I love making resources that take concepts from the curriculum, and express them in an abstract and engaging way. I have seen great improvements in the grades of the children in the classes as I teach as a result of this labour intensive (but ultimately rewarding) approach.
My big passion is reading. Whether it is a comprehension activity or something with a maths or grammar focus; you can guarantee that reading skills to develop understanding will underpin it.
Richard
Reading for Success
I love making resources that take concepts from the curriculum, and express them in an abstract and engaging way. I have seen great improvements in the grades of the children in the classes as I teach as a result of this labour intensive (but ultimately rewarding) approach.
My big passion is reading. Whether it is a comprehension activity or something with a maths or grammar focus; you can guarantee that reading skills to develop understanding will underpin it.
Richard
Reading for Success
This set of language flashcards explores key greetings in the 26 most commonly spoken languages in the world.
The greetings that they teach are:
Hello
Goodbye
Thank you
Please
Sorry
Yes
No
Including on the flashcards are flags of countries where each language is spoken and facts about that language.
The languages are:
English
Spanish
Portuguese
German
French
Mandarin
Hindi
Bengali
Punjabi
Urdu
Persian
Marathi
Vietnamese
Cantonese
Korean
Malay
Swahili
Japanese
Javanese
Russian
Tamil
Turkish
Arabic
Italian
Hausa
Telugu
There are many uses for this with your students. My students enjoy taking a card each week and answering the register with a greeting in their chosen tongue.
They could also be used as a class ‘language of the week’; as a multi-cultural display; or as part of a geography project.
I hope you find them helpful!
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.
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
Engaging activities for multiplication facts.
These multiplication fact sheets have been a great hit with my students, and I’m sure they will be with yours too. They will help students understand the concept of multiplication, as well as memorize their multiplication facts. They can be used as morning work, bell work, extra activities for early finishers, or even homework. Every page is aligned to the Common Core Standards.
Students will learn to:
- identify numbers in times tables
- work out spellings of numbers in cryptic puzzles.
- sequence numbers forwards and backwards
- explore the relationship between multiplication and division
- compare calculations
- process information in word problems
The activities not only test a child’s math skills, they also encourage them to use logic, reasoning and comprehension skills.
Each worksheet is double sided and space is maximised to challenge your children with TEN different times table related activities linked to the table you are studying. Answers are provided. Your children will become familiar with the format as they work their way through the exercises table by table.
Your children will certainly enjoy this different approach to learning their times tables!
CONTENTS
3x table activity sheet
3x table answers
4x table activity sheet
4x table answers
5x table activity sheet
5x table answers
6x table activity sheet
6x table answers
7x table activity sheet
7x table answers
8x table activity sheet
8x table answers
9x table activity sheet
9x table answers
11x table activity sheet
11x table answers
12x table activity sheet
12x table answers
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.
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
This writing aid will help your students develop creative vocabulary in their work through the use of synonyms.
It can be used in a variety of ways. The engaging word clouds can be used as posters for a display, or on an interactive whiteboard during a vocabulary focused lesson.
They can be used in small groups as table centres, or by individual students as a set of bookmarks.
This is saved as a PDF and is supplemented by a separate customisable Powerpoint file. As this is a PowerPoint file, it can be shared directly with students to use on their own devices. The hyperlinked contents page will take them to the page they are looking for. At the end of the resource are the bookmarks. These can be printed, laminated and attached together so students can keep them and refer to them in all aspects of their writing.
There are blank bookmarks so you can make your own synonym bookmarks to add to your sets in the customisable file. You can also edit the whole file as you see fit to suit your own needs.
Finally, there is some bunting banner to help you make this into a display. I hope you and your students find this useful!
The synonyms featured are:
happy
sad
big
small
good
young
old
house
move
walk
talk
warm
cold
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.
The birth of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA is celebrated during Black History Month. But do your students know the full story behind Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King?
This collection of four guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, tests children in the Common Core and National Curriculum reading skills. They will learn to:
Determine the meaning of words such as segregation and discrimination.
Refer to examples in the text, both explicitly and implied.
Compare the values of characters like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.
Identify what is happening in images.
Comment on the wider historical implications of the stories.
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.
As with all of my reading
comprehensions, I aim to make
them engaging and challenging.
The characters may be well
known, but your students will
fully understand the broader
context of their actions in history
through these in-depth character
studies.
CONTENTS
Rosa Parks
The Bus Boycott
The Civil Rights Movement
“I have a dream” and Black Power.
Children have been captivated by the animals of Africa for decades. In this reading package, you can find out all about the ‘big five’ animals to spot; their habitats and behaviour; and how we can help to save them from extinction.
There are eight reading activities, aimed at 8, 9, 10 and 11 year olds, testing children’s reading skills right across the curriculum.
As with all of my reading comprehension projects, my aim is to create stimulating text that will actually get children into reading. I started writing my own material in 2014 after feeling bored by a lot of the comprehensions on offer. Using this approach, I have introduced my students to many stories and topics that may not be on the curriculum, but are important for young people to know.
Contents
Lion Factfile – Group facts about lions into categories
Meet a Lion – Look at words and phrases in context
Save The Elephants – Summarise main idea and extra detail
The Man and The Elephant - Sequence a fable
The Big Five – Identify cause, effect and solution
Decline of the Black Rhino - Analyse information in a graph
Big Five – Who’s not on the list? – Compare, select and justify using evidence
Who am I – Use cryptic clues and keywords to identify animals
Answers
BONUS KAHOOT QUIZ!
In the teacher notes for this item, there is a link to a Kahoot quiz which can be used at the end of the unit. It tests retention of facts from the texts and speed processing skills. A fantastic way to finish the material!
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This product has been designed to put you in control. There is a Powerpoint file, so you can edit it, delete slides, change the order, print it or share it digitally. The great benefit of this is that your children can complete this as a worksheet or on a digital device – or even a bit of both!
I often share this with children on tablets, but obviously I copy the file and remove the answers first! Sometimes, they read the text on a tablet and answer the questions on a sheet.
However you use this, I’m sure you will find a way that works for your students – and save some paper and photocopying costs in the process.
Eddie the Elf has been set the task of saving Christmas – but he needs help from your students!
Travel with Eddie, from Lapland to New York and back again, as he tries to fill up Santa’s Workshop with toys. Help him to find a cure for the sickness epidemic that has confined so many elves to bed at the busiest time of the year. Work with him to discover facts about New York City as he meets the Statue of Liberty.
This story is full of math problems using all operations. It is a test of comprehension as well as number skills but your students will be captivated by the story as they help Eddie to save Christmas!
There are four chapters in total, with questions and answers for each. The answers also include clues to help the students to answer the questions.
The reason I make resources like this is that word problems don’t go far enough to test a child’s math ability. I have always thought that they would be more challenging and ultimately more rewarding if they were placed within the context of a wider narrative.
This story also encourages students to use comprehension skills. They will need to retain information that will be needed later in the text!
This set of multiplication tables activities is designed to help your students learn their tables in a variety of ways. It explores other mathematical concepts such as greater than and less than; inverse operations; word problems and number sequences. There are also puzzles such as word searches and calculation crosswords. The activities not only test a child’s math skills, they also encourage them to use logic, reasoning and comprehension skills.
Your children will certainly enjoy this different approach to learning their times tables!
CONTENTS
9x table activity worksheet
9x table answers
11x table activity worksheet
11x table answers
12x table activity worksheet
12x table answers
This set of multiplication tables activities is designed to help your students learn their tables in a variety of ways. It explores other mathematical concepts such as greater than and less than; inverse operations; word problems and number sequences. There are also puzzles such as word searches and calculation crosswords. The activities not only test a child’s math skills, they also encourage them to use logic, reasoning and comprehension skills.
Your children will certainly enjoy this different approach to learning their times tables!
CONTENTS
5x table activity worksheet
5x table answers
6x table activity worksheet
6x table answers
7x table activity worksheet
7x table answers
Here is a new product designed to help my students learn their 5x table in a variety of different ways.
It uses multiplication, division, number sentences, word problems and puzzles to help them master this skill.
My students love the range of activities, and how it enables them to use higher order thinking skills to practice their multiplication. They have much greater confidence and fluency in their knowledge of the 8x table thanks to this activity.
This set of multiplication tables activities is designed to help your students learn their tables in a variety of ways. It explores other mathematical concepts such as greater than and less than; inverse operations; word problems and number sequences. There are also puzzles such as word searches and calculation crosswords. The activities not only test a child’s math skills, they also encourage them to use logic, reasoning and comprehension skills.
There are ten individual activities for each times table - so thirty in total for this pack.
Your children will certainly enjoy this different approach to learning their times tables!
CONTENTS
3x table activity worksheet
3x table answers
4x table activity worksheet
4x table answers
8x table activity worksheet
8x table answers
I specialise in maths and reading resources. You can check out other items in my store, which include activity packs for other times tables. There is also a bumper pack which includes all of the times tables.
Here is a new product designed to help my students learn their 8x table in a variety of different ways.
It uses mulitplication, division, number sentences, word problems and puzzles to help them master this skill.
My students love the range of activities, and how it enables them to use higher order thinking skills to practice their multiplication. They have much greater confidence and fluency in their knowledge of the 8x table thanks to this activity.
I am currently creating similar for other multiplication tables. Watch this space for more!
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.
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.
Here are five reading comprehensions looking at festivals of the world. They are ideal for a whole class exercise or as part of a guided reading session. They are aimed at children in Lower Key Stage 2 in the UK, or Grade 3, 4 or 5 in the US.
Most questions are directly retrievable from the text. I have also produced more advanced texts with a heavier emphasis on inference and deduction questions.
All questions give an indication of marks available, and answers are provided. These comprehensions are good preparation for end of unit reading assessments.