Crackers! Christmas Themed Comprehension, Dictation Activities, Vocabulary Puzzle and Poetry Writing

This is a 13 page pdf file containing 5 separate activities suitable for KS3 or upper KS2 English. The unit begins with a 500 word comprehension about the origin of Christmas crackers. The comprehension contains 15 questions, with available marks indicated. A mark scheme is supplied. It is followed by differentiated dictation: 3 versions of the same 100 word text based on the reading passage. Teacher notes are supplied. The third activity is a speed dictation (Dictagloss). Another 100 word text is read at speed and pupils are tasked with re-assembling it collaboratively. This activity should generate a lot of talk. Full teacher notes accompany the text. After that there is a worksheet on root words and word families, with teacher notes. Finally, the writing activity is an acrostic poem entitled CRACKERS. 2 examples of teacher-generated acrostic poems are included in the teaching notes.