Primary gifted and talented resources

The World News Crossword (August 20th, 2017) is a simple resource made up of a crossword (with answers) based on last week's news events - and THREE bonus crosswords. This week's bonus puzzles focus on Argentina, China, and New Zealand. The World News Crossword is reasonably simple to complete because its purpose is to engage students with their world and some of the many events that affect them. A two-week-old wildfire in Greenland. A terror attack in Barcelona. A baby dolphin killed because of tourists' curiosity. Venezuela went from bad to worse. 3000 Syrians returned home from Lebanon. Saudi Arabia negotiated to rebuild Iraq's cities. The US president used Twitter, again. Floods affected millions of people in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. A tortoise escaped in Japan. But it's less about what happened last week than why and hopefully, if students work in groups to solve these puzzles, they'll chat among themselves about the stories in the puzzle. Why did Rwandans vote their president back for a third term? Why should Zimbabwe's Grace Mugabe escape prosecution for assaulting a model in a hotel in South Africa? Why is the US investigating China's intellectual property policies? And what's so wrong with an Australian politician holding dual-citizenship?

Suitable for Pre-schoolers, Reception, SEN. Suitable for all abilities. Can be used as paired or group work. Great for social skills. Take it in turns to roll the dice, count the number you roll, then mark off the correct number on the worksheet, recording your rolled number. The first to mark off all the boxes wins. Lower abilities- use spotted dice to enable 1-to-1 counting. Middle abilities- use numbered dice. Higher abilities- use numbered dice. Could be extended to get them to start at the number (either 50 or 65) then subtract each throw, recording the sum on the back of the worksheet.

Suitable for paired or individual work. Also great as a holding activity. Roll the dice, write the number in the first box. Roll again then add/subtract/multiply the two numbers. Record on the worksheets. There are 4 worksheets that are great to photocopy and reuse. Differentiation: lower abilities use a dice with spots to enable easier counting. Can use with 1-to-1 correspondence to enable easier counting. Higher abilities can use numbered dice.

Suitable for Pre schoolers, Reception and SEN. Can be used for all abilities. 4 comprehension worksheets for each ability set. Includes choice of answers for lower and middle abilities. Lower abilities- choice of 4 answers for each question to find, cut out and stick after discussing what they can see. Middle abilities- children answer, then can stick the correct answer for each question, or use the choices to copy spellings. The start of the sentence is already typed to model the start of a sentence and the use of capital letters. Lines are also present for practising writing on the line. Higher abilities- they should be encouraged to write full sentences and expand their sentences to include as much detail as possible. Again lines are already in place to allow children to practise writing on the line.

The World News Crossword (August 13th, 2017) is a simple crossword made up of news events from the last week. New volcanoes discovered in the Antarctic. Less migrants from Libya to Italy in July. A camp built for migrants walking from the US to Canada. Twelve HUGE pipes washed ashore in Norfolk. A Canadian policeman paid for the shirt and tie that a young shoplifter tried to steal for a job interview. The egg scandal spread to 15 EU countries, Switzerland and Hong Kong. Tainted papayas make 100 or so people in the US sick while millions of Yemeni children are suffering from cholera. Train wreck in Egypt. The US president threaten d military intervention in Venezuela. And a Canadian diplomat suffers hearing loss in Cuba because of a sonic weapon. A Danish submarine captain was charged with manslaughter after a Swedish journalist died when the submarine sank. Of course the answers are included. It's an excellent resource for PSHE, Geography, Economics, Social Studies, GATE... There are 3 additional BONUS crossword puzzles - Afghanistan, Albania, and Japan.

Suitable for Pre schoolers, Reception and SEN. Can be used for all abilities. 4 different comprehension worksheets for each ability. Lower abilities- choice of 4 answers for each question (talk about, find, cut and stick). Middle abilities- children talk about the answer, then can stick the correct answer for each question, or use the choices to copy spellings. There are already lines in place for them to practise writing on a line, and the start of the sentence is already in place to get them used to modelling sentences and using capital letters. Higher abilities- they should be encouraged to write full sentences and expand their sentences to include as much detail as possible. Lines already in place to enable them to practise writing on a line.

Suitable for Pre schoolers, Reception and SEN. Good for recognising, matching, and naming the basic 2D shapes. 2D shape bingo- 4 bingo cards for lower abilities (square, rectangle, triangle and circle. 4 bingo cards for middle/higher abilities (square, rectangle, triangle, circle, pentagon and hexagon). Shapes to cover the called shapes for lower and middle abilities. Names of the shapes for higher abilities to cover the called shapes.

A large range of differentiated worksheets for lower, middle and higher abilities to explore and learn about 2D and 3D shapes, including naming the shapes, exploring the basic properties of shapes, matching 2D shapes by their descriptions and matching 3D shapes to real life pictures. 2D bingo- good for matching, social skills, speech and language. Suitable for all abilities as differentiation is included in the resources. *2D and 3D basic shape properties: 4 sheets (includes a blank one that can be adapted for other shapes). Lower abilities: Recognising the names of Triangle, Square, Circle and Rectangle, then counting the number of straight and curved sides. Middle abilities: The same as above, but there is also a second worksheet for them with a Diamond, Hexagon, Oval and Pentagon. Higher abilities: 1 sheet with 3D shapes- Cuboid, Cylinder, Sphere and Pyramid. There is a blank sheet included so that you can add your own shapes or get the children to take photos around the classroom or look in magazines and cut and stick their own shapes, then write the number of straight and curved sides. *2D shapes, their properties and matching descriptions: This includes 2 worksheets and a matching activity (needs cutting out and laminating to be used over and over again- includes 6 shapes, descriptions and names that need to be matched together). Adapt for lower or higher abilities. Lower abilities- the first worksheets just has 4 shapes: Triangle, Rectangle, Circle and Square. The children need to match the shape name with the description, then match to the correct shape image. Middle and Higher abilities- the second worksheet contains 6 shapes: Pentagon, Rectangle, Triangle, Square, Circle and Hexagon. *3D shape matching: Includes 4 pages (2 worksheets and 2 pages of 3D images). This is aimed at middle and higher abilities. The children need to identify the shapes that are Pyramid or Sphere, then Cuboid or Cylinder, then cut them out and glue them in the correct area. Extension: the children should be encouraged to look around the classroom and identify objects of these shapes, recording them on their sheets. They could also look through magazines or go online to find matching 3D images. *2D shape bingo- shape pictures and names: Good for recognising, matching, and naming the basic 2D shapes. 2D shape bingo- 4 bingo cards for lower abilities (square, rectangle, triangle and circle. 4 bingo cards for middle/higher abilities (square, rectangle, triangle, circle, pentagon and hexagon). Shapes to cover the called shapes for lower and middle abilities. Names of the shapes for higher abilities to cover the called shapes.

Suitable for Pre schoolers, Reception and SEN. 4 worksheets and 4 pages of 14 different images. Ideal to laminate and use with Velcro to reuse over and over again or suitable for cutting and sticking. Lower abilities- there is a basic worksheet where the child can copy up to 6 images after an adult has modelled it in the row above. When they achieve this there is a worksheet where they can copy up to 8 images. Middle abilities- worksheet where an adult completes the first 3 boxes. The child then completes the rest of the pattern, then copies it below. (Up to 8 images). Higher abilities- worksheet to enable child to create and copy their own pattern independently (up to 8 images).

Suitable for Pre schoolers, Reception and SEN. Includes 8 pages (2 worksheets and 2 pages of 2D images and 2 worksheets and 2 pages of 3D images). This is aimed at all abilities. Lower abilities should be encouraged to find and name shapes, then stick the shape in the correct place. Middle and higher abilities- The children need to identify the shapes that are Pyramid, Sphere, Cuboid or Cylinder, then cut them out and glue them in the correct area. Extension: the children should be encouraged to look around the classroom and identify objects of these shapes, recording them on their sheets. They could also look through magazines or go online to find matching 2D and/or 3D images.

Suitable for Pre schoolers, Reception and SEN. This includes 2 worksheets and a matching activity (needs cutting out and laminating to be used over and over again- includes 6 shapes, descriptions and names that need to be matched together). Adapt for lower or higher abilities. Lower abilities- the first worksheets just has 4 shapes: Triangle, Rectangle, Circle and Square. The children need to match the shape name with the description, then match to the correct shape image. Middle and Higher abilities- the second worksheet contains 6 shapes: Pentagon, Rectangle, Triangle, Square, Circle and Hexagon.

Suitable for Pre schoolers, Reception and SEN. 4 sheets (includes a blank one that can be adapted for other shapes). Lower abilities: Recognising the names of Triangle, Square, Circle and Rectangle, then counting the number of straight and curved sides. Middle abilities: The same as above, but there is also a second worksheet for them with a Diamond, Hexagon, Oval and Pentagon. Higher abilities: 1 sheet with 3D shapes- Cuboid, Cylinder, Sphere and Pyramid. There is a blank sheet included so that you can add your own shapes or get the children to take photos around the classroom or look in magazines and cut and stick their own shapes, then write the number of straight and curved sides.