The students decide which adjectives/phrases describe the witches and which describe Lady Macbeth. Good for EAL students as they have to decide whether the third person agreement is needed.

A short article adapted from a newspaper, with exercises and a link to the youtube clip. I used this with my EAL class and it provoked a debate about the police. Why did he do it? He just snapped: why? What should happen now? Etc...

This is a great set of typical British things, and the words for a match-up activity. It makes a great starter, but not beyond year 7. I played Splat! with my students. (Two students come up to the board, then I say an item and the first to touch it is the winner.) Then, I put them in groups and gave each group three images to mind map. Next, the groups moved round to see if anything could be added. We discussed which things they had seen/experienced and which things were a bit old-fashioned or out of date. Thanks to YourJigsawPuzzles for permission to use the montage.

All about trees. Where do we find trees? What lives in trees? What can they do? An activity that you can do off the cuff.

This is a worksheet on meerkats - aren't they sweet? Could be used as a reading comprehension or as a literacy exercise to reinforce science terms.

This is a Venn diagram with a list of adjectives and phrases. Students decide which describe Curley's wife, which describe Crooks and which describe them both.

A reading passage with language activities, about the wonderfully heart-warming rescue by the Yorkshire Wildlife Safari Park of 13 lions who had been living in cramped cages in Romania. I did this as part of a project on lions and am still trying to arrange to take my students to the safari park. One day! There are plenty of youtube clips about this.

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.

A reading comprehension, with questions and language activities. Jack and Kelsey brave the journey only to find that the school is closed.

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.

There are 25 statements, some true, some false. The students have to correct the false statements. Ask them to shade the true statements and there is a hidden letter N, so you can check if they got it right. Then, ask them to read out or discuss their corrections in pairs and this leads to whole class discussion.

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.

This is a short passage in the past simple about a nervous teacher's first lesson. Cloze and match up exercises provided.

This is a heart warming, short ghost story with exercises: a true/false, match-up activity and comprehension questions.

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

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?

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

Useful practice on describing a picture for the whole class and particularly for EAL students.

This is a guide on how to describe a picture. It's useful for mainstream teachers to use as an exercise or wall chart and also as a hand out to students. I love the picture! Who are they? What were they doing?

Bernard is great for fun - a sort of animal Mr Bean. Activities based on the youtube clip.