Four reading comprehension questions focused on setting for any novel, poem or extract.
Use this list of differentiated questions as ideas for lessons, or print and hand out all questions and determine which students should complete.
Use the worksheet version of each question as note-making activities or visual guides.
The four questions explore: gathering evidence for inferring the setting, changes in the setting, details and features of the setting, and evaluating the importance of a setting.
Perfect for literature stations, lit circles, or homework tasks.
Create an interactive decoration for your classroom by asking your students to fill out one of these strips as a record of their reading.
Each strip includes space for the title and author of the book, and the name of the student who finished the book as well as the date they finished it.
Simply add the book loop to the chain or garland and watch your class’s collective book log grow!
Five styles of ‘link’ are provided in this pack: library shelf, comic books, pages, white with color text, and white with black text for printing on colored paper.
14 grammar posters for your English classroom - simple black and white styles which are easy to print on colour paper, or keep it monochrome.
Gen Z slang used on all posters as examples of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and more!
One version features sketch images to accompany the slang, and the other is text-only. 28 posters in all!
This fun descriptive writing task includes everything you need to support your less able students and stretch your gifted ones.
First, students explore ideas for describing a turkey, pumpkin or pumpkin pie as individuals, or in pairs or as a class, using the visual prompts on the first sheet.
Some students might wish to express some of their ideas through color as well as words.
Next, share the differentiated word bank of sensory words to support and stretch your students as needed.
Included are banks for sight, sound, smell and touch - taste is not included, but you could always do this as a separate bank or as another collaboration project. There is also a vocabulary bank for verbs, and space in each section for students to add ideas of their own.
The outcome will be interesting and vivid descriptions of the humble turkey or pumpkin pie. Enjoy!
This Bloom’s Ball template for close character study features two sides for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy - remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create.
Each side has a prompt for character study:
Remember the character’s first appearance
Remember the character’s key details
Understand the character’s choices
Understand the character’s conflict
Apply one of the character’s beliefs to the real world
Apply one of the character’s quotes to an impression you get of them
Analyze the meaning of the character’s name
Analyze the impact of the character on the story
Evaluate how good or bad the character is
Evaluate the character’s future
Create a picture of the character
Create a meal for this character
This editable pack of three activities about Romeo’s use of language in Acts 1.4 and 1.5 of Romeo and Juliet promotes close study of the play.
Assess Romeo’s emotions
Analyze his positive and negative language
Read closely into his use of themes and semantics
Categorize his speech
US and UK document sizes and terminology provided, plus fully editable Google Docs version.
Coach your students through writing an essay on the theme of commitment in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This resource includes two guided practice booklets (one with space for full drafting, and one slimline version with instructions only) and editable versions of all warm-up tasks and worksheets.
Use as a preparation booklet over several lessons, or dip in and out for the tasks you need.
You will need to have watched or read the play prior to or during the use of this booklet, although quotations are provided.
If you found this helpful, you might also like:
Guided Practice | Literature Essay Frame
Romeo and Juliet | Quick Revision Bookmarks | 2 Characters & Play
Romeo and Juliet | The Prologue
Literature Analysis | Sentence Starters | PEEL Structure
Marking and Feedback Stickers | Punctuation and Grammar | 23 Common Errors
Aimed at Secondary level, this resource includes six punctuation mats for general writing support. They come in both colour and black and white PDFs. Best stuck in exercise books or to desks as tools for improving students’ written work.
Each mat covers…
Full stop
Single and paired commas
Omissive and possessive apostrophes
Ellipsis
Semi colon
Paragraphs
Aimed at Primary level, this resource includes six grammar mats for general writing support. There are four fun color versions, one minimalist color and one black and white version.
These work best stuck in exercise books or to desks as tools for improving students’ written work.
Each mat covers…
Capital letters
They’re/There/Their
You’re/Your
To/Too/Two
Here/Hear
Connectives
Improving vocabulary
A fun, imaginative task for secondary level. Students use or find quotations about Calpurnia from the early chapters of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, building a picture through the eyes of Maycombe residents.
Students draw an image of the character, using the quotations, then annotate their drawings to show close attention to detail.
This product includes…
Sheet with 16 quotations provided
Sheet with 16 quotations and space for additional ideas
Sheet with empty spaces for students to find their own quotations
…and each of the three sheets above come with three different centres: blank, gingerbread man outline and realistic outline. That’s nine formats for the same task!
A thoughtful ‘would you rather’ worksheet and PowerPoint for older students with a summer theme. For example, would your students rather spend every day at the beach, or every day in the woods, and why?
Encourage discussion around eight prompt pairs, all focused on summer activities, then students use the ‘why’ section to explain their choice. Check out the video preview for a closer look!
This resource comes in two styles (one color and one black and white), and in both US letter and UK A4 document formats for easy printing, plus accompanying PowerPoint to make it easy for you to use these tasks as individual bell-ringers or exit tickets.
I have also ensured that US and UK spellings are included on the appropriate documents.
If you found this helpful, you might also like:
Exposition Bingo | School Breaks and Holidays | Persuasion | KS3 and KS4
Summer Writing | Developing Ideas | Sentence Building | KS2 and KS3
Family Activities | Would You Rather | Discussion and Reasoning
Wonder | Ordinary | Literature Extract Question and Essay Response Plan
Accuracy Passport | Improve Punctuation and Grammar | Literacy
Ambitious Sentence Structures Mat | Literacy Stretch | Challenge MAT
Ambitious Punctuation Mat | Literacy Stretch | Challenge MAT
Decorate your classroom with this pack of nine posters showing nine different reading strategies. Each poster has the name of the strategy, a description, and visual prompts. The strategies are…
Reading back and forth
Close reading
Empathising
Inferring
Predicting
Questioning
Scanning
Skimming
Visualising
These posters come in both US letter and UK A4 size documents, and there are black and white versions for printing onto plain or colour paper, and versions with a pop of colour in the borders.
Learn about your students by asking them to design themselves as a video game character. As well as asking students to draw themselves as a character, they are also asked to outline the name, color scheme, skills, powers, travel method and mission for their character. For older or more able students, this can be followed up with a ‘why’ explanation to encourage discussion and reasoning.
This pack includes…
US and UK document sizes
US and UK spellings
PDF versions
PNG versions for you to use in your own lesson planning
To gather quick responses from your students about any chapter from any novel or text, simply print and hand out this single sheet. It is provided in A3 size for larger sheet printing, but it can be resized to UK A4 or US letter size for smaller sheets. Editable Word version included for you to adapt or differentiate the sheet for your students.
This one-pager asks for…
Novel name
Chapter name or number
Character links or connections
Favorite quotation
Three personal reactions
Map of setting
Questions raised
Predictions for later in the text
Reaction to the chapter ending
US and UK spellings are provided
Engage your class with a pre-reading task by presenting the climax or outcome of the plot as a crime scene. Use this editable Word template to organise the victims, statements, evidence locker timeline, and any other information you wish to include. Add or remove sections to suit the text or your students.
This starting task allows students to work in groups to work out the plot before you read the text; it also gives you a chance to flip the classroom and get them to engage themselves. It is adaptable so that you can plan for the task to last fifteen minutes or a whole lesson. You choose!
Please note: This template is not for commercial use.
Looking for an engaging activity for high schoolers at the end of the year? Use this as a full lesson exploring several examples of current slang with your class, or set as a bellringer or collaborative starter to a lesson with one word or phrase. Either choose the slang words yourself, or if you are feeling brave, give total creative control to your students!
Students are prompted to think about and discuss: a choice of word or phrase, how it is used in a sentence, what is means, how long it has been in use, where it is used and by whom, how controversial the slang is, how existing words have changed meaning, and to predict how long they thing the slang will be popular.
This product includes:
Slang Diagram one-page graphic organizer PDF with fancy font
Slang Diagram one-page graphic organizer PDF with simple font
UK and US document sizes for both of the above
Slang Diagram PowerPoint including one-slide graphic organizer version and a version split across three slides
Interactive model within PowerPoint
This comprehension task focuses on Cath Palug from Welsh mythology. It also includes a short extract about a supernatural cat from Catherine Fisher’s The Candle Man, and includes a question for cross-referencing the details.
There are five questions that cover search and locate, synonym use, understanding word roots, and comparison.
20 weeks of literacy slides! 20 slides with 100 activities - five per slide. Use as bellringers, exit tickets, brain breaks or for whole school home room tasks. The slides feature a combination of turn and talk, close reading, proofreading, sentence development, mime, quick writing and vocabulary tasks.
You could use one slide once a week for a set of activities together, or complete one of the five tasks on the slide each day of the week. Could also be used to support ESL.
This product includes…
UK and US versions of the above
Fully editable Google Slides versions of the above
Answer key for all proofreading tasks
Learn about your students by asking them to complete seven quick English Language tasks. The activities are included of a single sided sheet, and students demonstrate the use of adjectives, verbs, similes, and onomatopoeia in their self-introductions as well as sharing their strengths and weaknesses or likes and dislikes in English, their favourite slang and their favourite senses.
This pack includes…
US and UK document sizes
US and UK spellings
PDF versions
Give your students time to practice using adjectives for effective description! Adjective Island allows pupils to design their own island by drawing and labelling a map with features of their choice, using adjectives to build imagery. A range of pre-populated maps are provided for differentiated support, or use the editable Google Docs version included to tailor the task to your students.
A clear ‘Checklist for Success’ is featured on the sheet as well as examples, and there are two extension or ‘challenge’ tasks for more able, gifted and talented or fast finishers.
US and UK document sizes provided for easy printing.