I am a teaching Deputy Head in a primary school in Hampshire and TES recommended author. I've been teaching in primary since 2007 with experience in most year groups, although my heart lies in Year 1! I enjoy making helpful, time-saving and engaging educational resources for teachers and pupils - I hope you find them useful!
I am a teaching Deputy Head in a primary school in Hampshire and TES recommended author. I've been teaching in primary since 2007 with experience in most year groups, although my heart lies in Year 1! I enjoy making helpful, time-saving and engaging educational resources for teachers and pupils - I hope you find them useful!
I set this up as an independent colouring activity for the children which can be used for assessment. Children colour in and circle the light sources and then colour in 1-4 lightbulbs depending on how bright the light source is.
Use these scenario cards to generate discussions in small groups and support your pupils in understanding the choices they can make and the consequences of these choices.
Differentiated with simpler two choice scenarios, a three choice scenario and one scenario where a choice is left blank for the children to decide what other choice could be made.
Another set of red herring slides for my Year 1 class! Handy for the Year 1 phonics screening check, Year 2 revision and even end of Year R. The red herrings are a bit random, but the children love looking out for them. The ‘red herrings’ are slides within the powerpoint that don’t contain the featured grapheme, e.g. in a set of words for ‘ea’, a slide will pop up saying ‘shirt’ - a red herring. When they arrive the children put their hands together, make a fishy movement and call out ‘red herring!’ For some reason, they think it’s hysterical and I’m happy to go with it because they are engaged, they’re paying attention to the graphemes and best of all they’re having fun - I love hearing their cheeky giggles!
I also use the slides to teach silent blending, how to break down longer words for reading and spelling patterns we’ve practised, e.g. words ending in ‘ed’ or ‘y’. I’ve really noticed their reading coming along and although it’s not entirely down to the red herring powerpoints as we do lots of stuff, I think they’re a solid part of it. I don’t use them every day because I don’t want the concept to get boring but I always get a ‘yessss!’ when I do.
I’ve checked Letters and Sounds carefully against the National Curriculum and believe that all of the digraphs and trigraphs listed are included (between this set of powerpoints and the Phase 3 set) but if you spot any discrepancies, please get in touch and I’ll update the slides.
I hope your class enjoy using this as much as mine do!
Children choose the course of the story in this dynamic story-telling PowerPoint.
I originally wrote this for an assembly in National Storytelling Week and had huge fun with the whole school choosing which characters, setting and plot developments to follow. The children showed me via hands on heads or crossed arms which options they wanted to pick. The children were incredibly excited and engaged; I really enjoyed the assembly.
If you miss off the first two slides about National Storytelling Week, this resource could also be used in an English lesson to look at story structure, character, setting and/or the use of descriptive language, e.g. adjectives and similes. Or simply use it in class as an enjoyable story to revisit and retell, allowing the children to make different choices to build a different story.
I’ve tested the PowerPoint thoroughly (including in assembly and at home with my own daughter!) as there are a lot of action buttons to click on that lead you to the next slide in the chosen story. However, if I’ve missed anything, please do contact me via TES conversations and I will straighten it out asap.
PS The fonts don’t look very good on the preview pane on the TES website, but should be fine when downloaded. I created the resource using PowerPoint 2016.
Use these Christmas calculations to challenge your pupils’ understanding, ability to reason mathematically and algebraic thinking in a fun and engaging way!
Using images to represent numbers, children use what they know to discover the value of the images. They need to understand the meaning of =, + and - signs and the relationship between addition and subtraction. The calculations include doubles and number bonds to 10 and 20.
There are 4 sets of progressively more difficult calculations, as well as 4 sets with the numbers given in an answer key for children requiring more support. There are two open-ended calculations where children can find multiple possible answers to extend pupils’ thinking. Further extensions include children writing their own challenges or describing how they solved the problem.
There is a multiplication and division version of this resource here.
Happy teaching!
Happy Halloween! This product contains 20 Halloween-themed addition and subtraction word problem task cards within 20 and an answer key.
These task cards are progressively differentiated as follows:
addition and subtraction of single digit numbers within 10 with images for scaffolding
single digit numbers within 20
1-digit and 2-digit numbers within 20 (without crossing the 10s boundary, e.g. 11 + 3 = 14)
1-digit and 2-digit numbers within 20 (crossing the 10s boundary, e.g. 14 - 6 = 8)
open-ended questions to promote higher-order mathematical thinking (provide concrete resources for students requiring more support; encourage systematic working and challenge greater depth students to provide alternative solution pathways or explanations of all possible solutions).
Task cards are provided in full colour and in black and white.
Follow me on TES to be notified when new resources are added!
Happy teaching!
Katharine7
Looking for a fun and low-prep way to teach, reinforce or assess conceptual variation of number? This resource provides multiple representations of the numbers 1 - 10, supporting children to develop a deeper understanding of each number. These number representation matching activity mats are great as an independent activity for maths mastery, interventions, assessment or to create a collaborative display with the children.
Activity mats from 1 - 10 are provided along with a variety of number representations including:
ten frames
numerals
words
subitising - dice
irregular arrangements - sweet jars
tallies
The activity mats and representations are available in full color or black and white. You could use them as a cut and stick activity or laminate the mats and number representations for a reusable activity. You could use the activity mats by themselves as a coloring and drawing activity requiring a more secure understanding of number.
You may also be interested in my Digital Phonics Centers for early spellers.
Don’t forget to leave feedback so I can improve what I do - or make more of what you like! Follow me to be notified when new products are uploaded and please do contact me if you have any questions.
Happy teaching!
Katharine7
A friendly Key Stage 1 grammar powerpoint based on the UK 2014 curriculum containing activity/game areas linked to objectives. Aimed at Year 2 with some Year 1 content revision. To be used to introduce and play with grammar objectives contained in Appendix 2 of the National Curriculum English programme of study for Key Stage 1 or perhaps as a pre-assessment tool.
Unit of work including power points, activity cards and writing frame for teaching command sentences. Based on the Fire of London and the commands that King Charles II gave during and after the fire, pupils role play the part of King Charles and l. earn how to write commands using imperative verbs.
Our Year 2s loved this unit, in particular the role play element. In hindsight, I would have split session 3 into two sessions as the children enjoyed the acting so much. The whole class, even the less able, were able to identify a command sentence with confidence following this unit - even many months afterwards. Most were able to write commands independently in a variety of contexts.
This resource contains:
- the planning document (4-5 lessons)
- powerpoints to support teaching of the unit
- activity cards to support less able and whole class improvement of speaking and listening
- speaking and listening learning journeys to share with pupils
- a writing template
Flexible planning document for Year 2 money objectives and problem solving.
This resource includes:
- A flexible money planning document including national curriculum end of year objectives for this domain, learning journey and initial lesson plan. To be used as a working document, use the learning journey to plan the next steps for your learners, responding each day to their progress and needs.
- Three pirate menus for use with the lesson plan and containing differentiated prices. These menus are certainly reusable to hit other objectives in the learning journey.
2013 National Curriculum Key Stage 1 mathematics programme of study (Year 2):
Pupils should be taught to:
- recognise and use symbols for pounds (£) and pence (p); combine amounts to make a particular value
- find different combinations of coins that equal the same amounts of money
- solve simple problems in a practical context involving addition and subtraction of money of the same unit, including giving change
Fun 5 lesson science unit of work for Year 2 animals including humans curriculum with a pirate theme. The pupils are the captain of their own ship and they have a very unhealthy crew that they must whip into shape!
The unit begins with the basic needs of animals for survival and moves onto healthy lifestyles, including exercise, healthy eating and hygiene. I had lots of fun with my class teaching this unit and some good discussions which threw up misconceptions.
Included in this resource are a detailed planning document with ideas for differentiation and extension plus all the digital resources required to deliver the lessons.
You will get:
- Planning document for the unit of work
- Starter activity for session 1
- Presentation to support session 3
- Activity cards
Three differentiated classic logic puzzles. I can remember doing these as a child and loving them! There are lists of clues and children can either draw pictures or use the grids provided to logically reason who lives in which house. The answers are provided with this resource.
Revision, identification and troubleshooting of common stumbling blocks for children in the phonics screening check.
90% of my class passed the screening check last year using these resources to boost my phonics provision. Working with parents was so important and sending home the consonant blends and clusters was a great way for them to help at home.
This resource contains the diagnostic tool, flash cards, games, real words, alien words, phoneme frames and word builder resources to support children as they prepare for the phonics screening check.
Included in the bundle:
- phonics screening check diagnostic tool
- consonant blends (initial and final) activities and flash cards
- consonant cluster activities and flash cards (also available for free)
- split digraph posters, flash cards and phoneme frames
- powerpoints for teaching split digraphs (also available for free)
- phase 3 decodable words practise
- phase 5 decodable words practise
36 pages of Year 1 activities for teaching, practising and applying counting in multiples of 2, 5 and 10.
The ‘learn’ pages take you through a concrete, pictorial and abstract learning journey for children learning to count in multiples of 2 5 and 10. The ‘practise’ pages give plenty of opportunities to practice counting in 2s, 5s and 10s in different contexts to help embed their learning. Finally, the ‘apply’ pages give children the opportunity to apply their knowledge, use reasoning and practise problem solving to reach full mastery of the curriculum objective over the course of the year.
For more place value mastery resources for Year 1 take a look at:
Counting forwards and backwards to 100
Finding one more and one less
Looking for some fun Valentine’s Day literacy activities for your early readers and writers? Try these independent activities for early phonics skills and Valentine’s Day cards and postcards for writing practise.
Included with this resource are:
Initial sound clip cards
CVC clip cards
Valentine’s day postcards
Valentine’s day foldable cards
Rhyming hearts matching activity
Valentine’s Race dice game board
All of these activities are provided in colour and black & white.
Looking for more Valentine’s Day themed activities? Check out these Valentine’s maths activity mats:
Varied number representations - Valentine’s Day
Don’t forget to leave feedback so I can improve what I do - or make more of what you like! Follow me to be notified when new products are uploaded.
Happy teaching!
Katharine7
This compare and contrast Titanic lesson is perfect for an end of unit lesson that promotes retrieval of taught information, addresses common misconceptions and teaches children to apply their understanding in a new context. Children are presented with opportunities to think historically, choronologically order events and discuss ideas.
The lesson plan is written around the new Ofsted draft framework requirements with an Intent, Implementation and Impact planning format. The lesson plan takes into account the following Quality of Education judgments:
an ambitious curriculum
provision of knowledge capital
promote discussion
identify misconceptions and provide clear, direct feedback
avoid unnecessarily elaborate or differentiated activities
help learners to remember taught content in the longer term
help learners integrate new knowledge into larger concepts
use assessment well
resources and materials that do not create unnecessary workload
This was a fun lesson to teach (I taught it for a lesson observation for a new job - I got the job!) and the children enjoyed showcasing the knowledge that they had acquired and taking it further. You can see some of the children’s responses from the lesson included within the resource. I hope you enjoy teaching it too - happy teaching!
Katharine7
If you’re looking for more history resources you might like to take a look at these resources:
Fire of London poetry - English unit of work
Fire of London - writing commands - English unit of work
Stone Age planning bundle
Roman Empire code cracker
Ancient Egypt code cracker
These castle themed digital phonics worksheets are perfect for practising early spelling using a tablet or PC with young writers! No printing is required - all you’ll need is a device that has PowerPoint, or access to Google Slides via the internet, a piece of paper and a pencil or pen.
The digital worksheets begin with simple CVC (consonant sound, vowel sound, consonant sound) words such as pig, hat, etc. with the middle sound provided. Children sound out (segment) the word, using the image and given letter for support and then write the word on their piece of paper. Answers are provided on the penultimate slide so they can even mark their own work.
Once they have mastered level 1, they can “unlock” the next level and so on, building up their segmenting for spelling skills progressively and systematically.
What’s included?
A zipped file which contains all of the PowerPoints as follows:
CVC single grapheme words (scaffolded)
CVC single grapheme words
CVC digraph words
CCVC single grapheme words
CVCC single grapheme words
CCVC words with digraphs
CVCC words with digraphs
The first worksheets use Phase 2 sounds from Letters and Sounds / Set 1 sounds from Read Write Inc. They progress to Phase 3 / Set 2 as digraphs are introduced and the final two PowerPoints contain some Phase 5 / Set 3 digraphs.
I’ve used these digital worksheets with children 4 years old and upwards. Most children are able to use them independently once they’ve been shown what to do and the slide show is presented. In my experience, children occasionally come out of the slide show by accident but if you show them how to press the slide show/present button, they can often handle that by themselves too - great for their computing skills!
If you’ve enjoyed this resource, you can find a similar resource here:
Digital phonics worksheets
A perfect introduction to 2D shapes in Early Years and/or Year 1! Children are introduced in detail to:
circles
triangles
rectangles
squares
Then briefly to:
pentagons
hexagons
semicircles
Mathematical language is used to describe them, i.e. sides, corners, straight and curved.
Pupils are shown varied images of these 2D shapes in both abstract and real world examples, promoting discussion and addressing misconceptions, e.g. that all triangles are equilateral triangles, with the bottom side oriented horizontally.
The slides are animated to engage children and make learning points clear. They can be clicked through at your own pace and there are 10 teaching slides in total.
Happy teaching!
Katharine7
These print and go Christmas maths worksheets are packed full of Year 1 National Curriculum objectives! Your pupils will love the Christmas theme while continuing to learn - plus giving you valuable evidence and assessment for learning for your planning. Primarily aimed at Year 1, many of the worksheets will also be suitable for more able Year R children or children in Year 2 as revision or for those who are working towards age related expectations.
In this resource you will receive worksheets for the following curricular objectives:
Count, read and write numbers to 100 in numerals
Count to and across 100
Add and subtract one and two-digit numbers to 20, including 0
Compare, describe and solve practical problems for mass/weight, capacity and volume
Recognise and know the denominations of coins
Sequence events in chronological order using language
Recognise and name common 2D shapes
An answer key is also included for ease of marking or to allow children to mark their own/others’ work.
Looking for other Christmas resources? Take a look here:
Winter/Christmas subitising maths game
Christmas multiplication and division - reasoning challenge cards
Christmas addition and subtraction - reasoning challenge cards
Follow me on TES to be notified when new products are uploaded.
Happy teaching!
Katharine7
A merry bundle of Christmas maths resources for you! Included in this bundle are:
Addition and subtraction reasoning challenge cards
Multiplication and division reasoning challenge cards
Present wrapping maths investigation
You may also be interested in these other seasonal resources:
Easter planning and activities
National Storytelling Week dynamic story generator powerpoint.