A comprehension activity used with higher attainers in Year 4. A Victorian setting for historical stories, and a diary entry format. There are simple answers to the questions and a mark scheme. The second page has a print out of the questions.

Text taken from an instruction manual, found on a referenced website, for an old computer game that I used with my Year 4 literacy class. Comprehension questions with points at the end of the text. My answers are given for guidance for marking.

PowerPoint introduction to writing a clerihew, with scaffolded sheets to support pupils in creating their own clerihew. Clerihews are 4-line biographical poems invented by Edward Clerihew Bentley that have two rhyming couplets. These can be easier for pupils to master than limericks as a clerihew doesn’t have any rhythmic requirements. Lines can be short or long. The PowerPoint contains seven example clerihews (Ada Lovelace, Mr Beast, Walt Disney, Katherine Johnson, Wallace and Gromit, Doctor Who and Taylor Swift) and an excellent one by Paul Cookson. A guided example based on William Shakespeare supports pupils’ understanding of the structure and creation of a clerihew. The PowerPoint and scaffold sheet can be adapted to remove names that may be unfamiliar to your pupils and still leave a number of examples that will remain relevant. This has been used in a number of Year 4 classrooms and has proved accessible and enjoyable to the pupils.

Blank A4 postcard printouts for quick write opportunities or start of the school year activities. 5 variations of postcard in either wide or narrow lines for writing. Basic postcard printout with blank area for picture and lines for writing. Other styles have more traditional postcard formatting with up-to-date stamp style. Traditional “Wish you were here” and “Greetings from” versions to create a holiday postcard image. Useful to create a quick writing display at the start of the school year.

Based upon the mythical beast fought by Bellerophon and other similar ‘hybrid’ creatures (griffin, minotaur, manticore), I have used these spinners as stimulus for creative writing. By spinning, pupils generate a head, body and tail of a mythical beast and describe the monster, its behaviour and habitat. Print on card, cut out and stick a pencil through the centre and spin. Large and small versions are included.