This clear, detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for children learning about J.K. Rowling, particularly those completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals’, or those finding out about prominent authors as a part of their English learning. It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in Her Life; Important Vocabulary; J.K. Rowling Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto 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 Maya Angelou, particularly those completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals’, those learning about prominent authors, or those studying the impact of civil rights activists. It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in Her Life; Important Vocabulary; Maya Angelou Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto 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 Dr. Seuss, particularly those completing a history study of ‘Significant Individuals’ or those learning about prominent children’s authors. It contains comprehensive sections entitled: Overview; Times in His Life; Important Vocabulary; Dr. Seuss Timeline; Answers to the Important Questions; Top Ten Facts. The resource is designed to be printed onto 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 engaging and informative enables students to make precise and detailed interpretations of H.G. Wells’ language choices in describing the Martians in ‘The War of the Worlds.’ Students identify and analyse the effect of Wells’ writing, using their understanding of various language devices, before applying these concepts to their own descriptive writing attempts. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Defining and exemplifying the descriptive writing techniques, through a fun and interactive activity; Identifying the language techniques that Wells uses in his description of the Martians;’ Analysing the effectiveness of Wells’ descriptive writing; Creating their own descriptions of imagined aliens, using Wells’ model example and the techniques that they have gathered over the course of the lesson; Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts, using a clear success criteria; Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; Card sorting cards Selected extracts printed onto one sheet (from Book 1, Chapter 4 and Book 2, Chapter 2). There are also opportunities for group learning, speaking and listening, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. I originally used these resources with year 10 and 11 classes, however colleagues have used them for between year 9 and year 13 with some adaptations. This lesson is suitable for home/ remote learning. All images are licensed for commercial use.

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Roald Dahl’s ‘Matilda.’ (Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions). They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS1 expectations within the new 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: ‘Feed Bogtrotter!’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘talk about their favourite words and phrases in the story;’ ‘Dahl’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;’ ‘The Opening Pages’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Say what might happen next in a story based on what has happened so far;’ ‘Story Mountain’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Enjoy reading and discussing the order of events in books and how items of information are related.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is around 20 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 resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Roald Dahl’s ‘Matilda.’ 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 Miss Honey’ - 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;’ ‘Dahl’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;’ ‘Description of the Miss Trunchbull’ - 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’ - 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 around 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. All images are licensed for commercial use.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising H.G. Wells’ ‘The War of the Worlds.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Wells’ Language Devices; Features of Science Fiction Novels. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto 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 resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Ted Hughes’ 'The Iron Man.’ 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 Hogarth’ - 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;’ ‘Ted Hughes’ 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;’ ‘The Iron Man’ and ‘The Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon’ 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 ‘The Iron Man’ - 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 resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Richard Adams’ ‘Watership Down.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS3 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. Children have found these resources engaging, and for teachers 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: ‘Context: The British Countryside’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know the purpose, audience and context of the writing and drawing on this knowledge to support comprehension.’ ‘Adams’ Description’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.’ ‘Hazel’ and ‘General Woundwort’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Study setting, plot, and characterisation, and the effects of these.’ ‘Vocabulary Inspector’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Learn new vocabulary, relating it explicitly to known vocabulary and understanding it with the help of context and dictionaries.’ 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 detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Richard Adams’ ‘Watership Down.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Adams’ Language Devices; Features of Adventure Novels. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto 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 informative and engaging whole class reading session deepens children’s understanding of the Nativity Story, whilst also developing vital reading comprehension skills such as retrieving, interpreting, inferring and sequencing. I have used these resources as an adaptation to our usual whole class reading provision throughout the lead-up to Christmas. The resource pack includes the link to the version of the story needed, which is most suitable for children in lower KS2 (although some higher attaining KS1 children may also be able to access it successfully). This 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 resources have been received well by teachers and children, with a number of collegues choosing to split the content over two sessions. All images are licensed for commercial use.

This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of John Cooper Clarke’s poem 'I Wanna Be Yours.’ They are perfect for aiding the progress of students learning poetry either in KS3 and KS4 in preparation for poetry/unseen poetry at GCSE, as the tasks draw on English Literature assessment objectives - suitable for all examining bodies - it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. The booklet 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 resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Meera Syal’s ‘Anita and Me.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in exam revision, comprehension tasks, or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the KS4 expectations within the National Curriculum framework - this makes the tasks suitable for all examining bodies. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and for teachers 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 students gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: 'Context: 1970s Britain - to aid students with ‘Drawing on knowledge of the purpose, audience and context of the writing, including its social, historical and cultural context and the literary tradition to which it belongs, to inform evaluation;’ ‘Syal’s Description’ - to aid students with ‘Analysing a writer’s choice of vocabulary, form, grammatical and structural features, and evaluating their effectiveness and impact;’ ‘Nanima’ and ‘Anita’ - to aid students with ‘Seeking evidence in the text to support a point of view, including justifying inferences with evidence;’ ‘Editing the Text’ - to aid students with ‘Making an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is around 30 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 Buddhist stories teaching moral messages about anger and patience. The resource pack includes both short stories and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. This 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 KS2, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly older year groups.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of a non-fiction text about Buddhist monks and worship. 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. This 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 KS2, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly older year groups.

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension skills through a reading of the story of how Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha. The resource pack includes the story text and all of the activities for the session, which the class are guided through via a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. This 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 KS2, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly older year groups.