Weekly planning based on The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. On Day 1 children listen to and retell the story through story maps. On Day 2 children use adjectives to change the opening sentence of the story. On Day 3 they explore woodland creatures and introduce a new character into the story. On Day 4 children use adjectives to describe the Gruffalo. On Day 5 children create their own terrible creature and describe him/her. This planning could easily be adapted/extended, so that children write their own version of The Gruffalo.

Detailed English planning for Year 1 based on the story of Stick Man by Julia Donaldson. Activities are differentiated as appropriate. There are plenty of opportunities for speaking and listening, along with peer work. Day 1 focuses on working together to make a list of different ways to use a stick. Day 2 encourages children to answer the question 'What is the most dangerous thing about being a stick man?' Children are invited to take on the point of view of Stick Man, arguing their view point and justifying their decision. Day 3 invites children to pretend they are Stick Man and recount the story to their family at dinner. Day 4 focuses on Stick Man's feelings and emotions throughout the story. Day 5 invites children to write postcards and letters from Stick Man’s point of view back to his family about one of his adventures.

I have struggled to find simple comprehension activities which allow children to read a sentence independently and respond by answering simple questions. I feel this is important as many Year 1 children are now required to complete comprehension tests, so it is important they have experience of this as early as possible. Here are 6 simple comprehension activities which are suitable for children who are working within phase 3 phonics. Each activity involves reading a sentence, drawing a picture, and answering 2 simple questions related to the question. An example of a sentence is 'It is fun to go to the zoo'. An example of a question is 'Where is it fun to go?'

I found it difficult to find any simple comprehension practice activities for my struggling readers, so I designed 5 very simple activities which involve children reading CVC words like pig, mop, bat and then colouring in the matching picture. The children then read a sentence, for example, The cat is in the red box. Finally, they answer 2 simple multiple choice questions, for example, What is in the box?

Simple activity for introducing plurals. Cut out the 10 cards and laminate. Children spend time adding the correct ending to make the noun plural to match the pictures using e or es (5 of each). Children can then record the singular word and plural word on the recording sheet next to the corresponding picture.

This planning is based on the story The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz. The planning is for one day and includes sharing the beginning of the story, talking about the setting and characters. The children then become the authors as you stop reading just as the wolf arrives at the first little pig's house. What will happen next? Children encouraged to share their ideas before planning their own middle and ending to the story. The extension activity would be to use the story plan to write their own fractured fairy tale middle and ending. This planning is adaptable for Year 2 and can easily be extended to last longer than one session. Fantastic story for all children - boys love the ninja theme, and girls love the fact that the girl pig is the hero of the story!

This lesson was written for a creative writing day, but could be used over 2-3 days instead. You need to start by creating a magic door in your classroom. I decorated my stock room door with paper, made a letter box, key hole, window, hinges, had a vine running up it, and flowers. The idea is that it looks like a door from a traditional tale home. The children will firstly spend time thinking of questions about who/what is behind the magic door. Suddenly, a letter magically appears in the letter box. It asks the children to look for clues to help them imagine who/what is behind the magic door. The children find the clues and then use their senses to imagine they are entering the magic door - what do they smell, hear, feel, touch, taste? Who do they see? Is it a giant? a fairy? a witch? Written for Year 1, but easily adapted for other age groups.

This is a 5 day detailed English plan with differentiated activities written for Year 1, but easily adaptable for Year 2. The children start the week by comparing the traditional tale of Little Red Riding Hood with Honestly, Little Red Riding Hood was Rotten! using a Venn diagram and story statements. They then move on to thinking about writing their own version of Little Red Riding Hood where Little Red is actually a superhero and has all kinds of superhero gadgets in her basket. She is the hero of the story and needs to save Grandma from the wolf. Can the children think of any superhero gadgets she may have and how they could be used to save Grandma? They will decide on the best gadget, draw it in their basket and describe it. They will then use this idea to make a picture story plan before writing their own story of Little Red Riding Hood’s Superhero Basket. Perfect plan for Traditional Tales or Superhero topic.

3 days of planning and resources based on the beautiful, inspirational John Lewis' The Bear and the Hare Christmas advert. Activities include exploring why Christmas is special to us, writing a letter to Bear describing why he should wake up for Christmas, and adding speech bubbles to scenes from the animation. Written for Year 1, this planning could easily be adapted for older children.

This was written for a Year 1 class, but could easily be adapted for Year 2. It is 3 days worth of English planning and resources. Children write facts about the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood and then compare it to the Chinese story of Lon Po Po (stories from different cultures) written by Ed Young. Resources include 3 days of differentiated planning; differentiated fairy tale facts sheets for Little Red Riding Hood and Lon Po Po (pictures are also included for BA group); and a Venn Diagram collaborative activity which should ideally be enlarged to A3, along with statements to sort. Children could go on to write their own version of Little Red Riding Hood by changing the character, setting and so on.

A 3 day unit with a follow up idea for a 4th day. Resources include 3 days of planning written for Year 1, but adaptable for EYFS and Year 2. Also included are 3 differentiated recipe resource sheets for children to sequence the Witches Brew made on day 1 (4 ingredient simple recipe included); a powerpoint of ideas to help children think of their own ingredient ideas - with a focus on adjectives; and cute differentiated mini cauldron pages for children to write their own recipes for Witches Brew and make into a book.

Phase 4 first week's phonics planning for Year 1 or able EYFS children. Planning introduces reading and spelling of CVCC/CCVC words and key words. Also included is a variety of resources named in the planning, including:- Revisit/Review power point, CVCC Buried Treasure Game, CVCC Magic Squares Game, Kim's Game, Roll, Read and Colour the CCVC words game, Tricky Word Bingo.

This planning is based on the story Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Freedman. It includes a detailed weekly plan aimed at Year 1 children, but could easily be adapted for EYFS as it was written for children just moving into year 1. The main objectives of the plan focus on sentence work and adjectives, but also includes independent activities based on the story. Also included are resources to support the plan - underpants template, dinosaur sentences with adjectives, writing frame, and colourful underpants with the letters of the alphabet.

This planning is based on the story Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Freedman. It includes a detailed weekly plan aimed at Year 1 children, but could easily be adapted for EYFS as it was written for children just moving into year 1. The main objectives of the plan focus on sentence work and adjectives, but also includes independent activities based on the story. Also included are resources to support the plan - underpants template, images from the story, dinosaur sentences with adjectives, writing frame, and colourful underpants with the letters of the alphabet.

Fun, colourful phonic activities with shark in the park theme. Five activities for children to apply their phonic knowledge for 'ar'. Activities include a read/write the classroom; I have, who has?; roll the die, move and read the word; roll the die, read and colour the word; roll the die and read the sentences. All fully editable if you want to change font or words.

Colourful, fun activities for children to apply their knowledge of digraphs wh and ph. Activities include search, read, write the classroom and roll the die games.

Fun, colourful phonic activities with bright fireflies theme. Six activities for children to apply their phonic knowledge for ie, i-e and igh. Activities include a phoneme spotter firefly story; catch the firefly words and sort into the correct jar; roll the die, move and read the word; roll the die, read and colour the word; use the words in the jar to complete the sentences; roll the die and read the sentences. All fully editable if you want to change font or words.

Two fun reading challenges to encourage children to read at home. Give each child a reading challenge sheet (these are editable so you can adapt as desired). Children complete the challenges on their bingo boards, for example, read a book whilst wearing a hat. When all the challenges are complete, they return to their teacher. I give my children a golden ticket to post in a box (piece of gold card with golden ticket written on). At the end of each half term we have a prize draw and children receive a small prize if their ticket is picked out. Parents and children love them!

Creative English Plan aimed at Year 1. It uses the story of It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G Shaw to encourage children to explore pictures in clouds. A favourite childhood pastime of my own! Can be used without the story. Encourages speaking, listening, sentence writing and the use of conjunctions.

Simple lesson plan to allow children to explore and retell the story of The Princess and the Wizard by Julia Donaldson. Aimed at Year 1. Includes images for story sequencing.