A list of 56 homophones pairs (and a few trios) suitable for KS2/3, a set of 15 sentences with homophones for children to select the right option and a further list of ten ideas for other fun learning activities to do with these homophones.

This resource contains the text of the first section of the book (‘Ordinary’) and twelve questions based on the text. There is also another page of suggestions for deeper discussion and activities based on the text.

This resource contains the text of the second section of the book (‘Why I Didn’t Go to School’) and a set of questions based on the text. There is also another page of suggestions for deeper discussion and activities based on the text.

An illustrated PowerPoint presentation of the classic TS Eliot poem Macavity: The Mystery Cat to show as a presentation lesson starter e.g. for RIC reading sessions, comprehension and discussion etc. Nice and clear to read together as a class, appealing illustrations to engage children. Please note that I have also created a differentiated set of comprehension questions for Upper KS2 and KS3 children; please take a look if interested. Thank you.

This short warning story by Pie Corbett called Elf Road is brilliant as a box-it-up activity for identifying the themes within the story. As well as including the short story text (which is freely available on the internet) I have included a worksheet I made for children to 'box up' the story. One side is for writing the underlying generic patterns within the story (e.g. Main Character finds a magic portal and enters) while on the other side children have to identify the actual examples of this specific to the Elf Road story (e.g. Billy finds a wooden door in Elf Road and goes through.) These are differentiated on three levels so that HAPs have to fill in the entire grid on both sides (I suggest after modelling a few examples first), the MAPs have to identify some of the underlying patterns and some of the specific details, and LAPs only have to find the specific examples with all of the underlying patterns being provided. Also included is a blank grid and (scroll this down) the 'answers' to the whole grid for teacher reference. It also provides a super clear framework from which to progress to adding a third column on the right for 'new ideas' - i.e. children collectively or individually vary the story details to include their own ideas following the underlying theme (e.g. my lovely class decided that main character Daisy would fall into a sewage pipe and end up in a new world...). I taught this with Y3/4 but I think could also be useful with upper KS2.

This is intended for a lower KS2 reading session but could also be used with upper KS2. It includes a jpg starter activity about Prof Stephen Hawking as a stimulus, and three differentiated texts about Stephen Hawking to read, including differentiated questions and a lesson plan.

This is a set of questions with a reading LO emphasis. It is based around the poem Warning by Jenny Joseph (When I am old, I shall wear purple, etc.), a Word copy of which is included. Three differentiated levels of questions, intended for Y3/4 but could be used with Y5/6.

A set of comprehension questions based on the famous poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, for written comprehension session or verbal discussion prompts. Suitable for upper KS2 or KS3. Text of the poem is included.

In the build-up to writing stories it's useful to give children practise in writing character descriptions. These handy planning sheets (one with more structured prompts on and one more basic for HAPs) can help children to create their own image of a character to describe. The Teacher example and cheat sheet help to demonstrate how notes can be made and turned into a fuller description of a character.

An A4 scaffold sheet for children to format an information text including lines on which to write and space for a title, two paragraphs, a picture, caption and 'Did you know?' fact circle. Useful for LAPs, SEN or just children in Lower KS2 who may need support with formatting.

Classic poem by TS Eliot - Macavity The Mystery Cat - comprehension activity including all three RIC elements and differentiated three ways for HAPs, MAPs and LAPs. Suitable for Upper KS2 or KS3 children.

A starter presentation on why connectives are useful for improving creative writing. Begins by showing a boring story passage with lots of repetition of openers and too many 'and's. Goes through ways of improving writing by adding different types of connectives. Finishes by improving the passage and comparing to the original.

A Ppt presentation to start a lesson to teach children to identify different genres of writing. A very similar story is told in several versions including adventure, horror, instructional, diary, letter... The first give children the idea of what kind of 'clues' to look out for, e.g. personal pronouns, repetition, simple or informal style, etc., while the rest can be used for children to work through together and discuss. Finally children are given a short and simple activity to reinforce their understanding of the different genres shown.

This powerpoint goes through the various common features of fairy tales including good/bad characters, magical items, helpers, royalty, numbers 3/7 and shows familiar illustrations for each as examples to discuss. If you like this resource, please take a moment to give it a 5-star review. Thank you!

This contains an actual football match report (Man City v. Huddersfield 26/11/17) adapted from the BBC website and differentiated into 3 ability levels. Although the match report can be used for a variety of purposes, I had a reading focus and the activity is connected to direct speech (which we have been studying along with our recounts, hence the reports). So the children need to find and separate all of the direct quotes from the two managers Wagner and Guardiola to rewrite them in the form of a speech bubble for each.

Set of three differentiated worksheets for children to practise punctuating direct speech.

Powerpoint presentation with slides including Which bed would you rather sleep in? Which pet would you rather have? Where would you rather live? etc. To be used for stimulating discussion and reasoning; for example, philosophy sessions, P4C, circle time, RIC reading stimulus etc or could easily be adapted for use in English lessons for description and so on.

This is a PowerPoint presentation of the famous Highwayman poem by Alfred Noyes, complete with poignant illustrations to help tell the tale and really get kids engaged in the themes of the poem. Can be used with upper KS2 or KS3 students. Useful for poetry sessions or reading comprehension as well as general discussions, philosophy etc. If you like it, please take a moment to give it a 5-star review. Thank you!

This is a bundle of four documents to provide a lesson with a reading focus. L.O. To predict what will happen next in a text. Children are given a text containing the story of The Half-Chick (deliberately a lesser known tale to enable prediction). Differentiated level of challenge; HAPs' version ends earlier and they are asked to predict and justify the ending. MAPs' version gives them a little more of the next section to enable prediction with more of a hint. LAPs' version contains a simplified version of the text to read as well well as more of the ending so that the pattern of the moral in the story is clearer to support prediction. The Teacher version of course contains the entire story which can be read in the plenary (groups' stopping places are marked on it). Although not well-known, this is a nice traditional tale/fairy tale with a clear moral message and lots of the familiar features (e.g. 3s, talking elements e.g. wind, river etc.) so could also be used to support other lessons.

This resource was designed for a reading session with the LO being To take part in discussions, taking turns and asking questions to improve understanding. (Band 4) The stimulus is a short video clip called Lighthouse (link on plan), after which the children are facilitated in focused discussion using prompts (including differentiated prompts for LAPs/SEN) with a RIC-style emphasis. Lesson plan included as well as an assessment checklist to record children's achievements in the session. Intended for Y3/4.