Hello, thank you for looking around my shop. I am a teaching deputy head teacher, with 16 years of experience, who works in a rural primary school. I know how wearing many hats can eat into your time but understand how important excellent resources are for engaging pupils so they make accelerated progress. I have included lots of free resources in my shop but placed a small charge for resources which have taken me many hours to create. I hope you enjoy them and use them to motivate your pupils.
Hello, thank you for looking around my shop. I am a teaching deputy head teacher, with 16 years of experience, who works in a rural primary school. I know how wearing many hats can eat into your time but understand how important excellent resources are for engaging pupils so they make accelerated progress. I have included lots of free resources in my shop but placed a small charge for resources which have taken me many hours to create. I hope you enjoy them and use them to motivate your pupils.
This is a great 2-week unit where pupils write a mini saga about a mythical creature. This requires them to really edit and refine their work as they are only allowed to use 50 words to tell the story with. I base this unit around the fantastic book; ‘The Atlas of Monsters’ by Stuart Hill & Sandra Lawrence which shows where mythical monsters come from around the world. Pupils will choose one of these mythical beasts and research them then write their myth in a challenging mini saga. This unit makes pupils in my class really consider their word choices and how best to write an engaging and effective story in such few words.
I have listed the learning objectives for all of the lessons below. Also, I have included all of the worksheets, PowerPoints, links and resources you will need to teach this unit straight away.
Stage 1 - Stimulate and generate- Learning outcomes
• To evaluate how engaging a mythical story is
• To gather information in note form
• To summarise facts about a given subject
• To retrieve and record information from text
• To discuss words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination
Stage 2 - Capture, Sift and Sort- Learning outcomes
• To evaluate and edit by assessing the effectiveness of other people’s writing and suggest improvements
• To identify the main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarise these
• To write expanded noun phrases
Stage 3 - Create refine evaluate- Learning outcomes
• To plan and organise my ideas to effectively support my writing
• To plan and organise my ideas to effectively support my writing
• To publish a mini sage
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Activities can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece before you write it and then edit it to improve the piece. This can include self, peer or teacher led reviewing.
This is a set of grammar revision cards with 36 terms explained for pupils and parents. It has a seem in the middle so the cards can be folded back and stuck down. This allows the parent / member of staff to show the pupil the term and have the explanation facing them while the pupil explains what each term means. The terms include:
Adjective
Adverb
Adverbial clause
Antonym
Apostrophe
Article
Auxiliary verb
Clause
Complex sentence
Conjunction
Digraph
Fronted adverbial
Grapheme
Homophone
Main clause
Noun
Paragraph
Personal pronoun
Phoneme
Phrase
Plural
Prefix
Preposition
Present tense
Pronoun
Punctuation
Relative clause
Sentence
Sentence types
Simple sentence
Split digraph
Subordinate clause
Suffix
Synonym
Tense
Trigraph
Verb
Word clause
This is a Powerpoint with 34 different English terms including explanations of what each term means. The terms include
Abbrieviation
Acronym
Adverb
Blurb
Clause
Connective
Colon
Draft
Edit
Ellipsis
Exclamation marks
Homograph
Homophone
Jargon
Jingle
Metaphor
Mnemonic
Palindrome
Paragraph
Question mark
Scan
Semi-colon
Sentence (compound)
Sentence (simple)
Sentence (complex)
Simile
Skim
Stanza
Storyboard
Verb
Verb (active)
Verb (passive)
This is a bundle of success criteria, that I use for the end of units. There is a column for both pupils and teachers as the expectation is pupils use the assessment tool to self assess their own work.
The success criteria include:
Biographies
Descriptive Writing
Diary Extracts
Explanation Texts
Instructions - Recipes
Information Texts
Newspaper Reports
Non-Chronological Reports
Persuasive Writing
Play Scripts
Poetry
Poster - Advertisement
Settings
This is a display which is eye catching as well as useful to have displayed all year round. It reminds pupils the importance of considering the best possible conjunction to use each time they want to write and. It has an explanation why pupils should try to only use and in lists furthermore a list of possible alternative words for pupils to use.
Simple mnemonics really help pupils to remember key information they need to write great advertisements. This one is: SEAQAB
S logan
E xaggeration
A lliteration
Q uestions
A djectives
B enefits
This display has an explanation for each part and it has 13 pages which include large letters to display the SEAQAB mnemonic clearly on your wall.
This is a colourful display that is great to have displayed all year round. It explains what a simple, compound and complex sentence is. Each type of sentence has a description and an example with each part colour coded.
Simple mnemonics really help pupils to remember key information they need to improve their writing. This one is: PAMPAS
P owerful verbs
A dverbs
M etaphors
P owerful nouns
A djectives
S imiles
This display has an explanation for each part and it has 13 pages which include large letters to display the PAMPAS mnemonic clearly on your wall.
This is a great whole book planned guided reading unit based on the book Mysterious Traveller by Mal Peet & Elspeth Graham. The story tells of an old man finding an abandoned baby in the desert who he adopts as his own grand-daughter. he teaches her how to track her way through the desert and she travels with him while he guides traders through the deserts of northern Africa. When he loses his vision she becomes his eyes and they work in tandem on their adventures. I have planned a unit of work that is split into 9 different reading comprehensions as each set of questions has between 6 and 8 questions and covers 5 pages of the book.
I have also included printer friendly pages where there are 3 copies of the questions on each page so it is easy to prepare for lessons. I have included all the answers too as this is a great time saver. The questions are designed to easily fit English books as I have adjusted the margins so they fit. I hope your class enjoys this book as much as mine have always done.
This bundle includes 3 units of work with all the resources and display elements you will need for your Working Walls.
The 3 units are:
Creative Writing unit based on Leon and the Place Between by Angela McAllister & Grahame Baker-Smith
Flashbacks unit based on Orange in No Man's Land by Elizabeth Laird
Performance Poetry unit based on Sound Collector by Roger McGough
These units of work use the 3 stage planning process of:
• Stimulate and generate
• Capture, sift and sort
• Create, refine and evaluate
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Acticitives can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece before you write it and then edit it to improve the piece. This can include self, peer or teacher led reviewing.
This is a something I get the pupils to complete before they write to focus their minds on why, what and for who they are writing. It also includes a larger version for display on a working wall.
Purpose
• What does the writing aim to do?
• Persuade, advise, inform, explain, describe analyses, review, and comment or instruct?
Audience
• Who is the text written for?
• Your teacher, friends, parents, head teacher or younger pupils.
Viewpoint
• What is the point you are trying to make?
• Have you written a theme that runs through the story?
Form
• Consider the formality of the piece.
• Is it a formal or informal? What tense is it written in; 1st person (I), 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he/she/they).
• What types of words or phrases are being used?
• Technical, scientific, descriptive, informative, factual, emotive, serious or humorous.
• What linguistic devices are being used?
• Fact, opinion, rhetorical questions, hyperbole (exaggeration), irony, anecdote or puns.
• How is the text presented?
• Headlines, sub-headings, slogans, bullet points, diagrams, captions or in columns.
This is a resource I have made to support pupils with their writing and spelling. Exposing pupils to better words choices increases their vocabulary and ultimately the quality of their work.
This is a something I get the pupils to complete before they write to focus their minds on why, what and for who they are writing. It also includes a larger version for display on a working wall.
Purpose - What does the writing aim to do? Persuade, advise, inform, explain, describe analyse, review, comment or instruct?
Audience - Who is the text written for? Your teacher, friends, parents, head teacher or younger pupils.
Language - Consider the formality of the piece. Is it a formal or informal? What tense is it written in; 1st person (I), 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he/she/they). What types of words or phrases are being used? Technical, scientific, descriptive, informative, factual, emotive, serious or humorous. What linguistic devices are being used? Fact, opinion, rhetorical questions, hyperbole (exaggeration), irony, anecdote or puns.
Layout - How is the text presented? Headlines, sub-headings, slogans, bullet points, diagrams, captions or in columns.
Here are 6 versions of a storyboard to save yourself time creating your own. There are 2 with 8, 6 and 4 squares. One of the versions have larger areas for drawing with the other version more lines for writing. I have included it in a PowerPoint format so you can alter it if you want. I have also included it in a pdf format to make it easier to print.
This is a short poetry unit based on the great poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. The end piece of writing is a retelling of the story but from another character's perspective. This unit includes lots of drama and role play to stimulate the pupil's ideas. I have included all the resources you will need and have listed the learning objectives below:
Stage 1: Stimulate and generate learning outcomes
• To deduce information about a character from a picture.
• To recite poetry.
• To explore the themes of a text.
• To use drama to explore characters’ feelings.
• To tell a story from a character’s perspective.
Stage 2: Capture, sift and sort learning outcomes
• To identify the language used for effect.
• To write metaphors.
• To tell a story from a character’s perspective.
• To recount a story as a news report.
Stage 3: Create, refine and evaluate learning outcomes
• To write a story from a character’s perspective.
• To revise, edit evaluate and improve my writing.
• Perform own writing by reading it to a group.
This bundle includes 3 units of work with all the resources and display elements you will need for your Working Walls.
The 3 units are:
Diary Extract in Role based on Street Child by Berlie Doherty
Explanatory Texts based on Cracking Contraptions by Wallace and Gromit & Until I Met Dudley by Roger McGough
Persuasive Letter based on Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson
These units of work use the 3 stage planning process of:
• Stimulate and generate
• Capture, sift and sort
• Create, refine and evaluate
Stimulate and generate = This usually starts with a hook to interest the class where the class realise who they are going to write for so they have a clear purpose and audience. Acticitives can include reading excellent model texts, drama or researching more about the author or the content of the book.
Capture, sift and sort = This is the part of the unit where pupils look at key features, practise skills they will need in order to complete the final piece or new learning for objectives they have not learnt yet.
Create, refine, evaluate = This is where you bring all you have learnt together and plan the final piece before you write it and then edit it to improve the piece. This can include self, peer or teacher led reviewing.
This is a paragraph display that has an eye catching upturned pyramid and a full explanation on how to write a paragraph using a topic sentence. It also has a few versions of a paragraph that is colour coded to help pupils understand how to write their paragraphs. This display is best utilised by printing it out as A3 sized.
This is a fantastic whole book planned guided reading unit based on the book Oranges in No man’s Land by Elizabeth Laird. The story tells the struggles of a little brave girl called Ayesha during the civil war in Lebanon. I have planned a unit of work that has between 9 and 5 questions for each chapter (18 chapters in total).
I have also included printer friendly pages where there are 4 copies of the questions on each page so it is easy to prepare for lessons. I have included all the answers too as this is a great time saver. The questions are designed to easily fit English books as I have adjusted the margins so they fit. I hope your class enjoys this book as much as mine have always done.
This is a PowerPoint with a Story Mountain which is invaluable for pupils planning good stories. I have also included it in a pdf version for ease of printing.
Here is a list of all the common contractions that I made for my class when they struggled to spell some of them. This is a great resource for children who struggle with contractions.