I have been teaching across the foundation phase and Key Stage 2 since 2004, and I have created a wide range of effective resources for all sorts of topics and subjects, all of which have been tried and tested with my own pupils. Most of my resources are already differentiated, as I know how much time this saves. I hope other teachers find these resources useful and that other pupils enjoy and benefit from them as much as my classes have. All reviews/ratings gratefully received!
I have been teaching across the foundation phase and Key Stage 2 since 2004, and I have created a wide range of effective resources for all sorts of topics and subjects, all of which have been tried and tested with my own pupils. Most of my resources are already differentiated, as I know how much time this saves. I hope other teachers find these resources useful and that other pupils enjoy and benefit from them as much as my classes have. All reviews/ratings gratefully received!
This is a sunflower growing diary I created for a Year 1 class, but it would also suit Year 2 pupils. My class planted sunflowers in pots in school, which they then took home, along with the diary booklets. They completed one page each week, drawing, measuring and describing the changes in their sunflower each weekend for their homework over a half term, before returning the booklets and sunflowers to school during the last week of term.
Storyboard-style worksheet for writing instructions to grow cress. There are three differentiated versions; one is a cut-and-stick sequencing version, the second is a cloze gap-fill version, and the third just has pictures and the pupils have to write all the instructions themselves.
Reading comprehension created based on player ratings of Wales players, differentiated for three ability levels with varying levels of questions, complexity of text and font size. Suitable for Year 3/4 or less able upper KS2 pupils.
Storyboard-style worksheet for writing instructions to making chocolate Easter 'nests'. There are three differentiated versions; one is a cut-and-stick sequencing version, the second is a cloze gap-fill version, and the third just has pictures and the pupils have to write all the instructions themselves.
This is a simple reading comprehension task which I created for my Year 3 class as a homework task, but could also be used in class. There are 3 pages in the file - the first is the lyrics, which everyone will need, and then there are two versions of the questions (one for the majority of the class, and one simpler version for the less able). I tried to write questions using similar formats to those used in our Year 2/3 national tests. I also included a QR code at the end, which links to the song on YouTube, so they can have a sing-along when they have finished!
Differentiated versions of a worksheet where pupils have to identify, then cut-and-stick (less able) or write about each of the people who helps us in the pictures.
Differentiated writing frames for pupils to innovate part of the well-known story 'Flat Stanley' by putting their own name into the 'Flat _______' title and then imagining where they would post themselves and what they might do in their chosen destination if they were flat like Stanley. Pupils write about their chosen destination, the more able give reasons for their choice, and then pupils write about the activities they would like to do, and draw pictures of themselves doing them.
Three differentiated worksheets, suitable for Year 1 & 2 pupils.
1 - Storyboard sheet with pictures and lines underneath for able writers to write each part of the story.
2 - Storyboard sheet with pictures and parts of the story with gaps for pupils to fill in.
3 - Complete storyboard in the wrong order for less able pupils to cut out and sequence.
I wrote this pantomime script to perform with a very large Year 3 class and Year 4 (62 pupils total), so it has plenty of parts for a large group of children. There is a variety of parts for different abilities, with large, medium and small speaking roles, dancing and singing parts, and non-speaking roles. For a smaller group, you could miss out the first couple of scenes and start where Buttons introduces the panto part.
I have included EVERYTHING you will need (apart from a stage and some children!). All these resources are in this pack:
*Play script,
*Poster/front cover
*Lyrics for all the classic Christmas songs we used, and one song I wrote (shortened version of 12 days of Christmas)
*Cast list - shows the difficulty of each part and ideas for costumes, plus space to write the names of your actors for each part.
*Background PowerPoint - Background slides with scene changes, 'Strictly' scoreboard (insert photos) and credits at the end (insert children's names) for children to walk off at the end according to their parts.
*Props list - all easy to make or find.
*QR codes sheet - with links to YouTube versions (almost all with lyrics) of all the songs (I gave this as homework for children to practise the songs at home.
*Printable tickets - just change the date and time and print!
The title is "Cinderella's Strictly Christmas" and the story begins with parents, teachers and pupils all preparing in different ways for the school play, with auditions, etc, before launching into a pantomime loosely based on Cinderella.
Cinderella, Buttons, two wicked stepmothers, five ugly sisters, the King & Queen, four princes, the royal party planner and a host of other characters are all involved in this magical Christmas tale, culminating in a special Christmas 'Strictly' style dancing competition at the palace.
Four Christmas guests (Buddy the elf, Santa, Mrs Claus & the Grinch) arrive to judge, the ugly sisters dance with the princes in an attempt to win a grand royal wedding, but Cinderella and Buttons arrive at the end and they end up dancing and winning the wedding themselves, before getting married and living happily ever after! Finally Buttons gets the girl!
I used a selection of well known Christmas songs (some from the Home Alone films and a few other classics...all available on YouTube for practice), which many of my pupils knew quite well already, which made life much easier and made it really fun for everybody!
This took quite a while to put together, but hopefully it will save you a huge amount of time and work during this especially busy time of year! The children and parents at my school absolutely loved it! I hope you enjoy it too!
Fact file worksheet for Year 3/4. My class used a combination of non-fiction books and internet research to find the necessary information to complete the sheet, which they then used as a plan to write their own non-chronological report, create a powerpoint presentation and finally a green screen video presentation about their chosen woodland animal.
A variety of worksheets based on different fairy tales, such as 'The 3 little pigs', 'Cinderella' and 'Frozen'. Several literacy tasks including analysing characters from the stories, and writing a spell for the Fairy Godmother.
Also included are a couple of worksheets for simple science experiments - one is a materials investigation based on 'The 3 little pigs' and the other is the 'Frozen Ice Bunnies' experiment, where we used rabbit-shaped sand moulds to create 'ice bunnies', which were assigned to 'Frozen' characters and placed in different places around the classroom on paper towels, then we measured how much they melted over time by measuring the patches of water on the paper towels.
A whole bundle of superhero-based resources, including differentiated poem and cartoon strip templates, fact files to create you own superhero or super villain, differentiated digital times worksheets, and a variety of other tasks including designing a cape and utility belt gadgets, and links to health eating by creating healthy superhero meals. Also links to PSE with a poem called 'Superhero in my house' where pupils write about one of their parents/relatives and everything they do for them. Some of these resources are also available separately...browse my 'shop' for details.
Leaf activity ideas which can be printed, cut up and laminated into cards for use in the outdoors with Foundation Phase pupils. Activities include sorting, measuring, colours, describing, symmetry and making things, all using leaves.
Differentiated planning sheet for a non-chronological report on the Celts. Higher ability pupils can use the planner to complete research about the Celts' daily life (houses, clothes, food, etc) and then use the writing frame to structure their non-chronological report with sub-headings. The planner and writing frame for lower ability pupils concentrates on the Celts' roundhouses (what they look like, how they are built, what would be found inside, etc). Used with my Year 3 class, but could also be used with Year 4.
I have also included a simple Venn diagram sheet, used to compare a Celtic roundhouse with a modern home, which my Year 3 class used as a starting point for their research into the roundhouses.
Great bundle of superhero-themed literacy templates for cartoon strips, poems and 2 fact files for creating your own superhero or super villain. Originally created for Year 1 but also suitable for Year 2 pupils. These resources are also available as part of a slightly larger superheroes bundle, which you can find in my 'shop'.
This is a differentiated retell task based on the story 'Ferocious wild beasts' by Chris Wormell. There are two versions; one is a sequencing activity with pictures of pages from the story, and the other is a storyboard, with pictures of pages from the story along with space for pupils to write sections of the story under each picture.
I made these for my Year 1 class during a zoo topic. There are three things included in this bundle...
Animal movement - A5 sheet with animal photos where pupils have to describe how each one moves (good to use whilst watching YouTube animal clips!)
Thinking skills - Used to record ideas about animals in a thinking skills animal habitat activity, where we created a small world consisting of different types of habitat, and pupils were given toy animals, which they had to place in a habitat and justify their choice.
Animal sorting task (differentiated) - This sorting task comes with templates for sorting animals using your choice of criteria using a table, Venn diagram or Carroll diagram, and also selections of animal photos in small squares ready to cut up and use.