apartheid, racism, journey to jo'burg

reading, inference, paraphrasing, comprehension

Get the kids engaged with these Where's Wally writing starters, drawing on grammar objectives.

Spaced learning involves presenting the unit initially to the kids. Give them all the info. Then take a ten minute break (we usually play with clay or draw something). Then give the cloze quiz. Then another 10 minute break. Finally, get the class to label the planets with post-it notes, sticking as many information labels as they can remember.

Using theoretical ideas about free will and determinism, the children get to discuss the big stuff here, applying the free will/determinism concept to their own lives. A great fun lesson which the upper KS2 kids loved!

It’s report season, but why not let your kids give you some honest feedback? Are you brave enough? :-)

Relating to cognitive behavioural approaches and art therapy ideas, I’ve been preparing some sessions for my children in upper KS2 for when they return to school. The focus is very much on metacognition and having the emotional vocabulary to describe feelings, but indirectly and through famous artworks and philosophical stories. This resource is lessons 1 and 2 of the series, where children reflect on themselves and ho others see them. I’d love to hear feedback as I produce more in the series!

wicked xmas lessons!

Including several rounds, a fantastic end-of-term activity to get your children speaking clearly and confidently!

Great entry point philosophy lesson for children, needing only post-it notes and partners. Easily 40 minutes-1 hour's worth of discussion!

For year 5 or 6, this is a build your own city incorporates art, design, maths and literacy. Excellent for summer term for SATs finishers or for topic-related kick starts.

Using context and prefix/suffix clues, this worksheet will help children to read around words and use word chunks to enhance their understanding of texts.

Independent work for children in upper ks2. Short paragraphs to practice using evidence to justify.

Just a 20-minute assembly with a few role models in science to discuss.

I used this to train staff in September 2021 to prepare for an OFSTED inspection. Our focus was on quality first teaching using the basic principles set out in Rosenshine’s little book. It comes with a quiz, incorporating elements of the taught material, for staff to try out.

Targeted and specific activity designed to help children understand a range of past tense verbs when writing. I've used it in writing recounts and narratives. Very useful!

Challenging paragraphs for the children to read, which they then paraphrase into simpler language, retaining the important information.

A quick resource, about 30 mins, to help the children understand how to use the text when answering questions in a reading test. Texts are linked in the presentation. I use this each week, changing the text and the questions. Please leave feedback and I will respond!

Specifically focusing on summarising a text for its purpose, I use this as a standalone lesson with my year 6s!

I’ve included a range of subjects to start the day, combining curricular objectives with holistic life skills. I use these regularly with my class and they love it!