Three week writing unit for Year 3/Year 4. A fully resourced and differentiated unit including all slides and activities. Drama! Talk! Reading skills! Grammar skills! Organising information in fun and inviting ways! It’s all ready to pick up and use. I have included the full unit in a zip folder (if you buy, just use the zip!), as you cannot see it all in the preview. The children begin with an assessment task (a cold task) and then spend a week exploring a model text about the Stone Age and learning some key grammar skills for year 3 and 4. They go on to learn about structure and organisation whilst also learning about mammoths! Finally they use all of their new skills to create their own information text about the Iron Age. The whole 15 lesson unit is full of games and activities focused on these skills: I can show what I already know about writing an information text I can ask questions to improve my understanding of the text I can quickly find information in non-fiction texts I can use conjunctions (when, before, after, while) to explain when things happen I can use prepositions (in, on, inside, at, by, during, before, after) to explain when and where I can spot the key features of information texts I can use paragraphs to group information I can use headings and sub-headings to organise an information text I can present (show) information in different ways I can use glossaries to check the meaning of words (repair ‘meaning breakdowns’)

This is a five session writing workshop designed to support Y6 writers achieve their age related expectation. It could easily be adapted by other KS2 classes for use as news report unit. During the project, children pick events from the story of Theseus and retell them in a journalistic style. They explore topic sentences, direct speech, reported speech, passive voice and many other skills. All resources are included. I ran this as a one-day writing workshop for writers who were a little off track. It could easily be adapted for use in any KS2 setting - everything is fully editable. I had some great outcomes - I’m sure you will too.

37 spelling questions linked to the Y5/6 spelling list and other patterns and rules that Y5/6 need to know. Complete each challenge to solve the Christmas joke puzzle! The answer is at the end of the sheet - don’t show your pupils. It’s a festive way of assessing spelling!

It can be tricky for young spellers to choose between the suffixes ‘-able’ and ‘-ible’. The two player dice game ‘WinnABLE’ gives players lots of opportunities to spell and discuss these words and introduces a much needed element of FUN! There is also a simple presentation and a word sorting warm up to use with your class. I’d allow a full session for this suffix work.

There are lots of resources already available for expanded noun phrases, but none that really challenge children to develop their vocabulary and make really adventurous or precise choices. This dice activity encourages children to try out new word choices from extensive word banks, and it is fully differentiated into three versions. In its simplest form, children add adjectives and pairs of adjectives to noun phrases. In its most challenging form, children may have to add two compound adjectives and a preposition phrase - this can result in some wonderfully descriptive sentences. It all depends on the roll of a dice. Of course, teachers that love using my games will have guessed that already! Try it with your class and then ask them to apply the skill in their next composition. Fully editable so that you can easily adapt it to the unit you are working on by changing the single clause sentences that the children will be developing. *The main version here works well with myth, legend and adventure, but I have added a sci-fi version to show how it can be adapted for use with any fiction.

Teach modal verbs in the context of the amazing ‘Guinness surfer with horses’ advert (young teachers: google it). Assessment focus: I know some modal verbs, and I can explain why they are useful. I can use modal verbs statements and questions. I can use modal verbs creatively to show possibility/likelihood. In this fully resourced lesson, pupils learn about modal verbs and then use them in sentences about the doubts and worries of the surfer in the advert and the dangers he faces. There is clear differentiation for high attainer, on track learners and SEN learners. The powerpoint will guide you through. Enjoy!

Do you want your class to learn about the language of explanation whilst also learning how to host parties and start fires in the wild? Try the dice activity ‘Cause and effect’. Assessment focus: I can use causal connectives to extend a sentence or begin a new sentence. When writing explanations, many children find it difficult to discern between conjunctions that join sentences (eg because, so) and adverbs/adverbials that begin a new, closely related sentence or at the very least follow a semi-colon (eg however, as a result of). This activity gives children lots of opportunities to use causal connectives (because, so, so that, however, consequently, this means, this will, this may, as a result of this) orally and in sentences. Most importantly, it helps them to think about whether they are extending a sentence or beginning a new one. This could be used before my other popular resource for explanation writing: ‘Explain yourself’. That activity enables children to develop a full explanation, whereas this narrows the focus to sentence skills.

Sweet shop lists! A fun way to generate list sentences Assessment focus I can use a comma (or ‘and’) to separate things in a list You will need: a dice guide (included), a tick chart (included), a 1-6 dice Support: Reduce the number of items on the tick list. Use a 1-3 dice and reduce the number of rows on the dice guide. Challenge: For each item in your list add an adjective to extend the noun phrase. There are some helpful words in the ‘Yum word bank’. Example: We shared our chewy fudge, sour laces and delicious lollipops.

This is an Iron Age themed Quiz Quiz Trade with 32 facts for the class to learn - this really support information writing. Also included are instructions on how to play Quiz Quiz Trade and an extra little 12 fact Quiz Quiz Trade about Mammoths!

I can identify unstressed vowels I can spell words with unstressed vowels Children (and adults!) often spell words with unstressed vowels incorrectly (how about these: diffrent, intresting, seprate, evryone…). This dice game encourages learners to engage with this tricky group of words. Players identify and sort unstressed vowel words into groups. They record them on a game sheet. No marking - peer assessment built in (answers are on the reverse of cards). There is a competitive element to add some fun, but it could just as easily be played collaboratively. I have included ideas on how to quickly differentiate the game, to include all learners. There is also a quick warm sorting activity. My class enjoyed it. I hope yours do too. All you need is 1-6 dice. The rest is all here.

Two dice games for KS2: ‘Point or show quantity’ pupils explore the two basic functions of determiners. ‘Introduce the noun’ pupils add determiners to noun phrases and sort determiners into groups. Both games have a competitive element but are tightly focused on the following objectives: I know that determiners have two jobs: ‘pointing’ or ‘showing quantity’ I can use determiners accurately in sentences I can use a wide variety of determiners to introduce nouns I can sort determiners into groups Determiners can get a little confusing for primary school aged children when you get beyond simple ‘a’ or ‘an’ activities. How far you go with your class is best judged by you (of course!). Through the presentation (which you may wish to simplify, depending on how far you wish to go with determiners) and engaging dice games, children will use lots of talk, and really engage with this tricky-to-define but important group of words.

I have recently produced a far more in depth ‘Theseus’ unit with masses of carefully produced, differentiated resources and detailed planning. It is available here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/theseus-and-the-minotaur-3-weeks-of-detailed-planning-fully-resourced-and-differentainted-11914692 Here are lots of older Theseus resources, including a model text, comprehension work, story boards, fronted adverbials activity, planning frames etc.

Assessment focus I can use colons to explain and add detail (description: detail) I can use colon sentences in non-fiction writing Colons can be used for various purposes (before lists, introducing quotes), but this activity focuses on the use of the colon to separate two main clauses. By playing this dice game, children get plenty of opportunities to practise this skill, whilst finding out about some very creepy creatures. There is also a version of the activity for learners that need a lot of support, and an explanation of what to do with your high attaining writers. Enjoy!

I can use the relative pronouns ‘who’, ‘which’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘whose’ and ‘that’ to write relative clauses. Specific relative pronouns are used when referring to different nouns. The fun dice game ‘Meet the relatives’ encourages children to think about which relative pronoun is most suitable for the noun in the sentence. The aim of the game is to be the first player to write an embedded relative clause using each of the relative pronouns on the game card. There are three versions of the game, to ensure that all learners are included and appropriately challenged. Enjoy meeting the relatives!

I or Me? These two pronouns are used regularly in English spoken language and writing, but often incorrectly! In KS2 children are expected to make an 'appropriate choice of pronoun or noun within and across sentences to aid cohesion and avoid repetition'. This resource provides a lesson plan outlining the rules regarding when to use 'I' and 'me' correctly (focussing on using I or me with another name) through a Powerpoint presentation with working examples and a board game. It also teaches the children a 'trick' to use to self-check that they have chosen the correct pronoun. There are 'support' and 'challenge' versions of the game and the grids are complete with no cutting out required, saving you plenty of time! The game is a fun way to consolidate the learning and includes a simple lesson plan, the game, the powerpoint presentation and the game boards, all of which can be edited and adpated to suit your pupils. I or Me? is best suited to Years 4-6 for use with children who speak english as their first language or for older children for whom english is an additional language.

Create stunning descriptive sentences about WW2 settings. During this sentence building activity, young writers describe damaged homes, a pier and a pavilion. You could quickly edit the images and the word banks to match landmarks in your local area. We went on to use the sentences we created in stories set during WW2. Enjoy!

I couldn't find much out there on KS2 noun phrases. Lots of stuff for KS1, but I feel it still needs pushing in KS2. On top of that, I couldn't find any decent short texts for sci-fi writing... So here is a very exciting - but also brief - sci-fi text. Children have to expand the noun phrases. There are 6 suggested ways they can expand nouns and a detailed word bank to support them. The text could also be used as a model for writing - it would be easy to play with it create something entirely new. Worked for my class.

This activity has also been developed into ‘First Week Back Poetry’, a fully resourced one week unit (PowerPoints, plans, activities). It is available from my shop. Please follow this link https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12907781 Upper KS2 poetry activity: ‘What I DIDN’T do over the summer!’ We didn’t all go on amazing holidays over the summer, but there are amazing things in front of our noses. Try this poetry activity with upper KS2 children. If you use this - and I saved you some time - please leave a review in return.