This Teacher’s Guide gives you the history, context and curriculum links you need for the topic of Romans. It is a companion book to the picture book Vlad and the Roman Triumph and is suitable for KS1 and KS2 (the picture book is available from all the usual book buying outlets). Vlad and the Roman Triumph encapsulates what it was like to be a Roman, from the ceremonial parade of the Emperor to the daily life of ordinary Romans, it shares it through story and detailed pictures. The information is historically accurate and researched. In turn this Guide takes you through the story, revealing the source of information and how it can be drawn out, what key vocabulary is on each page, and questions to check understanding, deduction and inference. The Guide has 32 pages and has the following content: history curriculum objectives timeline of events social structure of Roman society and daily life of a Roman Britain before the Romans Roman invasion and its impact on Britain Sources of further information Big questions: Ideas and discussion points to deepen understanding It aims to give a grounding in understanding the topic, to be able to teach it, and support using the picture book. There are further free resources including lesson plans for history and literacy available to download separately on TES or on the Reading Riddle website. This is part of the Vlad flea picture book series, which aims to bring history to life through stories, and support teachers by providing resources. To get the latest information about new resources, events and books you can sign up to our newsletter on the website.

This is a set of 6 lesson space plans with objectives and links. They are in a word document so fully editable so you can alter or reformat them. All supporting resources marked in the planning are available to download from the Reading Riddle website (including a space timeline activity, powerpoint about satellites and space wordmat). The lessons cover: What is space? A timeline of space achievement. What does it take to be an astronaut/cosmonaut? Designing a spacesuit and how design has changed over time. Our Solar System - what have we discovered and what will happen in the future? The lessons link to Vlad and the Space Race, which is part of the Vlad flea history picture books. You can use them without this book but the reason I wrote it was to bring history into the classroom through historically accurate stories as I believe that engages the children. For further information about the books, school visits and resources visit the website. Thank you , Kate Cunningham

This lesson helps children consider the London refugees after the Great Fire of London. It considers what happened to them and what they took when they fled. They are then encouraged to make links with modern refugees and discuss the differences between now and 350 years ago. it gives the opportunity to reveal and challenge misconceptions about life in seventeenth century. It also raises awareness that people have often had to flee danger at different times and in different parts of the world. It includes a lesson plan, powerpoint (with a copy of Charles II proclamation on the London refugees and how to help them) and differentiated work sheets showing similarities and differences between now and then. The images are taken from my book Vlad and the Great Fire of London. I hope it is useful. If you like this and are interested in me coming in to do storytelling you can further information on the Reading Riddle website.

Encourage children to become involved in their local library by setting a holiday homework which involves joining their library, borrowing a book, reviewing it and returning the book. Children colour the tree as they achieve each part of the task. This could also be used as part of a campaign of activities to support their local library and encourage broader reading habits. My blog about this and ideas for parents who lack confidence reading with their children can be found on the Reading Riddle website.

This powerpoint summarises the what, who, why, when and how of Remembrance Day. It uses simple language and clear illustrations from the picture book, Vlad and the First World War. The powerpoint is editable to suit your specific audience but the illustrations are the copyright of Sam Cunningham so should not be used elsewhere. If you want any further information on the book or the first book Vlad and the Great Fire of London please visit the Reading Riddle website.

A differentiated lotto game matching pictures to phrases and introducing vocabulary around the Great Fire of London. Pictures are taken from my book Vlad and the Great Fire of London illustrated by my son. There are 6 target boards with varying levels of difficulty in the phrases so the game can be played by mixed ability groups. The game is in a word document so can be adapted according to your needs. I have added other free resources around this topic and although you don’t need the book for any of the materials, it is available from Amazon if you want to use it. Information about my storytelling events are on the Reading Riddle website.

A list of activities starting with going to the library in the holiday and following through with reading activities. Research clearly shows that children who have access to a choice of books at home with be more successful readers. The Reading Riddle website aims to bring together ideas, websites and information on reading for parents and teachers.