This engaging and purposeful lesson is the fourth in a series of lessons that enable children to gradually build towards composing an effective, well-structured recount. This lesson focuses on helping children to create cohesion in their writing, using time connectives and other cohesive devices. The eye-catching and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation (21 slides) guides teachers and children along the following learning journey: -Knowledge recall - revisiting what children already know about recounts; -SPAG starter: Time connectives; -Understanding other features that contribute to cohesion in written texts; -Identifying good and bad examples of cohesion in texts; -Improving their earlier written attempts by following steps to improve cohesion; -Following a model example to develop cohesion within the next paragraph of their written compositions (a structure strip is provided, in both PDF and Word format, to help them to organise and sequence this section of their composition); -Reflecting on their learning from across the lesson. These lessons were originally created for children in lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4). The focus of the recount in these resources is a ‘journey’, but the resources have been made in a way that they can be easily adapted to your chosen topic/ subject matter.

This engaging and purposeful lesson is the third in a series of lessons that enable children to gradually build towards composing an effective, well-structured recount. This lesson focuses on guiding children towards creating full, interesting sentences to describe their stimulus. By the end of the lesson, they write the opening section of their recount. The eye-catching and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation (18 slides) guides teachers and children along the following learning journey: -Knowledge recall - revisiting what children already know about recounts; -SPAG starter: Expanded noun phrases; -Understanding how prepositions can aid us in expanding sentences; -Exploring how expanded noun phrases and prepositions can be used in combination to create interesting, detailed full sentences; -Following a model example to develop effective sentences within the first paragraph (a structure strip is also provided to help the children to formulate this paragraph in an organised manner); -Reflecting on their learning from across the lesson. These lessons were originally created for children in lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4). The focus of the recount in these resources is a ‘journey’, but the resources have been made in a way that they can be easily adapted to your chosen topic/ subject matter.

This engaging and purposeful lesson is the second in a series of lessons that enable children to gradually build towards composing an effective, well-structured recount. In this lesson, children learn to build vocabulary to use in their writing, drawing on a range of word types (nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs) and using each of their five senses. The eye-catching and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation guides teachers and children along the following learning journey: -Knowledge recall - revisiting what children already know about recounts; -SPAG starter: Word classes (nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs); -Establishing a three-part structure for the recount; -Watching a ‘Climbing Everest’ video (hyperlinked) to gain inspiration and consider how a journey can be structured and described; -Using a clear template and the five senses to build appropriate and effective vocabulary; -Sharing and building upon one another’s vocabulary and ideas; -Reflecting on their learning from across the lesson. The PowerPoint presentation (19 slides) and activity resources needed are provided (the worksheet template is provided in both Word and PDF). These lessons were originally created for children in lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4). The focus of the recount in these resources is a ‘journey’, but the resources have been made in a way that they can be easily adapted to your chosen topic/ subject matter.

This engaging and purposeful lesson is the first in a series of lessons that enable children to gradually build towards composing an effective, well-structured recount. The first lesson focuses on what recounts are, establishing the main features and techniques. The eye-catching and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation guides teachers and children along the following learning journey: -Knowledge harvesting what children already know about recounts; -SPAG starter: Homophones -Finding out more about recounts and the essential techniques through watching a BBC Teach ‘Michael Rosen’ video, and answering comprehension questions about what they have watched; -Establishing a success criteria for recounts; -Analysing a ‘WAGOLL’ (what a good one looks like) and identifying the features and techniques from the success criteria; -Reflecting on their learning from across the lesson. The PowerPoint presentation and activity resources needed are provided (any readings or worksheets are provided in both Word and PDF). These lessons were originally created for children in lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4). The focus of the recount in these resources is a ‘journey’, but the resources have been made in a way that they can be easily adapted to your chosen topic/ subject matter.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Michael Morpurgo’s 'When Fishes Flew.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS2 expectations within the National Curriculum framework. Children love learning from these resources, whilst they are also of great use to teachers, as there is explicit information within each task regarding which comprehension strands the task is designed to demonstrate. They also relate to key extracts, characters, and themes from the story, ensuring that children gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: ‘Morpurgo’s Language Techniques’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Explain meanings of words that they know and ask the meaning of new words. Link the meaning of new words to words that they already know;’ ‘Character Analysis of Nandi and Maria’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;’ ‘An Interview with Nandi’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Understand what is read by drawing on information from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas, and using quotations for illustration;’ ‘Storyboarders’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Read books that are structured in different ways and for a range of purposes.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is over 20 pages in length!) I’ve also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. The resource is suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Michael Morpurgo’s ‘When Fishes Flew.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in upper KS2, but it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This engaging and highly-purposeful double lesson has been designed to enable children to understand, identify and use different types of verbs. They learn about active, stative, modal and auxiliary verbs through a range of interesting and logically-sequenced activities. Children learn through: -Defining each of the different types of verbs, and thinking of examples of each; -Identfying different types of verbs within sentences; -Explaining how they know what type of verb is being used; -Employing different types of verb to describe interesting and humerous picture stimulus; -Creating their own creative texts, applying the knowledge that they have gained throughout the lesson; -Evaluating their own writing attempts, endeavouring to find further appropriate opportunities for uplevelling their use of verbs. The resource pack is comprised of a colourful and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation, which offers a step-by-step guide through the entirety of the lesson. Also included is the Bloom’s Taxonomy activity sheet, which guides children through defining, identifying and explaining different types of verbs (provided in both PDF and Word, with an additional teacher answer sheet). This is best taught either in one double lesson period, or over the course of two lessons (there are approx 2-2.5 hours of materials). The lesson was originally created for children in both upper KS2 and lower KS3, however with minor adaptations could easily be suitable for those in lower KS2.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening chapter of Michael Morpurgo’s ‘Shadow.’ The resource pack includes the extract and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in Years 3 to 5, but it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is also suitable for home/ remote learning.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about Lewis Carroll, particularly those studying his works in English or completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in His Life; Important Vocabulary; Lewis Carroll Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto either A4 or A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images are licensed for commercial use.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about Emily Dickinson, particularly those studying her works in English or completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in Her Life; Important Vocabulary; Emily Dickinson Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto either A4 or A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images are licensed for commercial use.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about Virginia Woolf, particularly those studying her works in English or completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in Her Life; Important Vocabulary; Virginia Woolf Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto either A4 or A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images are licensed for commercial use.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about William Wordsworth, particularly those studying his works in English or completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in His Life; Important Vocabulary; William Wordsworth Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto either A4 or A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images are licensed for commercial use.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension of the blurb and opening chapter of Gill Lewis’s ‘Swang Song.’ The extract needed is provided as a PDF. The reading is followed by a series of activities aiming to develop children’s retrieval, explanation, inference, prediction and summarising skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in years 3-4, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning about George Orwell, particularly those studying different authors in English Literature, or completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in His Life; Important Vocabulary; George Orwell Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto either A4 or A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use.

This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about Jane Austen, particularly those studying different authors in English Literature, or completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals.’ It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in Her Life; Important Vocabulary; Jane Austen Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto either A4 or A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use.

A simple worksheet that I used to help children in years 2 and 3 to secure their understanding of word classes. It uses an opening extract of ‘The Twits’ in which Mr Twit is first introduced to the reader. The worksheet provides children with a series of tasks in which they identify, understand, replace and create nouns, verbs and adjectives. Provided in both PDF (to protect formatting) and Word (so that you can edit as needed). Hope that this helps!

This engaging and thought-provoking lesson is the last in a series lessons designed to accompany the reading and promote children’s comprehension of Roald Dahl’s ‘Esio Trot.’ It covers the end of the text (pages 50 to 63 in the Puffin version of the story). The lesson is guided by a comprehensive and colourful PowerPoint presentation, and enables students to understand the text through: -Retrieving information about the events and characters in this section of the story; -Inferring and deducing hidden meanings, including key inferences about Mr Hoppy and Mrs Silver’s marriage; -Summarising and sequencing the main events in the text. The sessions include a range of retrieval, vocabulary, inference, explanation and deeper thinking activities. A clear, colourful and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation guides students through the learning. A clear, well-designed template is also provided for the storyboarding activity. The lessons are most suitable for children in upper KS1 or lower KS2, depending upon the individual context of the class - they have been tried and tested in the classroom with both year 2 and year 3 children.

This engaging and thought-provoking lesson is the third in a sequence of four lessons designed to accompany the reading and promote children’s comprehension of Roald Dahl’s ‘Esio Trot.’ This lesson covers the section of the text in which Mr Hoppy carries out his plot to create the appearance of Alfie ‘growing’ in an attempt to win Mrs Silver’s affection. It covers pages 34 to 49 in the Puffin version of the story. The lesson is guided by a comprehensive and colourful PowerPoint presentation, and enables students to understand the text through: -Retrieving information about the events and characters in this section of the story; -Inferring and deducing hidden meanings, including key inferences about how Mr Hoppy carefully carries out his plan; -Identifying and understanding Roald Dahl’s use of different types of vocabulary. The sessions include a range of retrieval, vocabulary, inference, explanation and deeper thinking activities. A clear, colourful and comprehensive PowerPoint presentation guides students through the learning. The lessons are most suitable for children in upper KS1 or lower KS2, depending upon the individual context of the class - they have been tried and tested in the classroom with both year 2 and year 3 children.