Do your students struggle to start a story - or always begin a narrative in the same way? This organiser suggests 5 different ways to open a Gothic horror story and gives examples of each one. It also suggests pros and cons for each of the styles of openings which enables students to consider and explore which style of hook they want to create for their Gothic stories.

This Halloween Word Mat is a great teaching resource designed to enhance students’ descriptive writing skills. It provides a rich collection of vocabulary and phrases that can be used to create vivid and engaging narratives. This resource is perfect for engaging students in creative writing for Halloween, and can be used to inspire them to write more descriptively and imaginatively. It is a versatile tool that can be integrated into various writing exercises and activities, making it a valuable addition to any classroom. The word mat includes: Descriptive Vocabulary: Words like “glimmering,” “luminous,” “decaying,” and “haunting” help students paint a vivid picture in their writing. Expanded Noun Phrases: Examples such as “shadowy, dilapidated hallways” and “putrid smell of decaying, withered plants” guide students in expanding their nouns to make their writing more descriptive. Synonyms: A variety of synonyms for common words, such as “magical,” “dim,” and “revolting,” help students avoid repetition and enrich their vocabulary. Sensory Descriptions: Words related to senses, like “reek,” “malodorous,” and “nauseating,” enable students to create immersive and sensory-rich descriptions. Sound Descriptions: Terms like “booming,” “deafening,” and “cacophony” help students describe sounds effectively, adding another layer of detail to their writing. Adverbials: A section on adverbials, including time, place, manner, and degrees of possibility, helps students structure their sentences in varied and interesting ways. This resource is perfect for engaging students in creative writing, especially around Halloween, and can be used to inspire them to write more descriptively and imaginatively. It is a versatile tool that can be integrated into various writing exercises and activities, making it a valuable addition to any classroom.

Are your students struggling with discursive writing? Do they find achieving an unbiased tone and style difficult? Do they struggle with presenting a considered and judicious personal opinion based on the pertinent arguments from both sides of a debate? This resources pack is designed to help you teach your students the discursive style. The resources - apart from the boxing fact sheet - will support any topic you wish to use with the class. The resources include: A short video to help students understand the style and purpose of discursive writing. An exemplar to use (tablets in the classroom) to help identify the style, tone and purpose of discursive writing. A Knowledge Organiser to support sentence openers and encourage the use of adverbials and conjunctions. A boxing fact sheet covering some of the arguments for and against boxing. Teachers notes suggesting possible structure for the lesson and a suggested task for a discursive article based on the boxing fact sheet. There is a power point that displays all the resources if you do not want to print whole class sets or that you can add slides to and adapt for your classroom.

Support your students with this word mat tailored specifically for describing fireworks. The resource includes ideas of figurative techniques, an extensive vocabulary list, and ideas for creating sensory descriptions. The mat will support students in enhancing their descriptions by including rich, varied language to create immersive and atmospheric descriptions and experiment with figurative language to add depth and complexity to their writing. There is a short video to suggest ways students can use the different techniques and images of fireworks exploding highlighting what students can do to write more evocative descriptions. There is also an eight slide power point of AI generated images to use as picture prompts for students independent writing. The images cover traditional, futuristic and fantasy portrayals of fireworks.

A word mat to help students create more expressive and figurative descriptions of winter and snow. The word mat has a picture of a snow covered wood that can be used as the prompt for a piece of descriptive writing. The word mat contains lists of adjectives, verbs, adverbs, extended noun phrases, preposition sentence openers, similes and prompts for using the senses.

This extensive resource was created to help pupils with their creative writing.Designed for KS4 students, but also suitable for high-achieving KS3 classes, the resources is to support students in creating vivid, developed descriptions of fog. The Word Mat includes figurative and sensory terminology: adjectives, verbs, alliteration, sibilance, personification, similes, metaphors, and sensory cues are all included in the mat. In addition to the Word Mat, there is a short video that helps students think of original ways to represent fog and concepts for using figurative language. Eight AI-generated images are included in a four-slide PowerPoint presentation that c serves as visual prompts for students creative writing.

Support your students with this word mat tailored specifically for describing a ballet dancer. The resource includes ideas for figurative descriptions, an extensive vocabulary list, and ideas for creating sensory descriptions. The mat will support students in enhancing their descriptions by including rich, varied language to create immersive and atmospheric descriptions and experiment with figurative language to add depth and complexity to their writing. There is an exemplar short text demonstrating to students how to use structure to help mimic the rhythm and speed of a dancer’s movement. There is a short video to highlighting how students should consider crafting their writing to capture the dynamism and movement of a ballet dancer. There is also a short 5 slide power point that has 2 AI generated images on each slide to use as writing prompts in a lesson.

Support your students with this word mat tailored specifically for describing Christmas lights. The resource includes ideas for figurative descriptions including personification, similes, metaphors, allusions, hyperbole and extensive lists of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. The mat will support students in enhancing their descriptions by including rich, varied language to create immersive and atmospheric descriptions and experiment with figurative language to add depth and complexity to their writing. There is a short video, ideal as a starter, to explain to students how to capture the magic of christmas lights in their writing and to suggest ideas and different focuses for their piece of writing. There is also a 8 slide power point that has AI generated images ideal to use as writing prompts during the lesson.

Support your students in discovering the rich history and traditions of Thanksgiving with this engaging comprehension passage. Perfect for students aged 11 to 14 it has questions for both weaker and more advanced readers. The text explains the Pilgrims’ daring voyage on the Mayflower to the first Thanksgiving feast with the Wampanoags – and what Thanksgiving reading comprehension would be complete without a few fun facts about turkeys? The questions provided are targeted at different reading skills and cater to both less advanced and more advanced readers. True or False Statements: These questions assess basic comprehension and factual recall. They are suitable for less advanced readers as they require straightforward recognition of information from the text. One Sentence Answer Comprehension Questions: These questions test the ability to identify key details and main ideas. They are suitable for less advanced readers as they involve direct answers that can be easily found in the text. Identify Questions: These questions require readers to extract specific information and list multiple items. They are slightly more challenging as they require a deeper understanding and the ability to locate and synthesise information from the text. Summary Question: This question assesses the ability to summarise and condense information, which is a higher-order reading skill. It is more suitable for advanced readers as it requires them to understand the main ideas and details and then articulate them concisely. Challenge Question: This question involves critical thinking and inference. It is designed for advanced readers as it requires them to analyse the relationship between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags, infer mutual benefits, and connect these ideas to broader themes. Imagine Question: This question encourages creative thinking and application of knowledge. It challenges readers to use their understanding of historical context to imagine and articulate key points of a treaty, thus testing their inference and synthesis skills. Overall, the questions range from basic recall and comprehension to more complex analysis and inference, making them suitable for a wide range of reading abilities. The “Create” question, in particular, challenges students to apply their reading and inference skills creatively, demonstrating a deeper understanding of the text and its implications. The resources also include a crossword (and answer key) where all the questions are based on the reading comprehension. Questions are presented as either a question-and-answer worksheet or just a question sheet if students will be completing work in their books. A full teacher key is included that also offers possible answers to the challenge and imagine questions.