This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Brian Bilston’s poem ‘Refugees.’ This is a clever poem that can be read in two ways - offering two perspectives regarding attitudes to refugees. Teachers have found the activities particularly useful throughout teaching, or for revision or guided reading sessions. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. It is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers). Activities within the booklet include (amongst many others): ‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’ ‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ ‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’

This 15-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of two of Franta Bass’ Holocaust poems: ‘The Garden’ and ‘I am a Jew.’ Teachers have found the activities particularly useful throughout teaching, or for revision or guided reading sessions. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. It is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers). Activities within the booklet include (amongst many others): ‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’ ‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ ‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’

This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Benjamin Zephaniah’s poem 'The British.’ Teachers have found the activities particularly useful throughout teaching, or for revision or guided reading sessions. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. It is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers). Activities within the booklet include (amongst many others): ‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’ ‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ ‘Diary Entry’ - to help students to ‘Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. Make an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ ‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’

This 18-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Alfred Noyes’ poem 'The Highwayman.’ Teachers have found the activities particularly useful throughout teaching, or for revision or guided reading sessions. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. It is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers). Activities within the booklet include (amongst many others): ‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’ ‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ ‘Diary Entry’ - to help students to ‘Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. Make an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ ‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’

This comprehensive analysis enables students to understand the key content, language and structural features of Alfred Noyes’ poem ‘The Highwayman.’ The resources is comprised of a 24-slide PowerPoint presentation, which includes: -Contextual Information: The Poet/ Writing the Poem/ Highwaymen -Detailed Stanza-by-Stanza Analysis of the Poem -Noyes Key Messages -Questions for Further Consideration Annnotations are colour-coded for ease of reference. The resource is tried and tested, and helps to ensure that students develop a well-rounded understanding of the poem and its meanings. A PDF version of the resource is also included, to protect formatting in case of differences in software. All images are licensed for commercial use.

This engaging and highly-purposeful lesson has been designed to enable children to uplevel their basic sentences, creating more precise, elaborate passages. The lesson takes the children through the process of contemplating vocabulary choices within each of the main word classes, before considering sentence variety in terms of length, form and order. Children learn through: -Defining what uplevelling is, and understanding how some sentences can be too vague and basic; -Considering how a model example can be improved through the use of more precise nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs; -Investigating how conjunctions and fronted adverbials can be utilised in order to change sentence types, lengths and orders for clarity and effect; -Employing the strategies that they have learnt to create and uplevel their own series of sentences based on a visual stimulus; -Evaluating their partner’s writing attempts, endeavouring to find further appropriate opportunities for uplevelling. 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. There is nothing to print, simply download and go! The lesson was originally created for children in upper KS2, however with minor adaptations could easily be suitable for those in lower KS2 or lower KS3.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Christina Balit’s 'Escape from Pompeii.’ 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: ‘An Interview with Tranio’ - 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;’ ‘The Author’s Description’ - 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;’ ‘Tranio’ and ‘Livia’ profiles! - 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;’ 'Figurative Language in ‘Escape from Pompeii’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, to create an impact on the reader.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is 21 pages in length!) I’ve also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on a separate document (included).

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening two chapters of ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ by Jules Verne. 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 5-9. The session is suitable for home/ remote learning. The resources are suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening extract of ‘The Time Machine’ (originally written by H.G. Wells, adapted age-appropriately by Eric Brown). 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 5-8, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is suitable for home/ remote learning. The resources are suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the opening extract of ‘Frankenstein’ (originally written by Mary Shelley, adapted by Gill Tavner). 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 5-8, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is suitable for home/ remote learning. The resources are suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of a non-fiction text about the Solar System. The resource pack includes the full text 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 4-6, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly older or younger year groups. This resource is suitable for home/ remote learning. These resources are suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of a non-fiction text about the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. The resource pack includes the full text 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 4-6, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly older or younger year groups. This resource is suitable for home/ remote learning. These resources are suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading an extract from H.G. Wells’ ‘The War of the Worlds.’ The reading focuses on two extracts in which the Martians’ physical appearance is described. The extracts have been modified slightly to make them more accessible for a younger audience. 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 5-8, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is suitable for home/ remote learning. The resources are 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 Francesca Simon’s ‘Two Terrible Vikings.’ 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 2-4, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is suitable for home/ remote learning.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of a non-fiction text about the legendary Norseman ‘Leif Erikson.’ The resource pack includes the full text 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 4-6, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly older or younger year groups. This 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 Cressida Cowell’s ‘How to Train Your Dragon.’ 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 3-5, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups. The session is suitable for home/ remote learning.

A simple information sheet detailing some of the main physical and human geography features of the Amazon Rainforest. I have used this in the past with KS2/ KS3 students as a part of a geography topic on rainforests, and also as a non-fiction whole class reading stimulus. Provided as a PDF (to protect formatting) and as a Word document (so that you can edit it). Hope that you find it useful!