Skills: These activities are good for counting with 1-1 correspondence, beginning to count in twos, beginning to notice patterns (doubles and halves). Pointing to each foot or sock will help with accuracy and children can also circle or cross off objects when they count to help keep track. Contents: Worksheets worksheets ‘Animals Love Socks’ and ‘If Minibeasts Wore Socks’ (colour and ink saving versions included) Colouring pages, sock-topus and incey wincey spider for designing socks. Teacher’s Guide 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 Fantastic Footwear which includes templates for socks and a variety of shoes and themed design challenge task cards. You can purchase a bundle at a discounted price.

Having a theme for each day is a good way to build community with a group of learners, especially when teaching online. It adds structure to the week and gives students an opportunity to participate. This pack contains alliterative ideas for each day, such as ‘tongue-twister Tuesday’ or ‘fact or fiction Friday’. There is inspiration for starter activities, quizzes, a range of subject areas and fun dressing up activities. Ideas can be printed on individual cards for each day or a chart for the week to add to your wall or stick in your planner. The cards come with UK and US spelling versions, A4 and letter size. Charts also in UK/US spelling with landscape and portrait variations. PDF and PNG files (so you can adjust the size to suit). New Update (22.01.21) Now includes example cards for Would You Rather, This or That and Friday Faves, blank cards for each day and lists of discussion points for Would You Rather and This or That. Further Update (28.08.22) Printable cards for Would You Rather (new examples) and This or That for one-to-one or small group discussion. I found these helpful for social games working in alternative provision.

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.

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?