Newly independent readers will enjoy sounding out the words in this sentence - “The gold dragon blows smoke for a joke” and looking at the picture. They will also be interested to notice (with adult prompting) the number of “oe” sounds, as in “no” or “go”. Can they think of any more? This resource promotes phonic-learning, reading, speaking and listening. See the others in this series.

Beginner readers will enjoy sounding out the words in this question - “Do you like these nice, white mice?” and pointing to the picture. Adult support may be needed, both for sounding out the sentence and for identifying the “iy” sounds. How many are there? Discuss mice and their characteristics with the reader, using the picture as a talking point, developing speaking and listening skills too.

Beginner readers will enjoy sounding out the words in this question - “Can you see the bee in the green tree?” and pointing to the bee in the picture. They will also like discussing the picture and the “ee” sounds with an adult. How many "ee"s can they find? Have they ever seen a bee? What can they tell you about them? This resource supports phonics-learning, reading, speaking and listening. See the others in this series. Here’s a related ‘ee’ phonic lullaby, by Rhodri Williams-Wandoch: https://soundcloud.com/rhodri-williams-wandoch/try-to-sleep

Beginner readers can sound out the words “Hooray! I can play today”, with adult help as needed, and identify the “ay” sounds, again with support. Supports phonics-learning and reading, also offering a discussion point. See the others in this series.

Dragon Haiku Haiku poems are fun to write. This 2-page haiku-writing guide is dragon-themed, for open-ended creativity. It contains a handy GUIDE - for teacher, pupils or both - and a** SHEET** of partly written haiku with gaps to complete. Your class will then be ready to compose their own, in groups, pairs or individually. Dragons can be whatever the writers likes - fierce, brave, crazy, funny, mysterious… Share ideas first. They can move in a myriad different ways too - prowling, pouncing, leaping, flying, dancing… The scope for dragon imagery is boundless too, but fitting a concept into a 17-syllable haiku can be tricky!

This large and varied list of rhyming words will provide the backing you need for class dragon poems. See video for extra ideas + song! Select your favourite words, or those best suited to your group, and read out some of the example verses on the next page, to build your class poem, or help children concoct their own, in pairs or individually. These words and examples offer funny, exciting, mysterious and crazy possibilities, opening up the potential for inspired creativity. Your pupils will love this activity. Watch your reluctant writers and hesitant speakers come alive as the activity takes off! With young children, make up your own, leaving a word gap for contributions, or concoct a simple couplet together. Clap the beat to ensure a punchy rhythm. Now, how about some illustrations?

Two lively, colourful jungle pictures, hand-sketched and coloured, to bring a lesson to life. It could be a lesson about jungles, animals, seasons, countries, adventure, travel, danger, colour, plants, saving the world, or just a creative writing trigger. I use them for the last.