A big old download full of resources for teaching reading comprehension! The resources follow the “reciprocal reading” method. Contents includes: Question description cards: Meet the comprehension super heroes who each tackle their own individual question type. Together they will help children to: Predict Clarify Summarise Visualize Answer literal questions Answer inferential questions Question badges: Use the badges for group work, where each child is in charge of writing or answering a specific question type. If anything, the badges are an excuse for a trip to Ryman (not so guilty pleasure) for lanyards, plastic covers and so on! Comprehension template: Allows children to record their predictions before reading, write their questions during reading and summarise the text after reading. The summary box is deliberately tiny to stop any budding authors from rewriting the entire text. Sorting activity: A selection of questions to be sorted according to their question type (literal or inferential). I used these the other day without laminating and when asked to ‘tidy up’ my lovely student proceeded to crumple the entire pack of questions into a ball. I was fine about it. Just half an ink cartridge, 20 minutes of cutting before the lesson and a completely ruined resource. Totally. Fine. Question spinner: Heavily ‘Twister’ inspired, this wheel can be used during reading time to help children practice asking and answering different types of questions. Note – you will lose the pointer to the wheel. Like socks in a washing machine, it’s just life.

A simplified version of Pie Corbett’s story mountain, this poster focuses on three main paragraphs within a creative writing story: Beginning Problem Ending I have suggested to children that they should imagine their story taking place over the space of a day, the beginning of the story taking place in the morning, and the ending at night. Starting the story with the word “as” allows for an immediate simile and description and it seems to give children a starter for ten when faced with a blank sheet of paper. The mountain also mentions including senses to describe the setting, speech between characters and description of characters feelings.

Who doesn’t love a fronted adverbial? This game allows children to sort fronted adverbials into three groups: those that describe the where, when and how of the verb in each sentence. After sorting into groups, children can then add the most suitable fronted adverbial to the incomplete sentence strips. This makes for a spot of healthy debate as there is more than one correct answer, so swapping of adverbials is encouraged, or if working in teams, “steals” can be allowed to encourage class discussion.

These ‘chatterboxes’ provide a quick and handy way to encourage discussion before and after reading. Ideal for speedy assessment of comprehension skills Resource includes two dice; one for use before reading a book or chapter, and one for when the book or chapter has been read. The children take it in turns to roll the dice, read the question and answer - other children are free to chip in with their own opinions and ideas, too! Great for when you have a mind blank, these ready prepared questions will hopefully help reduce the literacy madness!

Guess my monster is an ideal game for children who need to build up a repertoire of adjectives and descriptive language. Ideal for children with English as an additional language. Rules of the game: Player 1 chooses a card and hides it from Player 2 (nobody likes a cheater!) Player 1 then gives 3 clues to Player 2, describing their monster in detail. (Although this is meant to be a game, it is of course “organised fun” and strict rules apply. It is not ok to say for example, “My monster has eyes”. No. The name of the game is to describe, so no description in the clue = lose a turn!) After 3 clues have been given, Player 1’s partner can finally take a guess as to which monster is being described.(As the clues are being given, crosses can be put through the monsters who are definitely not being described, according to the clues given) The players swap over and the fun continues!

An exhaustive list of skills that may be assessed in the 7 plus entrance exam. The curriculum is broken into the topics of: Interview techniques English Maths All of the skills have been written in child friendly language, so are ideal to use for target setting with children. The curriculum has been made through years of research of 7 plus sample papers, and has been verified by fellow tutors and parents whose children have been successful in the exam.

This Powerpoint presentation focuses on the ‘SAD’ strategy for story writing. The idea is, that children choose to open their stories using one of the following: S – a description of the setting A – describing the actions of the characters D – opening the story with dialogue between characters This resource uses scenes from children’s favourite films, and works towards putting ‘once up a time’ and weather description starters to bed! **Samples of Year 2 children’s writing when using this activity ** Using action to open Monsters Inc: “Hopping everywhere, Sully was bouncing, trying to get out as the miniature baby stood up, fascinated”. Using dialogue to open Moana: “Oink oink!” shouted the satisfied piglet. Moana was so fixed on the sea she could not move her eyes as Maoui shouted, “Land ahead!” Using setting to open “Up”: “The machine was pouring into tubes as she sucked up the medicine like a hoover. The flowers were fascinated at the movements the wife and her wrinkly husband made”. Using setting to open the BFG: “A pitch black sky swirled around like a cup of cappuccino. As the black sky lay on the clouds like a blanket, the 50 metre tall, towering, tremendous BFG stood as silently as a mouse”.

A series of 5 lessons lasting approximately one hour each. Ideal for online learning or slides can be printed and used at home. This pack includes activities on: story writing comprehension (fiction and non-fiction) how to add a problem to your story speech marks setting descriptions similes Games included: weather simile game emoji emotion game emotions 4 in a row ‘guess my monster’ adjective game This pack also includes a story mountain visual aid and independent homework challenges.

Based on the 7+ exam, this resource has been used to successfully prepare children for entry to the top prep schools in the UK. This paper includes: Comprehension exercise Creative writing task A detailed marking scheme allowing teachers and parents to see exactly what assessors are looking for Tried and tested by 7 + candidates Mimics real 7+ exam conditions Written by experienced primary teachers and tutors Carefully leveled to boost confidence and banish anxiety!

Based on the 7+ exam, this resource has been used to successfully prepare children for entry to the top prep schools in the UK. This paper includes: Comprehension exercise Creative writing task Written by experienced primary teachers and tutors A detailed marking scheme allowing teachers and parents to see exactly what assessors are looking for Tried and tested by 7 + candidates Mimics real 7+ exam conditions Carefully leveled to boost confidence and banish anxiety!

This pack contains three games that are focused around the Year 3 and 4 statutory spelling list. The list includes 107 words, but we recommend focusing on 20 at a time with your child before moving on to the next set. Games included: • ZAP! – Cut the spelling words into flashcards, including the ZAP! cards, and place them into a container. Take turns to select a word from the container and either spell it aloud or write it down on paper or a whiteboard. If, however you pull out a ZAP! card, all of your cards must go back into the container. Use a 10-minute timer and whoever has the most cards at the end is the winner! • Race and write – Before playing this game, we re commend popping the race and write sheet into a poly pocket and your child can write their spelling words using a whiteboard pen. Fo r each round, they will then rub off the words to start wi th a clean sheet. Using the spelling flashcards, choose one word from the top of the pile, read it carefully then turn it over. The race is now on to spell the word correctly, writing it on the windshields of all the cars on the page. Whoever finishes first (and has accurately spelled the word!) is the winner. As a further incentive, the children can remove the poly pocket and colour in their cars as a reward for completing the game. • Roll and write – using the spelling flashcards, choose a word then roll the dice. Each number corresponds to a different method of spelling the world. An exciting game with a multisensory approach.

A Powerpoint presentation with 20 sentences based on the Year 3 and 4 statutory spelling list. Ideal use for 7+ and 8+ exam preparation. Each slide includes an audio file, where each sentence is spoken twice. After your child has written their sentence, they can reveal the correct answer on the slide.

The perfect introduction into speech marks, this Powerpoint presentation includes: a definition of speech marks rules that apply when using speech marks opportunities for children to practice writing using speech marks challenge slides encouraging children to look for common mistakes that are made when speech marks are being used.

A great pre-writing game to help your pupils to explore synonyms for the word ‘said’. Also useful for EAL learners! This resource includes: 4 bingo boards 1 set of synonym cards Ideal for group work.

For classrooms who are familiar with the Pie Corbett ‘story mountain’, this resource focuses on the ‘problem’ section of a creative story. This Powerpoint teaches children about three specific types of problem that they can use in their story: 1 versus 2: In at number 1 is the “1 versus 2” problem type. A “1 versus 2” problem is when one character creates a problem for another character. Perhaps one character hurts another character’s feelings or does something deliberately to upset the other. Arguing with your shadow: This type of problem is when the main character creates a problem for themselves. They may make a wrong or bad decision, or do something that affects their chances of success. Can’t be helped!: Last but not least, this type of problem occurs when an uncontrollable factor causes a problem for the characters in the story. A thunder storm ruining a picnic, a broken car resulting in a family party being missed or a nasty bug putting a dampener on a holiday – no one is to blame for this type of problem. The Powerpoint also includes: illustrations from popular children’s films, where children need to identify the type of problem that takes place an activity ideal for independent or group work, where children need to use pictures to discuss or write what is happening, followed by a problem based on one of the strategies they have learned.

This handy resources (pun intended) is a great way to teach reading strategies to your pupils. Useful to have at hand (I can’t stop) during reading time, where you can choose one strategy to focus on, Strategies included: 1.”Robot talk” the tricky word – encourages speedy readers to slow down and chunk up tricky words.( It’s also quite amusing to have a classroom full of Daleks). 2.”Look at the picture for clues” – don’t rely on others to tell you the answer! This is a good strategy for encouraging independent reading. 3.”Slowly stretch out the tricky word” – again, encourages speedy readers to really slow down. Can also help teachers see if there are any phonics issues. 4.”Skip the word and try again at the end of the sentence” – it’s ok not to get it first time! Sometimes by reading to the end of the sentence, children will be able to have a solid guess at the meaning of the word based on the context of the story. “Does the word make sense?” – stop for breath. Take a minute. Does that word fit into the sentence/story?

A fantastic resource for children who need to brush up on their knowledge of the first 100 common words. Rules of the game: Cut the words into strips and place them in a box. One at a time children need to select a strip, take a HUGE deep breath and see how quickly they can read all of the words on the strip Why not link this game to Maths and ask children to work in pairs, one child reading while another another child times their partner using a stop watch. Easily adaptable for spelling words of the week and a simple and easy assessment tool.

A super resource encouraging children to use characters’ personality and appearance. This presentation includes: personality word bank appearance word bank popular children’s tv and film characters as examples practical activities for children to complete either as a class, in groups or independently sets an independent activity to help children apply their knowledge

A great game to encourage children to read phase 5 phonics words.Ideal for use in a group or a whole class.

A ‘one stop shop’ resource to help your children add more detail to their writing. This resource includes: A poster outlining the 5 W’s that can be used to add detail - who, what, when, where, why Flashcards showing the 5 W’s A set of simple sentences that children need to stretch out using the 5 W’s. Can be cut into flashcards and made into a simple game ideal for group work A writing frame to encourage children to use all 5 W’s to stretch a sentence.