Children have been captivated by the animals of Africa for decades. In this reading package, you can find out all about the ‘big five’ animals to spot; their habitats and behaviour; and how we can help to save them from extinction. There are eight reading activities, aimed at 8, 9, 10 and 11 year olds, testing children’s reading skills right across the curriculum. As with all of my reading comprehension projects, my aim is to create stimulating text that will actually get children into reading. I started writing my own material in 2014 after feeling bored by a lot of the comprehensions on offer. Using this approach, I have introduced my students to many stories and topics that may not be on the curriculum, but are important for young people to know. Contents Lion Factfile – Group facts about lions into categories Meet a Lion – Look at words and phrases in context Save The Elephants – Summarise main idea and extra detail The Man and The Elephant - Sequence a fable The Big Five – Identify cause, effect and solution Decline of the Black Rhino - Analyse information in a graph Big Five – Who’s not on the list? – Compare, select and justify using evidence Who am I – Use cryptic clues and keywords to identify animals Answers BONUS KAHOOT QUIZ! In the teacher notes for this item, there is a link to a Kahoot quiz which can be used at the end of the unit. It tests retention of facts from the texts and speed processing skills. A fantastic way to finish the material! ______________________________________________________ This product has been designed to put you in control. There is a Powerpoint file, so you can edit it, delete slides, change the order, print it or share it digitally. The great benefit of this is that your children can complete this as a worksheet or on a digital device – or even a bit of both! I often share this with children on tablets, but obviously I copy the file and remove the answers first! Sometimes, they read the text on a tablet and answer the questions on a sheet. However you use this, I’m sure you will find a way that works for your students – and save some paper and photocopying costs in the process.

When Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, it was perhaps the greatest scientific achievement in history. July 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of this extraordinary voyage. Thousands of scientists, mathematicians, engineers and astronauts had a part to play in working together on the Apollo 11 mission - but space exploration goes much further than the Lunar landings. In this space exploration comprehension package, your students will take part in FIVE reading activities, which will open up the world of space exploration to them: *1) The Space Race: What was the space race, and why was it so important? The First Man on the Moon: A celebration of the life and achievements of Neil Armstrong. The Last Man on the Moon: A celebration of the life and achievements of Eugene Cernan “Houston, We’ve got a problem”: Disasters in space, featuring the amazing survival story of Apollo 13. Space Travel - next steps: Find out about plans to travel to Mars, passenger space travel, and how a 41-year old probe is still sending messages to scientists from 11 billion miles away!* Students will use inference and deduction skills as well as fact retrieval, word meaning and summarising. Questions and answers are provided, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required. As with all of my reading exercises, I try to write content that is interesting and engaging - stories that may not be on the curriculum, but are important for children to know.

Have you ever wondered how far Mary and Joseph travelled on the donkey? Or why Bethlehem was so busy at the time of Jesus birth? Or what myrrh actually is? Your students will find out these and more through these fascinating stories from the Nativity. From Mary and Joseph to the shepherds and wise men, these accounts paint the picture of what life must have been like in Nazareth and Bethlehem at this time. Each passage comes with a series of questions that will test students’ comprehension skills through fact retrieval, word meaning and inference and deduction.

This collection of eight activity sheets will take your child on an exciting journey of conjunction discovery. Using the idea of conjunctions joining words and sentences, each activity is themed around highways and road junctions. Your children have to join them correctly in order to move on to the next activity. The first activity explores what is and what isn’t an independent clause. From here, children have to put co-ordinating conjunctions between independent clauses before coming up with their own ideas. After this, the children take a jumbled set of words and have to re-arrange them into compound sentences. They also have to plot a route through a word grid. To finish the activities, the children take part in a test of what they’ve learned. By getting the answers correct, they reach their final destination. Our children loved this and it has really helped them develop their understanding of how to use FANBOYS. There is enough material for three or even four lessons, and flashcards and answers are also provided. The activities themselves contain tips (on road signs) to help the children develop their knowledge along the way. The activities can be displayed on a screen to be worked through as a class.

Apollo 13 Plane crash in the Andes Mine rescue in Chile Castaway This collection of four guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, tests children’s inference and deduction skills. It will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children explore these remarkable stories for themselves. Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required. PLEASE SEE MY NEW PACKAGE - AGAINST ALL ODDS - Four more amazing stories of survival!

In December 2015, Star Wars - The Force Awakens was released and became the highest grossing movie at the box office in history. Star Wars is just one of several series of movie blockbusters - and the children in your class can find out all about them in this guided reading compilation! JAWS…STAR WARS…JAMES BOND…HARRY POTTER These guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, test childrens’ retrieval, inference and deduction skills. Questions and answers are provided, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required. Your children will love finding out about the stories behind some of the world’s movie blockbusters!

Explore the world in just eight days with this comprehension reading compilation. Children will be fascinated to discover exciting facts about the following countries: China India Italy Russia Brazil Australia Egypt South Africa Each activity comes with 2 levels of questions to suit all learners: A red border for simpler questions A green border for more advanced questions An extension activity is provided with each activity, and each activity should take about an hour in total. You can use these as a comprehension exercise, a guided reading activity, a geography lesson or as part of a literacy project. Children can complete as homework, and develop their general knowledge about the world around them. Enjoy your travels! NOW WITH BONUS QUIZ ON KAHOOT! IDEAL FOR END OF UNIT. https://create.kahoot.it/#jumble/24391ecb-8e85-4ae3-9ddb-801ce9c79c93

How does Donald Trump compare to Kim Jong-Un? Should we be worried about North Korea? Or how about Queen Victoria and JFK? Who exactly are Rex Tillerson and Mike Pence? This versatile set of 32 biography cards can be used in numerous ways. Firstly, they will test your students in their Common Core reading skills. Secondly, they will enable them to structure and write biographies of their own. Thirdly, they provide a platform for you as a teacher to critically evaluate your students’ writing with feedback which they will find engaging; encouraging them to write to their very best ability. Fourthly, they provide an insight into Donald Trump’s top team; US presidents of the past; prominent world leaders of today; and influential leaders through history. Fifthly, as a game, this will be a tremendous amount of fun! This is perfect all year round but is especially good as a Presidents Day activity. +++++ THE BIOGRAPHY CARDS ARE SPLIT INTO FOUR SECTIONS: Trump’s Team Trump, Preibus, Spicer, Devos, Conway, Tillerson, Pence, Mattis. US Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Kennedy, Nixon, Lincoln, Roosevelt. World Leaders 2017 May, Nieto, Netanyahu, Putin, Trudeau, Merkel, Jong-un, Rouhani World Leaders 2017 Mandela, Malala, Mother Teresa, Luther King Jr., Ghandi, Queen Victoria, Princess Diana, Peron. +++++ HERE ARE SOME IDEAS FOR HOW THE BIOGRAPHY CARDS CAN BE USED: Reading skills Each biography comes with three questions. RETRIEVE: Students will find this answer in the text. REVIEW: They will need to use summarising skills to answer the questions. Answers can be quoted from the text. The question will make this clear. RESEARCH: Students can use the internet to answer a question. The information cannot be found within the text. Compare and contrast Students can take any two cards. Their task is to find three differences and three similarities about the characters they have chosen. Highlight the text Referring to the scores under each image, students can color code the text that applies to each category with a highlighter or colored crayon.

BIGFOOT. LOCH NESS. LORD LUCAN. MARY CELESTE. ROSWELL. TURIN SHROUD. Does an ape-like biped roam the forests of North America? Is there a monster lurking in the depths of a Scottish lake? Is the face of Jesus miraculously printed in a piece of linen? Did Lord Lucan really kill the nanny? Do aliens exist? Where were the crew of the Mary Celeste? Answer these questions and more in this exciting Guided Reading resource looking at some of the greatest mysteries of the world. This collection of six guided reading activities, aimed at 10 and 11 year olds, tests children’s comprehension, retrieval, inference and deduction skills. It will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children try to solve these mysteries for themselves. Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.

It is over 100 years since World War One. This remarkable set of TEN guided reading activities uncovers the horror, humanity and humour of life in the Great War. Each activity focuses on a different part of the war, such as life in the trenches; the Christmas Truce and the assasination of Franz Ferdinand. Also, find out about the fascinating story of the British soldier who spared the life of a young Adolf Hitler. These guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, test children’s retrieval, inference and deduction skills. They will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children explore these stories for themselves. Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.

Find out about the mysteries of Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster. Discover the heartbreak of the tsunami and the sinking of the Titanic. Revisit the shooting of JFK and Apollo 13. Marvel at the miraculous escape of the miners in Chile. Find out why we have Christmas trees. Learn about soldiers stories from World War One…and much much more! This collection of reading activities are a selection of some of my favourites. I have put them together as a bigger collection to allow teachers to plan a whole year’s worth of reading comprehensions for their children. Each activity contains a range of challenging questions which test inference, deduction and retrieval skills – ideal preparation for reading assessments. Children are also given an indication of marks on offer for each question, and teachers are provided with answers. As with all of my reading activities, I try to make the subject matter informative as well as engaging. Children get the chance to find out about a whole range of interesting stories and topics that may not be covered in the curriculum. CONTENTS: 2 - 10 Stories of Survival 11 - 22 Mysteries of the World 23 - 30 Soldier’s Stories – World War One 31 - 36 The Queen and the Royal Family 37 – 42 Christmas 43 – 50 Days that made the world stop 51 – 74 Answers I have received excellent feedback, for which I am very grateful. This should give you confidence in the products I offer. Hope you enjoy these!