Contains information and copies of some of Aesop’s fables, an activity matching the fables and their morals, and a planning sheet with example for pupils to choose a moral and create their own storyboard. Useful as a stop-gap lesson to keep them busy whilst in the tender care of a supply teacher, perhaps…

Contains a copy of the public domain text to ‘The Speckled Band’, a Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan-Doyle. There is also a cloze worksheet based on the beginning of this story to ensure understanding. A planning sheet is provided, and an example plan, along with tips for writing a detective story.

Alan Durant and Mei Matsuoka produce a great book with so many opportunities for discussion. Stimulate younger readers with a cut-out-and-answer challenge. Pick a question and answer it! They won’t even notice they’re at school. Apparently.

“The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,” — perform with panache whilst playing this mp3 in the background to set the mood. Get the kids to close their eyes, wait until the clock’s finished its twelfth bong and the highwayman’s hooves are firmly established before launching into your rendition: “The wind was a torrent of darkness…” A good mp3 turns a great lesson into one that makes Ofsted simply faint. Knock out an inspector today, regardless of whether this impresses them!

After reading The Highwayman and considering the rôle of the King’s Guards, your pupils are ready to see things from another point of view. Ask them to apply for the position of King’s Guard. Let them revel in the darkness of a man (or woman? But surely not, in such primitive times?) who will sign up for the tricky job of upholding the law of the King’s highways?

Read ‘The Tiger-Skin Rug’ with your class, or hold a Reading Café, then let everyone loose with scissors and a Pritt™ Stick, ensuring the lids are connected to the original Pritt™ Stick tubes with elastic so that the Pritt™ Stick lids and Pritt™ Stick tubes don’t lose each other, like they constantly do in my room even though I make the children chant the cost of a new Pritt™ Stick every time they stick something with one. We then cry together at the thought of the new books we could have had if they could only learn to use PVA properly, like when I was at school with Mrs. Barnes. Anyway, make a lovely tiger-skin rug, just like the one in the book except it’s never been alive.

A template for designing a (hope there’s no spoilers here!) seed packet: some of the treasures so desperately needed in Concrete Land. Young readers of Frog Belly Rat Bone (one two three… shush, stop that!) will love to decorate their own seed packet, and they’ll love it even more if you shove three or four flower seeds into the packet before closing it. I’ve used sunflower seeds in the past, but anything big and growable will do. Make reading memorable!