The students decide which comment refers to which character. You could develop this by asking them to back up their decisions/give examples.

There are six shopping lists. What can students deduce about the people's personalities? On page 2, there are some prompts and a gap fill activity as differentiation.

This is a number of great stills, which the students mind map, or think, pair, share. They need to place the pictures in context and say: Who? Where? When? What did...? Why did they...? How did s/he feel? What did they say? What happened just before? What happened afterwards? Etc...

This is a desk-top mat for mainstream teachers with EAL students in the class. It's a short check list and then suggested activities for beginners through to advanced bilingual learners.

For early learners or for a mixed ability EAL class. The beginners can count and practise 'There is a __&' &';There are __ s'. Also present continuous tense &'What is she doing?&';etc. More advanced students can write about it in the past simple 'The school trip&'. How did they get there? What did they do? etc. Also - good picture for Splat! and Hotseat activitiies. The picture is by Kait Eaton and copyrighted to Duck Egg Blue. I have permission to use it.

Activities which will suit literacy for biology, or general literacy. Or for when you need a few minutes... Brain gym, match-up, true or false, design, discussion, look and remember... I have sourced some of the basics from the net and done exercises around them. Hope it will be useful. I think this will suit years 5,6, 7.

Thirty sentences with hidden words - they have to find them: animals, parts of the body and numbers. It gets their brains working and it’s a great time filler! Key provided. (It doesn’t look right on the preview, but it is fine on downloading.)

A reading comprehension, with language exercises. This follows on from my reading comprehension 'Snow Day&'. This is differentiated - EAL students can put the verbs in the past simple, while more advanced students can tackle the discussion points.

I ask my students to comment on each picture and make inferences. Then they have to prepare a 5 minute talk on whether they are for or against the death penalty and why. It's still a useful debate and can be linked to &'Of Mice and Men&'; and many other works they study.

Here are some ideas for starter activities that require little or no preparation. They can be adapted to different subject areas.

This is a great nostalgic picture, with exercises to reinforce the present continuous and past simple tenses for EAL students. I play 'Splat!' and memory games with this kind of thing. I was kindly given permission to use the picture.

A narrative of the famous county Durham legend, with comprehension questions and language exercises.

This is a short narrative in the past simple, with language exercises: true or false, cloze, match up and comprehension questions. It will be useful for years 5, 6, 7 and EAL pupils. My thanks to Ravensburger puzzles for permission to use this great picture. Isn't Flame a beaut?

Some literacy activities for Christmas - 'how many words can you make from...?&' with fly in answers. Jumbled words of Christmas vocabulary and two Christmas pictures for memory games, with questions.

This is a series of contrasting pictures, with questions, for making comparisons. Good 'brain gym&' activity.

This is a picture-based discussion exercise. I give my students some time to look at the sheet. Then , in pairs, they each have to argue one case or the other. Makes a great starter to 'Romeo and Juliet&'.

This makes a good starter or filler activity. The first slide explains the activity and the second models it. Then, give each group a picture and ask them to mind map it. For extension, have them compare any two pictures.

Here is a selection of fun starters/ activities using a grid. Only one needs any preparation; you can just go with the others. Adaptable to most subject matter.

This is a series of pictures and comments about a boy's day to reinforce the present simple - what he normally/usually/sometimes does etc.. There is reading, sequencing, match up (sentences and pictures), true or false and a gap fill activity. Thanks to my colleague Sophia in Ukraine for the template. I&'ve done this for my EAL class, but it may suit younger pupils.

There are forty sentences here, with 90 mistakes to find and correct. A full key is provided. This will make a good starting point for some SPAG activities, or provide a nice little filler activity. ** Note**: it looks a bit strange on the preview, but it’s fine when downloaded.