This file contains three differentiated versions of a simple research task which I created as homework for my Year 3 class to kick off our new topic about natural disasters. The task is to find out about the main types of natural disasters and what they are. *Less able pupils have to match the types of disaster to simple descriptions. *The second version has some descriptions to match to the disasters, but some are missing and they have to write their own and then match them up. *More able pupils have to research the types of natural disasters and write their own short descriptions of each one, so they will have to do a bit more research in addition to more writing.

I created these tasks for my mixed ability Year 3 class, but they would be suitable to use with younger or older pupils too. As part of our human body topic, I wanted them to do some research about organs, and set this for homework, although it could of course be done in class too if you have non-fiction books/iPads/laptops available to use for research. There are three differentiated tasks (all saved in one file): 'Less able' - Matching task where pupils have to research the appearance of the main organs so they can match images of them to the correct names. 'Middle group' - Research the main organs, and write a brief description of what each one does. 'More able' - Choose one of the main organs, research it and complete a fact sheet about it, describing its size, position, function and drawing a labelled picture of it.

This is a sunflower growing diary I created for a Year 1 class, but it would also suit Year 2 pupils. My class planted sunflowers in pots in school, which they then took home, along with the diary booklets. They completed one page each week, drawing, measuring and describing the changes in their sunflower each weekend for their homework over a half term, before returning the booklets and sunflowers to school during the last week of term.

A variety of worksheets based on different fairy tales, such as 'The 3 little pigs', 'Cinderella' and 'Frozen'. Several literacy tasks including analysing characters from the stories, and writing a spell for the Fairy Godmother. Also included are a couple of worksheets for simple science experiments - one is a materials investigation based on 'The 3 little pigs' and the other is the 'Frozen Ice Bunnies' experiment, where we used rabbit-shaped sand moulds to create 'ice bunnies', which were assigned to 'Frozen' characters and placed in different places around the classroom on paper towels, then we measured how much they melted over time by measuring the patches of water on the paper towels.

Fact file worksheet for Year 3/4. My class used a combination of non-fiction books and internet research to find the necessary information to complete the sheet, which they then used as a plan to write their own non-chronological report, create a powerpoint presentation and finally a green screen video presentation about their chosen woodland animal.

Worksheet where pupils have to divide popular meals into their food groups (e.g. spaghetti bolognese -> spaghetti (carbohydrates) beef (meat/protein) tomato (fruit&veg). I used this with my Year 3 class as part of a healthy eating topic, after studying the well-known "healthy plate" diagram showing the proportion of food groups we should eat. There is also a follow-up homework task, where pupils use the meals they eat over the weekend to complete the food groups task. Also included is a simple research task, finding out which fruit and vegetables are usually grown in the UK, and which countries are the main producers of others, with a couple of additional data handling-type questions at the end. My class completed it using the internet, although this could also be done as a homework task, with pupils researching fruit and vegetables at the supermarket.

I created this database in Excel, using actual data from the McDonalds nutritional information, and then created the questions to challenge my Year 3 class to search the database (using the filter and sort tools - just click on the arrows at the top of each field) to find the answers. You could either print the questions or let pupils type into the word version and save a copy. My class had never done databases, and I found it was a good way to introduce them to it. I simplified the information down a bit, so the database contains the menu items, fat and sugar content, calories and whether each item contains egg, milk or gluten (for allergies). I chose the McDonalds information, as we are doing a topic based on food at the moment, but this would work just as well as a standalone database lesson.

Three differentiated worksheets, suitable for Year 1 & 2 pupils. 1 - Storyboard sheet with pictures and lines underneath for able writers to write each part of the story. 2 - Storyboard sheet with pictures and parts of the story with gaps for pupils to fill in. 3 - Complete storyboard in the wrong order for less able pupils to cut out and sequence.