This is a 13 page pdf file containing 5 separate activities suitable for KS3 or upper KS2 English. The unit begins with a 500 word comprehension about the origin of Christmas crackers. The comprehension contains 15 questions, with available marks indicated. A mark scheme is supplied. It is followed by differentiated dictation: 3 versions of the same 100 word text based on the reading passage. Teacher notes are supplied. The third activity is a speed dictation (Dictagloss). Another 100 word text is read at speed and pupils are tasked with re-assembling it collaboratively. This activity should generate a lot of talk. Full teacher notes accompany the text. After that there is a worksheet on root words and word families, with teacher notes. Finally, the writing activity is an acrostic poem entitled CRACKERS. 2 examples of teacher-generated acrostic poems are included in the teaching notes.

A retelling of a folk tale well-known in Germany and Ukraine. 12 comprehension questions with answers. Links to websites with other versions of the tale are provided in the teacher notes. Good for KS1 as a stimulus for writing, art and craft, and for KS2 as part of a study on different versions of legends and folk tales. It lends itself too to cross-curricular work: a study of eastern European countries in geography, or of mini beasts/arachnids in science, or research into the history of tinsel on Christmas trees.

A 15 slide presentation in both PowerPoint and PDF format which could be used either for an assembly or for an introduction to a lesson or project on Louis Braille. It is accompanied by a comprehension exercise with 10 questions (20 marks) along with a mark scheme. Content and language appropriate for upper KS2 and above.

The quiz about Wales is linked to an interactive flipboard activity where a picture of the Welsh dragon is gradually revealed as pupils answer questions and flip the corresponding tile if they get a correct answer. A suggestion for using it at a whole class activity is given in the teacher notes. A text about St David and associated worksheet focusses on what we can be sure of when studying history . The task consists of judging pieces of information from the text and sorting them into columns according to whether pupils think they are historical fact or legend. Also included in the pack is a wordsearch.

There is enough material here for more than one lesson on myths and legends. An interactive PowerPoint shows the difference between myth and legend. The second slide has six flags of St George, which, when clicked, reveal a Raphael painting of St George and the dragon. At the end of the show, pupils are asked to read the accompanying comprehension text, decide whether St George and the Dragon is a myth or a legend, and to write their answer. The comprehension text is marked out of 20. A mark scheme is supplied.

This resource contains a selection of engaging activities for Shrove Tuesday. The interactive quiz consists of a PowerPoint grid where 16 tiles are flipped one by one to reveal a pancake picture. To accompany it is a maths/general knowledge quiz. The answer to each question is a number between 1 and 16. Give out the quiz sheets and let the class work on them for a short time. Pupils then put their hands up to offer answers and come up to interactive board to flip the corresponding tile. The reading text is a recipe for pancakes. This would be a great practical activity in the morning, with the opportunity to eat pancakes at break! The accompanying comprehension questions, worth 20 marks, are accompanied by a mark scheme. For English, there is a further activity - a pancake poem by Christina Rossetti, which can be exploited for teaching/revising imperative verbs. A follow up task could be to find out something about the poet. The maths task consists of five word problems based on the recipe. Some are quite challenging (eg involving scaling the original recipe).