I love making resources that take concepts from the curriculum, and express them in an abstract and engaging way. I have seen great improvements in the grades of the children in the classes as I teach as a result of this labour intensive (but ultimately rewarding) approach.
My big passion is reading. Whether it is a comprehension activity or something with a maths or grammar focus; you can guarantee that reading skills to develop understanding will underpin it.
Richard
Reading for Success
I love making resources that take concepts from the curriculum, and express them in an abstract and engaging way. I have seen great improvements in the grades of the children in the classes as I teach as a result of this labour intensive (but ultimately rewarding) approach.
My big passion is reading. Whether it is a comprehension activity or something with a maths or grammar focus; you can guarantee that reading skills to develop understanding will underpin it.
Richard
Reading for Success
Here is a reading pack on Cinderella for grades 1 and 2.
It includes a number of activities that encourage children to develop close reading skills, including a wordsearch and spot the difference (which are building blocks to help children find information in texts), as well as comprehension questions and a sequencing activity.
As with all of my products, I aim to make them enjoyable for children to engage with reading, helping them to develop a love for literature.
This is the first product I have produced like this. I will await feedback on this before developing similar packs on other fairy tales and nursery rhymes.
My aim is to create a bundle that explores traditional tales, before moving children on to writing creative stories of their own.
This guided reading resource includes a pair of texts about Asia with four comprehension skills sheets to complete, providing reading passages and questions that are challenging and engaging.
Using the ‘LIMS’ approach, students work through Literal, Inference, Meaning and Summary questions to ensure that in the course of a week, they have practised skills in reading right across the curriculum.
Text is differentiated and an answer scheme is provided.
Suggested itinerary:
Day 1 (30 mins) – Read both texts as a class. Highlight key parts. Discuss together. What have we learned? What do we want know more about? It is worth asking the students to write down any questions they have about the texts and putting them on display.
Day 2 (30 mins) – Literal sheet
Day 3 (30 mins) – Inference sheet (or meaning sheet if you prefer)
Day 4 (30 mins) – Meaning sheet (or inference sheet if you prefer)
Day 5 (45 mins) – Summary sheet and looking back at questions from the start of the week.
This is the first in a series of Paired text resources looking at the seven continents of the world. Keep an eye on my store.
Differentiation:
All questions are the same, which should make marking easier! However, the texts differ, with asterisks in the bottom right corner indicating the reading level.
NEWS STORIES WITH COMPREHENSIONS ON ELON MUSK, THE TERRACOTTA ARMY AND THE WORLD’s OLDEST MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE!
These reading comprehensions will test your student’s reading skills as they explore three engaging news stories from March 2018. Using research skills and their reporter’s notebooks, the young journalists will find out about:
The vandalism of a precious Chinese statue in Philadelphia
The discovery of the world’s oldest message in a bottle
The world’s most powerful rocket is successfully launched
Each story comes with questions and answers, and will require students to summarise stories; think critically and recall facts.
A template for a news story is also provided so children can write them up for themselves. A scaffold is included to show them how to fill in the boxes. Finally, posters are enclosed if you want to make the students’ work into a simple, effective display.
As a journalist and teacher, it’s my passion that children should have an awareness of what is going on in the world through engaging reading material.
CONTENTS
3: TERROR OF TERRACOTTA TREASURES
4: What is the Terracotta Army?
5: IT’S A RECORD BREAKER! World’s oldest message in a bottle.
6: ROCKET MAN! Elon Musk sends car into space.
7-10: Questions
11-14: Answers
15: How to write a newspaper article
16: Newspaper template
17-19: Posters for display
These reading comprehensions will test your students’ reading skills as they explore three engaging news stories from February 2017. Using research skills and their reporters notebooks, the young journalists will find out about:
Mass whale stranding in New Zealand
World War Two Bomb panic in Greece
Miraculous survival of Australian farmer
Each story comes with questions and answers, and will require students to check dictionaries; summarise stories; think critically; retrieve facts; and prioritise statements.
A template for a news story is also provided so children can write them up for themselves. A scaffold is included to show them how to fill in the boxes. Finally, posters are enclosed if you want to make the students’ work into a simple, effective display.
As a journalist and teacher, it’s my passion that children should have an awareness of what is going on in the world through engaging reading material.
CONTENTS
3: INCHES FROM DEATH!
4: Heartbreak of the Whales
5: PANIC IN GREECE!
6-8: Questions
9-11: Answers
12: How to write a newspaper article
13: Newspaper template
14-16: Posters for display
Here is a reading pack on Cinderella for grades 1 and 2.
It includes a number of activities that encourage children to develop close reading skills, including a wordsearch and spot the difference (which are building blocks to help children find information in texts), as well as comprehension questions and a sequencing activity.
As with all of my products, I aim to make them enjoyable for children to engage with reading, helping them to develop a love for literature.
This is the first product I have produced like this. I will await feedback on this before developing similar packs on other fairy tales and nursery rhymes.
My aim is to create a bundle that explores traditional tales, before moving children on to writing creative stories of their own.
This guided reading resource includes a pair of texts about Europe with four comprehension skills sheets to complete, providing reading passages and questions that are challenging and engaging.
Using the ‘LIMS’ approach, students work through Literal, Inference, Meaning and Summary questions to ensure that in the course of a week, they have practised skills in reading right across the Curriculum.
Text is differentiated and an answer scheme is provided.
Suggested itinerary:
Day 1 (30 mins) – Read both texts as a class. Highlight key parts. Discuss together. What have we learned? What do we want know more about? It is worth asking the students to write down any questions they have about the texts and putting them on display.
Day 2 (30 mins) – Literal sheet
Day 3 (30 mins) – Inference sheet (or meaning sheet if you prefer)
Day 4 (30 mins) – Meaning sheet (or inference sheet if you prefer)
Day 5 (45 mins) – Summary sheet and looking back at questions from the start of the week.
This is the first in a series of Paired text resources looking at the seven continents of the world. Keep an eye on my store.
Differentiation:
All questions are the same, which should make marking easier! However, the texts differ, with asterisks in the bottom right corner indicating the reading level.
Make your children’s creative writing stand out with these writing prompts to help them write fantastic character descriptions. Inspired by some of the world’s most famous authors, these words will add wonderful detail to their work.
There are seven sections in total, including eyes, hair, skin, facial features, bodily features and physique.
The prompts also include ‘super sentences’ in each section to help your children craft their words into masterful sentences.
These can be used as a display or as a learning aid available to children on their tables as a printed copy or on tablet devices.
I hope you find them as useful as my 10 and 11 year-olds have - their descriptive writing has shown great improvement with the aid of this resource.
This writing aid will help your students develop creative vocabulary in their work through the use of synonyms.
It can be used in a variety of ways. The engaging word clouds can be used as posters for a display, or on an interactive whiteboard during a vocabulary focused lesson.
They can be used in small groups as table centres, or by individual students as a set of bookmarks.
This is saved as a PDF and is supplemented by a separate customisable Powerpoint file. As this is a PowerPoint file, it can be shared directly with students to use on their own devices. The hyperlinked contents page will take them to the page they are looking for. At the end of the resource are the bookmarks. These can be printed, laminated and attached together so students can keep them and refer to them in all aspects of their writing.
There are blank bookmarks so you can make your own synonym bookmarks to add to your sets in the customisable file. You can also edit the whole file as you see fit to suit your own needs.
Finally, there is some bunting banner to help you make this into a display. I hope you and your students find this useful!
The synonyms featured are:
happy
sad
big
small
good
young
old
house
move
walk
talk
warm
cold
BIGFOOT. LOCH NESS. LORD LUCAN. MARY CELESTE. ROSWELL. TURIN SHROUD.
Does an ape-like biped roam the forests of North America?
Is there a monster lurking in the depths of a Scottish lake?
Is the face of Jesus miraculously printed in a piece of linen?
Did Lord Lucan really kill the nanny?
Do aliens exist?
Where were the crew of the Mary Celeste?
Answer these questions and more in this exciting Guided Reading resource looking at some of the greatest mysteries of the world.
This collection of six guided reading activities, aimed at 10 and 11 year olds, tests children’s comprehension, retrieval, inference and deduction skills. It will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children try to solve these mysteries for themselves.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
In 2016, Her Majesty The Queen celebrates her 90th birthday.
This collection of three reading comprehensions celebrates this occasion, providing biographical information about The Queen and her family.
Your children will find out about:
A day in the life of The Queen
The Queen’s two birthdays
The Royal Family Tree
The wedding of Prince William and Kate
Each comprehension task come complete with answers and suggests how many marks are available for each question - perfect preparation for reading assessments.
2018 marks the centenary of the end of World War One.
This collection of four reading comprehensions, aimed at 10-14 year olds, tests children’s comprehension, retrieval, inference and deduction skills through a range of informative and enlightening texts.
It will also promote reflective and engaging classroom discussion as children discover more about this important chapter in the world’s history. For this reason, it is ideal for research projects.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
____________________________
CONTENTS
The Soldier who helped to end the war:
The heroic story of a British officer who went behind enemy lines to secure the masterplan for the fearsome Hindenburg defences – a mission that many believe helped to end the war more quickly.
America declares war:
How America moved from neutrality to war; and how their actions were crucial in securing an Allied victory.
The Armistice:
The world celebrates as the peace treaty is signed in a railway carriage – but the war rumbles on right until the bitter end.
We Will Remember Them:
A look at the Flanders Fields poem, followed by information about Remembrance and Veteran’s Day; and the significance of the poppy.
In December 2015, Star Wars - The Force Awakens was released and became the highest grossing movie at the box office in history.
Star Wars is just one of several series of movie blockbusters - and the children in your class can find out all about them in this guided reading compilation!
JAWS…STAR WARS…JAMES BOND…HARRY POTTER
These guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, test childrens’ retrieval, inference and deduction skills.
Questions and answers are provided, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
Your children will love finding out about the stories behind some of the world’s movie blockbusters!
Explore World War Two through these fascinating fictional diaries of servicemen, nurses, civilians and Jews.
The diaries focus on the Blitz, the Holocaust, D-Day, Pearl Harbour and Hiroshima
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
The Paris Olympics will bring the world together for a festival of sport in 2024.
In these reading comprehensions, your students will get to find out about some of the stories about the Olympics.
Find out about:
THE OLYMPICS IN PARIS
THE OLYMPICS IN ANCIENT GREECE
THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN OLYMPICS
Questions and answers are provided, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
As with all of my reading exercises, I try to write content that is interesting and engaging - stories that may not be on the curriculum, but are important for children to know.
Your students will develop reading comprehension skills through a range of retrieval and inference questions, using skills to skim and scan the text. There are also word meaning and text summary questions in the activities.
Just print and go…no prep needed!
Please note - one of the comprehensions here is available as an individual activity. Check my store if you just want one comprehension!***
These comprehensions are taken from real newspaper reports of major news events that made the world stop in its tracks. These are important stories for your children to understand, as they play a significant part in recent world history.
The comprehensions focus on:
The sinking of the Titanic
9/11
The Asian tsunami
and
The assassination of JFK
There are a variety of questions styles, testing skills in retrieval, inference and deduction. Answers are provided, and children are given an indication of marks on offer so this is good preparation for reading tests and assessments.
As with all of my work, I try to make the subject matter interesting and exciting for the children to engage with. As these stories may be familiar, I have made some of the questions particularly challenging, focussing on the parts of the story that your cohort won’t know about.
Did you know that the first and last soldiers to be killed in World War One are buried just feet apart? Have you heard the story about the American Naval Officer who escaped from a Prisoner of War camp, swimming up the River Rhine to safety? How about the tale of the soldier who spared the life of a young Adolf Hitler?
2018 marks the centenary of the end of World War One.
This collection of four guided reading activities, aimed at 10 to 14 year olds, tests children’s comprehension, retrieval, inference and deduction skills through some intriguing stories from the soldiers at war.
It will also promote reflective and engaging classroom discussion as children discover more about this important chapter in the world’s history.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required. The texts take the form of different written genres, such as diary extracts, letters, newspaper reports and information texts.
CONTENTS
A Tale of Two Soldiers: Private John Parr
The story of the first soldier to be killed in World War One
A Tale of Two Soldiers: Private George Ellison
The story of the last Allied soldier to be killed in the war, just minutes before peace was declared. Read about the extraordinary link between Ellison and Private John Parr.
Saving Corporal Adolf
How one British soldier’s humanity spared the life of future dictator, Adolf Hitler.
The Daily News
Stories of courage and loyalty from the war, including Edouard Izac, the American naval officer who escaped from a prisoner of war camp to pass on vital intelligence to his commanders.
These comprehensions are taken from real newspaper reports of major news events that made the world stop in its tracks. These are important stories for your children to understand, as they play a significant part in recent world history.
The comprehensions focus on:
The sinking of the Titanic
9/11
The Asian tsunami
and
The assassination of JFK
There are a variety of questions styles, testing skills in retrieval, inference and deduction. Answers are provided, and children are given an indication of marks on offer so this is good preparation for reading tests and assessments.
As with all of my work, I try to make the subject matter interesting and exciting for the children to engage with. As these stories may be familiar, I have made some of the questions particularly challenging, focussing on the parts of the story that your cohort won’t know about.
This reading activity pack tells the story of the Jesus’ death and resurrection from Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday. It is ideal all year round for reading or Religious Studies, but is particularly useful in the run up to Easter, as they follow the last week in Jesus’ life. They can also be used as Sunday School activities or as readings in church.
Based on the gospel accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, I have written five reports from key people in the Easter story about what happened with comprehension based questions and answers for each. These will bring the well-known story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection to your students in a fresh, engaging and enlightening way.
The characters featured are:
Peter
Pontius Pilate
A Roman soldier
Mary Magdalen
Cleopas
The comprehension questions tackle the following skills:
Literal and retrieval
Word meaning
Inference and deduction
There is also an activity at the end to summarise each of the characters stories. All activities are aligned to the common core.
As an added extra, there are a number of posters with key bible verses for your displays, including posters to colour in. These can be found at the end of the reading pack.
A bit about me:
Before teaching, I was a journalist. I still work as a freelance writer, and like nothing more than writing engaging texts to challenge and inspire children and young people. I choose subjects that may not be on the curriculum but are still of great importance for students to know about.
Everything I write has been comprehensively researched from a number of sources and been written by myself. No plagiarism here! This is all original material. My questions are pitched at a high level, but with a bit of patience and persistence (and some adult help if necessary) most students will have great fun as they learn, especially as the penny drops.
I am aware of the impact of printed resources on our environment so try to condense my reading activities into as compact a space as possible. Hopefully this will help you save time in printing, and keep the bills down!
Check out my store if you enjoy this – you’re sure to find more. Thanks!
While you are here…
You may also be interested in a similar pack of reading comprehensions I have written about the birth of Jesus. Follow the link for more:
Stories from the Stable
The birth of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA is celebrated during Black History Month. But do your students know the full story behind Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King?
This collection of four guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, tests children in the Common Core and National Curriculum reading skills. They will learn to:
Determine the meaning of words such as segregation and discrimination.
Refer to examples in the text, both explicitly and implied.
Compare the values of characters like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.
Identify what is happening in images.
Comment on the wider historical implications of the stories.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
As with all of my reading
comprehensions, I aim to make
them engaging and challenging.
The characters may be well
known, but your students will
fully understand the broader
context of their actions in history
through these in-depth character
studies.
CONTENTS
Rosa Parks
The Bus Boycott
The Civil Rights Movement
“I have a dream” and Black Power.
AMUSING, ENTERTAINING AND EDUCATIONAL!
These reading comprehensions will test your students’ reading skills as they explore the four greatest April Fools of all time, as ranked by the Museum of Hoaxes. Using research skills and their reporter’s notebooks, the young journalists will find out about:
Spaghetti growing on trees in Switzerland
A fake volcanic eruption in Alaska
Instant Colour TV in Sweden
An iceberg in Sydney Harbour
Each story comes with questions and answers, and will require students to check dictionaries; summarise stories; think critically; retrieve facts; and prioritise statements. They will also generate lively and fun classroom discussion. Would your students fall for these pranks? Can they come up with anything better?
A template for a news story is also provided so children can write them up for themselves. A scaffold is included to show them how to fill in the boxes. Finally, posters are enclosed if you want to make the students’ work into a simple, effective display.
As a journalist and teacher, it’s my passion that children should have an awareness of what is going on in the world through engaging reading material.
Contents:
3: SWISS SPAGHETTI HARVEST
4: INSTANT COLOUR TV
5: ERUPTION OF MOUNT EDGECUMBE
6: THE SYDNEY ICEBERG
7-10: Questions
11-14: Answers
15: How to write a newspaper article
16: Newspaper template
17-20: Posters for display