Raising standards in KS1 and Special Needs: helping every child to succeed.
I have taught systematic phonics to all ages and abilities for over 30 years. My teaching degree was in Environmental Studies and I hate to see science reduced to box-ticking when there is so much to discover about the wonderful world we live in.
So, I produce Phonic resources that meet the real needs of children and teachers, along with science resources to engage children in learning about the natural world.
Raising standards in KS1 and Special Needs: helping every child to succeed.
I have taught systematic phonics to all ages and abilities for over 30 years. My teaching degree was in Environmental Studies and I hate to see science reduced to box-ticking when there is so much to discover about the wonderful world we live in.
So, I produce Phonic resources that meet the real needs of children and teachers, along with science resources to engage children in learning about the natural world.
Here is a chaffinch to oclour.
Learn about birds for KS1.
Develop art skills and learn bird ID all in one - combining science and art!
Great for home or school use.
Copy the picture as carefully as you can, with pens, pencils or paint!
Learn more about Chaffinches at:
https://ks1nature.weebly.com/tipsideasfreebies/the-chaffinch-for-ks1
And download our free phonics reading book:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/ks1-reading-book-free-download-the-chaffinch-12284513
‘Air’ satisfies children’s thirst for knowledge with beautiful photos and clear factual information. Presented simply with clear text and a large font.
Ideal for use when studying a topic on weather.
Headings include:
What is air?
Why do we need air?
Other uses of air
The second book in a series of factual readers for those just beginning to take off in reading independently. See the others:
Clouds
Water
Frogs
Suitable for individual or guided reading activities.
Suitable for upper KS1, lower KS2 and struggling/reluctant readers of any age.
An easy phonic reader about spring flowers for those beginning to read longer simple texts - with words that can be sounded out using phonic knowledge and only a few most common sight words.
Learn about garden flowers through a simple story. Learn Science at the same time!
See more at [KS1 Nature]https://ks1nature.weebly.com/)
An easy phonic reader about conkers for those beginning to read longer simple texts - with words that can be sounded out using phonic knowledge and only a few most common sight words.
Follow the journey of the Horse-Chestnut tree through the seasons.
Ideal for use in autumn when conkers can be found - but can be used throughout the year.
Learn Science at the same time!
See more at([ KS1 Nature]https://ks1nature.weebly.com/)
3 differentiated worksheets to teach KS1 children to label the parts of a tree when they are visible in winter.
4 parts taught: branches, trunk, crown and twigs.
See our blogpost for more help to teach children to identify trees by their structure in winter. Become a Nature explorer yourself too!
https://ks1nature.weebly.com/free-science-lessons/trees-in-winter-for-kids
A pack of display items for a study of the butterfly life-cycle.
Includes:
Butterfly life-cycle word mat/poster
A long banner ( 11 A4 pages)which can be either pinned or strung on a string
1 A4 page with title ‘Butterflies’
Butterfly life-cycle flow chart: 1 A4 page each for eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis, butterfly and an arrow to print 4 times
4 initial sounds cards for stages in lifecycle: e/egg; c/caterpillar;c/chrysalis;b/buttefly
4 words and pictures cards for stages in the life-cycle
4 picture cards of stages of the life-cycle with matching word cards: can be used to make games, or for display.
5 strip vocabulary words with pictures
6 Photos
Find lesson notes and worksheets/activities for an amazing lesson/s on the butterfly life-cycle here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12679170
A bundle pack of autumn, winter and spring vocabulary flashcards with many uses:
For themed writing/reading work
Science work
Phonic work
Word walls
Dictionary work
Make a pocket chart
The phonetic coding gives children confidence to write/read and helps them to be more independent.
A phonetic reader for those beginning to read longer simple texts - with words that can be sounded out using phonic knowledge and only a few most common sight words.
This book starts to introduce words with more than one syllable. Teach the child to chunk the syllables to sound them out.
This book contains factual information about the life-cycle of a butterfly written in fictional style.
Children will have fun learning science as they read!
Learn about butterflies through a simple story.
Use the Butterflies phonic reader with any phonic programme after a child has learned the basic digraphs and trigraphs, for example, after Phase 5 Letters and sounds, or after RWI Speed Set 3 have been completed.
This book is also part of the Reading Made Simple reading programme - 100% FREE.
This is a National Curriculum/Common Core aligned themed mini-unit about EVERGREENS suitable for K to 1 (Years 1 to 2) and mixed Grade classes, covering Science and English: Informational texts.
The Evergreens mini-project lesson teaches:
· To know that evergreen trees stay green all
year through while deciduous trees drop their
leaves in autumn
· To know that some evergreen plants have
flat leaves and some have leaves called needles
· To know the properties of the leaves of
evergreens - strong to withstand wind and
frost
· To know that the needles are different/grow
differently depending on whether the tree is a
fir, spruce or pine.
Key vocab: evergreen, needles, leaves, deciduous, pine, fir, spruce, Holly, Ivy
The pack includes:
A full lesson plan
PowerPoint overview of the subject
Powerpoint with the 3 reading passages in a format suitable for guided reading
Fact sheet - handy easy-to-read facts for teachers to prep before the lesson or to use with pupils where appropriate
Supporting worksheets with:
· 3 de-codable, differentiated reading comprehension passages with matching comprehension activities
· 3 Differentiated worksheets to help children write about evergreens
A set of photos to be used during the lesson and/or for display.
Flashcards of key vocabulary
16 picture cards to sort into deciduous or evergreen
This is a NO-PREP Lesson – straight out of the pack!
The lesson will cover parts of the ‘plants’ element of most science curricula, providing a wonderful opportunity to teach more of/revise/reinforce the science curriculum while teaching English!
Lesson notes for a lesson about evergreens are included with all the resources you need - except evergreen leaves.
handy easy-to-read facts for teachers to prep before the lesson
pictures
19-slide PowerPoint (with a script under each slide in the notes - use in presentation mode - go to slide show, click three dots bottom left and select ‘Presentation Mode’.))
The pack includes a 31-page PDF, one 19-slide PowerPoint and one guided reading PowerPoint of all three comprehension passages.
This is a National Curriculum aligned themed mini-unit about Pine Trees, teaching about EVERGREENS suitable for Years 1 to 2 and mixed Grade classes, covering Science and English: Comprehension.
The Pine Trees mini-project lesson teaches:
To know that pine trees are evergreen trees
To name parts of a tree: leaves/needles/flowers/cones (and you can add in extra like branches and trunk)
To know that they have needles rather than leaves
To know that the cones are the flowers.
To know that the cones contain the seeds - to make more of own kind/reproduction (Y2)
To know how the pine tree disperses its seeds: by releasing them on a fine day once ripe (Y2).
To be able to name some creatures that rely on the pine seeds for their food supply (Y2)
Key vocab: evergreen, needles, cones, flowers, seeds
The pack includes:
A full lesson plan
PowerPoint overview of thesubject
Powerpoint with the 3 reading passages in a format suitable for guided reading
Fact sheet - handy easy-to-read facts for teachers to prep before the lesson or to use with pupils where appropriate
Supporting worksheets with:
· 3 de-codable, differentiated reading comprehension passages,
· 3 Differentiated Other recording worksheets for written work
· 1 sheet to draw and describe a cone
· 1 sheet for younger pupils to tick the animals that feed on pine seeds.
A set of photos to be used during the lesson and/or for display.
Flashcards of key vocabulary
Find out what happens in spring with this delightful, 44-slide PowerPoint.
Young children will be delighted by the original photos portraying all aspects of spring.
From lengthening days, to plants, to baby animals this Spring PowerPoint will give the teacher plenty of stimulating material to explore many different aspects of spring. There is so much to learn!
Aspects of spring covered in the Spring PowerPoint include:
•Length of day
•Weather
•flowers
•leaves
•Seeds growing
•Pollination
•Baby animals
•Birds
•Frogs
•Butterflies
Full narration notes are provided
No sounds but there is a little writing on most slides, but fuller notes are provided for teachers on an accompanying PDF.
The teacher can enlarge upon the notes, bring in personal anecdotes, or remind the children of lessons already learned, so helping the children to relate what they are learning to their own experiences.
See beautiful flowers, cute lambs, a bird in her nest, blossom trees and more.
Learn something about the fascinating life of insects and how they help the flowers by pollinating them.
If you like this PowerPoint, please tell others!
Lesson outline and resources for EYFS/Y1 lessons about squirrels.Helps children to use the local environment to explore and answer questions about squirrels in their habitat.
A bundle Pack including:
26 slide PowerPoint - great as a lesson starter or for reinforcement
18 Worksheets which can stand alone, or be used as follow-up after the PowerPoint - includes background info for teachers and lesson ideas to aid planning
A pack of A4 and A6 photos for display, or to encourage observation and develop language and writing skills.
Children love squirrels and they provide an easy way to help children to learn about animals in the local environment.
A brief guide for teachers as to the kinds of insects that may be seen on an insect hunt - teaching what a true insect is and the different categories of insects for identification purposes.
Includes a spotting sheet which can be given to children as they hunt for insects, and a recording sheet.
Suitable for home or school use.
Help your children to spring ahead in reading with our Spring Phonics Game, designed to help children become more confident at tackling multisyllabic words.
Suitable for children at the end of Phase 5 Letters and Sounds.
As a spin off, children will also learn to identify common spring plants and animals.
See also our Spring Science Snap game
Remember to print out two sets of the word/picture cards!
All you need for a great Weather project in KS1 - plenty of differentiated ideas,
Including:
Weather topic ideas for your science and geography lessons
**Supporting worksheets **and puzzles to help the development of vocabulary.
Our mini-clouds project can be incorporated into your Weather Project, providing differentiated activities for Science, Geography, English and Art with supporting resources.
Clouds Powerpoint 29 slides to help children learn about clouds and how they are formed
**The Seasons and Weather PowerPoint **
57 slides taking pupils through the seasons thinking about the weather and how it affects the things that happen
**The Weather Word Mat ** will be great to help children write up their observations.
25 vocabulary flashcards, phonetically coded to help young learners
Covers all of the KS1 weather components of both the Geography and Science curricula.
Learn the life cycle of a frog with our simple first factual decodable reading book.
By only using common basic digraphs and trigraphs it will enable your early readers to tackle this text confidently.
New vocabulary is highlighted at the beginning of the book and on the page it is first met.
Each stage is explained in simple language and accompanied by photos and drawings.
A clear, easy-to-read font.
Ideal for use when studying a topic on frogs.
See how a tadpole turns into a frog.
Use it for guided reading sessions, individual reading sessions or for reading comprehension work.
Learn about Oak trees with our simple first factual decodable reading book plus a PowerPoint to make guided reading easier.
With only common basic digraphs and trigraphs it will enable your early readers to tackle this subject confidently.
Short with only 8 pages
New vocabulary is highlighted on the page where it is first met.
Everything is explained in simple language and accompanied by photos and drawings.
A clear, easy-to-read font.
The 8-slide PowerPoint has a screen to block off text until revealed and a marker to run under the text as the child/ren read/s.
It is ideal for use when studying a topic on trees or autumn.
Use it for guided reading sessions or for reading comprehension work.
Suited for both classroom use, small group and online tutoring.
This 41-slide Powerpoint about Blackbirds will help children to use the local environment throughout the year to explore and answer questions about animals in their habitat.
The Power Point teaches children:
To recognise Blackbirds
What they eat
Where they live
How they move
How they are suited to their environment…
How they nest
and more!
It includes two brief video clips.
Full narration notes are provided both under each slide (use in presentation mode for best effect) or in transcript (pdf).
Our Blackbirds PowerPoint will help you to teach the following section of the National curriculum for Science:
Y1: Animals, including humans
Statutory requirements:
identify and name a variety of common animals including…birds.
identify and name a variety of common animals that are… carnivores.
Non-statutory guidance:
Pupils should use the local environment throughout the year to explore and answer questions about animals in their habitat.
Pupils should become familiar with names of birds - in this case, Blackbirds
Year 2:
Living things and their habitats:
identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other
identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including micro-habitats
describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals,
Animals, including humans
Statutory requirements:
Notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults
Non-statutory guidance:
Pupils should be introduced to the basic needs of animals for survival…
They should also be introduced to the processes of reproduction and growth
The PowerPoint will engage all pupils (tried and tested) and help to bring science alive - away from mere box ticking! Helping you to raise the next generation of adults who know our world and understand what it really needs to sustain it.
Spring, summer, autumn and winter word mats: a complete set of 4 seasons word mats with a difference - the words have the phonic digraphs/trigraphs highlighted in colour.
This has three functions:
The children learn to spell new words quicker when they recognise the sounds they have already been taught in words they have not used before.
The spelling patterns they have already been taught are reinforced as they use the word mat.
The children are delighted to see that many of the ‘new’ words, are words that they can sound out for themselves - when the sounds are highlighted for them! This is a tremendous confidence booster!
It is suitable for all children but of great benefit to those with any special need that makes it hard for the child to have to transfer words from the board to their paper - it can sit right there on the desk making writing so much easier - inspiring confidence!
They can also be used for display as some do.