A 10 question multiple choice comprehension exercise. The text is the Door Knocker passage from Stave 1 of A Christmas Carol. A good starter or plenary activity for Y6 and up.
3 handwriting worksheets for practising the pen movement for letters like ‘c’. One of the worksheets focuses on top joins. Suitable for beginner or remedial work for any year group.
An online Google Slides game for practising verbs. It works well on desktop computers or interactive whiteboards, especially in full screen mode. It's less suitable for mobile devices. Players have to identify words in sentences in order to collect fruit to make a fruit salad. If they go wrong, they are sent back to the beginning. Beware of the cheat potential with this, however: the slide controls at the bottom om the screen enable the player to click through the slides without answering the questions!
A quick solution to save the pain of arm ache in English marking. 9 positive comments in sheets of 21 labels. For Stars and Wish Marking. Next Steps available separately.
Resource consists of a display copy of the poem Hallowe’en by Joel Benton, together with teacher notes with ideas of how to use the text in the classroom.
This is a flexible resource - enough for one lesson or a week’s unit of work, depending on how many of the suggestions are explored.
More seasonal poetry resources in my shop.
This is one of a series of short reading passages written for Lower KS2. It is followed by a mini- comprehension task where pupils have to choose which of three statements is true . There is a SPaG exercise linked to the passage. The final activity is extended writing.
The text is a bit PC - no plastic in costumes, and no traipsing around streets threatening old folk or begging for sweets!
Flash game. Teacher reads out an addition under 20 (eg 5+9). Child with correct answer flips the corresponding number to reveal a letter. As letters are revealed, pupils try to make words on their whiteboards. Winner is the one with most words.
Fun whole class PowerPoint activity for primary or KS3 classes: English with a bit of maths. Great for starters or plenaries.
Teacher calls out a number (eg 12) which is the sum of two digits showing on the screen. Pupils choose two numbers (eg 8 + 4) that add up to the teacher’s number and, if correct, they turn those two cards to reveal two letters.
As more letters are revealed, the spelling begins: pupils make as many words as they can. They are scored according to the number of letters they contain. The teacher may decide to set a minimum word length.
The maths element can be made more difficult for more able classes ( eg '12 is the product of of which two numbers? ’ - Pupils could choose 4 and 3, 6 and 2, 12 and 1). Or it can be omitted entirely, and pupils simply select numbers to turn.
There are 8 games included in the PowerPoint. And some frantic music. Turn your computer sound down if it gets too much!
A zip folder contains seven interlinked files, all of which are needed for this timed activity. Seven sentences have been jumbled up, and the student has one minute to put the words and the punctuation in the right order.
This is a game for 2-4 players. It is played with a single die and counters. Included are a simple game board with Christmas pictures every few squares, and a set of 24 question cards suitable for lower or upper KS2. The grammar content should have been covered by the end of Y3. If players land on a picture square, one of the other players reads out the Christmas themed grammar question. If players give the correct answer, they advance one square. If incorrect, they go back one square.
A useful resource for the period leading up to the Christmas holiday.
Print Next Steps comments onto Avery labels to save time and wrist ache when marking writing. Fourteen different sheets with twenty-one labels on each.
PDF presentation covering rules for adding suffixes to words ending in 'l', 'le'. Spelling rules for adverbs, for words ending in -'ful', changing 'y' to 'i'... More than a single lesson starter - I would focus on one slide a day and build it into a unit of work over a week or so. The complete presentation could also be used as a revision session.
4 sets of 3 worksheets (multiple choice, missing letters, crosswords and word searches) for practising the i before e rule. Exceptions to the rule (weird, caffeine, etc) are included. All words conform to the part of the rule that specifies that the vowel string is pronounced 'ee'. Suitable for KS2.
Presentation consisting of 77 slides with suggestions for weekly writing topics throughout the school year. Ideal for whole school, or multi-class writing. A daily session of 15 minutes plus an extended session at the end of the week or for homework, should give pupils time to work on the quality of their final pieces.