A KS1/lower KS2 power-point of 16 slides which can be used as one lesson or extended over a longer period. Learning Objectives To know *what an invitation looks like. *what information needs to be included in an invitation. *how to set out an invitation There is a warm up – different types of invitations and celebrations, partner activities and a final writing task. Included are examples of 2 invitations (Christmas and Halloween party) for pupils to use in the lesson to spot the key features and help Jojo correct her invitation (because no one has replied!). There are key questions to promote discussion and paired work. Also included is a simple invitation template for pupil use. Final task: write an invitation for a school Halloween fancy dress party. Pupils can also use the important information/checklist to give paired feedback after writing their own invitation. Slides 15(black and white version) and 16(colour version) are a Halloween invitation template for pupils to complete.

National Poetry Day KS1 and KS2 Assembly. A simply written whole school assembly to cover the main aspects of National Poetry Day which can be used in the days preceding or on 3rd October. Power-point of 27 slides which include: Suggested music, video clip and hymns. Short poetry task using suggestions from the pupils after listening to an audio sound effect. (Teacher instructions included in red). What are poems? 5 short poems or extracts to demonstrate 5 different poetry structures. Using figurative language and example extracts from poems. (alliteration, simile etc) About National Poetry Day and the theme of ‘counting’ and some ideas to explore including song link ‘Count on me’ Bruno Mars. Some ideas that people may do on National Poetry Day plus three suggestions for your school (class, individual and whole school). Final prayer. Links well with topics on poetry, figurative language, creative writing, famous poets, feelings.

Stories with a Dilemma template KS1 & 2 Dilemma story planning template. A resource for pupils to use to plan their own dilemma story. Includes a bullet point reminder of the rules for writing dilemma stories and spaces for pupils to develop character description, setting and plan the structure of their story. Great to use following a writing lesson or drama. Can also be used with topics : Adventure, Explorers, Feelings.

Comedy story template KS1 & 2 Comedy story planning template. A resource for pupils to use to plan their own humorous writing. Includes a bullet point reminder of the rules for writing stories with humour and spaces for pupils to develop character description, setting and plan the structure of their story. Great to use following an writing lesson or drama. Can also be used with topics : Celebrations (eg April Fool’s Day) Famous People, Feelings and emotions.

Conversation in a story template KS1 & 2 Conversation story writing template. Includes a bullet point reminder of the rules for writing a conversation and spaces for pupils to develop character description, setting and plan the structure of their story. Great to use following an writing lesson or drama. Can also be used with topics eg: Famous people, Explorers, Samuel Pepys, Me and my family…

Mystery story template KS1 & 2 Mystery story planning template. A resource for pupils to use to plan their own mystery writing. Includes a bullet point reminder of the rules for writing mystery stories and spaces for pupils to develop character description, setting and plan the structure of their story. Great to use following an writing lesson or drama. Can also be used with a range of topics : Seasonal mysteries, Explorers, Different countries, Travel, Halloween.

Stories that raise issues template KS1 & 2 Raising issues story planning template. A resource for pupils to use to plan their own story with issues writing. Includes a bullet point reminder of the rules for writing issue stories and spaces for pupils to develop character description, setting and plan the structure of their story. Great to use following an class writing lesson or drama. Can also be used with topics which relate to familiar issues: Anti-bullying, friendship problems, school problems, family dynamics, crime, money.

Playscript template KS1 & 2Playscript planning template. A resource for pupils to use to plan their own playscript. Includes a bullet point reminder of the rules for writing a play and spaces for pupils to develop character description, setting and plan the structure of their story. Great to use following an playscript writing lesson or drama. Can also be used with topics : Setting the stage, performances, Shakespeare.

Fantasy Adventure story template KS1 & 2 fantast adventure story planning template. A resource for pupils to use to plan their own fantasy writing. Includes a bullet point reminder of the rules for writing fantasy adventure stories and spaces for pupils to develop character description, setting and plan the structure of their story. Great to use following an fantasy adventure writing lesson or drama. Can also be used with topics : fairytales, space, imaginary worlds.

Flashback story template KS1 & 2 Flashback story planning template. A resource for pupils to use to plan their own story with a flashback writing. Includes a bullet point reminder of the rules for writing flashback stories and spaces for pupils to develop character description, setting and plan the structure of their story. Great to use following drama. Can also be used with topics : Adventure, Explorers, personal experiences.

Adventure story template KS1 & 2 Adventure story planning template. A resource for pupils to use to plan their own adventure writing. Includes a bullet point reminder of the rules for writing adventure stories and spaces for pupils to develop character description, setting and plan the structure of their story. Great to use following an adventure writing lesson or drama. Can also be used with topics : Adventure, Explorers, Travel, Halloween.

Picture cards to stimulate speaking and listening. Set of 30 individual cards with unusual subjects to encourage pupils to talk about the context, descriptions, similar situations, feelings and parallels. The pictures are unusual, amusing and surprising to encourage children to use their imaginations and explore ideas that may be stimulated. Eg Picture 1: A sausage in a banana skin – my class found this picture really interesting and surprising. They asked a lot of questions about how a sausage banana could be grown and what it may taste like. One response was: Are we the same on the inside as we seem on the outside? It stimulated a discussion about inner/outer selves and judging others. Pictures include: Reflections in water, lockers, a giant straw tractor, spaceships, hot air balloons, telephone boxes, animals, viaducts, a tree with a face, a dog reading a newspaper, fairy homes, camouflage etc I have included 11 question prompts to stimulate discussion about initial thoughts, feelings, description, mood photographer intention, likes/dislikes, prediction, message, what can we learn from each picture. Useful to help children of most ages and abilities develop language use and articulation, prediction and inference using a fun visual prompt.

Roald Dahl Famous person fact sheet. Includes key events and important stages in his life broken into short easy to read sections with pictures and photos. I have used this with pupils in Years 1-6 to help them retrieve information / develop their knowledge to write about a famous person in a range of genres (newspaper report, biography, letter or diary writing, fiction, non-fiction etc). I have also used it with a guided reading group and a set of questions linked to the topic followed up with a written comprehension exercise. Useful for topics: Roald Dahl, Roald Dahl Day (13th September), Fiction books, Famous people, Biographies, Topics based around a Roald Dahl book eg ‘The Witches’, ‘The BFG’.

Summer holiday reading challenge. This activity is aimed at KS1 and KS2 pupils as a reading challenge for 20 days over the summer holiday break to encourage them read a variety of texts and reading materials to keep up their reading skills while they are away from school. The 20 activities are fun and varied and children can share their experiences when they return to school in September. I gave a certificate and small rewards for number of challenges completed eg 1 challenge – sticker, 2-5 challenges – bookmark, 6-10 challenges – badge, 11-15 challenges – pencil and notepad, 16-20 challenges – frisbee or small game.

KS2 Eco-Warrior News. A newspaper style page focusing on the important eco issue of rewilding the environment through the reintroduction of beavers into the countryside and the benefits they can bring to humans and wildlife. I made this resource to enable pupils to read a newspaper style article about beaver rewilding, to identify features of a newspaper, genre style and language as well as learning about the topic of wildlife and eco systems. Can be used as a factsheet, comprehension, guided reading passage or the basis for developing a class newspaper. Useful linked to topics about Wildlife, Ecosystems, Beavers, Rivers and Waterways, Animals that help us.

Greek Myth story plan on a page KS1 & 2 Greek Myth story planning template. A fun resource for pupils to use to plan their own mythological writing. Includes story prompts and spaces for pupils to develop writing in note or bullet point format when planning their own character description, setting and story structure. Great to use following a ‘Myths’ writing lesson or drama. Can also be used with topics: Myths and Legends, Ancient Greece, Greece, Heroes and Heroines/Superheroes.

Creative Writing. How to make an Ethiopian wish scroll. This factsheet tells pupils about the ancient African wish scrolls which are carried on a person (in a bag or tube around the neck or on a belt) after they have written a personal prayer, wish, affirmation, charm or talisman. There are simple instructions on how to make the scroll and some fun facts about the tradition. A great way to make writing meaningful and fun. Useful with KS1 and KS1 topics on Africa, Mental Health, Goal setting and Affirmations, Families.

Groovy Grammar KS2 starters. Simply click a button on the first page of the power-point and get a starter! 169 starters aimed at KS2 pupils, each slide contains a grammar point for pupils to practise through a range of strategies including talk partners, mime, games eg ‘I spy’, ‘Kim’s game’, ‘And/But game’, Charades, Performing Punctuation and Ready! Steady! Teach! As well as practise sentences, cartoons, rewriting sentences, word substitution etc. Grammar includes: recognising and using nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Prefixes and Suffixes, determiners, pronouns, conjunctions, alliteration, vocabulary extension, expressions and their meanings, eponyms, changing the ‘mood’ of a sentence , apostrophe ‘s’, word order swaps, commas, speech marks personification etc. I have used this as a start of the day activity as revision or sometimes as a lesson starter depending on the focus. The children love to choose the starter so I have a rota!

‘Nouns’ games. 36 quick starter activities to introduce or revise the use of nouns. Pupils can use the grid to choose a coloured shape which takes them to a linked starter. Activities include: memory games, alphabet lists, labelling, alliteration, cascades etc to help pupils understand common, proper, singular, plural, compound nouns. Can be used with or without an adult depending on whether you want to complete a class or filler task. The activities are varies and include talk partners and written exercises which require paper, pencils, post its, a beanbag (for pupils to throw and catch). The grids/tables on the slides can be printed for pupil use. I prepared all of the slide grids that I wanted to use in advance and put them in a numbered folder so they would be ready when the pupils chose the slide.