We are a team of two sisters who specialise in primary education. We are determined to create resources of the highest standard that can be used without further preparation. Our lessons and assemblies have been designed to challenge children of all levels within a creative, engaging and inspiring context. Explore our shop to find lesson packs for languages, art and religious education, plans for assemblies and numerous high-quality resources to help you teach phonics, mathematics and literacy
We are a team of two sisters who specialise in primary education. We are determined to create resources of the highest standard that can be used without further preparation. Our lessons and assemblies have been designed to challenge children of all levels within a creative, engaging and inspiring context. Explore our shop to find lesson packs for languages, art and religious education, plans for assemblies and numerous high-quality resources to help you teach phonics, mathematics and literacy
An interactive 74 slide PowerPoint quiz to use for International Women's Day or Women's History Month. It contains 65 fascinating questions on pioneering women around the world, women's history, celebrities and equal rights issues in 2024. Perfect for using with ages 9 - 16.
Use as a starter, an assembly, a filler or a main activity. All questions are multiple choice and fit into 6 different categories: Firsts for Women; Where in the World; World Leaders; Suffragettes and Social Activists; Guess Who and 2024. After you have chosen an answer for each question, click again and the correct answer flashes, while the wrong answers fly off the page.
Extra facts are included to help your class learn even more.
The PowerPoint is not editable. Please click 'Read Only' to open. Some of the images only appear when the PowerPoint is run as a slideshow.
An answer sheet is also included.
This is a set of comprehensions about the celebrations for King Charles III’s Coronation. They are aimed at Year 2 (ages 6-7). The comprehensions cover what a coronation is, a short history of Charles’s life, how Charles and others are celebrating, ways that children can get involved and the King’s charitable projects.
There are three differentiated booklets. The booklets are split into five separate pages with questions on each page. The higher ability booklet has 15 questions, the middle ability has 13 questions and the lower ability contains 12 questions.
There are colour and black & white versions of each booklet. Answers are also included. All of the documents are in the zip file.
Perfect for using around the Coronation celebrations or for a topic on King Charles III.
PDF file format.
No further preparation needed.
You might also be interested in our Year 3 and 4 comprehensions on the Coronation:
King Charles III’s Coronation Comprehensions Year 3/4
This resource includes an assembly plan and 16 slide PowerPoint for Black History Month in October.
It is suitable to use with KS2 or secondary aged children. The slideshow gives the opportunity to discuss why we might focus on black history for a month. It covers prehistory, ancient civilizations and 18th and 19th century Britain. There are 6 slides which outline key achievements of 6 different people of African or Caribbean descent, who have achieved great things in the past few centuries from Nelson Mandela to Mo Farah. (Please note no photos of the people are included owing to copyright restrictions).
The plan gives details about how to use the slideshow. I like to lead assemblies that are interactive and relevant to the children’s lives, so the plan gives plenty of opportunities for children to discuss ideas, give feedback and reflect.
6th February 2018 marked 100 years since women over 30 were given the vote in Britain. This presentation was created to celebrate this historic anniversary but can be used at any time to teach children about the suffragettes and the Bill in Parliament that allowed women to vote.
This resource is a 22 slide detailed, editable PowerPoint, perfect for teaching your children about this important topic. The slideshow covers women's rights prior to suffrage, the actions of the suffragettes, the arguments on either side, a detailed look at five particular suffragists, women during the war, the Act in Parliament, women in the 20th century and suffrage around the world. It concludes with some questions for further conversation.
It is suitable for using with KS2 children and could be used for an assembly, a filler or a lesson introduction.
I hope you enjoy teaching about this historic event!
(Please note: This PowerPoint is adapted from the secondary school version to make it appropriate for primary aged children.)
This resource includes an assembly plan and 19 slide PowerPoint to use for Women's History Month or International Women's Day on 8th March. No further preparation needed.
The assembly is suitable to use with KS2 or secondary aged children. The slideshow provides the opportunity to discuss why we might focus on women's history, before moving on to give details on how women's circumstances changed from ancient times to today. There are 10 slides which outline key achievements of 10 different women, from Marie Curie to J K Rowling.
The plan (pdf) gives details about how to use the slideshow. I like to lead assemblies that are interactive and relevant to the children's lives, so the plan gives plenty of opportunity for children to discuss ideas, give feedback and reflect.
The PowerPoint and plan are in the zip file. The PowerPoint is not editable. Please click 'Read Only' to open. Some of the images are only revealed when the PowerPoint is played as a slideshow with the animations.
Updated in February 2024.
This is a 5 lesson Literacy unit all about Florence Nightingale. The plan is aimed at year 2 and gives details of the year 2 curriculum objectives covered. The children develop reading comprehension, writing, editing and SPaG skills during the unit.
All five lessons include a SPaG starter which is always linked to Florence Nightingale.
The main activity in lesson 1 is a non-fiction reading comprehension, which helps children to learn about Florence Nightingale. It is laid out in a SATs style format, containing similar questions to a SATs paper and is differentiated 3 ways.
The main activity in lesson 2 is a fictional diary reading comprehension, written from the point of view of Florence Nightingale. Again it is in a SATs style and is again differentiated 3 ways.
Lesson 3 allows children to gather vocabulary through drama and written activities. Lessons 4 and 5 allow children to write and edit their own diary accounts as Florence Nightingale.
All resources are included that will be needed for the lessons. They are in 3 zip files.
The following documents are included:
A 12 page detailed plan for 5 lessons (PDF);
A 5 slide PowerPoint presentation with Florence Nightingale themed SPaG starters (This is not editable. Click the ‘Read Only’ button to open.);
A 7 slide PowerPoint presentation covering Florence’s childhood, early career, work during the Crimean War and ongoing legacy. (This is not editable. Click the ‘Read Only’ button to open.);
Differentiated Comprehensions about Florence Nightingale. Each of the three levels contains four pages of text followed by questions (PDF);
Differentiated comprehensions on a diary entry written by Florence Nightingale. Each of the three levels contains four pages of text followed by questions (PDF);
(The presentation and comprehensions are also available separately from my shop:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/florence-nightingale-history-presentation-11900339
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/year-2-sats-style-comprehension-florence-nightingale-history-11511636
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/florence-nightingale-s-diary-year-2-sats-style-comprehension-history-11538559)
This resource is a non-fiction comprehension activity for year 2 on the astronaut, Neil Armstrong. It is based on the KS1 SATs reading paper and includes 3 differentiated levels.
There are a range of ‘what’ and ‘when’ and ‘where’ questions, some multiple choice tick questions and some that require more detailed answers. The activity is also laid out in a similar way to the SATs booklets, with four pages of pictures and short written extracts to read and 2-3 questions per page.
Answers are included.
This resource is a non-fiction comprehension activity for year 2, with a focus on the science curriculum topic of ‘materials.’ The booklet covers the three inventors covered in the science curriculum: John McAdam, Charles Macintosh & John Dunlop.
It is based on the KS1 SATs reading paper and includes 3 differentiated levels.
There are a range of ‘what,’ ‘where,’ ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions, some multiple choice tick questions and some that require more detailed answers. The activity is also laid out in a similar way to the SATs booklets, with four pages of pictures and short written extracts to read and 2-3 questions per page. Answers are also included.
PDF file format.
6th February 2018 marked 100 years since women over 30 were given the vote in Britain.
This presentation was created to celebrate the historic anniversary but can be used at any time to teach your students about the suffragettes and the Bill in parliament that allowed suffrage for women.
This resource is a 24 slide detailed, editable PowerPoint, perfect for teaching your children about this important topic. The slideshow covers women's rights prior to suffrage, different suffrage organisations, their actions, the arguments on either side, a detailed look at five particular suffragists, women during the war, the Act in Parliament, women in the 20th century and suffrage around the world. It concludes with 10 questions to elicit conversation and debate.
It is suitable for using with secondary aged children.
(Please note: There is an adapted, age-appropriate version for KS2 also available from the Blossoming Minds shop.)
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A collection of 39 non-fiction reading comprehension booklets for year 2 - one for every week of the school year!
Every booklet comes in 3 differentiated levels and includes answers. They are all based on the SATs reading paper, containing a similar style and range of questions. They are also laid out in the same way as a SATs booklet to provide the children with greater experience of the test format.
A very wide range of topics is included in the pack to make the booklets suitable for using throughout the school year. They are sorted into the following categories:
Celebrations
1. Harvest Around the World
2. The History of Halloween
3. Bonfire Night Safety
4. Building a Bonfire
5. How to make mince pies
6. Christmas in France
7. Christmas in Italy
8. How to make pancakes
9. Mardi Gras
10. Easter Food
11. Mother’s Day
Countries
China
Japan
Germany
Spain
Historical Figures
Rosa Parks
Florence Nightingale
Tim Berners-Lee
Queen Victoria
Neil Armstrong
Science
Food Chains
Habitats
Keeping Healthy
Materials
Plants
Seasons
Autumn
Winter
Spring
Summer
Space
Aliens
Life in Space
Transport
Cars
Planes
Trains
Wildlife
Rainforest Animals
Animal Superheroes
Minibeasts
Ocean Animals
Spring Animals
Perfect for cross-curricular and topic-based learning, whilst also preparing your class for SATS.
Each set of comprehensions is also available individually from our shop.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/blossomingminds
PDF file format.
This resource contains 5 comprehension activities all about dinosaurs. They are suitable for using with year 1 or lower ability year 2.
They each contain a short piece of text with words that can be sounded out. There are three trickier words which have pictures to help children work out what they say.
The text is followed by 5 simple questions.
There are three differentiated levels. There is a colour and black & white version of each level.
There are five different topics:
What were dinosaurs?
Diplodocus
Triceratops
Tyrannosaurus Rex
What happened to all the dinosaurs?
There is also a PowerPoint included in the pack containing a slide for each text from the middle ability so that you can go through the comprehensions before the children complete them. Each slide also contains 3 words that are trickier to sound out, with sound buttons underneath them. Answers are also included.
PDF file format.
You might also be interested in our Year 2 comprehensions on dinosaurs:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/year-2-sats-comprehension-dinosaurs-3-levels-11852336
This is a 5 lesson Literacy unit all about explorer Christopher Columbus. The plan is aimed at year 2 and gives details of the year 2 curriculum objectives covered. The children develop reading comprehension, writing, editing and SPaG skills during the unit.
All five lessons include a SPaG starter which is always linked to Christopher Columbus.
The main activity in lesson 1 is a non-fiction reading comprehension, which helps children to learn about Christopher. It is laid out in a SATs style format, containing similar questions to a SATs paper and is differentiated 3 ways.
The main activity in lesson 2 is a fictional diary comprehension, written from the point of view of Christopher Columbus before the crew has found the New World. Again it is in a SATs style and is again differentiated 3 ways.
Lesson 3 allows children to gather vocabulary using a drama activity and lessons 4 and 5 allow children to write and edit their own diaries as Christopher Columbus.
The following documents are included:
A detailed 12 page (pdf) document containing 5 lesson plans. Each lesson includes a SPaG starter, introduction, main activity and plenary.
A Powerpoint presentation containing the SPaG starter activities. This is non-editable. When you open the PowerPoint click the ‘read only’ button.
A set of differentiated non-fiction (pdf) comprehensions on Christopher Columbus. Each level contains 4 pages of text followed by questions.
A set of differentiated (pdf) comprehensions containing a fictional diary entry written as Christopher Columbus on his voyage. Each level contains 4 pages of text followed by questions.
(The comprehensions are also available separately from my shop.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/ks1-sats-comprehension-christopher-columbus-history-11530886
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/year-2-comprehension-fictional-diary-christopher-columbus-11643238)
This is a presentation on the patron saint of France, Joan of Arc.
Use it as part of a lesson or for an assembly for KS1, KS2 or KS3.
The presentation covers her childhood, the start of her mission, her victory, her downfall and how she is remembered. The last part of the presentation includes some interesting questions to provoke discussion.
A bundle of activities for using on International Women’s Day or during Women’s History Month this March.
The bundle contains:
International Women’s Day Quiz (PowerPoint - click ‘Read only’ to open)
International Women’s Day Assembly
100 years of voting in Britain presentation
All suitable for using with KS3 or KS4.
I updated this on the 6th May 2019, following the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s baby boy! If you downloaded this last year please download again.
This year 2 SATs style booklet teaches the children about lots of royal baby facts, including bizarre traditions, royal baby names, royal baby christenings and royal baby clothes.
The booklets are based on the KS1 SATs reading paper and include 3 differentiated levels. There are a range of ‘what,’ ‘when,’ ‘who’ and ‘which’ questions, some multiple choice tick questions and some that require more detailed answers. Each booklet contains a title page with helpful words, followed by five pages of pictures and short written extracts to read and 2-3 questions per page. Answers are also included.
I have included colour and black & white versions of each of the 3 booklets. The preview pages show the title page and one of the comprehension pages, from the middle ability booklets.
PDF file format.
You might also like our Year 1 Royal Babies comprehension:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/year-1-reading-comprehension-royal-family-royal-baby-3-levels-colour-and-black-and-white-12101659
A bundle of three presentations on pioneering nurses, all of whom are mentioned as key historical figures in the KS1 history curriculum.
Included in the bundle are:
Florence Nightingale
Mary Seacole
Edith Cavell
The presentation on Edith Cavell covers Edith’s childhood, early career, war work and legacy.
The presentation on Florence Nightingale covers Florence’s childhood, early career, work during the Crimean War and ongoing legacy.
The presentation on Mary Seacole covers her childhood, her first adventures around the world, her experiences in the Crimean war and her legacy.
The last part of each presentation includes some interesting questions to provoke discussion or for further exploration.
Use these as part of a lesson or for an assembly for KS1 or KS2.
This is a presentation on the nurse Edith Cavell, who sacrificed her own life for the soldiers she cared for in World War I.
Use it as part of a lesson or for an assembly for KS1 or KS2.
The presentation covers Edith’s childhood, early career, war work and legacy. The last part of the presentation includes some interesting questions to provoke discussion or for further exploration.
Please note: due to copyright reasons, no photos of Edith Cavell are included.
A slightly edited version of this presentation is also included as part of the 5 lesson year 2 literacy plan:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/year-2-literacy-5-lesson-plan-edith-cavell-history-11541732
This is a presentation on Florence Nightingale, the pioneering nurse who fought for more hygienic hospital conditions during the Crimean War.
Use it as part of a lesson or for an assembly for KS1 or KS2.
The presentation covers Florence’s childhood, early career, work during the Crimean War and ongoing legacy. The last part of the presentation includes some interesting questions to provoke discussion or for further exploration.
A slightly altered version of the presentation is also available as part of the Year 2 five lesson literacy unit:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/florence-nightingale-year-2-literacy-5-day-plan-history-12199874
This resource contains a comprehension pack on ‘Remembrance Day.’ There are four different comprehensions:
What is Remembrance Day?
The First Remembrance Day
Why do we wear poppies?
The History of the Poppy
It includes answers and is suitable for using with year 1.
Each comprehension contains a short piece of text (about 5 sentences) with words that can be sounded out. There are three trickier words which have pictures to help children work out what they say.
The text is followed by 5 simple questions.
There is also a powerpoint included in the pack containing a slide for each text so that you can go through the comprehensions before the children complete them. Each slide also contains 3 words that are trickier to sound out, with sound buttons underneath them.
You might be interested in:
Year 2 Comprehensions - Remembrance Day
This is a presentation on the civil rights activist, Rosa Parks.
Use it as part of a lesson or for an assembly for KS1, KS2 or KS3.
The presentation covers life in Alabama in the 1950s, the Montgomery city buses, the bus boycott and how Rosa is remembered. The last part of the presentation includes some interesting questions to provoke discussion.
Please note there are no photos of Rosa Parks included, owing to copyright restrictions.
An inspirational activist, who would be perfect to study during Black History Month.