Featuring the beloved little fish and his mum from the story by Lucy Cousins, these activities explore the opposites: big and little, fat and thin and happy and grumpy. This pack contains sets of picture, silhouette and word cards and simple worksheets with three levels of challenge. There are greyscale versions of resources for those who want to save ink or include colouring as part of the activity. Themes: opposites, fish, under the sea Skills: shape recognition, cut and sticking, colouring, beginning reading and writing skills. A guide is enclosed with the pack which includes ideas for card games. This resource is part of a Teachers Telling Tales series inspired by the Hooray for Fish story and can also be purchased as part of a bundle.

Originally created for the IPC topic Sand and Water, this presentation is designed to stimulate children’s interest in sand, answer basic questions and inspire further exploration. Aimed at young children it features large colourful pictures and simple text (generally one heading and a sentence on each slide, (with more detail and some links in the notes for presenters). Questions prompt children to say what they already know or think and there are a few questions for them to guess where the answer is revealed, keeping their attention. It covers how sand is made and why it is different colours, animals that live or hide in sand, sand in the desert, how we use sand and sand art. This presentation is great as an introduction to scientific or creative exploration of sand, for example whether dry or wet sand is best for sculpture, making patterns by sprinkling or creating texture with sand. It is also a good stimulus for researching sandy habitats and how plants and animals have adapted to living in them.

Read the poem and colour the pictures. Good for reading comprehension, EAL, extending colours and animals vocabulary. This poem is fantastic for introducing new colour words like ‘lavender’, ‘turquoise’, ‘lilac’. It gives students the opportunity to explore blending colours and creating lighter and darker shades using different pressure. The worksheets with the poem allow teachers to assess students’ understanding. The blank sheet (with just the pictures) allows students to use their imagination and be encouraged to record their ideas by writing their own descriptions. A resource guide gives suggestions for use and differentiation. The worksheets are provided in PDF and Word (editable) formats. Dyslexia-friendly versions are included.

Great for a space topic. A fun alien poem for shared reading, worksheets with a copy of the poem for more careful reading and a space to draw the scene. A checklist is provided for students to work with a buddy and see how many of the descriptions they included in their drawing. (This could be printed on the back of the sheet). While they are challenged to include all the specified details, students can be encouraged to use their imagination to complete the scene. The activity provides lots of opportunities for discussion and develops reading comprehension skills. Worksheets provided in PDF and Word (editable) formats. Dyslexia -friendly font versions are provided.

In ‘Quack! said the Billy Goat’, the silly poem by Charles Causley, the animal sounds are all mixed up. The poem is fantastic for learning about farm animals, the sounds they make and using speech bubbles. Children enjoy making the sounds and exploring how to write them. This resource comes with a guide with suggestions for introducing the poem, shared reading ideas to involve children and follow up games. There are animal silhouette pictures, animal names and speech bubbles with sounds. These are in the form of a picture for retelling the poem and to make cards for games and activities.

An activity pack with garden themed games inspired by Nature Trail, a poem by Benjamin Zephaniah. A range of activities for different ages, abilities and literacy skills. Good for living things, habitats, garden, animals and minibeasts themes. Read or listen to the poem and remember or find all the creatures living in the garden. Scavenger hunt, bingo, matching and list variations using pictures and words. Dyslexia friendly font version of poem. Draw the garden or design your own including habitats for living things. Create your own nature trail.

Improve cutting skills by cutting along the lines. Test skills with zig zag (straight) and wavy lines. Cute cartoon minibeasts at the end of each dotted line. Check out the other minibeasts resources in the Teachers Telling Tales shop.

This resource pack features a board game and a set of cards with ten minibeasts and corresponding movements. The cards are great for brain breaks and circle times. With the board game children perform the action when they land on the minibeast, for example, spin when they land on a spider. There are variation prompts on the game such as saying a fact about the animal, saying how many legs it has or saying where it lives. The board also features pictures of where minibeasts are commonly found, for example, logs, flowers, a pond. There are minibeast habitats resources (as well as a range of other minibeast activities) in the Teachers Telling Tales shop.

Lots of fun activities to explore where minibeasts are found. Good for learning new vocabulary related to insects and small creatures, the natural world and prepositions. Can be used for games and classroom display. Contains a set of habitat cards and minibeast cards for sorting and matching activities. which way home activity, choose and follow the lines tracing lines, great for emerging writing and fine motor skills mazes for more of a challenge The minibeasts cards are perfect for creating class pictographs, of favourite minibeasts. Try sorting minibeasts into groups, e.g. things that fly, nocturnal, etc. Check out the other minbeasts resources in the Teachers Telling Tales shop, you can bundle and save.

Guess the minibeasts in a quiz (PowerPoint presentation), make up your own quiz then create a mini book. Through describing and guessing, children develop their knowledge about minibeasts and vocabulary related to colours, patterns, parts of the body, ways of moving, prepositions, habitats. For more of a challenge students can engage in research to find out more (links to suggested websites included). Instructions and templates for differing abilities are included for making origami books, a ‘mini mystery minibeast’ book! The teacher’s guide has all the information, the quiz questions and screenshots for easy reference. Check out the other minibeasts themed resources in the Teachers Telling Tales shop with bundle and save options.

Jar and bottle templates, blank and with lines for Word Collector activities and display. Inspired by the short story in Eren by Simon P. Clark about a man who collected words, locking the ones he liked in special jars so that no-one could ever use them again. Ideas: A ‘jar’ for each student to put their words in. This is a good use for those plastic food and drink containers that collect in cupboards! Foil packaging (such as crisp packets) can be used to write words with a permanent marker, or use glitter glue for sparkle. Displayed in a dark corner with fairy lights this will look really special. Whenever a new word is found it can be added to the jar which then become a resource at creative writing time. Sensory jar creations. Add oil, water, glitter, cubes or Lego with letters on to build the words inside the jar. A Word Collection notebook to add to and refer to. A display of The Greatest Words. Each student adds their favourite word to a jar (2D or 3D) on the shelf. See https://teacherstellingtales.com/word-collectors/ for more.

Socks are a great topic for exploring patterns. This pack contains resources to explore repeat patterns. Contents: Complete the stripes. There are striped socks to complete, two with a 2 colour AB pattern and two with a 3 colour ABC patterns to complete. The socks are included in PDF and PNG form so the size is flexible. A blank sock is included for pattern creation. Complete the sock sequence. Pairs of socks repeated with a range of colour patterns. Includes a blank line for pattern creation. A teacher’s guide Read more ideas for sock topics here https://teacherstellingtales.com/socks-rock/ Related resources are available from Teachers Telling Tales, including an Odd Socks pack, sock-topus counting activities and Fantastic Footwear which includes templates for socks and a variety of shoes and themed design challenge task cards. These resources are great for awareness days: #oddsocksday November 16th (part of Anti-bullying Week) #LotsOfSocksDay 21st March (World Down Syndrome Day)

Contents: Spots and Stripes worksheets and printable socks for games, templates for colouring. Cute patterned socks matching pairs card game. Teacher’s guide with instructions for games and ideas for activities. These resources are great for awareness days: #oddsocksday November 16th (part of Anti-bullying Week) #LotsOfSocksDay 21st March (World Down Syndrome Day) Read more ideas for sock topics here https://teacherstellingtales.com/socks-rock/ Related resources are available from Teachers Telling Tales, including sock-topus counting activities, repeat patterns and Fantastic Footwear which includes templates for socks and a variety of shoes and themed design challenge task cards. Get them all in a bundle at a discounted price.

This pack includes Design Task Cards Footwear outlines templates Teacher’s guides with instructions and activity descriptions and ideas. Design Task Cards (2 versions: A4 size UK spelling and letter with US spelling) These cards are designed to spark ideas, with suggestions while being open ended for interpretation and exploration. Themes: Characters, friends and Family, Superheroes, Animals, My Hero, Occupations, Stories, Celebrations. The cards can be used for individual or collaborative tasks. The cards could be used for other items of clothing such as hats or T shirts, homes, vehicles or anything else you can think of! Templates Outlines of footwear. Includes a range of socks, tights, leggings, shoes, sandals, boots. These resources are great for awareness days: #oddsocksday November 16th (part of Anti-bullying Week) #LotsOfSocksDay 21st March (World Down Syndrome Day) Related resources are available from Teachers Telling Tales, including an Odd Socks pack, sock-themed repeat patterns and Sock-topus and Friends’ animals love socks counting activities. Available as a bundle at a dis counted price. Also see the blog post https://teacherstellingtales.com/socks-rock/

Good for spelling and vocabulary. Can be used in class or for online teaching / home learning. These presentations feature twenty pairs of homophones, split over two quiz PowerPoints, suitable for two lessons. The Lesson Starter: a fun tongue twister activity Main: Quiz Choose from the two versions with differing levels: • Label (students drag or cut and paste correct spelling to picture) • Annotate (students type/write words next to pictures) Follow up activity: create a mnemonic to remember how to spell tricky words. Examples are shown and a worksheet is included for this. A lesson plan is included and presentations have notes as guidance. To further consolidate homophones try the Teachers Telling Tales Pairs or Pears Games. Receive a discount if you buy both resource packs as a bundle.

Complete lesson with: Lesson Plan with photos Visual aids Worksheet (blank cards design with instructions) Activity resources, printable cards for games / exercises. Three types of cards: Pictures only (colour and black and white versions) 2 sheets Pictures and words (colour and black and white versions) 2 sheets Words only (black and white and ink saving versions) 2 sheets Features twenty pairs of homophones (total forty words), good for spelling and vocabulary. To further consolidate homophones, try the Teachers Telling Tales Which Witch Quiz and activity pack. Receive a discount if you buy both resource packs as a bundle.

Having a set of stages to work through is a really useful support for students when solving problems. There are lots of acronyms used to help remember stages, this resource features four of the most popular. While some schools or classes adopt one, they can be even more meaningful when a student has selected the one they find most useful to them. A lesson comparing and evaluating different strategies is helpful in getting to know students’ preferred learning style, for example, using visuals like drawing or underlining. It also encourages students to think more deeply about essential steps such as checking answers. Investigate whether different strategies work better for different kinds of problems. Contents: 4 small pictures to compare and contrast / stick in books. 4 large posters to display. 4 bookmarks, useful for maths exercise books.