If you’re struggling to find something to fill those end of the term time gaps then this might give you half an hour respite. Rearrange the anagrams of film titles. Can they get them all?

A starter exercise to get the class thinking about formal and informal language and promote class discussion. There are also a couple of slides based on missing commas just to jog pupils’ memories.

An A4 sheet of useful conjunctions (and relative pronouns) that children can use in their writing. Ideal for laminating and keeping in their drawers. When writing, they can tick off different conjunctions to encourage using a wider range.

An exercise children can do in pairs, groups or individually based on identifying subordinate clauses and conjunctions. I find that children often get confused when asked to underline either clauses or the conjunctions. This is a good exercise to get them used to what the vocabulary is referring to.

A powerpoint slideshow to demonstrate how main clauses should be separated using semicolons or dashes. Examples shown to model correct usage (and incorrect usage) Opportunities for partner talk End of presentation task (copy five sentences and insert semicolons correctly) EXTENSION CHALLENGE to create own two main clause sentences divided by semicolons.

Worksheet designed for GPS practise in year 6. I have noticed that children often confuse themselves when asked to circle or underline clauses or just conjunctions (often underlining the whole clause when just the conjunction was asked for). This practise sheet should help as a revision exercise in the build-up to the GPS SAT paper.

A science fiction for years 5 and 6. The story is a teaching written novella (10 pages) split into 5 chapters. Each chapter has its own accompanying comprehension quiz of around 10 questions. Answers are also enclosed for ease of marking. The story is about a future NASA crew who are sent to investigate a mysterious crack on the far edge of the known universe - but things soon go wrong. Story can be read in guided groups, whole class guided reading or individually.

I sometimes find children can be slightly unclear on the actual difference between fact and opinion. This always seems to come up in the SAT reading papers so I constructed this short exercise that incorporates a passage on New York. Should serve well as a 10 minute starter that can be discussed as a class afterwards. Alternatively, it could serve as a shared class reading exercise.

A Year 5/6 reading comprehension that can be used as an effective SAT practice. Short first person story, (true story as told by the author) about the time he accidentally adopted a cat! Story is accompanied by a 20 mark comprehension paper and answers for ease of marking. A good activity to fill a 30 minute timeslot and answer the style of questions that usually come up in May’s reading papers. Question types include: true/false, fact/opinion, chronological ordering, retrieval, synonyms.

Contains some original wording from the Shakespeare script. Some of the names and places are local to me and can be easily adapted to suit other geographical regions. I had my year 6s perform this as a film and it worked very well. Both children and parents greatly enjoyed the experience.

A reading comprehension that tells the story of a World War evacuee who is sent to the Devon countryside. Having been sent to live with the Hardiman’s, Robert discovers that the old man’s longtime ambition is to catch the much sought after ‘Old Percy’ - a huge 40lb pike that has never before been caught. The reading comprehension consists of twenty marks and provides practice on true/false, fact/opinion, chronological ordering, recall, retrieval and inference. A file with the answers is also included for ease of marking. Ideal exercise in the build-up to SATs, or just for a normal reading comprehension exercise in upper KS2. Can also be used as part of a World War 2 topic.

Reading comprehension (4 pages) about a girl who plays for her reserve team as a striker. She really wants to get her big chance playing in the first team and this story is about her first opportunity. Comprehension includes 16 questions with true/false, fact/opinion, chronological ordering, identifying similes and exclamatory sentences, retrieval and vocabulary/word meanings. Answers are enclosed for ease of marking. Exercise is good practice for SAT reading and the questions are designed to mirror the question types in previous papers.

Year 5/6 Reading comprehension based on a newspaper article written about a planned housing development in a fictional town. Contains layout of a newspaper report, opinions and examples of formal writing throughout. Also contains interviews and opinions to provide context to the report. Comes with a 20mark reading comprehension paper with questions based around the following: True and False Fact and Opinion Inference Retrieval Word comprehension Synonym Questions are accompanied by an answer sheet for ease of marking and marking boxes for speedy feeback (especially if peer-marking is to be used).

General revision sheets (six different tasks) for children to complete ahead of GPS test. Sheets test knowledge of word classes, tense and was/were. Answers are included for ease of marking.

Poem about an old oak tree that discusses getting old and seeing better days. Useful for examples of metaphor and alliteration, with other poetry conventions. 20 mark comprehension quiz to accompany the poem, incorporating: **inference retrieval fact/opinion true/false chronological ordering ** Exercise is accompanied by an answer sheet (separate file) for ease of marking. Good practice in the run-up to the SAT reading paper as poetry may be one of the reading sections (it was last year!). Hope you enjoy.

Report/documentary style reading comprehension (fictional!) on UFO and alien sightings in Fieldmarsh Forest. Two Spooky accounts, with fact boxes, documenting alien and UFO sightings since 1964. 20 mark question scheme for children to answer. Style of questions modelled on SAT reading papers. Contains examples of: True/false Fact/opinion Chronological sequencing Inference Recall/retrieval Separate answer sheet file is included for ease of marking. Hope your children enjoy!

A useful year 6 revision tool comprising of 19 grammar and punctuation questions. Also includes 20 spellings with a mixture of year 5/6 list spellings, frequently used words and homophones. Questions targeted on: clauses adverbs and adjectives relative clauses word classes tenses ‘a’ and ‘an’ formal language passive and active voice All answers are included for ease of marking.

A GPS quiz for Christmas consisting of 20 spellings and 20 Grammar and punctuation questions. A time filler for that approach to the end of term and a good assessment tool to see how children are doing in GPS by using the Christmas context. Answers are included for ease of marking. Quizzes can be done individually, in pairs or in cooperative groups.

3 page story with accompanying 15 mark reading comprehension. Story is about an enchanted wood where 2 children get lost and are guided out by a mysterious white pony. Task can be carried individually, in groups for guided reading or as a whole class. Questions include: retrieval inference fact/opinion true/false word comprehension (synonyms) Task ideal for expected level and greater depth readers. Lower ability year 5 and 6 may require an adult to prompt.

A short autumn poem with 12 mark reading comprehension to welcome in the autumn term. Five stanza poem describing the author’s feelings about autumn. Question areas include: retrieval true and false statements statements of fact or opinion word meanings word comprehension Answers are included in a separate document for ease of marking.