castles. • To explain who William of Normandy was, where he came from and what he was famous for doing. • To compare the similarities and differences between motte and bailey and stone built castles. • To explain how the first castles were made. • To give reasons why castles were built in specific places and in specific ways. • To recap the features of a castle using the correct historical words. • To know that castles were gifts or rewards in Norman times. • To make a non-fiction booklet about castles. The slides are easy to follow and devised to encourage partner/trio discussion and collaboration through key questioning and small group activities. The slides can be divided easily into four separate lessons (following the learning objectives) or interchanged depending on how quickly or in depth you want to take over each aspect of this topic. Slides 1-5 use pupil knowledge as a starting point assessment through a ‘what am I?’ activity. Slides 6-13 focus on features of castles. Slides 14-22 focus on William the Conqueror and include a paired map activity using atlases. Slides 23-36 look at early motte and bailey castles and include a short clip from Youtube. Included is a simple DT planning sheet for pupils to design then build a motte and bailey castle and a separate comparison worksheet. Slides 37-45 focus on castle defences and include a labelling worksheet and an ‘attack and defence’ activity. Slides 46-48 encourage pupils to consider the purposes of castles in war and peace time. Slides 49-59 can be used as a castle features class quiz or a paired assessment. Slides 59- 63 look at famous castles belonging to Normans. Slide 64 is a non-fiction template for pupils to use to make notes about their knowledge of Norman castles. The final slide offers a suggestion for making a ‘castle’ booklet.

Halloween complete KS2 pp lesson of 57 slides. Learning objectives • To know the origins of Halloween. • To compare long ago Halloween customs, superstitions and rituals with those celebrated today. • To create and perform spells and spine-chilling descriptions about Halloween. • To work co-operatively with a partner or small group to discuss answers and ideas about Halloween and create a short role play. Fun, interactive lesson which begins with pupil experiences of Halloween. Simple historical origins, customs and superstitions are introduced through riddles, mapwork, completing captions in speech bubbles, role play and idea showers. There are opportunities for pupils to complete structured written tasks and develop literacy ideas through writing spells (using ‘the witches’ from MacBeth) and short descriptions. The lesson includes nine pupil worksheet activities which link (optional) to the lesson and include a creepy picture description, Haunted house spine chilling vocabulary, witch / monster descriptive template, Halloween activity mat (jumbled words, wordsearch, maze, pumpkin decorating, draw the other half), a spell template, co-ordinates activity, Pumpkin acrostic poem template and a 32 card Halloween Quiz. This lesson can also be broken into 2-3 lessons if all of the templates are used.

How to write a biography. Upper KS2. Set of five complete lessons with all worksheets and pupil resources. Includes a Biography checklist, sample biographies about Queen Victoria and Nelson Mandela, a blank biography spider-gram, blank planning templates (scaffolded) and a fact sheet about Mary Anning. The series of lessons include opportunities for pupils to give peer feedback and analyse two sample biographies. I have used these with Y5 and Y6 and have also extended the unit to include famous people which the children asked for or who we were covering in topic work eg Louis Pasteur, famous explorers/sports achievers. Learning objectives. Lesson 1 • To explain what a ‘biography’ is in my own words. • To name people who have had a biography written about them. • To list the features of a biography. • To identify the features in a short biography of a famous person. Lesson 2 • To explain what a ‘biography’ is in my own words. • To recall the features of a biography. • To plan then write a biography about someone in my family and use the checklist to include the main features. • To give helpful feedback to my partner. Lesson 3 • To read a biography about Nelson Mandela. • To use the Biography Checklist and identify whether the main features have been included in the biography about Nelson Mandela. • To identify areas where the biography could be improved. Lesson 4 • To choose a famous person for a biography. • To plan your ideas on a writing frame and listen to the feedback about the features from your partner. • To write an interesting biography which includes all of the main features. Lesson 5 • To use the factsheet about Mary Anning, taking out information which would be interesting in a biography. • To write an interesting biography about Mary Anning which includes all of the main features of a biography.

Guy Fawkes 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.

Bonfire night and the Gunpowder Plot Y2 & KS2 power-point lesson of 39 slides. The power-point can be divided into separate sections depending on how you want to follow up some of the aspects/features depending on your class. Each set of slides includes paired discussion or individual/ paired written follow up tasks or worksheets. There are a range of strategies to keep the content interesting and interactive. Slides 1-5 introduce the topic with a 3-clue riddle, slides 6&7 focus on a sentence starter activity and worksheet about Bonfire Night. Slides 9&10 focus on names of fireworks and a youtube clip. Slides 11-14 introduce Guy Fawkes followed by a worksheet with a simple maths calculation to work out the age of GF when he died and a geography map activity to label his birthplace. Slides 15-17: ‘Remember, remember’ rhyme and dictionary activity. Slides 18-31 focus on the story of the Gunpowder Plot plus 2 worksheet activities (identify the plotters from a source and give advice to GF about the ‘weaknesses’ of his plot. Slide 32: Speech bubbles conversation worksheet. Slide 33-35: Guy Fawkes punishment and a ‘was it fair?’ written task. Slides 36-39: A brief introduction to Onomatopoeia and a firework scene task.

William Shakespeare Famous person fact sheet. Includes key events and important stages in his life, broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos. I have used this with pupils in Years 3-6 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.

KS1 & 2 Power-point lesson which can be used as a single lesson or as a stimulus for cross curricular work. 22 slides presented in simple text focusing on Valentine’s Day traditions, historical information and traditions. The lesson encourages pupils to work with a partner or small group of three to discuss and explain questions about the images and information presented on the slides. Slides include brief information on Cupid, Venus, St.Valentine, Tudor traditions and Valentine symbols. Pupils are encouraged to record their responses on a shared paper.

‘Romeo and Juliet’ fact sheet. Page 1 Includes key events and important stages in the play broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and images. Page 2 Includes interesting facts about the text, well known quotes and character information. I have used this with pupils in Years 3-6 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about a text 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.

Tim Peake: Famous person fact sheet. Includes key events and important stages in the life of the British astronaut, 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.

Crime and Punishment ‘Witch Trial’ resource pack. The pack is based around a fictional short story set in 1649 and based on true events. A ‘Witch-Picker’ travels from Edinburgh to the North of England carrying out witch trials which resulted in the execution of over 100 people. The story includes a historical context and notes. I wrote the story myself after being unable to find resources which helped pupils understand the concepts, beliefs, fear and motivation surrounding the persecution of individuals as witches in the 17th century rather than focus on the gore and horror of punishment. The resource pack includes: • Short story and historical notes. • Historical information power-point about witches in the 17th and 18th centuries. Seven pupil resources: • Pupil worksheet to summarise the historical context of the story. • Glossary Activity • Glossary cards • Courtroom drama activity and resources for pupils. • Pupil activity about how the witch picker was so powerful. • Pupil activity – Thought Pyramid and questions for small group discussion (6 sets). • Pupil activity – match the crime to the punishment.

Groovy Grammar KS2 starters. Simply click a button on the first page of the power-point and get a starter! 169 starters aimed at KS2 pupils, each slide contains a grammar point for pupils to practise through a range of strategies including talk partners, mime, games eg ‘I spy’, ‘Kim’s game’, ‘And/But game’, Charades, Performing Punctuation and Ready! Steady! Teach! As well as practise sentences, cartoons, rewriting sentences, word substitution etc. Grammar includes: recognising and using nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Prefixes and Suffixes, determiners, pronouns, conjunctions, alliteration, vocabulary extension, expressions and their meanings, eponyms, changing the ‘mood’ of a sentence , apostrophe ‘s’, word order swaps, commas, speech marks personification etc. I have used this as a start of the day activity as revision or sometimes as a lesson starter depending on the focus. The children love to choose the starter so I have a rota!

England today: Series of 5 KS1 power-point Geography lessons. Each lesson is broken into short focused activities. There are opportunities for pupils to recall prior learning, watch a BBC clip, scrutinise and compare population graphs and weather charts (included on slides), use maps and atlases to locate England’s within the UK and identify geographical features. Each set of slides contain images to help pupils ‘get a feel’ for the geography of England. Great to link with cross curricular topic such as Maps and Plans, United Kingdom, Seaside, All about me, Local Study. Lesson 1 Learning objectives To find England in an atlas. To recognise the key features of England. To describe the location of England using geographical vocabulary. Tasks: Atlas and globes needed, country matching activity. Lesson 2 Learning objectives To recognise the main geographical (physical) features of England. To find and label the physical features of England on a map. To describe the physical features of England using geographical vocabulary. Tasks: Atlas work, label a map, self-evaluation task. Lesson 3 Learning Objectives To identify the different settlements in England. To describe the characteristics of different English settlements. Task: Dictionary definition, ordering settlements, worksheet. Lesson 4 Learning objectives: To identify the physical features of seaside areas in England and say whether they are natural or human. To describe the characteristics of different English seaside places. Task: Identifying seaside features. 2 worksheets. Lesson 5 Learning Objectives To know the capital city of England. To explain what a capital city is. To identify the physical features of cities in England and say whether they are natural or human. Tasks: comparing features of different places. Worksheet.

Year 6 Arithmetic Practise Paper. This resource is a full arithmetic practise paper based upon the actual 2022 SATs paper. It consists of 36 questions covering the full range of questions that would be expected on a SATs test paper. I have used a similar layout to ensure the children get used to the format. Useful to assess which children struggle with particular types of questions and their application to enable some extra input before the actual test day. The answers are included on the last page of the paper.

India fact sheet. Includes locational information and geographical features 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 country in a range of genres (newspaper report, non-fiction report, weather report or information text etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the country followed up with a written comprehension exercise. In geography lessons I have used this factsheet with a small group and asked the pupils to compare the physical and geographical features of India with the UK.

Edward Teach – Captain Blackbeard. 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. Linked topics: Pirates, Famous people, Ships and the Sea.

Anne Bonny and Mary Read – Female pirates. 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. Linked topics: Pirates, Famous people, Ships and the Sea.

Geographical features cards. Set of 60 cards depicting a physical geographical feature (natural and human) and a beautiful photographic image. The cards can be used to encourage recognition of the features. Pupils can use them as a sorting exercise or as a paired or group ‘guessing game’. Can be placed in the class library area or the ‘Early Finisher’ box/tray. A double set of cards (laminated) can offer pupils opportunities for fun games such as Snap and Pairs. I have used these to help pupils develop work on features eg: writing a factual or descriptive piece about a feature or set of features or a researched paragraph about current issues relating to a geographical feature eg: coastal erosion on Norfolk coastline, how the Grand Canyon was formed. Can be used by Y2 -Y6 upwards. Useful for topics on Geography, Climate and Weather, Coastal erosion, UK etc.

Weather photograph pack. Set of 50+ beautiful colour photos on a power-point slide presentation. Includes extreme weather (storms, hurricanes, heatwave etc). I have included a slide of weather symbols and a worksheet of weather symbols for pupil use (eg for a weather chart or observation and recording).Slides 58-67 are photographs of weather instruments. Can be used for inspiring the start of a topic on weather or as a stimulus for speech and language development, creative writing and poetry.

‘Nouns’ games. 36 quick starter activities to introduce or revise the use of nouns. Pupils can use the grid to choose a coloured shape which takes them to a linked starter. Activities include: memory games, alphabet lists, labelling, alliteration, cascades etc to help pupils understand common, proper, singular, plural, compound nouns. Can be used with or without an adult depending on whether you want to complete a class or filler task. The activities are varies and include talk partners and written exercises which require paper, pencils, post its, a beanbag (for pupils to throw and catch). The grids/tables on the slides can be printed for pupil use. I prepared all of the slide grids that I wanted to use in advance and put them in a numbered folder so they would be ready when the pupils chose the slide.