'The Real Thief' is one of my favourite children's books, here is an exciting unit I have created around this wonderfully engaging story about a loyal goose who is falsely accused of a crime and the emotions that surround this. The unit includes some drama to bring the story to life. It covers reading comprehension, poetry scripts, vocabulary development, shape poetry, persuasive writing and story writing in the first person. The key is not telling the children what happens next, so they do not know who the real thief is until you want them to.The language is exquisite. The second part of the story explores the real thief Derek (a mouse) and his changing emotions . Children learn to empathise when they think of how much they sometimes desire toys etc and can explore both sides of the story, learning that characters are more complex than good/bad.

The children spend time collecting interesting and adventurous vocabulary linked to the Pompeii disaster when Mount Vesuvius erupted. They then do some drama linked to this to explore further how it might have felt to be a civilian in Pompeii. The children will create a interesting poem using the vocabulary and their own ideas. All instructions for how to teach this and how to structure the poem are on the Smartboard. There is a link to a great video, which will bring this tragedy to life. Please leave feedback once you have completed these lessons. It could take up to a week.

There is the story and then two comprehensions aligned to the latest national curriculum and the questions mirror the ones asked in SATS in year 6. Quality text to extend vocabulary.

This smart board lesson teaches children to understand what a flash back is by looking at short videos from well known children's films. It explores the point of flash backs, which is for us to learn more about the character's personality. It then has a follow up activity where children can create their own short film flash backs on ipads and then write them in story form.

Here are differentiated comprehension questions designed for year 5 but could be for younger or older. There are answer sheets too for the HAP and MAP. PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK!

A reading comp with some challenging questions about this poem. We have beautifully illustrated books of this poem, illustrated by Charles Keeping which are worth getting hold of. PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK! The poem is also dramatised in a youtube video which you will find if you type in the title. This could be used as part of a topic on this wonderful and mysterious poem.

I have written this for 8 and 9 year olds to perform but it could be used with older children. I have two versions, one shorter than the other with less characters. I have tried to stick to the real play but used modern language. Sometimes if I could I put in some of the original language. The cast list has so many parts as we have three classes but there could easily be less, by having less narrators, percussionists etc. I have found some great songs to go with it from this the starshine website but you have to buy the CD.

This resource can be used along side my other Big Spelling resources. Big Spellings can be used in a primary or junior school so that each child has a spelling list to suit their ability. (see my other resources which include initial assessments and full instructions). These lists can be used for a few children in each class who really struggle to retain spellings. Each week these Dyslexia Friendly spellings consist of the same 5 High Frequency Words for 3 weeks in a row. Each week the other 5 spellings change and are phonic based, with the easier sounds first. PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK!

These are differentiated spelling lists for a first or middle school, and there is a file here which explains exactly how it could work in your school. It means each child has exactly the right spelling list for them regardless of age. This was a very popular resource with over 100 ratings and 5 stars. Lots of schools have adopted it and I've had very positive feedback from teachers, but took me all summer to make and so I thought I'd start to charge for it. It encourages independence as the children test each other at the end of the week. There are enough spelling lists on one A4 sheet to last a term. The lists start with cvc words and phonic sounds, progressing to very challenging words. They also contain all the High Frequency Words. There are free assessment sheets in another resource to work out which sheet each child starts at. Also hold Spelling Bees! (see my free resources for this!)

This sequence of lessons enables children to create their own firework poem from scratch, by using a helpful planning structure. I did this with my class last year and they wrote them up for display, drawing fireworks in the borders, and they were impressive.The children were proud of their work. The planning sheet helps them to generate adventurous and effective vocabulary, but it is flexible and the last two lessons show you how the children can make choices to create a unique poem. I have created a completed planning sheet for the teacher with interesting vocabulary.Each lesson begins with spellings and grammar. The ones on the slides are designed for year 5 and can be adapted but may also be appropriate for other year groups. You can follow the Smartboard slides which take you through the lesson and explain what to do, and/or you can read the lesson plans. It is important to have a flip chart to write on.

The children will need to learn about concrete and abstract nouns first. They have ten sentences and have to underline all the nouns. There is an answer sheet.

There is a 'while you wait' looking at 'an', then an unrelated starter (was/were) and then examples of how 'a' and 'the' can change the meaning of a sentence, for example a queen/the queen, a dog/the dog. They then create their own sentences and draw pictures. e.g. There is a dog. (they draw any dog) There is the dog (their own or one they know).

It helps if the children have an introduction to contractions before beginning this. This is a really enjoyable activity which the children loved. They have to look through picture and chapter books to find examples of contractions.They find that they are often in dialogue. Give them a fixed time and a reward e.g.moves forward. We have a track on the wall and they have to get to the end by the end of the week by getting enough moves forward. If they get to the end they get a small prize. Very motivating. You can also give moves back which they don't like!

Follow the Smart board slides which takes you through this lesson which aims to develop their use of alliteration and extend their vocabulary.This is very structured so all the class can write a great poem, whatever their ability. There is an example poem and vocabulary ideas for you to extend their vocabulary range, including an A to Z adjective sheet with high quality vocab. Looks great for display.

A useful game to teach children the less obvious plurals, such as heroes, women, sheep, lives, wolves etc. Play the game and time them. Try to beat your time the more you play! PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK! Photocopy on to the card, cut up and give out to each child in the class. Start with the START cards

A useful game to teach children the less obvious past tense verbs. Play the game and time them. Try to beat your time the more you play! PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK! Photocopy on to the card, cut up and give out to each child in the class. Start with the START card-this is the end card too.

These are chosen from the list of non-statutory homophones that year 3 and 4 should learn, from the new national curriculum for English. PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK!This game teaches the definitions as well. When the word is in brackets and in capitals the children should spell it out by saying the letter names. Time yourselves and make a note of the time. reward them when they beat their time!

Read the poem 'The Sea' by James Reeves which is a metaphor. The sea is a hungry dog. Give each child a copy. Put the class into four or five teams. Photocopy the questions and chop up the questions. Each teams questions can be on a different colour paper. One team member comes up to get a question, takes it back to the team and shares it with them. Discuss answer and bring the question back to the teacher and tell them the answer. If correct they get a team point and then another member gets the next question. They love this! I have also included traditional comprehension questions that they can stick in their books, SEN/LA , MA and HA.

This resource links to my BIG SPELLING resources, which contain spelling lists for years 3 to 6 and assessment lists. This shows you how you can ensure that your children learn the statutory spelling lists in the new national curriculum, bit by bit, in a manageable way, whilst continuing with Big Spellings.

This poem could be studied over several lessons. I used this for SATS revision. Initially I read it and we discussed the meaning. Then I gave a verse out to each pair and asked one of them to practise reading it and the other to create a freeze-frame to show the main idea in the poem. Then we performed the poem in a circle. Most of the comprehension questions focus on the earlier part of the poem so you could add more questions if needed. Before you read the poem show them a photo of a wolf hound and afterwards show them a photo of his grave. Please leave feedback!