It's simple really: English grammar can be a very dry subject, but this need not be the case. For a few years now, I have been developing a games-based approach to teaching important grammar concepts. It is amazing how the introduction of dice takes the learning into a new place - the element of chance making it seem less like work and more like play. Because I test my games extensively in the classroom, I get a feel for what works. Dump your boring worksheets and start dicing with grammar.
It's simple really: English grammar can be a very dry subject, but this need not be the case. For a few years now, I have been developing a games-based approach to teaching important grammar concepts. It is amazing how the introduction of dice takes the learning into a new place - the element of chance making it seem less like work and more like play. Because I test my games extensively in the classroom, I get a feel for what works. Dump your boring worksheets and start dicing with grammar.
Assessment focus
I can use a wide variety of sentences and conjunctions in my writing
Explanation
Some of us are great at writing long descriptive sentences, whilst others are superb at short and shocking ones. We don’t always remember to use a wide variety of sentence types throughout our writing. It is far more enjoyable to read a story packed with questions, exclamations, complex sentences and speech sentences than a story that sticks to one or two of these.
Have you ever wanted to write a story without doing any planning or preparation? Well, now’s your chance!
A simple presentation about active and passive sentences, with some key questions. It leads into a board game that could be used for independent work, in pairs. The game could be recorded in written sentences or simply to used to orally practise active and passive.
Assessment focus
I can compose simple and compound sentences.
Explanation
This is two versions of the same game. By rolling dice and flipping cards, children construct their own simple and compound sentences. The second version has lots of silent letters words as this was a spelling focus in my class.
It is an effective way of making sure that children are secure with these basic - yet important - sentence structures.
This is a whole lesson about the spelling patterns able and ible.
It includes 2 short quizzes, making up new words and a fun writing activity that encourages children to apply their understanding, using a tried and tested word bank and a fun (persuasive) context.
Great for spelling and sentence work.
Quiz, Quiz, Trade is a fun and active way for children to learn facts. The cards can be tailored to cover any subject area, topic or learning objective and are particularly useful for introducing a new subject area that your class wouldn't already know lots about. You could include a range of differentiated questions, but I have often found that the children you least expect will learn the more complicated facts after playing this game.
The idea behind Quiz, Quiz, Trade is that it is a fun, non-threatening and exciting game that is inclusive for all and will help all children in your class to acquire knowledge quickly. Really handy when you just need them to have a bit of background knowledge or learn something quickly in order to apply or develop the knowledge in their work. Quiz, Quiz, Trade can be used for any age group (my cards are all aimed at years 4-6) that will be able to read the questions and answers.
I have used Quiz, Quiz, Trade in observations with much success (see instruction page) and consistently use it to introduce new topics in class-the children love it!
Quiz, Quiz, Trade is a fun and active way for children to learn facts. The cards can be tailored to cover any subject area, topic or learning objective and are particularly useful for introducing a new subject area that your class wouldn't already know lots about. You could include a range of differentiated questions, but I have often found that the children you least expect will learn the more complicated facts after playing this game.
The idea behind Quiz, Quiz, Trade is that it is a fun, non-threatening and exciting game that is inclusive for all and will help all children in your class to acquire knowledge quickly. Really handy when you just need them to have a bit of background knowledge or learn something quickly in order to apply or develop the knowledge in their work. Quiz, Quiz, Trade can be used for any age group (my cards are all aimed at years 4-6) that will be able to read the questions and answers.
I have used Quiz, Quiz, Trade in observations with much success (see instruction page) and consistently use it to introduce new topics in class-the children love it!
Quiz, Quiz, Trade is a fun and active way for children to learn facts. The cards can be tailored to cover any subject area, topic or learning objective and are particularly useful for introducing a new subject area that your class wouldn't already know lots about. You could include a range of differentiated questions, but I have often found that the children you least expect will learn the more complicated facts after playing this game.
The idea behind Quiz, Quiz, Trade is that it is a fun, non-threatening and exciting game that is inclusive for all and will help all children in your class to acquire knowledge quickly. Really handy when you just need them to have a bit of background knowledge or learn something quickly in order to apply or develop the knowledge in their work. Quiz, Quiz, Trade can be used for any age group (my cards are all aimed at years 4-6) that will be able to read the questions and answers.
I have used Quiz, Quiz, Trade in observations with much success (see instruction page) and consistently use it to introduce new topics in class-the children love it!
A simple time saving resource.
Working in pairs, children have to pick numbers from one group and then pick operators from another group. Every class I have taught needs practise at this key skill, and this is a quick and easy way for them to generate lots of questions and discuss their answers.
This resource is 3 PowerPoint slides designed to be used as activity sheets. The activities become more challenging, involving more decimal places and more digits.
I recommend using place value sliders with this activity - they are easy to make if you don't have any.
I have also included a very simple dice game, covering the same objective. This can be easily differentiated by using more (or less ) dice.
I hope you find these activities as useful as I have.
Quiz, Quiz, Trade is a fun and active way for children to learn facts. The cards can be tailored to cover any subject area, topic or learning objective and are particularly useful for introducing a new subject area that your class wouldn't already know lots about. You could include a range of differentiated questions, but I have often found that the children you least expect will learn the more complicated facts after playing this game.
The idea behind Quiz, Quiz, Trade is that it is a fun, non-threatening and exciting game that is inclusive for all and will help all children in your class to acquire knowledge quickly. Really handy when you just need them to have a bit of background knowledge or learn something quickly in order to apply or develop the knowledge in their work. Quiz, Quiz, Trade can be used for any age group (my cards are all aimed at years 4-6) that will be able to read the questions and answers.
I have used Quiz, Quiz, Trade in observations with much success (see instruction page) and consistently use it to introduce new topics in class-the children love it!
Quiz, Quiz, Trade is a fun and active way for children to learn facts. The cards can be tailored to cover any subject area, topic or learning objective and are particularly useful for introducing a new subject area that your class wouldn't already know lots about. You could include a range of differentiated questions, but I have often found that the children you least expect will learn the more complicated facts after playing this game.
The idea behind Quiz, Quiz, Trade is that it is a fun, non-threatening and exciting game that is inclusive for all and will help all children in your class to acquire knowledge quickly. Really handy when you just need them to have a bit of background knowledge or learn something quickly in order to apply or develop the knowledge in their work. Quiz, Quiz, Trade can be used for any age group (my cards are all aimed at years 4-6) that will be able to read the questions and answers.
I have used Quiz, Quiz, Trade in observations with much success (see instruction page) and consistently use it to introduce new topics in class-the children love it!
Updated instructions now added Quiz, Quiz, Trade is a fun and active way for children to learn facts. The cards can be tailored to cover any subject area, topic or learning objective and are particularly useful for introducing a new subject area that your class wouldn’t already know lots about. You could include a range of differentiated questions, but I have often found that the children you least expect will learn the more complicated facts after playing this game.
The idea behind Quiz, Quiz, Trade is that it is a fun, non-threatening and exciting game that is inclusive for all and will help all children in your class to acquire knowledge quickly. Really handy when you just need them to have a bit of background knowledge or learn something quickly in order to apply or develop the knowledge in their work. Quiz, Quiz, Trade can be used for any age group (my cards are all aimed at years 4-6) that will be able to read the questions and answers.
I have used Quiz, Quiz, Trade in observations with much success (see instruction page) and consistently use it to introduce new topics in class-the children love it!
This is a lesson I used with a year 3 class, but it would be useful for any class learning how to subtract multiples of 10 using a money context.
There is a very detailed lesson plan, a presentation to guide the class along and all resources. You will also need a lot of 10p coins: ten 10p coins per pair of children. Just photocopy some if they’ve all gone missing!
After a few warm-ups, the children begin with some giving change role play activities, before moving on to working on open numberlines.
A lot of thought has been given to differentiation throughout the session. The independent work is differentiated three ways. There are extension activities as well and some challenges for the plenary.
This session may run over an hour, depending on how speedy your class are.
A version of battle ships which could be used to teach any spelling pattern you like. tried and tested in class.
This version is for plurals, but you could quickly edit the game to be played with any 10 words.
I hope your class like it as much as mine.
Five straightforward worksheets that require children to think about the meaning of prefixes, and select correct prefixes. A time-saver.
Prefixes covered: dis, re, mis, over, in, il, im, ir,
Suffixes covered: ence, ance
I can use a colon to introduce a list (when the clause before the list is independent)
This fun dice game gives children lots of opportunities to use a colon to introduce a list.
I have included three versions of the game, to ensure that all learners are included and challenged appropriately.
On track version: In pairs, use the on track dice guide. As players progress in the game, they must shade one colon on their game board for every item (or noun phrase) they include in each list. The first player to reach the finish is the winner.
Support version: In pairs, children use the support dice guide. During each round both players create a list sentence, using the opening clause on the dice guide, and a list of noun phrases. There are visual prompts on the dice guide to support writers with ideas.
Challenge version: Use the ‘on track’ dice guide, but ask the children to experiment with lists made up of expanded noun phrases that include commas, wherever possible. They can try using semi-colons to separate the items in each list.
Example of a sentence that could be created by playing this dice game at challenge level:
To create her magic potion she needed the following: wild mushrooms, from the lower field; oak bark, from the oldest tree in Western Wood; three long, white feathers and a twist of fresh sap, not more than a day old.
Your class will soon get the hang of colons to introduce lists if you play this for a session.
6 editable posters, pupil questionnaire, pupil response sheet, spreadsheet for data
This resource is designed to support learning about growth mindsets in primary schools. It includes 6 growth mindset posters. These are saved as jpegs and as a powerpoint, so that you can edit them to meet your own needs.
It also includes a pupil questionnaire made up of 11 questions in a powerpoint, so that you can assess the impacts of raising awareness of mindsets in your school. Use it before you start any work on mindsets, and then again at the end of the year. There is a pupil response sheet too, to make data analysis easy. I used this across Year 5, as a sample group, but I think it could be used across the primary age range.
I have now added a simple spreadsheet. This will help you analyse your data giving a percentage for each response and generating a simple bar graph for each question. I dropped the graphs into a powerpoint to share with staff, governors and of course pupils. It’s a useful ‘before and after’ activity to show any impact/identify where you need to do more work.
Two engaging dice games exploring two different functions of colons (lists and explaining the previous clause). Better than worksheets!
I have also included a two useful resources about dashes too.
I use this in year 5 and year 6 - I'm sure it could be useful for ages 7-14.
I can understand the meaning of ‘addition’ words and ‘cause and effect’ words
I can develop an argument using ‘addition’ or ‘cause and effect’
Explanation
When children try to add a further point to an argument they often get confused between two key language functions:
• ‘addition’ - adding a further related point (also, in addition to, furthermore, moreover…);
• ‘cause and effect’ - explaining the effect of the previous point (therefore, consequently, as a result of, because of this…).
This can result in children making points that are nonsensical:
Mobile phones make children safer because they can contact their parents in the event of an emergency. Consequently, children can contact online safety websites and get useful advice about online bullying.
Here we see that a misunderstanding of the adverb ‘consequently’ has weakened the argument. An ‘addition’ adverb such as ‘furthermore’ would make a lot more sense.
The same problem can occur in reverse.
Text messaging during lessons is a distraction. In addition to this, children secretly sending text messages will fall behind their classmates.
In this passage, the second point is a consequence of the first and not an additional argument. A cause and effect adverb such as ‘therefore’ would make much more sense.
Use the activity "Addition or cause and effect?" to help children understand how to develop a point without confusing the reader.