A practice sheet for pupils who find difficulty differentiating between common homophones. 20 questions. Answers included.

This is the fifth in the apostrophe series. It deals with common problems: how to deal with plurals that don't end in 's', when to use an apostrophe after an abbreviation, its/it's, who's/whose, your/you're, their/they're. Good for upper KS2 and KS3. Adults may also find it clarifies a few things, so it could also be used for whole school training. There are two versions of the same file: one is the standard PPt version, and the other is a PDF file which could be used for classroom display.

This is the fourth resource in the series on apostrophes. The resource comprises two versions of the same file: the PDF is intended for classroom display purposes, although it could also be projected onto the board if you have problems making PowerPoint work properly. It deals with a trickier area: where to put the apostrophe when the plural noun does not end in 's'. There are not many words like this, but the ones there are (children etc.) are very high frequency. The presentation is pitched at KS2/KS3 classes.

Worksheet for KS2/3 pupils who have learnt singular and plural possessive apostrophe. 12 sentences with missing apostrophes. Answer sheet provided.

A PowerPoint presentation for KS2 on the use of the apostrophe with plural nouns ending in 's'. Also included is a PDF version for use as classroom display,

This is an introduction to the possessive apostrophe, dealing with singular nouns (apostrophe before 's') only. The pack contains a presentation in both PowerPoint and PDF format. The PDF version would be ideal for making classroom posters. There is also an exercise where pupils have to insert missing apostrophes into 20 phrases. Answers are provided. The exercise should be written out in full, rather than allowing children simply to insert apostrophes onto the worksheet itself, as they need to leave a space between the noun and the 's' rather than joining letters.

This resource for KS2/3 pupils has been expanded and updated. The presentation ( supplied in 2 formats) is on the use of the apostrophe for contractions. The PDF version is great for displays! ThePowerPoint is teacher-operated and is good for whole class practice. Later slides cover common difficulties such as should of/should have. The 24 cards are ideal for laminating and can be used for individual or group activity. They are accompanied by a pupil answer sheet. There are 2 differentiated worksheets for individual pupil work. (answers provided separately).

A lesson on vocative commas (commas used for addressing). Included are complete lesson plan,Powerpoint presentation, sentence making exercise for pupils, plus a blank version for early finishers. The lesson would be a good follow on to a Commas for Lists lesson, and is probably suitable for KS2

A complete lesson for introducing or revising commas for lists. Objectives, introduction, independent work and plenary all included.

For KS1 and lower KS2. A seven slide (plus title and end) presentation on how commas are used for lists. Nouns, noun phrases and adjectives are covered fully, and at the end there is an indication that the same rules apply for other types of lists (verbs and adverbs, for example). Each demonstration slide is followed by a whole class 'Try this' activity, which could be done on individual whiteboards or in books. Available as either PowerPoint or PDF. The second file is a worksheet where pupils have to supply the commas in sentences containing lists. Answers are provided. Lesson plan also included.

For upper KS2 or lower KS3. This worksheet is for pupils who have studied the different ways in which commas are used, and who need practice in identifying them. There are ten sentences containing various kinds of comma. Some of the sentences contain more than one kind. The first part of the exercise is simple enough: pupils have to insert the missing commas in each sentence. The second part is more difficult: giving an explanation of the type of comma used. Answers are provided.

This is an introduction to comma splices, showing how to correct them by using a full stop. Good for lower KS2 as an introduction to the subject. There are two versions of a short presentation, plus a worksheet where pupils have to correct comma splices by using full stops. As the sentences are sequential, they also provide an easy way for pupils to produce a piece of simple continuous writing.

Five Puzzles: 1 on Carols and Songs, one on the Christmas Story, the others more general. One of the crosswords is interactive (Hotpot)

Ten thematically connected sentences some of which have incorrect sentence punctuation. Marking instructions and suggestions for writing extension included. Good for Y2-Y4 classes or SEN.

A retelling of a folk tale well-known in Germany and Ukraine. 12 comprehension questions with answers. Links to websites with other versions of the tale are provided in the teacher notes. Good for KS1 as a stimulus for writing, art and craft, and for KS2 as part of a study on different versions of legends and folk tales. It lends itself too to cross-curricular work: a study of eastern European countries in geography, or of mini beasts/arachnids in science, or research into the history of tinsel on Christmas trees.

This is an activity called Sweet Talk, a public speaking exercise for pupils from Y4-Y9. Hits 4 objectives for presentation and communication. The resource consists of a presentation to introduce the lesson, full and clear lesson plan, and three resources files (mark sheets for pupils' use, topic cards and reward tokens). Children are given time to prepare their Christmas themed topic, after which they speak for a whole minute to the class. Each member of the class assesses the performance and scores it out of 3. At the end of the session, scores are compared (show of hands), and pupils receive sweet tokens according to the number of points they are awarded. These are then cashed in for teacher goodies. It's an activity I invented one Christmas, and which subsequently became firmly embedded into the weekly timetable. Parents either love it or hate it. It is valued by those who notice and appreciate the increase in their child's confidence and articulacy; it's much less popular with those who resent having to get involved with homework!

Good for KS2 and lower KS3 for revising doubling rules, this quiz consists of 20 Christmassy sentences with missing words containing double letters. Grammatical function is given in place of the words (e.g. noun, adjective, verb). Good as a starter, or for homework. Answers are supplied.

This is a 13 page pdf file containing 5 separate activities suitable for KS3 or upper KS2 English. The unit begins with a 500 word comprehension about the origin of Christmas crackers. The comprehension contains 15 questions, with available marks indicated. A mark scheme is supplied. It is followed by differentiated dictation: 3 versions of the same 100 word text based on the reading passage. Teacher notes are supplied. The third activity is a speed dictation (Dictagloss). Another 100 word text is read at speed and pupils are tasked with re-assembling it collaboratively. This activity should generate a lot of talk. Full teacher notes accompany the text. After that there is a worksheet on root words and word families, with teacher notes. Finally, the writing activity is an acrostic poem entitled CRACKERS. 2 examples of teacher-generated acrostic poems are included in the teaching notes.

For younger primary classes. Ten thematically linked sentences containing capital letter and full stop errors which pupils have to correct. The sentences form a mini narrative about a child with a migraine, and suggestions are given in the teacher notes on ways in which the narrative could be exploited in writing lessons on various genres.

This is an exercise for younger primary pupils. They are given 10 sentences, some of which have missing capital letters or full stops. One of the sentences is correct, and another has two errors. The sentences from part of a mini-narrative, so can be used as the basis of a scaffolded writing task. Teacher suggestions are provided.