A teacher and tutor with more than thirty years' experience working in both mainstream and independent schools. I have an Honours degree in English Literature and Linguistics from UEA and have written a dissertation about encouraging children to write. I am a mother of three and interested in all things green. I am in the process of setting up my TES shop and hope to launch my "Spagbag" resources which are suitable for both Primary and Secondary aged pupils.
A teacher and tutor with more than thirty years' experience working in both mainstream and independent schools. I have an Honours degree in English Literature and Linguistics from UEA and have written a dissertation about encouraging children to write. I am a mother of three and interested in all things green. I am in the process of setting up my TES shop and hope to launch my "Spagbag" resources which are suitable for both Primary and Secondary aged pupils.
This Powerpoint explains how adverbs are used. Adverbs of time , manner and place are explored and there are plenty of exercises along the way. Animation is used to add humour to the subject.
This presentation could be used to introduce adverbs or for revision purposes.
Other presentations include adjectives and nouns and pronouns which are presented in a similar fashion. This resource is aimed at pupils aged between 10 and 14.
This is a mystery story set in Victorian times and is told in a series of episodes. Each episode focusses on revising aspects of grammar such as adjectives, adverbs, verbs (including modal verbs) and nouns (including proper, common and abstract).
Opportunities are given for creative writing and further historical investigations.
This is intended for use with pupils aged between 10 and 14 years and could be spread over a half term period in hourly chunks depending on ability.
The characters of Sarah, Mr Grizzle and Mrs Plumworthy-Brown are introduced who will feature in my forthcoming resources.
This animated Powerpoint resource comprises ten slides explaining the techniques of persuasive writing. It uses the mnemonic A FOREST to help students remember the features of persuasive writing and tests their knowledge with multiple choice questions. The students are asked to write either a speech to help the elderly people in their community or organise an event to raise money for a new skate park.
I include "In the Basement of the Goodwill Store" a poem by Ted Kooser and questions which will make students reflect upon their attitudes and behaviour towards the older generation.
This resource is aimed at pupils between 12 and 16 years.
This Powerpoint explains how adjectives are used to modify nouns. There is a cloze procedure exercise about "my favourite season" and also some anagram puzzles to solve.
This resource is suitable for pupils aged 10 to 14 years. It could be used for revision purposes or as a stimulus for creative writing.
This is a powerpoint presentation of six slides containing resources on different types of nouns such as common, proper, concrete, abstract and collective and also pronouns.
The activity asks students to identify different kinds of nouns and how some words can have a different meaning in different contexts. This resource would be useful for revision purposes and is intended for pupils aged between 10 and 14.
This powerpoint comprises ten slides reminding pupils how to write a formal letter. It has some multiple choice questions regarding maintaining a formal tone and gives comparisons between informal and formal styles of writing. Pupils are required to set out their own formal letter and are given two options to choose from: a letter to the head teacher complaining about litter or a letter to a local restaurant owner complaining about poor service.
This resource is suitable for use with pupils aged 10 to 14 years.
This Powerpoint discusses how adding detail to descriptions with adjectives and adverbs can make a scene more vivid. Students are asked to make boring sentences more exciting and to bring a description of a staff canteen to life by using appropriate adjectives and adverbs.
I include a word document that could be used for homework purposes where students are asked to use adverbs in different places within sentences and to examine extracts of descriptive writing to see how adjectives and adverbs are used to appeal to our senses.
This resource is intended for use with pupils aged between 10 and 14, the exercises can be easily differentiated according to ability.
This animated powerpoint consists of twelve slides exploring different audiences and appropriate ways of addressing them. Different openings and closings of letters are considered and the pupils are asked to match the correct ones. Two opportunities are given to write for very different audiences. One is a letter of complaint to the council, the other is an advertisement for an upcoming musical event. This resource could be used to introduce the concept of audience or for revision purposes. It is aimed at pupils aged 12 to 16.
This animated powerpoint examines extracts taken from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and asks pupils to provide the missing punctuation. The correct answers will magically appear! This resource tests knowledge of commas, apostrophes, question marks , colons, brackets , inverted commas, ellipsis and using capitals to add emphasis. One of the extracts requires pupils to set out an address correctly. Another extract is a heated dialogue and could be used as an example of using other words for said.
At the end there is a quiz to test comprehension and other grammatical knowledge such as similes and alliteration. Pupils are asked to set out their own formal letter addressing it to Harry Potter himself.
I include another resource which gives information about different breeds of dragon and affords pupils the opportunity to write a letter applying for a job as a dragon trainer.
This resource will appeal to Potter fans of all ages.
This animated Powerpoint showcases three topical news items which contain deliberate spelling errors . The pupils have to identify these errors and then are faced with a report about school gym facilities which is riddled with mistakes. The pupils are requested to re-write the report correctly. The homophone errors in the final report are ones such as there/their, too/two, your/you’re which are commonly made and require a grammatical understanding of the text.
I include a resource about the problems of policing groups of teens who gather in public spaces and become labelled as hoodies or chavs. Pupils are required to answer questions related to the newspaper article and to respond with an article of their own. Also included are two articles, one about da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, an oil painting which achieved the highest auction price for any work of art and the other about space exploration and how this has become the playground of rich men.
These articles are intended to inspire debate and further discussion.
This resource is suitable for use with pupils aged 10 to 14 years.
This animated resource comprises nine slides and explains what prepositions are and how they are used. There are exercises along the way asking pupils to identify prepositions and encourages them to use prepositions in sentences of their own.
This resource could be used as a starting point or for revision purposes. It is intended for use with pupils aged between 7 and 11.
This is an animated Powerpoint presentation about homophones. It shows over fifty sets of homophones and gives examples of funny stories using words that sound the same but have different meanings in context. There are plenty of challenges for pupils to solve along the way.
This resource is intended for use with 7 to 11 year olds but could also be used with older pupils for revision purposes.
I include a more general grammar quiz where homophones is one of the sections questioned. Answers are included for ease of marking.
This animated power point presentation demonstrates how to separate ideas into paragraphs. The pupils are given the opening line of each paragraph and a series of questions to get them thinking about what each paragraph might include. There are six paragraphs in total which will result in the student writing a mystery story. The completed story might be scary or funny depending on the choices they make along the way.
This is an ideal resource to use at this time of year as it entails a walk through a wood and would complement work done on the changing seasons and shortening day-light hours.
This resource is intended for those students who need to add structure and order to their writing and will help them organise their ideas into a given framework. Suitable for ages 7 to 10.
This Powerpoint could be used as a starting point for introducing verbs or as a revision aid. Students are asked to identify verbs, to substitute more powerful verbs and consider how selecting alternatives can alter the meaning of a given scene. A poem about the wind is included along with suggestions for creative writing using all five senses.
I include a resource which which could be used for homework or revision purposes and encourages students to strengthen their writing skills and provides an opportunity to describe a favourite animal or pet.
This resource might be used with pupils aged between 10 and 14 years.
This animated power point presentation identifies ten key themes in Victorian literature and provides a broad brush stroke to context related questions. Big ideas are explained simply and pictorially to provide students with a starting point when studying Dickens et al.
This resource will prove useful when discussing historical background and context questions with any Victorian novelist or poet.
Suitable for audiences of 14 years+
This animated Powerpoint gives advice on how to make a persuasive speech by following five simple steps. The AFOREST acronym is used to remind students of the features of persuasive writing.Pupils are required to write speeches of their own , putting themselves forward for election as head boy or head girl in the form of Ronald Dump who wants to build a wall in the school gym or , alternatively, as Angela Smirkle who advocates an open door policy.
This resource is ideal for revising persuasive writing techniques in light of the current political shananigans and is suitable for students aged 11 to 16.
This animated power point is an informative profile about bats with related questions. It includes a short poem which highlights why some people find bats scary creatures.
This resource would suit a younger audience and would be ideal to use around Halloween. Hopefully the audience will realise there is nothing to be scared of at all.
Suitable for ages 5-7
This animated power point outlines in a simplistic way the features of a Gothic novel and explains the use of pathetic fallacy as a tool used by the author to create unease. An extract from Susan Hill's ghost story Woman in Black is used as a starting point for discussion about literary techniques to create a sense of immediacy and of being enveloped by the landscape.
I include a further resource where pupils can discuss and highlight examples of pathetic fallacy within extracts taken from Woman in Black, A Monster Calls and Frankenstein.
This resource is suitable for ages 11-16.
This Power point resource asks pupils to change both nouns and pronouns into plurals and to insert apostrophes to show belonging and also in contractions. Choosing the correct pronoun I or me is also tested. I include a general spelling, punctuation and grammar quiz, one of several which can be found in my shop. All answers included.
This resource is suitable for ages 10+ and would be ideal when revising grammar and punctuation. Answers are included.
Four presentations on Nouns and Pronouns, Adjectives, Adverbs and Verbs.
A very useful tool for revision purposes and activities that can be easily differentiated according to ability.
Suitable for ages 7 to 14