A powerpoint of key words from Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre. Useful for pre-teaching vocab before reading the text, exploring and clarifying meanings, and as a resource for children to refer back to later during their own writing. For each word, the word class, definition, synonyms and word in a sentence (from the book) are given, along with a picture to support understanding. There is also a drawing and definitions for the key parts of a ship, since that understanding is quite central to the story. Can be used as a powerpoint, printed for display or made into a book for children to refer to. Pdf versions also now attached - I’ve discovered that the font used on the powerpoint isn’t readable on all computers (including my PC at school!!).

Planning and resources to teach a D&T Unit for KS2 focused on sewing: creating stuffed felt toys in the shape of aliens. The children will investigate stuffed cuddly toys and create their own design criteria. They will learn how to thread a needle and some specific sewing stitches, as well as how to create a template. They will then design and create a stuffed toy ‘alien’ to appeal to a younger child. Finally, they will evaluate their design using their design criteria. This was taught to a mixed Year 4/5 class, but can easily be adapted for younger age groups by reducing the range of stitches taught and providing additional support with templates for the design and with cutting out. I have previously successfully taught a similar unit to a mixed Year 3/4 class, creating sea creatures as part of a Rivers and Oceans topic. With thanks to Ceri Eccles (TeacherGlitter) who inspired me with her original ideas for sea creature stuffed toys.

If you’re reading the marvelous ‘Mark of the Cyclops’ by Saviour Pirotta, this vocabulary book will help you to pre-teach children the key vocabulary needed to understand each chapter. For each key word, it includes a definition and supporting image(s). To help reinforce understanding, there are also some quizzes that I used with my class when we shared the vocab book and read the story together online over Lockdown. The quizzes recap on some of the words covered in previous chapters. Answers are given at the end. There is also a summary of the key types of Greek pottery mentioned in the book. I hope the formatting will be OK - I had to convert to PPT from the original Google Slides.