Hi! I am a teacher with over 20 years' experience at Primary level. I try to make my resources as challenging as possible with a slice of fun, while cramming in as much detail as possible into the guided reading / writing activities, plays, worksheets and comprehension exercises that I produce. I also create and publish a range of free worksheets and resources, which now account for over 40% of my published resources. Any feedback and suggestions welcome!
Hi! I am a teacher with over 20 years' experience at Primary level. I try to make my resources as challenging as possible with a slice of fun, while cramming in as much detail as possible into the guided reading / writing activities, plays, worksheets and comprehension exercises that I produce. I also create and publish a range of free worksheets and resources, which now account for over 40% of my published resources. Any feedback and suggestions welcome!
I have created a chapter - by - chapter set of comprehension exercises with linked SPAG activities and additional writing tasks. There are 12 comprehension / SPAG worksheets and 5 corresponding writing tasks
Each comprehension activity has a variety of different questions, with 20 marks available (allowing for a % score to be made!). I have designed questions which allow success for less able children but with challenging, higher order questions for above average pupils. Harder questions are signified by being awarded extra marks (up to 3 marks as in the SATs and key stage tests). Each reading task has a learning objective in line with Year 5/6 National Curriculum objectives and requires the reading of one full chapter or part of a chapter of the Firework - Maker’s Daughter.
The worksheets are all A4 size, written in Word, and there are various ways to use the activity sheets, including:
As part of a shared reading session, with the pupils completing the written tasks after discussion and analysis of the text as a class or group.
As independent written tasks for the rest of the class, while the teacher is reading with a smaller group.
As an additional, ready-made resource to support the study of The Firework-Maker’s Daughter as a Unit of Work / class book.
As a stand-alone, independent reading activity / assessment.
As a useful teacher prompt/ discussion leader when doing a guided read.
Alongside the comprehension task, each worksheet has a SPAG challenge based on the Year 5 and 6 English frameworks - for example: dictionary activities, synonyms, etc. These could be the focus of the lesson, serve as an extension task or be used as a stand alone / separate activity.
As all worksheets are created on Microsoft Word they can be easily adapted to suit your needs. For example, in the past I have shrank the set questions to half-page size and photocopied them to stick in pupils’ books, ready for independent work. You could also add your own questions, objectives etc.
This is a fun activity where the children will use the string telephones they have made to investigate how sound travels through solids. The main activity is best suited to be done outdoors, in pairs or threes. The children are firstly encouraged to make predictions on whether sound can travel through a number of solids and liquids. This part of the lesson can be done by teacher demonstration while the children discuss and predict what will happen. This leads to a practical investigation to find out how, (and if ), a string telephone works!
Encourages prediction, discussion and observation skills
I have created the first 3 parts to an original myth based on traditional Greek myths, which can be used to teach pupils how to develop their own myth.
Lesson 1 - Creating the setting.
Lesson 2 - Introducing the villain and setting out the problem.
Lesson 3 - Introducing the hero and creating tension in the story.
I have used this exemplar to teach children to write their own ‘myth’ over the course of a week, in stages, with time allowed for editing and improving. I have included the main features of a Greek myth, such as the use of magic, fantastic, hybrid creatures, and the Good vs Bad scenario.
In the course of a lesson, these features will be emphasised as the teacher writes alongside the pupils, discussing the language and why it has been chosen. Characters will be developed with detailed descriptions and the plot will be discussed and used as a model for pupils’ own myths.
I have not written the last parts of the story as this is where I would put the children fully in charge of the story - it is amazing the ideas they will devise for the hero to vanquish the evil villain Voltar and his terrifying creature, the Scorpidon!
As the story is in Word, it can be adapted an lots of ways and also used to develop spelling, punctuation, cloze procedure and grammar activies. I have also included some Greek island images for use in pupils’ books, and an A4 feature list for myths. Enjoy!
There are 4 plays for use with Upper Key Stage Two:
Palm Sunday - 4 speaking parts
Palm Sunday - 7 speaking parts
Good Friday - 13 speaking parts
Peter’s Denial - 8 speaking parts
The plays can be used in guided reading sessions, as part of drama and R.E. lessons or even as class assemblies.
The two Palm Sunday plays are similar, with one being longer and having more speaking parts. They both use the modern day concept of ‘Live News’ reporting for dramatic effect.
Peter’s Denial and Good Friday could be acted out in small groups or read as a class.
There are 17 questions, based on chapter one of Matilda, on two sides of A4.
The questions are written in SATs format and offer 1, 2 or 3 marks.
Altogether, 25 marks are available, meaning pupils can work out their percentage score at the end.
Answer sheet included.
Could be used as an independent task, homework or for SATs revision.
There is also an A4 spelling worksheet with 3 tasks for independent work.
This is a literacy pack containing chapter- by - chapter activities for the first five chapters of the book Matilda by Roald Dahl. For each of the five chapters there is a comprehension / guided reading activity and a SPaG activity, plus several additional vocabulary and writing tasks.
Each A4 comprehension worksheet has a variety of questions worth 20 marks and could be used as an independent task, as part of a guided reading session, reading assessment or whole class teaching.
Each SPaG worksheet is double A4 - sized, with space for pupils’ answers. It could be used as part of SATs practice as I have styled the questions in a similar vein. Similarly, pupils could do the worksheet as an independent task or as part of whole class revision for the SATs. There are 25 marks available - which again allows pupils to find their percentage score! At the end of the formal questions there is an extension spelling task on each sheet.
There are two extra Vocabulary and spelling activities included for chapter one, plus a writing task. I have also included a landscape - version of the comprehension task with space on the worksheet for the pupils’ answers.
All activities are created in Word so can be edited to your own designs.
Answer sheets are included!
A chapter - by - chapter (12 chapters in all) set of comprehension exercises with linked Spelling and Grammar activities. Each comprehension activity has at least 10 questions, which I have designed to allow success for less able children but with challenging, higher order questions for above average pupils. Harder questions are signified by being awarded extra marks (up to 3 marks for a tricky question). Each reading task has a learning objective in and requires the reading of one full chapter of the Sheep-Pig. The worksheets are all A4 size and there are various ways to use the activity sheets, including:
As part of a shared reading session, with the pupils completing the written tasks after discussion and analysis of the text as a class or group.
As independent written tasks for the rest of the class, while the teacher is reading with a smaller group.
As an additional, ready-made resource to support the study of The Sheep - Pig as a Unit of Work / class book.
As a stand-alone, independent reading activity / assessment.
As a useful teacher prompt/ discussion leader when doing a guided read.
Alongside the comprehension task, each worksheet has a Spelling or Grammar challenge - for example: fronted adverbials, dictionary activities, word classes, etc. These could be the focus of the lesson, serve as an extension task or be used as a stand alone / separate activity. All worksheets are created on Microsoft Word so can be easily adapted to suit your needs. For example, in the past I have shrank the 10 set questions to half-page size and photocopied them to stick in pupils’ books, ready for independent work. You could also add your own questions, objectives etc.
Several literacy schemes are asking Year 6 teachers to use The Piano animation (readily available on YouTube) as a resource to teach ‘flashback’ writing.
This is a writing example which could be used to stimulate discussion and help pupils to grasp how they can write a flashback scene.
I wrote it in collaboration with a Y6 class I taught and it took a week to do - and is unfinished as I asked the children to complete it! There are 5 paragraphs and everything written - the names of the characters, their backstories etc. are all from the class’s imagination.
There are two versions, one with text only, one with illustrations added. Both are created in Microsoft Word so can be easily tailored.
I am also including a planning worksheet for a two week block with the main objective being to write a story with flashbacks.
This is a literacy pack containing chapter- by - chapter activities based on the first seven chapters of the book The Witches by Roald Dahl, plus associated grammar, punctuation, vocabulary and spelling activities. There are ten worksheets in all, comprising:
6 x reading comprehension worksheets (including extension activities)
2 x vocabulary / grammar / punctuation worksheets
2 x spelling worksheets
For each of the seven chapters there is a comprehension / guided reading worksheet which also contains a reading / spelling / writing challenge. (Chapters 6 and 7 are combined as chapter 6 is very short.) There are 25 marks available in each comprehension, allowing pupils to work out their percentage score. The worksheets could be used as part of SATs practice as the questions are set in a similar vein. Similarly, pupils could do the reading comprehension worksheets as independent tasks or as part of whole class revision.
Alternatively, each worksheet could be used as part of a guided reading session, reading assessment or whole class teaching.
Each Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation worksheet is double A4 - sized, with space for pupils’ answers. Pupils could do the worksheet as an independent task or as part of whole class revision for the SATs. There are 25 marks available - which again allows pupils to find their percentage score!
All activities are created in Word so can be edited to your own taste.
Five worksheets about Victorian inventions and inventors for Key Stage Two.
The first worksheet has two activities: firstly, pupils will discuss and link Victorian inventors with their inventions; secondly, there are four questions to discuss and answer. The questions focus on the significance and impact of several inventions.
The worksheet will work best when it follows on from discussion and looking at artifacts or photographs, where pupils will have thought about the relative merits of the inventions and asked whether they are relevant today.
2nd worksheet: Images of Victorian inventions
3rd and 4th worksheets: Comparing Victorian objects with modern
5th worksheet: Welcome to the Victorian Museum activity. For this activity you need to place obscure and interesting Victorian artefacts (or photos of them) on each table of classroom. Pupils go round to each table and try to figure out what each artefact is!
This is a literacy pack based on the first 5 chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
For each chapter, there is a comprehension worksheet containing a range of around 20 questions, based on the text, producing 25 marks in total. The questions are written on one size of A4 and include an extension activity. The worksheets could be used as independent reading tasks, homework activities or as a tool for guided reading groups. Also included with each comprehension task is an A4 answer sheet. Just for for chapter one, there are two comprehension activities, one based on pages 7 - 13 and the next on pages 13 - 18.
The extension activities attached to each comprehension task are listed below:
Chapter one, pages 7 - 13: Dictionary Challenge
Chapter One, pages 13 - 18: Astounding Alliteration
Chapter Two: Compound Words
Chapter Three: Dictionary Challenge
Chapter Four: Spelling Challenge
Chapter Five: Vibrant Verbs
The literacy pack also includes nine writing resources as follows:
Chapter Two - Dear Diary ( Harry’s point of view)
Chapter Two - Writing activity based on Harry and Dudley’s differing viewpoints
Chapter Four - Mysterious character descriptive writing task
Chapter Four - Letter writing task: Hagrid writing to Dumbledore
Chapter Five - Recount based on the visit to the Leaky Cauldron (Harry’s POV)
Chapters 1 to 5 - Book review
Spooky Picture for use in creative writing
Spelling task - ‘soft c’
Awesome Adjectives Wordsearch
A comprehension exercises based on chapter four, with an extension challenge based on spelling / editing.
There are 21 comprehension questions with 25 marks available, allowing for an easy percentage score to be found!
Can be used as guided reading, independent work, whole class teaching, homework or assessment.
Answer sheets included for the comprehension and challenge.
A comprehension exercise based on chapter three, with an extension challenge based on the use of a dictionary.
There are 20 comprehension questions with 25 marks available, allowing for an easy percentage score to be found!
Could be used in independent work, guided reading sessions, whole class teaching, homework or an assessment activity.
Answer sheets included.
This is a bundle of 4 activities based on a 21 page powerpoint presentation and a non fiction text called, ‘Why don’t penguins feel the cold?’ The PP could be used as a starter or discussion activity or as a stand alone activity. The other activities include:
* Cloze procedure - 10 missing words
* Dictionary Challenge
* Cartoon picture - invent a caption
There are also lots of opportunities, within this pack, for pupils to practise their non fiction writing .
This is a unit of work for anyone planning an anti bullying week or anyone teaching anti bullying issues through literacy / drama / PSHE.
It incorporates the excellent book for Upper Key Stage Two, ‘The Angel of Nitshill Road’, in particular using the first two chapters in exploring a range of bullying and peer pressure issues.
Includes:
*Full planning for anti bullying week, with 5 detailed lesson plans.
*Drama activities incorporated into the literacy sessions.
*Anti bullying Posters PP
*Link to further activities for ‘The Angel of Nitshill Road’
*2 comprehension exercises
3 worksheets and a wordsearch to teach about the different food groups / healthy living.
There are questions on the pyramid and a fun activity where the pupils will talk about what sort of foods are represented by cartoon pictures, then list each food under the 5 main food group headings. As a challenge, the pupils then add other foods to the lists to even them up!
Based on two poems from the ‘English Alive’ series of literacy books for Key Stage Two. Contains two detailed lesson plans written in simple language, giving step by step instructions to make your lessons go smoothly (!) - plus scope for follow up lessons in reading and writing poetry.
The lessons teach use of verbs, similes and poem structure in fun activities where pupils write and perform their own poems based on the two poems read. Pupils will play interactive starter games, read and discuss poems and write and perform their own poems based on the models provided. The accent is on fun!!!
Theme: Feelings
Objectives include: 1) Compare and contrast poems on a similar theme.
2) Recognise and begin to use similes.
3) Use rhythm and rhyming couplets
A useful Curriculum Plan and lots of activities / worksheets / PPs / Pics / Posters on the geography of Brazil and the Amazon Rainforest.
List of Resources:
A factfile containing some basic facts about the country
A cloze procedure activity on Brazilian landscapes and the Amazon,
A mindmap task.
A research activity to help learn the basic facts about Brazil - where it is located in the world, population figures etc. This could be used alongside Activity 1 or as a research lesson to use when beginning the topic.
An investigating Brazil worksheet for pupils to use when researching using books and internet sources.
PP on the landscapes of Brazil.
Three posters which can be used as part of a display for your Brazil topic and also for comprehension / reading activities. Each poster is factual, with key geographical words highlighted, and uses illustrations. The three posters are:
Brazilian History People and Culture Wildlife
Two comprehension exercises based on the Amazon rainforest:
These resources focus on exploring rainforests through literacy and give lots of scope for follow up writing activities! They’re also useful in the study of conservation issues.
Comprehension 1 - consists of a detailed A4 sized text on the Amazon rainforest, including conservation issues. The question sheet is designed to stick in the pupils’ books and includes lesson objectives and 2 differentiated dictionary challenges.
Comprehension 2 - an A4 - sized cloze procedure exercise called ‘What is a Rainforest?’
Map of world rainforests with space for written tasks.
Seven pages of rainforest images which are useful for initiating and inspiring a rainforest art project.
Also included are three posters which can be used as part of a display for your Brazil topic and also for comprehension / reading activities. Each poster is factual, with key geographical words highlighted, and uses illustrations. The three posters are:
Brazilian History / People and Culture / Wildlife
A worksheet designed to teach about trickier connectives such as:
However
Therefore
In addition
Consequently
etc . . . to help build cohesion within a paragraph.
After discussion, pupils will redraft a paragraph about keeping fit. A simple but effective resource.
The review worksheet is useful for discussing and reviewing what the children know about the ‘Sound’ topic at the start of teaching the unit.
There are six investigations for the pupils to try! The Investigation sheets are written in simple language to allow pupils to read and follow independently. Sheets could be laminated and allocated to different groups. They can then be tackled as a ‘circuit’ of activities, with groups of 5/6 children spending 20 minutes on each, then circulating.This would represent a full afternoon’s session. Alternatively, 3 activities could be tackled in an hour session, with two sessions required to complete the whole six investigations!
Preparation is the key to the success of these investigations; you will need various materials such as string telephones, balloons, a nailboard, paper straws and glass bottles filled with various amounts of water!
Recording of the investigations should be instant and simple; pupils can expand on their findings in a follow up lesson, where their initial ideas can be discussed and improved.