Engaging stories from the Bible. FREE, AS A GIFT FOR ALL IN 2020. :-) This reading activity pack tells the story of the Jesus’ death and resurrection from Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday. It is ideal all year round for reading or Religious Studies, but is particularly useful in the run up to Easter, as they follow the last week in Jesus’ life. They can also be used as Sunday School activities or as readings in church. Based on the gospel accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, I have written five reports from key people in the Easter story about what happened with comprehension based questions and answers for each. These will bring the well-known story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection to your students in a fresh, engaging and enlightening way. The characters featured are: Peter Pontius Pilate A Roman soldier Mary Magdalen Cleopas The comprehension questions tackle the following skills: Literal and retrieval Word meaning Inference and deduction There is also an activity at the end to summarise each of the characters stories. Answers are provided…just print and go! As an added extra, there are a number of posters with key bible verses for your displays, including posters to colour in. These can be found at the end of the reading pack.

At 6:30pm on Thursday 8th September 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen had died at the age of 96. An official statement was placed outside the palace stating “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.” In these reading comprehension activities, your students can find out all about her life including: -her birth and early life -her wedding and children -her coronation as queen -her seventy year reign -her declining health -tributes paid to her when she died -plans for her funeral Please see the preview - what you see is what you are purchasing. Questions include a range of reading skills. I hope this is an informative way for your students to find out about the life of the Queen while challenging your students in their reading comprehension skills.

AMUSING, ENTERTAINING AND EDUCATIONAL! These reading comprehensions will test your students’ reading skills as they explore the four greatest April Fools of all time, as ranked by the Museum of Hoaxes. Using research skills and their reporter’s notebooks, the young journalists will find out about: Spaghetti growing on trees in Switzerland A fake volcanic eruption in Alaska Instant Colour TV in Sweden An iceberg in Sydney Harbour Each story comes with questions and answers, and will require students to check dictionaries; summarise stories; think critically; retrieve facts; and prioritise statements. They will also generate lively and fun classroom discussion. Would your students fall for these pranks? Can they come up with anything better? A template for a news story is also provided so children can write them up for themselves. A scaffold is included to show them how to fill in the boxes. Finally, posters are enclosed if you want to make the students’ work into a simple, effective display. As a journalist and teacher, it’s my passion that children should have an awareness of what is going on in the world through engaging reading material. Contents: 3: SWISS SPAGHETTI HARVEST 4: INSTANT COLOUR TV 5: ERUPTION OF MOUNT EDGECUMBE 6: THE SYDNEY ICEBERG 7-10: Questions 11-14: Answers 15: How to write a newspaper article 16: Newspaper template 17-20: Posters for display

Who will be the next President of the United States? Will Donald Trump continue for a second term? Or will veteran Democrat Joe Biden beat him to the White House? These reading comprehension activities, ideal for close reading, will help your students find out about the candidates for the 2020 US presidential election. Your students will develop reading comprehension skills through a range of retrieval and inference questions, using skills to skim and scan the text. There are also word meaning and text summary questions in the activities. Just print and go…no prep needed! I have also included a black and white version of the product to avoid the costs of colour graphics printing, Thanks for your interest!

BIGFOOT. LOCH NESS. LORD LUCAN. MARY CELESTE. ROSWELL. TURIN SHROUD. Does an ape-like biped roam the forests of North America? Is there a monster lurking in the depths of a Scottish lake? Is the face of Jesus miraculously printed in a piece of linen? Did Lord Lucan really kill the nanny? Do aliens exist? Where were the crew of the Mary Celeste? Answer these questions and more in this exciting Guided Reading resource looking at some of the greatest mysteries of the world. This collection of six guided reading activities, aimed at 10 and 11 year olds, tests children’s comprehension, retrieval, inference and deduction skills. It will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children try to solve these mysteries for themselves. Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.

It is over 100 years since World War One. This remarkable set of TEN guided reading activities uncovers the horror, humanity and humour of life in the Great War. Each activity focuses on a different part of the war, such as life in the trenches; the Christmas Truce and the assasination of Franz Ferdinand. Also, find out about the fascinating story of the British soldier who spared the life of a young Adolf Hitler. These guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, test children’s retrieval, inference and deduction skills. They will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children explore these stories for themselves. Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.

These reading comprehensions will test your students’ reading skills as they explore three engaging news stories from February 2017. Using research skills and their reporters notebooks, the young journalists will find out about: Mass whale stranding in New Zealand World War Two Bomb panic in Greece Miraculous survival of Australian farmer Each story comes with questions and answers, and will require students to check dictionaries; summarise stories; think critically; retrieve facts; and prioritise statements. A template for a news story is also provided so children can write them up for themselves. A scaffold is included to show them how to fill in the boxes. Finally, posters are enclosed if you want to make the students’ work into a simple, effective display. As a journalist and teacher, it’s my passion that children should have an awareness of what is going on in the world through engaging reading material. CONTENTS 3: INCHES FROM DEATH! 4: Heartbreak of the Whales 5: PANIC IN GREECE! 6-8: Questions 9-11: Answers 12: How to write a newspaper article 13: Newspaper template 14-16: Posters for display

Who will win the 2019 Rugby World Cup? This reading comprehension activity is aimed at 8-13 year-olds, and focuses on the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. Your students will develop reading comprehension skills through a range of retrieval and inference questions, using skills to skim and scan the text. In particular, they will learn about: The history of the tournament The favourites for to win in 2019 The World Cup trophy The chances of the United States* Answers are included. I have also included a black and white version of the product on pages 5-7 to avoid the costs of colour graphics printing. Thanks for your interest!

When Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, it was perhaps the greatest scientific achievement in history. July 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of this extraordinary voyage. Thousands of scientists, mathematicians, engineers and astronauts had a part to play in working together on the Apollo 11 mission - but space exploration goes much further than the Lunar landings. In this space exploration comprehension package, your students will take part in FIVE reading activities, which will open up the world of space exploration to them: *1) The Space Race: What was the space race, and why was it so important? The First Man on the Moon: A celebration of the life and achievements of Neil Armstrong. The Last Man on the Moon: A celebration of the life and achievements of Eugene Cernan “Houston, We’ve got a problem”: Disasters in space, featuring the amazing survival story of Apollo 13. Space Travel - next steps: Find out about plans to travel to Mars, passenger space travel, and how a 41-year old probe is still sending messages to scientists from 11 billion miles away!* Students will use inference and deduction skills as well as fact retrieval, word meaning and summarising. Questions and answers are provided, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required. As with all of my reading exercises, I try to write content that is interesting and engaging - stories that may not be on the curriculum, but are important for children to know.

Have you ever wondered how far Mary and Joseph travelled on the donkey? Or why Bethlehem was so busy at the time of Jesus birth? Or what myrrh actually is? Your students will find out these and more through these fascinating stories from the Nativity. From Mary and Joseph to the shepherds and wise men, these accounts paint the picture of what life must have been like in Nazareth and Bethlehem at this time. Each passage comes with a series of questions that will test students’ comprehension skills through fact retrieval, word meaning and inference and deduction.

This reading comprehension will test your students’ reading skills as they explore one of the greatest April Fools of all time, as ranked by the Museum of Hoaxes. Using research skills and their reporter’s notebooks, the young journalists will find out about Porky Bickar and how he faked a volcanic eruption in Alaska, 1978. The story comes with questions, and will require students to check dictionaries; summarise stories; think critically and retrieve facts. They will also generate lively and fun classroom discussion. Would your students fall for this prank? Can they come up with anything better? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This story is also featured in a bigger pack with other famous April Fools: FAKE NEWS - APRIL FOOL! In that pack, you will find the stories featured below, answer sheets, a writing activity based on the stories and posters for display: Spaghetti growing on trees in Switzerland A fake volcanic eruption in Alaska Instant Colour TV in Sweden An iceberg in Sydney Harbour As a journalist and teacher, it’s my passion that children should have an awareness of what is going on in the world through engaging reading material.

Relevant, topical and engaging. This reading comprehension will test your students’ reading skills as they explore an engaging news story from February 2017. Using research skills and their reporter’s notebook, the young journalists will find out about the sad story of the pilot whales that got stranded on Farewell Spit, New Zealand in February 2017. It was one of the largest whale strandings in recorded history, and hundreds of people tried in vain to help. Your students will establish the facts of the story; find out all about pilot whales and work out why it might have happened. This is part of a bigger pack of news stories, which can be found in my store. IN THE NEWS, February 2017 This pack includes the story about the Australian farmer, Dan Miller, who survived for five hours with his nose above the surface of the water after being trapped beneath a digger in Australia; and the story about the discovery of a World War Two bomb in Thesalonica, Greece, which led to the evacuation of 75,000 people. Each story comes with questions and answers, and will require students to check dictionaries; summarise stories; think critically; retrieve facts; and prioritise statements. A template for a news story is also provided so children can write them up for themselves. A scaffold is included to show them how to fill in the boxes. Finally, posters are enclosed if you want to make the students’ work into a simple, effective display. As a journalist and teacher, it’s my passion that children should have an awareness of what is going on in the world through engaging reading material.

January 2017 Everyone knows that Neil Armstrong was the first man on the Moon, but few people know the name of the last. In January 2017, Eugene Cernan passed away. He was the last man to set foot on the surface of the Moon in the final Apollo mission, 1972. In this comprehension, your students will learn about the life and of this US hero. They will answer questions on a timeline; look through facts, stats and records from his remarkable career; and read tributes paid to him. Students will use inference and deduction skills as well as fact retrieval. They will be given a chance to choose key facts about his life and justify why they are so important. They will also make a judgment on whether humans will ever walk on the Moon again, based on what they have read. Questions and answers are provided, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required. As with all of my reading exercises, I try to write content that is interesting and engaging - stories that may not be on the curriculum, but are important for children to know. I hope you enjoy this activity on the life of a remarkable astronaut and United States hero.

Here is a reading pack on Cinderella for grades 1 and 2. It includes a number of activities that encourage children to develop close reading skills, including a wordsearch and spot the difference (which are building blocks to help children find information in texts), as well as comprehension questions and a sequencing activity. As with all of my products, I aim to make them enjoyable for children to engage with reading, helping them to develop a love for literature. This is the first product I have produced like this. I will await feedback on this before developing similar packs on other fairy tales and nursery rhymes. My aim is to create a bundle that explores traditional tales, before moving children on to writing creative stories of their own.

Here is a reading pack on Cinderella for grades 1 and 2. It includes a number of activities that encourage children to develop close reading skills, including a wordsearch and spot the difference (which are building blocks to help children find information in texts), as well as comprehension questions and a sequencing activity. As with all of my products, I aim to make them enjoyable for children to engage with reading, helping them to develop a love for literature. This is the first product I have produced like this. I will await feedback on this before developing similar packs on other fairy tales and nursery rhymes. My aim is to create a bundle that explores traditional tales, before moving children on to writing creative stories of their own.

Find out about the mysteries of Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster. Discover the heartbreak of the tsunami and the sinking of the Titanic. Revisit the shooting of JFK and Apollo 13. Marvel at the miraculous escape of the miners in Chile. Find out why we have Christmas trees. Learn about soldiers stories from World War One…and much much more! This collection of reading activities are a selection of some of my favourites. I have put them together as a bigger collection to allow teachers to plan a whole year’s worth of reading comprehensions for their children. Each activity contains a range of challenging questions which test inference, deduction and retrieval skills – ideal preparation for reading assessments. Children are also given an indication of marks on offer for each question, and teachers are provided with answers. As with all of my reading activities, I try to make the subject matter informative as well as engaging. Children get the chance to find out about a whole range of interesting stories and topics that may not be covered in the curriculum. CONTENTS: 2 - 10 Stories of Survival 11 - 22 Mysteries of the World 23 - 30 Soldier’s Stories – World War One 31 - 36 The Queen and the Royal Family 37 – 42 Christmas 43 – 50 Days that made the world stop 51 – 74 Answers I have received excellent feedback, for which I am very grateful. This should give you confidence in the products I offer. Hope you enjoy these!

These comprehensions are taken from real newspaper reports of major news events that made the world stop in its tracks. These are important stories for your children to understand, as they play a significant part in recent world history. The comprehensions focus on: The sinking of the Titanic 9/11 The Asian tsunami and The assassination of JFK There are a variety of questions styles, testing skills in retrieval, inference and deduction. Answers are provided, and children are given an indication of marks on offer so this is good preparation for reading tests and assessments. As with all of my work, I try to make the subject matter interesting and exciting for the children to engage with. As these stories may be familiar, I have made some of the questions particularly challenging, focussing on the parts of the story that your cohort won’t know about.