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.

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.

These worksheets feature a selection of poems from Commotion in the Ocean and Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae. Students are given the rhyming words to choose from to fill the gaps. There is space for drawing when the work is complete. There are greyscale (black and white) versions for saving on ink.

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.

A fun, creative activity that is adaptable to different ages and abilities. Can be used as speaking and listening or to encourage writing on the theme of conversation and dialogue. The phone format motivates students and keeps them engaged. The activity begins with reading examples and using inference to deduct who the phone belongs to then builds to completing the speech bubbles before inviting students to create their own dialogue using a blank template. A guide is included for the adult and there is also a student guide to support step by step with inspiration for further exploration. Although this resources is based on fairy tales it can be used for any fictional characters or real people. It can be used to assess recall of speech or imaginatively to create speech. The activity is presented in Word format with PNG images so it can be adapted. Students can work on the document on a computer or it can be printed out. (Instructions provided for both).

A picture story book and linked activities for children who have to stay at home during school closures as a result of the corona virus pandemic. The story is based on the familiar tale of the three little pigs and uses humour while reinforcing important messages about keeping safe and healthy. Activities include matching, colouring, creating signs and writing ideas. All the resources including the story are free to download and share. Please take the time to add a review if you find them helpful and share your children’s work related to the story on the Teachers Telling Tales page.

These writing frames are designed to inspire young children to engage in purposeful recording through mark-making or emergent writing during their role play. Topics: Personal Social Health Education, People who help us, Keeping healthy, parts of the body, numbers 1-5. Skills development: speaking and listening, beginning writing. Depending on their developmental stage, children may enjoy mark-making as they see fit, or they may follow the invitation to write names, crosses, ticks and circles. The pictures are designed to prompt discussion and introduce and consolidate vocabulary. The frame introduces the concept of forms and tables and includes numbers 1-5. The writing frames can act as a guide for children role playing a visit to the doctor, prompting questions and responses such as “Where is the problem?” and “Take medicine three times a day.” The first time the frames are introduced, it would be good for an adult to model using them. Context and Linked Resources This resource pack was inspired by A Visit From the Nurse https://teacherstellingtales.com/a-visit-from-the-nurse/ an activity to help students overcome anxiety about visiting the school nurse (or other health care professionals). In that lesson students observe how a nurse cares for us by demonstrating with soft toys in a range of familiar scenarios, e.g. “I bumped my head, I feel sick, I feel itchy”. These are free to download here https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-visit-from-the-nurse-12174039. As a follow up, children then explore being a carer through role play. This could be with other children (as a patient or carer) or with toys and dolls. The role play area could be set up as a health centre, hospital, veterinary clinic etc. Includes Greyscale versions, as you may need to print lots if they are popular! These can be made into a notebook (perhaps a prescription pad) or attached to a clipboard. Colour versions could be laminated and used as examples displayed in the role play area, or used by the children with dry wipe pens.

An interactive story to learn about the sea turtle life cycle, natural and human threats. Children sit in a circle around a turtle nest (a hoop or mat) with 100 eggs. As they listen to a story they take turns (going round the circle) to remove eggs as a predator or problem arises. As the story continues, the remaining eggs are turned over to reveal hatchlings which in turn face more problems as they try to reach the sea. As juveniles in the sea there are yet more problems. How many will survive and return to the beach where they hatched to lay their own eggs? What will the beach be like when they have become an adult Printables included in the pack: Turtle eggs templates. Students can cut out the circles and draw their own hatchling on one side, (optional, if you prefer use the pre-made cards below). Turtle egg and hatchling cards. Print and cut out. (Place face down for eggs and turn over for hatchlings.) Story Scripts, 2 versions, ‘Take 5’ and ‘Against the Odds’. Turtle problem picture cards. Turtle problem word and picture cards. Story Script Excerpt: One moonlit night a green turtle heaved herself along the beach and dug a hole in the sand with her flippers. She laid 100 eggs and took care to cover them again with sand to disguise the nest. Slowly, she made her way back to the sea where, exhausted, she slipped with relief back into the water as the sun began to rise. Early the next morning, a dog roamed the beach and could smell where the turtle had been. She dug up part of the nest, ate five eggs and cracked five more which were eaten by ants. Also included: Ideas for activities using turtle problems cards. Maths (subtraction) story idea. Related Resources: For an active game on the threats to turtles, see the Teachers Telling Tales resource https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/turtles-in-danger-game-12237706

Turtles in Danger is an active chase and tag game suitable for primary / middle school children. The game teaches children about sea turtle life cycles, natural and human threats, endangered animals and survival strategies. The game can be played outdoors or indoors in a large space, a netball or basketball court is ideal. There are two rounds, one where some children are hatchlings making their way to the sea while avoiding the other children who are threats. For the second round the remaining children are turtles trying to survive in the sea and return to the beach to lay eggs while avoiding threats. The game can be played again removing the human threats to see how this affects the survival rate. This pack contains a guide to the game, a printable instruction sheet with pictures, labels and headbands to identify the children who are threats. There are 14 threats in total and they are colour-coded for dangers on the beach (sand colour) and for in the sea (blue). The labels and headbands have silhouette pictures for quick identification alongside the word and a short explanation of the threat. Through playing the game students gain an understanding of why many reptiles and fish lay so many eggs in order to survive as a species. Through discussion they learn how the impact of extra pressure such as threats from humans can lead to a threat of extinction. Related Resources: An interactive story about turtle life cycles, turtles in Trouble, https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/turtles-in-trouble-an-interactive-story-12240371 A Sea Turtle quiz can be downloaded for free from https://teacherstellingtales.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Sea-Turtle-Quiz.pdf Turtle book recommendations (fiction and non fiction) https://teacherstellingtales.com/turtle-tales-and-truths/

A collection of lessons / activities in the form of a presentation with slides to inspire, instruct and guide through each activity. This unit uses well known fairy tale stories and characters to explore story and citizenship themes through a fairy tale crime topic. The activities are designed to build from one another and can be followed consecutively, or used as a stand-alone lesson or activity in any order. Teachers notes are included in the presentation and a document with screen shots of each slide, notes and links. This presentation can be bought as part of a bundle which includes lots of supplementary materials such as templates to enhance the lessons. These resources are optional and linked to specific lessons so you may prefer not to use them or to purchase individually. Key ideas, concepts and questions explored Good and bad deeds What is a crime? Victim or Villain? Viewpoints and motivation, do two wrongs make a right? Mitigating circumstances. Truth, Lie or Excuse? Consider complexity moving from black and white to shades of grey. Perspectives and Persuasion, considering, expressing and explaining a viewpoint. Investigation. Questions: who, what, why, when, where. Fact and Opinion, looking at evidence. Critical Thinking Skills Focus Reasoning Expressing an opinion Considering differing viewpoints Explanation Persuasion Ways of Working Discussion Drama (hot seating, role play) Writing (different genres and styles – forms, reports, statements, social media posts, case files, persuasive, factual). Drawing Contents Introduction (assess prior knowledge). Police line-up of fairy tale characters Right, Wrong or Crime? Discussion, vocabulary. Right, Wrong or Crime? Write a list. Share and compare with classmates. Victim or Villain. Consider case of Jack and the Giant. Truth, Lie (or excuse) show and share your opinion. Arrest or Release (or keep for further questioning) show and share your opinion. Criminal Case File. Record personal details, crimes, witnesses, defence. Present your Case (drama) take turns to be the accused and questioners and have a discus about your case. (Questioners in role as witness / victim / law enforcement etc.). Perspectives and Persuasion Writing Prompts. Four styles to choose from – police report, lawyer case notes, reporter article and suspect/victim social media post. Detective Evidence gathering. In small forensics teams collect the evidence from a scene. Photograph, bag and label each item. Special Agent Investigation Board. Examine a sample investigation board then apply the questions (what, when, why, who, where) and different aspects (crime scene, suspect, witness, evidence, victim) to assigned case. Create investigation board. Magic Mirror. Draw a portrait of the meanest, guiltiest or biggest villain from the fairy tale world in the magic mirror frame. Explain your choice. Who would be the kindest or most heroic of them all?

Updated November 2024 with six new characters and improved templates. These mug shots were taken at the Fairy Tale Police Department! The fairy tale characters are suspects of crimes. Did they do something wrong? Did they commit a crime? Are they innocent or guilty? There are thirteen mug shot pictures featuring well-known characters from favourite stories and blank templates for students to create their own. The pictures are a versatile resource that can be used for guessing games, discussion, drama and writing prompts. Activity ideas are included in the download. Good for a fairy tale or crime topic, English including oracy and Citizenship. This resource is part of a ‘Once upon a Crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales and accompanies the Fairytale Forensics unit of study. You can also ‘bundle and save’ on this series.

Some fairytale folk have been up to no good! After reading the model case file on the alleged crimes of Goldie Locks, students practise their form filling skills to complete a case file for another fictional character. There are sections for personal details (name, age, address etc. as well as information on the crime, witnesses and a short statement from the accused. This activity provides the opportunity for humour and imagination, while developing real-life writing skills. Basing writing on well-known stories will support students who struggle to come up with ideas. Good for: fairy tales writing skills citizenship, crime There are thirteen fairy tale character writing frames, (including a blank version of Goldie Locks) and 1 blank template so other characters can be used. There are UK and US versions (UK is A4 with ‘defence’, US letter size and ‘defense’). This resource is part of a ‘Once upon a crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales. The activity is one of twelve in a Fairy Tale Forensics unit of study and works well as a springboard for other activities involving role play and writing in the unit. The mug shots are also available as a separate resource. You can also ‘bundle and save’ on this series. This pack was updated with new characters and UK and US versions in November 2024.

These badge and photo ID card templates will help students get in role as a police officer of the Fairy Tale Police Department (FTPD), or a special agent of Fairytale Investigation Bureau (FBI)! Great for role play and drama activities. The ID cards have frames for drawing a self portrait (photo) and writing names / job titles. Colour and greyscale versions included. This resource is part of the ‘Once upon a Crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales. It is designed for Collecting Evidence and Special Agent Investigation Board activities, two of twelve lessons featured in a Fairy Tale Forensics unit of study. You can bundle and save on these resources.

Writing and drawing frames for evidence collecting at the scene of a crime! Great for role play or building a case in a crime scenario. Contains a model for students to use as inspiration / guidance, label and two sizes of bags. You can, of course, use real bags and add the printed labels, especially if using real objects as evidence. This resource is part of the ‘Once upon a crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales. It is designed for one of twelve activities featured in a Fairy Tale Forensics presentation. It can be a one-off lesson or an introduction to the Special Agent Investigation Board project. The police and Fairytale Bureau of Investigation (FBI) badges and ID cards complement this resource. You can also ‘bundle and save’ on this series.

Inspired by the magic mirror from Snow White that tells the truth about characters, these templates can be used as frames for portraits. Heroes and villains are key feature of fairy tales. Characters tend to be represented in black and white terms, purely good or evil. This makes fairy tales a great vehicle for exploring character traits and discussing good and bad deeds. Children can decide who they think is the meanest (or kindest) fairy tale character and draw them. Depending on their age/developmental stage they can ‘show and tell’ their thoughts, perhaps scribed by an adult or write a few sentences to explain their choice. Some children may prefer to write in the frame instead of drawing. The pack contains two colour images (useful for discussion/display/modelling) and six black and white versions for drawings of the ‘kindest’ and ‘meanest’ of them all. There are variations on the wording, for example, the ‘biggest villain’ and ‘most heroic’. Did you know in the Disney film the evil queen says “Magic mirror” not “Mirror, mirror”? There is a magic mirror version too, in case you prefer this! This resource is part of a ‘Once upon a crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales. The activity is one of 12 in a Fairy Tale Forensics unit of study presentation which includes a police line-up of characters that could be used as a stimulus for mirror portraits. The Mug Shots resource would also complement this activity. You can ‘bundle and save’ on this series.

An activity for learning about fairy tales and famous quotes from well known characters. Can children read the quote and match it to the correct character? 2 A4 sheets with 8 characters and corresponding quotes. Can be enlarged and used for teacher modelling or group/class activity. This activity is also useful as a demonstration of how well students know fairy tales, an adult can support with reading. This resource complements the ‘Once Said in a Fairytale’ collection available in the Teachers Telling Tales tes shop.