Creative Writing for KS2 planning sheets. A variety of planning sheets for character, setting and plotting which allow children to self determine the style of their planning for their stories. Included: 3 Character planning sheets - Shapes, Rounded, Questionnaire 3 Setting planning sheets - Senses, Picture and Senses, Questionnaire 3 Plotting planning sheets - Story Mountain, Plotting Chart, Character Emotional Journey The styles of planning naturally allow for differentiation - I use these with children from 7 to 11 years old and they allow for stretch as well as support.

A wonderful way to get more listening into the classroom. Tale Time storyteller, Vicky McFarland, re-tells this classic Greek Myth: Theseus and the Minotaur, with plenty of atmosphere and a little Tale Time fun. Optimize students listening with a set of Thinking and Listening Questions. Synopsis A terrible thing happens in Athens every year… fourteen children are sent to Crete and sacrificed to the Minotaur, a beast with the body of a man and the head of a bull. When the young Prince Theseus hears of this, he is determined to kill the Minotaur. But Theseus must face the minotaur inside the Labyrinth, a maze of darkness: once he’s killed the creature, how will he find his way out? Activity This resource comes with a set of Listening and Thinking Questions and answers. Use the Listening Questions for a straightforward listening task. The Thinking Questions delve a little deeper and test reading comprehension and understanding. This KS2 resource is perfect for a whole class or small group listening activity. The story is just over ten minutes (10.47). We hope you enjoy - your feedback is most welcome.

Tale Time re-tells this classic Japanese folktale. Great for lower and upper KS2 whole class listening or small group listening. Ideal for children with additional needs, especially children with dyslexia or reluctant readers. This traditional tale from Asia tells of a Stonecutter who, unhappy with his lot, wishes to be the Mayor. Through the magic of story, his wish comes true. But the Stonecutter is never satisfied, he then wants to be King and when he sees the Sun has power over him, he sets his sights higher. The Stonecutter becomes the sun, a cloud, then a mountain and finally ends up right back where he started. The Stonecutter audio story for children is just over seven minutes in length. This circular story could be a great starter for a philosophy lesson, or a circle time discussion on desire and happiness. Or why not use it to start a drama lesson? Tale Time audio stories are a fun way to bring more storytelling into the classroom. We’d love to hear how you used this story and what you thought about it and we’re always keen to improve our resources, please do feedback.

Tale Time’s **Rumpelstiltskin and Other Stories **includes five captivating audio stories handpicked by Tale Time from the great treasure trove of world folklore, myth and legend. These stories are a great listening task for KS2, perfect for a ten minute beginning or end of day activity to improve listening skills. They are: Rumpelstiltskin - the classic tale from Brother’s Grimm When a girl’s father boasts of her skills, the girl finds herself at the mercy of a greedy King who wants her to turn straw into gold. With no other choice, the girl accepts the help of a magical imp. But as the King keeps demanding more gold, the imp’s price rises and the girl finds herself locked into a deal she will one day regret. Can she guess the imp’s name and save herself and her baby? Length: 10.31 minutes Monkey and the Crocodile - an Indian folktale from the Panchantantra Monkey loves to hang out near the river, he’s not worried about crocodiles, in fact he makes friends with one… they love to chat about food. One day Crocodile is excited, he has some of monkey’s favourite food… if monkey will just jump on his back, they can go and get it. This is a classic trickster tale of but will monkey or crocodile get what they want? Length: 7 minutes Theseus and the Minotaur - favourite Greek myth Every year the King of Athens sends children to be sacrificed to the Minotaur (a monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull). When the young prince learns of their fate, he determines to kill the Minotaur. Travelling to Crete, Theseus must enter the Labyrinth and fight the Minotaur. But once the Minotaur is killed, will Theseus be able to find his way out? Length: 10.47 minutes The Stonecutter - folktale from Japan An unhappy Stonecutter sees a Lord Mayor and wishes for the Lord Mayor’s life, through the magic of stories his wish is granted. But he is soon unhappy again and wishes to be King, then the Sun, then a Cloud, then a Mountain and finally a Stonecutter, bringing him back to where he started. A lovely circular tale with a wise and memorable life lesson. Length: 7.24 minutes The Three Princes - story from Arabian nights. The Queen sets a tasks three brothers to find the best gift for her kingdom, whoever brings her the greatest gift will become her Queen. The brothers each set out, one finds a magic rug, another a magic tube and the third a magic apple. The brothers are all convinced that their gift is the greatest, but when the Queen is sick, they discover by working together they can save her. Length: 11.15 minutes

Tale Time re-tells this classic Japanese folktale. Great for lower and upper KS2 whole class listening or small group listening. Could be used as a guided reading task, or a nice listening lesson. This download comes with a word fill exercise, differentiated three ways with answer sheets for ease of marking and a How To Use This Resource for Teachers. Synopsis This traditional tale from Asia tells of a Stonecutter who, unhappy with his lot, wishes to be the Mayor. Through the magic of story, his wish comes true. But the Stonecutter is never satisfied, he then wants to be King and when he sees the Sun has power over him, he sets his sights higher. The Stonecutter becomes the sun, a cloud, then a mountain and finally ends up right back where he started. The Stonecutter audio story for children is just over seven minutes in length. Why not… This circular story could be a great starter for a philosophy lesson, or a circle time discussion on desire and happiness. Or why not use it to start a drama lesson? Tale Time audio stories are a fun way to bring more storytelling into the classroom. We’d love to hear how you used this story and what you thought about it and we’re always keen to improve our resources, please do feedback.

Tale Time re-tells this classic Japanese folktale. Great for lower and upper KS2 whole class listening or small group listening. Could be used as a guided reading task, or a nice listening lesson. This download comes with a set of listening questions - for a straightforward listening task, and a set of open questions for deeper level thinking - fantastic for stretching your students and getting them to engage with the text. Synopsis This traditional tale from Asia tells of a Stonecutter who, unhappy with his lot, wishes to be the Mayor. Through the magic of story, his wish comes true. But the Stonecutter is never satisfied, he then wants to be King and when he sees the Sun has power over him, he sets his sights higher. The Stonecutter becomes the sun, a cloud, then a mountain and finally ends up right back where he started. The Stonecutter audio story for children is just over seven minutes in length. Why not… This circular story could be a great starter for a philosophy lesson, or a circle time discussion on desire and happiness. Or why not use it to start a drama lesson? Tale Time audio stories are a fun way to bring more storytelling into the classroom. We’d love to hear how you used this story and what you thought about it and we’re always keen to improve our resources, please do feedback.

Tale Time re-tells this classic Asian tale from Arabian Nights. A great audio story for KS2, perfect for whole class or small group listening. With a read along text, ideal for reluctant readers, children who struggle to read fluently or who have dyslexia. This story from Asia tells of a Queen who wants to find a suitable King (re-imagined from the traditional King offers princess as bride format) so sets a task for three princes. Each finds a gift but which will be the best and win the hand of the queen? Before they have a chance to find out the Queen gets sick, but by working together the brothers use their gifts to save her. A lovely story with a nice message, but also a magic flying rug! Re-told with all the Tale Time fun, classes will enjoy listening to a story they probably haven’t heard before. Tale Time would love to hear what you think of this story and are always looking to improve, so please do leave us some feedback.

KS2 classes will love to listen to this classic Greek Myth: Theseus and the Minotaur, plenty of atmosphere but told with a little Tale Time fun . Synopsis A terrible thing happens in Athens every year… fourteen children are sent to Crete and sacrificed to the Minotaur, a beast with the body of a man and the head of a bull. When the young Prince Theseus hears of this, he is determined to kill the Minotaur. But Theseus must face the minotaur inside the Labyrinth, a maze of darkness: once he’s killed the creature, how will he find his way out? Activity This resource comes with a Word Fill activity -differentiated three ways, with answers and a how to use sheet for teachers. This KS2 resource is perfect for a whole class or small group listening activity. The story is just over ten minutes (10.47). We hope you enjoy - your feedback is most welcome.

A Creative Writing resource to be used with a story or text for KS2 and KS3 Literacy. I wrote a News Report gives you all the elements you need to run a successful Newspaper writing lesson. With an example based on a fairy tale, a breakdown with success criteria and a planning sheet as well as two differentiated writing frames and a self assessment. This resource was designed to be used with Tale Time’s Audio collections - but can be used for any story or text. Included: Example Text - News Report for Fairy Tale Rumpelstiltskin Info Sheet - Breakdown of features of News Report from example and success criteria Planning Sheet - Broken down planning for creating a News Report from a story 2 Writing Frames (differentiated) Assessment Criteria - Included on Info sheet and Planning Sheet Self/ peer assessment form This resource will work well within a Newspaper Writing unit.

Tale Time re-tells the classic Greek Myth: Theseus and the Minotaur, plenty of atmosphere but told with a little Tale Time fun . A terrible thing happens in Athens every year… fourteen children are sent to Crete and sacrificed to the Minotaur, a beast with the body of a man and the head of a bull. When the young Prince Theseus hears of this, he is determined to kill the Minotaur. But Theseus must face the minotaur inside the Labyrinth, a maze of darkness: once he’s killed the creature, how will he find his way out? This KS2 resource is perfect for whole class or small group listening. Includes a read along text for reluctant readers or children with additional needs, particularly good for dyslexia. The story is just over ten minutes (10.47). We hope you enjoy - your feedback is most welcome.

A whole pack of listening, reading, writing resources to make the most of listening to Tale Time’s Rumpelstiltskin (audio story) for your whole KS2 class. Pack includes: Ten minute audio story (mp3) Read along text Listening and Thinking questions, with answers Differentiated Listening task - word fill Differentiated Writing tasks x 2 Tale Time stories are fun, quirky re-imagined tales These teaching resources are designed to complement the story, allowing children to engage in the text in a number of ways. Perfect for KS2 whole class teaching. Want to use the story for reading interventions? Why not download just the story and read along text? Or use for World Book Day.

A fantastic audio story from Tale Time. KS2 children will love to listen to this quirky, fun retelling of the Traditional Tale Rumpelstiltskin by Brother’s Grimm. Great for whole class or small group listening. Ideal for reading interventions for children who struggle to read but like a good story. Could be a nice activity for World Book Day. Why not listen whilst reading along? Brilliant way to support reading for children with additional needs; EAL, dyslexia. This story is ten minutes in length. Want to extend this resource? We’ve created a whole Rumpelstiltskin Resource Pack , which includes the story and the read along text as well as differentiated listening and writing tasks.

Vicky Parsons, travelling storyteller, in India telling a funny little story about Ganesh, the elephant God. A man boasts his banquet is good enough for the Gods so Ganesh appears and eats him out of house and home. India, Hinduism, Hindu Dieties, Storytelling, Stories

This is an origin story about thunder and lightening from Cambodia. The hermit gives his two students a test to see who is the best. But when the Goddess wins the Giant is not happy.

The Hare looked up at the moon and said I have an idea, tomorrow we should fast and offer all our food to any man who is hungry.

A traditional buddhist story about a monkey and the water ogre. From the wonderful book of Buddha birth tales this story tells of when the Buddha was born as the monkey king and had to protect his monkeys from a water ogre.

A lovely story from Japan about a man who constantly wishes for more.

Simpleton! How on earth would you make it in the big wide world if we didn’t?! Laughed his brothers. But Simpleton begged and nagged and eventually they let him go with them.

The Christian Tale about helping each other re-told by Vicky Parsons.

From China a wonderful story about the nature of luck and the bigger picture.