A wide variety of resources based on my 30 years teaching in primary and secondary schools, as well as home education too.
My passion is writing and encouraging youngsters to experiment with a wide variety of tools in order to develop their written work.
If you like my work, please leave some feedback - I'm alway looking to improve what I have to offer and this is only possible if people tell me what they want!
A wide variety of resources based on my 30 years teaching in primary and secondary schools, as well as home education too.
My passion is writing and encouraging youngsters to experiment with a wide variety of tools in order to develop their written work.
If you like my work, please leave some feedback - I'm alway looking to improve what I have to offer and this is only possible if people tell me what they want!
Three writing resources based around World War 1.
First, a comprehension exercise for 'In Flanders Fields';
Second, a creative writing activity based around 'Going Over the Top';
Thirdly, a more reflective piece of creative writing centring on writing a letter/postcard to loved ones at home.
Designed to encourage students to consider life for the average soldier in the trenches during WW1, this pack will create much in the way of discussion, debate and reflection.
A collection of FOUR quality images that are designed to engage students in discussion with a view to developing listening skills.
The four starters are -
- What's Your Worst Nightmare (Food? Anxiety? Parents? School?)?;
- Should Homework Be Banned?
- Fast Food or Healthy?;
- Should We Get Paid For Good Work?
Each encourages students to collaborate - in pairs or small groups, make notes and plan a response that can be shared with the larger group.
A wonderfully useful set of sheets for children to use in all manner of writing styles and genres, this pack contains -
- An A4 sheet of sentence starters, covering speech, using adverbs, rhetorical questions and short sentences;
- An A4 sheet for children to jot down their thoughts around concepts such as useful synonyms, adjectives, similes and rhetorical questions they might use;
- An A4 storyboard, split into eight sections for children to plan their work onto;
- An A4 'Writing Checklist' - for children to use after their writing is done. Covering sentence choices, spelling, handwriting, grammar, punctuation and more, it is designed to be used in a self-assess or peer-assess format, this sheet makes a great support document for reminding children what they need to include in their writing.
All of these sheets could be laminated as they will be used again and again and again...
Please leave a review if you liked this work - and check out my other resources too!
A whole week's worth of writing activities based around the theme of 'Autumn'.
Vivid images to stimulate children's' thinking and develop their vocabularies.
Specifically created for shorter writing tasks, each sheet is aimed at a 20-minute writing session, giving time to discuss the task, time for teacher modelling on board/visualiser and time to create a word bank to refer to AND time for children to write.
Included in the pack is a planning sheet for the children to use, along with a choice of three different sheets for the children to write up their completed, redrafted work.
These may also be used on the computer to type on.
A massive 27-page resource to commemorate the ill-doings of the Gunpowder Plotters back in 1605.
Lasting a whole week (editable lesson plan included), covering the timeline of events perpetrated by Robert Catesby and his co-conspirators, this pack endeavours to study the reasons behind the plot, highlighting the plight of Catholics in Stuart England.
The resource includes -
- Texts;
- A timeline;
- Three-levels of differentiated comprehension tasks;
- Posters;
- Character sheets;
- Creative writing opportunities;
- Discussion points (including a whole class debate);
- Week-long lesson plan (MS Word);
- Suggestions for extension work;
- History POS information and more!
A super resource aimed at getting children to consider what it would have been like for Guy Fawkes on November 5th.
Included in the pack -
- Picture stimulus
- 8-section storyboard to create overview
- A4 sheet to record appropriate adjectives, adverbs, similes and rhetorical questions
- A4 'Senses' sheet for aiding sentence development
- A4 'Empathy' sheet - thought-provoking questions designed to encourage children to 'live in someone else's shoes'
- A4 scroll image for children to either write their improved drafts onto or type onto via the computer
A complete set of 39 words to act as a class reference, to improve and extend both spoken and written work. Chosen to act as extension work, providing challenge and difficulty to all.
Examples of the words include - 'Nadir - Predilection - Taciturn - lithe' with a total of 39 - one for each week of the school year.
Each word includes a definition of its meaning and also a selection of synonyms for children to use/consider/discuss.
Includes a Word document listing the 39 words for teacher's records.
An 8-page A5 booklet with a potted history of the Great War, the birth of the Poppy and the Royal British Legion.
The booklet includes comprehension exercises, images, questions and more.
Designed for children to keep as a future reference booklet, this resource covers all the necessary areas - Who? What? When? Where? Why? and discusses how Poppies became symbolic.
A map of Europe is included for children to locate the main countries involved.
Finally, the most popular verse from 'The Fallen' is included ('They shall not grow old...') for children to learn by heart.
A superb resource for encouraging students to write in the mystery/spooky genre, with the emphasis on discussion, recording, redrafting and improving their work.
This resource is more concerned with 'mystery' in its wider sense, not just that of the traditional 'Whodunnit' but more about more mysterious things that might be around us in everyday life.
Included are three quality activities with story-starters, two resource sheets and two high-quality videos (approx 3 mins long). Both have the same images and original, atmospheric soundtrack which will be guaranteed to stimulate discussion. The second video has added annotations to encourage those students who are finding it difficult to engage.
The videos create a wonderful whole-class introduction - close the curtains, turn up the sound on the IWB and sit back - your students will respond!
If you have any questions or would like something specific creating, please get in touch!
Three quality story openers to stimulate students and create plenty of discussion, leading to improved writing opportunities!
All three are semi-spooky, mysterious, thought-provoking resources that can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, but are all certain to capture students' imaginations!
Two resources for end-of-term fun!
#1 - Christmas Stamp Design: An activity to design commemorative stamps for 2017 with a festive feel. Comes complete with examples and templates;
#2 - Gift Tag Design: A D&T activity for students to design a gift tag aimed at family members. Comes complete with examples and templates;
#3 - 'Letter to Santa' - a 'Festive Freebie' - great, display friendly resource to support letter writing
A huge resource of over ten different regular shapes - differentiated for two levels, so over twenty worksheets in all.
Comes complete with guidance from the National Curriculum Programme of Study.
Aimed at getting children to discuss different properties of shape, these resources lend themselves equally well to a 'chalk & talk' session using a board/visualiser or can be used individually with children.
The worksheets also encourage children to look at shape in their environment, prompting further talk.
Plenty of options for discussing the merits of each shape and enhancing mathematical vocabulary.
A selection of four creative writing resources with powerful images that will produce quality discussion. Each is supplied with a prompt sheet to push students' writing skills to the next level.
Provided with an extra prompt sheet that can be used with all four pictures, to encourage students to consider the importance of their senses in writing.
Aimed at upper KS2 and lower KS3, these photographs will create a superb wall display, with some excellent writing from the children.
Aimed at upper KS2 and lower KS3, this resource contains a whole week's worth of creative writing, covering the use of similes, rhetorical questions, adjectives and synonyms, while at the same time concentrating on verbal language development.
Included in the resource pack are full hi-res images for display use, along with semi-translucent images that can be loaded into a Word document and used as a background for the completed writing.
As well as a differentiated worksheet for less able writers and a comprehensive writers' support sheet for children to record their work on, this resource builds each day to the climax of writing the finished article by the end of the week.
Throughout, children are encouraged to co-operate, talk and work with partners, sharing their work and their learning as they go.
A series of 18 hi-res images with a mixture of inspirational and motivational quotes from leading figures in society, past and present - Abraham Lincoln, Steve Jobs, Nelson Mandela etc.
Superb 'instant' wall display, with pictures based around the natural environment, these images can be used as a discussion starter, or as the basis for a lesson.
Aimed mainly at KS3/KS4, there is no reason why more able KS2 children could not gain valuable insight from these photographs and their wordings.
A superb resource aimed at developing children's planning and execution skills in writing - in this case, a spooky story for Halloween.
Two A4 sheets with guidance through points 1-5 guide children away from common pitfalls and encourage wider thinking, developing character traits, effective description and more.
Also included is a spider's web word-ladder for children to collate their adjectives and adverbs.
Finished off with a 'Writer's Checklist' which is aimed at being used by children's partner to peer-assess each other's work.
A comprehensive activity that focusses on creating a newspaper front page, with a walk-through guide for students to follow and discuss.
Also included is a sheet that explores the use of puns and alliteration in newspapers.
A worksheet aimed at elementary advertising is also included, as is an A4 newspaper template.
Four fab resources that will have children enthused about writing as they are all connected with the festive period!
'Naughty and Nice' - Children have to choose who they would put on each list - friends not allowed! - giving three good reasons why they would do so. Aimed to encourage children to think about the wider world and some of the characters that inhabit it. This resource comes with a 'Naughty and Nice' synonym recorder to encourage language development and discourage repetition.
'Santa's Year' - fun images suggesting that Santa might have an 'ordinary' life outside of making toys! Children encouraged to think 'outside the box' and create some diary entries for Santa during the year! Complete with display-friendly pages for children's written work.
'SOS Santa' - Santa's in trouble and he needs YOUR help! What's happened to him and how can YOU help? This resource will develop children's discussion and writing skills while having fun at the same time!
'The Talking Snowman' - begins with the first part of a story about children building a snowman and then leaves them with a cliff-hanger that they have to continue.
Aimed at KS3 and above, this 5-page resource that explores the concept of 'Love' from a variety of angles -
What love means to the individual;
How love is perceived by others;
How love is relative to time and space;
Stereotypical images of love;
How love is shown to different people
Designed to promote discussion between students, to challenge stereotypes and extend understanding of relationships, this resource is the first in a series looking at complex relationship skills.
Three great resources to encourage upper KS2 and KS3 students to think about the start of the new year & the new term.
#1 - New Challenges: A talking/recording exercise designed for students to consider the major challenges they have in their lives and how they might overcome these in the light of the new year;
#2 - Same or Change: An activity designed to encourage students to think about the attitudes & thoughts that might hold them back and how these might be changed in the format of 'New Year's Resolutions';
#3 - New Year - New Start: Students working in pairs consider the pros and cons of the previous year, with a view to focussing on the positives for the forthcoming term.