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.
Eight Free phonics worksheets, covering cvc words, cvcc words, ‘ck’, ‘ee’/‘oo’, ‘sh’, ‘ar’ and ‘or’ providing valuable back up work to lessons. Great assessment tools. Written for ages 5-6 but can also be used with older children requiring catchup help or those with special needs.
These sheets are compatible with all phonics schemes, however as different schemes introduce sounds at different time, just check that your pupil knows all the necessary digraphs to complete the sheet. For example, the word ‘shark’ has both ‘sh’ and ‘ar’ and so both should have been learnt before expecting the child to read and spell this word.
Please leave feedback if you find this resource helpful.
See More Phonic worksheets in Lilibette’s shop
This Leaf Sorting lesson pack can help you to deliver the National Curriculum for Science in Year 1. The Leaf Sorting Pack includes
12 pictures of varying leaves, suitable for sorting according to vein pattern, formation and leaf properties (e.g. prickly/rounded edges, deep cut edges etc…) - in two sizes for whole class/group use or display.
a My leaf recording worksheet
a sheet of 12 small pictures to sort, cut out and stick.
See also our Why do leaves fall ? PowerPoint, which goes well with this pack of resources.
Full lesson notes are provided at KS1 Nature.
Here are 16, FREE, fully decodable CVC reading books to help build fluency reading CVC words with a short vowel sound, for use with any phonic programme, including Phase 2 of Letters and Sounds and RWI Set 1 sounds.
All you need to start your child on a lifetime of reading!
This is truly a bumper pack - a freebie like no other!
Scope and Sequence included.
Theses books focus purely on sounding out with only the key words
a, is, the, of being gradually introduced.
Pictures are minimal to encourage the child to gain meaning from the text and not to guess.
Punctuation is minimal to begin with so as to give every advantage to those with special needs who are so easily confused by capital letters and strange marks.
Phonic words are introduced and then met again in subsequent readers, to help develop confidence and fluency.
Each book tells a little story with words and pictures- no stilted phonics here! The stories are based around farmer Tom with his animals, his wife, his son Sam and daughter, Pam, dog Jiff and the cat. The careful use of pictures helps to tell the parts of the story for which we cannot use words.
Suitable for dyslexic children
Highly suitable for special needs children who have failed with other programmes.
Many parents have told me they wished they had found these books sooner, or had found them at all, as they would have been ideal for their struggling reader.
They have been thoroughly tested by my current pupils all of whom are boys. Even my nine-year old boy pupil loves them. Children love them because they can READ them!
These books are compatible with Letters and Sounds, Jolly Phonics and Read, Write Inc, but were written for Reading Made Simple.
Find the next pack in the series here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12974906
TEACHERS: See our CVC Words worksheets: fully differentiated to meet the needs of every pupil in your class.
The first in a series of factual readers for those just beginning to take off in reading independently. Satisfying 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. This book also fits well with our pack of 8 cloud worksheets. Introduces cirrus, stratus, cumulus and nimbus clouds.
For guided reading, why not use our Clouds PowerPoint presentation (for sale with TES) which uses the text of this book?
Suitable for upper KS1/lower KS2 and struggling/reluctant readers of any age.
36 pages of fun consonant blend activities arranged in 2 little workbooks to accompany our Consonant Blends reading books.
The first book covers mainly initial blends while the second book mainly covers final blends. Common CCVC words with a short vowel sound are introduced.
Each booklet 18 pages long (A5 size prints as a booklet).
Suitable also for special needs pupils.
Suitable for use at home/for home-education.
They can be used alone or with our Consonant Blend Reading Books:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12645240
These books give extra reading and writing practice, using the vocabulary introduced in the reading books, building confidence.
These books are compatible with Letters and Sounds, Jolly Phonics and Read, Write Inc, but were written for Reading Made Simple.
A first introduction to addition and subtraction for Reception children, or special needs. 32 pages.
Starting with completing the sets the workbook takes the pupil through, gradually replacing words with signs and pictures with numbers, so building confidence.
Once the concepts are secure we add further activities such as:
adding and subtracting with number lines
‘How many more’ problems
Find the difference
Adding doubles
This is old fashioned maths teaching that has been proven for years to work.
Reinforces classwork
Easy for parents to use
Start at the beginning and work through.
[(See also count 0 to 5]https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/free-count-0-to-5-number-workbook-for-reception-12270654) and
[(Count 6 to 10]https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/free-count-6-to-10-number-book-for-reception-12270636)
and Count 0 to 10.
Help your child/ren learn to count and write the numbers 0 to 5 - suitable for home or school use. 28 worksheets.
Each number is introduced and then practiced to build confidence and ensure success.
Includes:
Learning to write numbers
Matching 1 to 1
Ordering
Biggest/smallest
Number patterns
The easy, clear format is suitable for all ages and abilities - including those with learning difficulties.
Reinforces classwork - schools can print individual pages for home or school use.
Parents can download and print themselves as a first maths workbook.
See also:
Count 6 - 10
Beginning addition and subtraction
Take your children on a nature hunt with our FREE spotting sheet.
Very often, when you take young children out to look at nature they cannot see anything. Telling them to ‘look’ is not enough as they do not know what to look for. This handy spotting sheet will help. By asking the children to see how many of the things on the sheet they can find, you are focusing their attention. This will make the walk of far more value to the child, as having personally found an item will mean that s/he feels much more related to it and be ready to learn more about it.
See more resources at KS1 Nature.
This 57-slide PowerPoint takes KS1 children through the seasons, starting with summer.
They will:
Learn what changes to look out for across the four seasons
Learn that days get shorter and longer throughout the year
How this affects the weather
How the seasons/weather affect us: what we wear/what we do
How the seasons affect plants and animals
Bright photos and simple explanation makes it accessible to all abilities in the class and will engage even reluctant learners.
Simple text for children to read on each slide. More information is provided for the teacher to read, if desired, in PDF form or under each slide.
Simply click when ready to progress to the next slide. All animations occur automatically.
Why not follow it with our Light and Dark PowerPoint?
Light and Dark PowerPoint: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12761117
You may also be interested in:
All About Autumn PowerPoint: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12422557
Autumn Leaves PowerPoint: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12398686
Conkers Life-cycle PowerPoint:https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12401942
Frogs Life-cycle PowerPoint: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12410937
A lesson outline for planting Hyacinth bulbs and watching their growth over subsequent weeks.
Extension activities given.
What is a bulb?
How do bulbs grow?
Giving opportunities to observe, compare, question and record
For more information see:
KS1 Nature
KS1 Nature: Helping you to teach Science through the local environment
Read about Autumn Leaves. Learn why leaves change colour and fall in autumn. An easy 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.
Learn Science at the same time as learning to read!
This book can be used for guided reading alongside our 'Autumn Leaves’ PowerPoint presentation.
See also mini conker project
Conkers reading book
Conkers PowerPoint presentation
See more at [KS1 Nature]https://ks1nature.weebly.com/)
Here are 12, FREE to download, phonic reading books to support the blending of CCVC words with a short vowel sound, for the very earliest stages of learning to read with phonics.
Suitable for use with all phonic programmes.
The focus is purely on sounding out with only the key words
** I, and go, to**
being gradually introduced.
Pictures are minimal to encourage the child to gain meaning from the text and not to guess.
Phonic words are introduced and then met again in subsequent readers, to help develop confidence and fluency.
The stories are based around farmer Tom with his animals, his wife, his son Sam and daughter, Pam, dog Jiff and the cat.
Highly suitable for special needs children who have failed with other programmes.
Many parents have told me they wished they had found these books sooner, or had found them at all, as they would have been ideal for their struggling reader.
They have been thoroughly tested by my current pupils all of whom are boys. Even my nine-year old boy pupil loves them. He is just so glad to be able to read.
For more help see READING MADE SIMPLE, the 100% FREE, systematic, synthetic phonic reading and/or spelling programme.
A colourful chart to show the sounds of Levels 1 and 2 of Reading Made Simple - a 100% FREE phonic reading and spelling prgramme that works where others have failed.
Use as handy prompt, to help the pupil find the correct digraph when spelling
Use to practice saying the sounds made by each group of letters
Laminate and use as a place mat, or pin it up as a poster!
Learners will enjoy tracking their progress each week and testing themselves!
Reading Made Simple: https://readingmadesimple.weebly.com/
Find the FREE word lists to accompany the Level 1 teaching programme here:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12889313
In two books, 140 differentiated worksheets. 70 for teaching initial sounds,and a further 70 to take the child on to blend and segment cvc and consonant blend words with a short vowel sound.
For stages 2 and 3 of Letters and Sounds, or Set 1 or RWI (excluding ‘Special Friends’)
These sheets provide plenty of practice of vital early reading and spelling skills and can also be used for assessment purposes to help the vigilant teacher to plan the next step forward.
These sheets are simple and yet they work! Created to meet the needs of children in the average classroom.
All beautifully illustrated by Vera Conway.
Preview here:
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A6e21d937-a35d-440e-ba0c-3ed5ad9a1bdb
and
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A5027d2de-1ad5-49d9-a9c2-2d15cff37d8a
A bumper pack of 70 differentiated phonics worksheets to support the teaching and learning of blending and segmenting cvc and cvcc/ccvc words with short vowel sounds (excluding ‘ck’), including a focus on consonant blends.
Here are worksheets to give plentiful blending and segmenting practice for all abilities. First blend CVC words with a short vowels sound, add in consonant blends.
The sheets can be used with any synthetic, systematic phonic scheme and work well at stages 2, 3 and 4 of letters and sounds, once all of the initial sounds have been learned. Many also find them helpful for older special needs pupils.
Written to meet the needs of the average class, with a range of differentiated worksheets from which you are sure to find one to meet the needs of every pupil.
Some children breeze through this stage quickly and you will find material to challenge them and to assess their readiness to move on. Others need much more reinforcement work and you will find here plenty of that too - a bountiful supply!
Some sheets focus on blending, others on segmenting and some on both. Other sheets encourage the child to see letter patterns and similarities between words including a focus on rhyming.
Hints on the best use of the sheets is provided - not least how to use them as an assessment tool. Suitable for use with SEND pupils and for reading catchup.
The sheets can be enlarged for guided literacy sessions/whole class work.
Have you seen ‘Sound-it-out’ Pack of CVC Games, and the ‘Sound-it-out’ Pack of CVCC Games’ which complement these worksheets making a good fun way of reinforcing learning? They are ideal for sending home for extra practice after a lesson, or for use by classroom assistants.
Also Sound-it-out Initial Sounds Worksheets for those children not yet ready for blending.
Follow the life cycle of the Horse Chestnut tree through the seasons with this bright, engaging PowerPoint, starting with conkers.
Suitable for use all year, but especially in autumn when conkers are so appealing to children.
45 full-colour slides with easy-read text.
Teacher can control the speed of the slides to allow time for the reading of the text and discussion
Use as a stimulus for further study (see our Lesson Resource Pack for lesson ideas, worksheets and display pictures:
Stimulate the asking and answering of questions:
Where do conkers come from. What are conkers?
Take your learning to a new dimension by exploring the natural world out of doors with your pupils this autumn.
Bring learning to life!
Covers much of the National Curriculum for Science for Years 1 and 2.
Our Autumn Leaves and Horse Chestnut Life Cycle PowerPoints will help you take EYFS/KS1 children on an exciting journey to discover why leaves fall and change colour and where conkers come from and why.
Full colour and some animation in the Autumn Leaves PowerPoint.
This is a listening game to help the child to hear the ‘oo’ sound in words, as different to the ‘o’ sound as some children have difficulty hearing the new ‘oo’ sound.
One of my pupils has a speech delay. When I introduced him to ‘oo’, he tried to sound out the words saying ‘o’ instead of ‘oo’. It was as if ‘oo’ was a foreign sound to him. So, I devised this game to help him to hear the ‘oo’ sound in words he uses frequently in speech. After playing it a few times he is now happily sounding out to read and spell words with the ‘oo’ sound.
This game uses only the ‘oo’ sound as heard in ‘moon’.
For more help teaching phonics, see my FREE Phonic reading and Spelling programme, Reading Made Simple. https://readingmadesimple.weebly.com/level-1---oo.html
This is a listening game to help the child to hear the ‘ee’ sound in words, as different to the ‘e’ sound as some children have difficulty hearing the new ee’ sound as their brain is trying to say 'e.
One of my pupils has a speech delay. When I introduced him to ‘ee’, he tried to sound out the words saying ‘e’ instead of ‘ee’. It was as if ‘ee’ was a foreign sound to him. So, I devised this game to help him to hear the ‘ee’ sound in words he uses frequently in speech. After playing it a few times he is now happily sounding out to read and spell words with the ‘ee’ sound. In addition it helps the pupil to understand that the sound ‘e’ does not change as some children will start to say ‘ee’ every time they see ‘e’.
Find more help with teaching the ee sound at Reading made Simple, my FREE Phonic reading and spelling programme that is really simple and really works!
https://readingmadesimple.weebly.com/level-1---ee.html
Six phonics games to help children learn initial sounds for use with Read Write Inc Learning Set 1 sounds or any phonic programme. You may think up others of your own using the materials given.
It contains games:
to help with ordering the alphabet,
learning initial sounds,
helping children with b/d confusion and
learning the vowel sounds.
Matching objects to letters
Easy to make and play!
These games are very versatile: they can be enlarged for whole class/small group use, or used by parents/classroom assistants on a one-to-one basis, or with a pair of children. They could even be sent home in book bags for the child to play with a parent, reinforcing classroom work.
They provide the teacher with ample assessment while working with the children.
The games are already coloured in. Just print, cut and play! All you need is in the pack. Full instructions provided and tips on how to help your child/ren.
These games work well with my Initial Sounds Worksheets - 70 differentiated phonic worksheets for all ages.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-11998343