Raising standards in KS1 and Special Needs: helping every child to succeed.
I have taught systematic phonics to all ages and abilities for over 30 years. My teaching degree was in Environmental Studies and I hate to see science reduced to box-ticking when there is so much to discover about the wonderful world we live in.
So, I produce Phonic resources that meet the real needs of children and teachers, along with science resources to engage children in learning about the natural world.
Raising standards in KS1 and Special Needs: helping every child to succeed.
I have taught systematic phonics to all ages and abilities for over 30 years. My teaching degree was in Environmental Studies and I hate to see science reduced to box-ticking when there is so much to discover about the wonderful world we live in.
So, I produce Phonic resources that meet the real needs of children and teachers, along with science resources to engage children in learning about the natural world.
An easy reader about mushrooms for those beginning to read longer simple texts - with words that can be sounded out using phonic knowledge and only a few most common sight words.
Learn about mushrooms through a simple story.
For lesson notes and more help see:
https://ks1nature.weebly.com/free-science-lessons/mushrooms-for-ks1
See also our mushroom lesson resources and Power Point.
Learn to name common wildflowers and learn about their habitats.
Plenty of advice for teachers/parents as to how and why to teach children to recognise wild flowers as well as suggested activities.
Includes:
diagram of a flower so teachers/parents can learn the parts of a flower for themselves.
6 flowers to colour
Wildflower ID sheet
Parts of a flower explanation
A ‘My flower’ sheet on which finds can be recorded
A colour chart/mat to aid learning the names of some common wildflowers.
Photos for discussion/display
Newly updated with more photos and pictures to colour
This pack is meant to be used alongside the lesson aide which can be found at KS1 Nature where you can find a simple text that can be read to children alongside beautiful photos and drawings of six common late spring/summer wildflowers to be seen. This can be used as a stimulus to find flowers of your own and to examine them carefully.
Read about Autumn Leaves. Learn why leaves change colour and fall in autumn. An easy reader for those beginning to read longer simple texts - with words that can be sounded out using phonic knowledge and only a few most common sight words.
Learn Science at the same time as learning to read!
This book can be used for guided reading alongside our 'Autumn Leaves’ PowerPoint presentation.
See also mini conker project
Conkers reading book
Conkers PowerPoint presentation
See more at [KS1 Nature]https://ks1nature.weebly.com/)
A bumper pack of 62 number worksheets for Spring - but can be used all through the year. The clear simple layout makes them suitable for EYFS/Y1 children and SEND pupils. Suitable for home-learning.
Covering:
More/
Matching
1:1 correspondence
Number formation 1 to 10
Counting/completing sets
Beginning addition and subtraction
Introduction to multiplying and dividing
Grouping into tens and ones.
Tried and tested on real classes.
Something for everyone!
A complete lesson to teach ch and sh of Phase 3 Letters and Sounds.
Suitable for use with all phonic programmes including Read, Write Inc…
A great little pack for classroom, home use and special needs catch-up work .
Handy teaching hints/plan included.
Pack includes:
Ch and Sh lesson videos (FREE)
ch and sh flashcards
ch and sh word flashcards
Sentences to read
Speed reading practice sheets for both sounds
ch and sh Worksheets
Assessment sheets for both sounds - help to know what further work needs to be done
Short reading book to practice cvc and ck words.
ch/sh game - a matching pictures to sounds - either for individual matching or to play as a game for two players.
These phonic ‘Learn to Write’ letter tracing sheets for Special needs children have been developed to accompany the learning of the initial sounds, to help the child who does not yet have the ability to write unaided begin to become familiar with letter shapes and correct letter formation.
The physical act of writing letters while learning initial sounds is important because the movement of the hand to write, alongside seeing the letters and saying their sounds helps to make the learning process multi-sensory, which in turn ensures that more children, including those with special needs, become successful readers and writers.
The sheets are placed in alphabetical order, but can be used in any order, according to the phonic scheme you are using.
Do ensure that the child has plenty of free drawing practice alongside the use of these sheets so that the child develops sufficient pencil control to move on to independent writing.
Two fun , fully interactive Power Points to help children to learn to add and subtract one, based on counting rhymes:
One little bird in the sky so blue, along came another and that made two…Adding one more each time to five
Five little fishes swimming near the shore, one swam away and then there were four…Subtracting on each time from 5 to zero.
Made for a SEN pupil, but suitable for all ages.
Great for distance learning lessons/1:1 tutition/private tutors, OR
For whole class use
18 weather-related worksheets and puzzles covering 6 areas of weather:
•What is the weather like today?
•Hot and Cold
•What shall I wear today?
•It’s Windy
•It’s Raining
•General Weather
3 Worksheets for each:
1 easy activity for younger children/lower ability,
2 word searches, 1 easy and 1 harder.
Use for a topic on weather, or as early finisher activities at any time of the year.
The harder words searches were originally written for a class of Y3 children so can be used with that age group too.
These worksheets are included in the Weather Project Pack but are listed here separately for those who only want the worksheets.
Help your child/ren learn to count and write the numbers 0 to 5 - suitable for home or school use. 28 worksheets.
Each number is introduced and then practiced to build confidence and ensure success.
Includes:
Learning to write numbers
Matching 1 to 1
Ordering
Biggest/smallest
Number patterns
The easy, clear format is suitable for all ages and abilities - including those with learning difficulties.
Reinforces classwork - schools can print individual pages for home or school use.
Parents can download and print themselves as a first maths workbook.
See also:
Count 6 - 10
Beginning addition and subtraction
Here is a bundle of over 90 worksheets to teach number recognition, formation and simple addition and subtraction.
The worksheets provide unashamedly, old-fashioned maths teaching that is time proven to help all pupils, including those with a special need, to develop strong, foundational maths skills.
Suitable for use as individual worksheets in class, or as a workbook for home-school use.
See individual products for full contents details.
This Year 1 teaching resource pack, based on squirrrels, will help children to use the local environment throughout the year to explore and answer questions about animals in their habitat.
Pack includes Year 1 Science lesson outlines and worksheets on the subject of squirrels useful for follow-up work.
Background information for teachers so you have the answers to hand and can feel knowledgeable bout your subject without spending hours researching.
Lesson notes and ideas to help you plan
18 Differentiated worksheets will cater for all abilities in your class!
The worksheets cover
What squirrels eat
Parts of a squirrel
Labelling a squirrel (characteristics)
Where they live
Writing paper for recording
Comprehension sheets
And more!
The pack will:
Help you to fully embrace the non-statutory guidance for the Year 1 National Curriculum for Science as well as teaching the statutory requirements.
Bring Science alive and help you to deliver excellent lessons based on squirrels in the local environment.
Designed to appeal to the Y1 child, gently introducing key vocabulary. Written by an Environmental Education, Early Years specialist (ages 3 to 8) who understands how children learn.
Year 1: Science curriculum covered:
• identify and name a variety of common animals, including birds.
• describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals (including birds).
Identify and name a variety of common animals that are …omnivores.
The Squirrel worksheets can be used with:
Our Squirrel PowerPoint which is great for starting a lesson, or reinforcing what has been learnt at the end.
Our CVC Words Read and Reveal books are perfect for those just starting to blend.
Read the word on one page, turn over to reveal the picture and check that you are right!
Children love the visual feedback and it boosts their confidence no end when they find out that they can really read!
7 booklets, each with 7 words, grouped into sound families, and 7 pictures:
ap words
at words
an words
ip/in words
op/og words
Mixed shore vowel ‘e’ words
Mixed short vowel ‘u’ words
For use with all UK approved phonics programmes.
Prints on 2 pages of A4 double-sided - flip on the long edge.
Simply trim to A5, and staple.
Great to use in class, or to send home in book bags.
31 ‘ng’ fully differentiated worksheets, for use with any phonic programme, catering for the needs of the average class and special needs.
Written for those at the early stages of phonics, e.g.: Letters and Sounds Phase 3 and Read Write Inc, Set 1 Special Friends and for catch up work, extra practice, ESL/EFL and special needs.
The worksheets give practice in:
Reading and spelling ‘ng’ words
Tracking the ‘ng’ sound in words and sentences
Proofreading
Comprehension
rhymes
Writing sentences using ‘ng’ words.
These worksheets are simple, but effective. For use by teachers and private tutors.
Find activities suitable for all abilities
Assume no knowledge of other digraphs (except on two stated worksheets where ‘th’ and ‘ck’ are used in higher level worksheets)
Two worksheets for most activities: one without consonant blend words, and one with consonant blend words.
Suitable for Special Needs/intervention work/homework.
A pack of two super fun games to help children learn to hear the final sound of words, so vital for spelling with phonics. The games cover the final sounds: t,d, k, g, p, b, n, m and s.
They can also be used for speech therapy giving practice in like sounds: d/t/, k/g/ and p/b with which some children struggle.
Children from EYFS to teens with sepecial needs will enjoy playing these games!
Some children need a little extra practice to hear the final sounds of words, and a game takes the tedium out of learning!
Children will want to play these games again and again and you can change the sound each time. Nine sounds with 63 picture cards and two boards to choose from means the child will not get bored
Build a Castle, Win the Race: you choose! You can even change the fun level by adding in extra/missed turns - but play it simply first.
The games can be for up to 4 players, though it is recommended that each player plays first with an adult until s/he has begun to hear the final sound.
Full instructions are given.
Both games come in either colour or ink-saving black and white.
I made these games to help a ten-yr-old reluctant pupil to hear the final sounds of words. It won him round and now he is an expert!
I hope they help you too!
22 ‘ck’ fully differentiated worksheets, for use with any phonic programme. Written for those just beginning to blend, e.g Letters and sounds Phases 2 -4 and RWI Speed Set 1, Special friends. These worksheets cater for the needs of the average class and special needs.
The worksheets give practice in:
Reading and spelling ck words
Tracking the ck sound in words and sentences
Proofreading
Comprehension
Writing sentences using ck words.
These worksheets are simple, but effective. For use by teachers and private tutors.
Find activities suitable for all abilities
Assume no knowledge of other digraphs
Two worksheets for most activities: one without consonant blend words, and one with consonant blend words.
Suitable for Special Needs/intervention work/homework.
If you have already purchased our big book of Phases 3 and 4 worksheets for Letters and Sounds, you may have a few of these sheets, but this pack contains mainly new/changed material.
Two PowerPoints suitable for use when teaching about Seasons/weather/changing levels of light through the year.
Covers many areas of science:
Seasons:
Learn what changes to look out for across the four seasons
Learn that days get shorter and longer throughout the year
How this affects the weather
How the seasons affect us: what we wear/what we do
How the seasons affect plants and animals
Light and Dark
Darkness is the absence of light
The sun is the main source of light on Planet Earth
Reminds pupils never to look directly at the sun
The sun provides warmth too - or Earth would be very cold
Why plants need the sun: to make food to help them reproduce
Creatures of the day (the need for survival)
Shadows - how they are formed
Plants and animals that prefer the shade and why (the need for survival)
Creatures of the night
Nocturnal (the need for survival)
Both with full narration notes plus notes under slides for use in Presenter View.
Use our Lesson notes to help you to plan your lesson about the life-cycle of butterflies.Aimed to help stimulate enquiry and observation. Useful as part of work on life-cycles.
How to raise butterflies from the egg stage
Links to the National Curriculum for Science
What to look for/background information for each stage - helping you to feel like an expert!
Questions to help get the class thinking and to model asking questions
Guided reading sheets: blow up for class use, or copy for group/individual use
Use the worksheets for follow up:
Pictures to order the life-cycle of a butterfly
Label the parts of a butterfly
Draw and write about an observed caterpillar/butterfly
Reading comprehension
2 poems with comprehension exercises to follow each (two ability levels)
Decorated writing sheets
See our other life-cycle Lesson resources and Powerpoints:
Life-cycle of a Horse Chestnut Tree
Apples
Frogs
Daffodils
Apples
Two books to give ample practice learning to read, write and count numbers from zero to ten. Used extensively by the author with many KS1 children, including those with special needs.
Total 60 worksheets.
Can be used as stand alone worksheets for the school or for home-school as workbooks.
Can be used with any maths programme.
This is a fun, interactive counting PowerPoint to help young children/SEN pupils to count backwards from five as they join in the rhyme:
Five little fishes swimming near the shore, one swam a way and then there were …four.
Full instructions are given. Please play with it first yourself so that you know how it works, before using it with your pupil/s.
Bright hand-drawn, colourful pictures make this a charming activity!
I made this fun PowerPoint for a SEND eight-year-old who is learning to count and he thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope your pupils do too!
See our Bird Counting Power Point for counting to five and adding one more.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12522911
A fun interactive bird-counting rhyme in interactive Power Point form, to learn numbers and 1:1 correspondence:
One little bird in the sky so blue, along came another and that made two etc…
Click to reveal numbers, and add one more and count again.
I enjoyed making this Power Point for a speech delayed 8yr old child who is having trouble grasping 1:1 correspondence and I am working with him to help him to understand the worth of ‘1’ and the effect of adding ‘1 more’. There is no sound (other than chimes on the practice slides), allowing the teacher/parent to give the child as much time as needed to respond. Full narration is given.
It can of course be used by others of younger and older ages - but it has a more grown up feel than that provided by early counting rhymes.
I hope it will be helpful to others.