‘Rhyming Frank’ is a comedy play which explores the issue of confidence tricksters in a humourous way. At the beginning, Gran’s family think she’s a little bit bossy and a little bit dotty - a proper matriarch who might be sitting on lots of money. When Gran suddenly asks granddaughters Kate, Shelley and Charlotte to find Rhyming Frank, they indulge her, but have no idea who she’s talking about. The three sisters each try to find Rhyming Frank in their own way. Shelley dresses her boyfriend up in a disguise, Charlotte gets a photo of their dear departed Grandad (because he was called Frank) and Kate visits a local home for the elderly, thinking Rhyming Frank might live there. All of their plans fail and the family confront Gran about who Rhyming Frank is and what’s going on. When Rhyming Frank finally arrives, they learn why he has his name. He speaks in rhymes all the time! As Mum and the girls secretly listen to his conversation with Gran, they realise he’s a confidence trickster who’s out to get her money. The police are called and Frank is arrested. On a practical level, the play has 20 scenes, which are mostly quite short and mostly take place in one location in Gran’s home. The dialogue is in typical ‘family conversation’ style and there are no huge blocks of dialogue to learn, so the script would be helpful as a way into drama for students who aren’t feeling so confident and want something less challenging. I recently workshopped the script with older members of an evening drama group but it definitely has a ‘teen’ feel. In school I feel it would work best with, and be most appropriate for, students aged 14+.

I’ve expanded my free ‘Troll Pudding’ resource and added a selection of broader reading activities. I hope it’s a real laugh-out-loud story for your class, especially for Halloween! The main character, Tilly, is a little girl who thinks quickly on her feet. She has to! She’s found herself in a bit of a pickle when she follows a troll underground and is captured by a group of trolls who’ve had their dinner. They want Tilly to be their pudding and she has to use her best initiative skills to find a way out. As well as the story text, which is 4 x A4 pages long, the following activities are now included in this resource: · A set of comprehension questions with answer key · A sequencing exercise with answer key · A storyboard template to make a cartoon version of the story · A worksheet for an art activity The resource is suitable for 7-9 year olds and can be used as an individual, pair, small group or whole class exercise. As well as the activities listed above, students can also cut up copies of the printed story and create a booklet/display in which they can leave spaces to add their own illustrations. This is a fun art activity which also helps to check their understanding of what’s happening in the story. I hope you have fun with this. I certainly enjoyed writing it! Thanks, Maggie

‘The Great Pumpkin Chase’ is an original fantasy story which I’ve turned into a fun Halloween reading resource for students aged 7-9. In the story, Tom and his friends have to catch six pumpkins which have escaped from Grandpa’s garden. They grow arms and legs because they’ve become too ripe, and this is how they run away. As well as the story text, which is 4 x A4 pages long, the following activities are included in this resource: · A set of comprehension questions with answer key · A sequencing exercise with answer key · A storyboard template to make a cartoon version of the story · A worksheet for a reading/arts activity, in which students make a visual map of where the pumpkins were caught and of key locations mentioned in the story. The resource can be used as an individual, pair, small group or whole class exercise. As well as the activities above, students can also cut up copies of the printed story and create a booklet/display in which they can leave spaces to add their own illustrations. This is a fun art activity which also helps to check their understanding of what’s happening in the story. I hope you have fun with this. I certainly enjoyed writing it! Thanks, Maggie

Most children love stories with a fantasy element. They love to read them, watch them on screen and - in my experience - they also love to write them. In this resource there are four images of things I’ve photographed when I’ve been out and about. I’ve put them together in a collection to create a resource to help explore fantasy in creative writing. The resource consists of four photographic images (A bear with human hands sitting on a bench; A tiny woman sitting in the ivy on a wall; A rearing horse with wings, made of metal; A sculpture of a man peeping over the top of a wall) plus an accompanying set of questions which are particular to each image, to generate creative thinking. The questions could be used for individual students to write their answers, or for pair/group/class discussion. There is a printable planning sheet for students to plan their own story about their chosen image and blank printable story pages. The resource is aimed at students aged approximately 10-14 years, but it could be used as an extension activity for slightly younger students with strong creative writing skills. It can be used to develop literacy skills and also practice speaking and listening skills, both during discussion and if the stories are read out to the class.

They say everyone gets ‘five minutes of fame’, and in this middle grade comedy script, this is exactly what happens to Freddie, the worst footballer on the team. The other players, especially Alex, the star player, make fun of Freddie’s footballing skills until Freddie is transported to stardom in another way when the team discover he has healing powers in his knees! As news travels of Freddie’s new ability and he is interviewed by a local reporter, Alex becomes more and more jealous of his attention. In the climax of the story, Freddie has to use his powers to help a reluctant and ungrateful Alex, who gradually comes to understand that he has not behaved in a nice way. I’ve used this script in both a football and a rugby context. It’s a piece of ‘physical theatre’ and would go down well with sportier boys who have a lot of energy, as they can help to create and choreograph the sporting action scenes. The script works well with students aged 11+ and can be used in a drama lesson or at a drama club. As well as developing drama skills, the theme of the story is ideal for use as a resource for PSHE and community learning. Participation in the play or the after-performance discussion can be used to explore relationships, behaviours and attitudes. I had a lot of fun with this script. I hope you do too!

I wrote the first version of this drama unit during my M.Ed in Educational Drama, for the unit ‘Using Drama to Explore Social Awareness’. The drama context is that of a community who are chosen to take the next group of alien visitors in an Earth/Alien Liaison Programme. In this programme, alien visitors are sent to Earth for a period of 3 months, to discover what it’s like to live there. Historically, the programme has been devised by governments globally to avoid tensions between the two groups. The philosophy behind the context is that using alien characters will challenge the students to move away from the real-life responses of ‘what they know’ and encourage them to explore alternative responses, decisions and outcomes. The unit is collaborative from the outset and students are involved in creating the pre-drama information about the alien visitors and how these aliens might affect the drama thread. Students then move on to work with 10 open-ended drama scenarios, which all allow for interaction between the human and alien characters. Each one is the beginning of a script which acts as a catalyst for devised group dramas. After Scenario 1, which is a whole-class public meeting, each group proceeds through the remaining scenarios, using a process of rehearsal, devising, performance and reflection. (Discussion questions and an end-of-unit evaluation sheet are included). The scripts are deliberately open-ended to allow students to be involved in and take ownership of what happens in each story line. This process helps students to develop their decision-making, improvising and collaborative skills, and the scenarios are meant to generate a whole dramatic story, not just a responsive ‘what happens next’. I’ve used this unit many times over the years, usually with students who are low-level readers and work better with devised drama work, and with students who need help with behavioural interactions and social skills. The unit is suitable for students aged between 11 and 16. I myself have used it many times for the UK GCSE Drama ‘improvisation’ unit. I hope you will find this unit useful with students who like to work in this flexible and collaborative way.

In this short comedy script for Key Stage 2, Jimmy, Susie and Jack can’t be bothered to take part in the Easter egg hunt in the park. Instead, they build a robot rabbit and try to trick other children into handing over their Easter eggs. Jimmy puts on a funny robot voice and pretends the rabbit can speak. It’s all going well until the park attendant discovers their trick. The play lasts approximately 8-10 minutes. The script has a cast of 8 characters: Jimmy, Susie, Jack, the park attendant and 4 children who are taking part in the egg hunt and have speaking parts. The script can be modified to include extra egg hunters if appropriate. Some painted props are required: the robot rabbit, an ‘egg hunt’ sign, a ‘park attendant’ badge and some bushes for the tricksters to hide behind. The making of these props can be allocated to other children while the cast rehearse, and so the production becomes a team effort. Taking part in drama has lots of social benefits for students. They learn collaborative, cooperative and creative skills, and they experience being part of a team. This short play will give them a fun drama activity in the lead-up to Easter.

This resource is a chapter-by-chapter comprehension unit to accompany the children’s Christmas novella ‘Footprints in the Snow’. The format for each chapter is the same: Five comprehension questions Two discussion questions Five words taken from the chapter, which students find the meaning of and then use in a sentence of their own. This resource is aimed at Year 6 & 7 students. I have organised the chapter questions and the answer key for each on separate A4 pages, so that students can work independently and at their own pace through each, if necessary. I hope this will be an interesting activity leading up to the Christmas holiday.

In this middle grade comedy drama, students can develop not only drama skills, but valuable social skills. They will build self-confidence as they take part in a production team and rehearse together, using initiative, collaborative and decision-making skills. You can read Scenes 1-3 at my website, via this link: bit.ly/3ovEFxW. The story begins when Miss Blake bans her class from the school’s Easter Egg Hunt, but she has no idea how far the children will go to make her change her mind. The class quickly works together to find ways to get their message across. As the day progresses, they hijack the art lesson, the math lesson and finally their spelling test, until Miss Blake can take no more and finally gives in. Are the children just being plain naughty? Or are they cleverly using their initiative skills so they can get to their chocolate? The script would work well with students aged 8-11 and could be used in a drama lesson or at a drama club. The content of the play could also lead to issue-based discussion and debate, for example, about whether the children were right to rebel, or whether eating a lot of chocolate is a good idea. The script is 16 pages long and the performance lasts about 20 minutes. It has minimum props and one main location (a classroom) so it has simple staging needs. If you have a larger class, some children can take part as extras in Miss Blake’s class, or help as part of the stage crew. This could be a fun learning experience in the run-up to the Easter vacation. I hope you enjoy it!

Just like so many teachers, I have used S. E. Hinton’s ‘The Outsiders’ in English and Drama contexts over my teaching years. I created this set of improvisation cards to assist my students to use a drama activity in the understanding of plot, character and setting during a novel study of the book in English lessons and as a starter for improvisation work in Drama lessons. Regarding the use of the cards in Drama, I have often used them to create a unit for the Improvisation section of the GCSE Drama course assessment. This resource consists of: Teacher notes A plot summary of ‘The Outsiders’ for reference, if the resource is not being used for novel study A chart showing the link between the drama cards and the chapters of ‘The Outsiders’ Example questions for discussion/evaluation of the drama work The 30 x A5 drama cards The 30 drama cards are designed to stimulate collaborative drama improvisation work. They are all based on the story of ‘The Outsiders’, and the subject matter of their tasks progress in chronological order through the plot. Each card is a prompt to stimulate improvisational drama for either pair or group work, and looks at a perspective of what is happening in ‘The Outsiders’ at that moment. The cards contain a) the characters required for the drama task, who may be real characters from the story or my own ‘add-on’ characters who are not; b) the setting and c) various questions and prompts to help the students into the task. They also have a space where students can make their own notes while they’re working. The cards can be printed and laminated for repeated use. They can also be added to a student work portfolio for evidence of work. The resource works best with ages 14+ and examination groups. In my product preview, I have included the drama cards 3, 7, 14 and 25, to give you a broad view of their appearance and the tasks they present to the students. Thank you, Maggie

This resource accompanies the children’s novella ‘Footprints in the Snow’. It is a set of fun activities for students to carry out during and after reading. This activity pack consists of: Teacher notes with list of printable activities and suggestions for non-printable activities Printables: Character Study Sheet Plot Sequence Task (with answer key) 2 x word searches (with answer key) Creative Writing Task: write a thank you letter to Caro, Finn and Molly 2 x Non-Fiction Writing Tasks: describe your favourite part of the story Wow! Talking to Animals! Storyboard Template to create comic strip of favourite part of the story Quick Quiz Cards (with answers) Family Tree Task Board Game: instruction/question sheet blank template to colour and decorate example finished board A blank page for additional use if needed The resource is aimed at Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 and provides opportunities for individual, pair, group and class work. I hope you enjoy reading the story and have a lot of fun with this activity pack in the weeks leading up to the Christmas break!

‘The Knocking’, (subtitled ‘A Tsunami Story in Ten Parts’) is a supernatural novella inspired by the Great Flood, which devastated the south-west of England in 1607. This printable A4 resource pack uses the story to offer secondary school students the opportunity to practice English Language Arts and Inquiry Based Learning skills. The 40-page pack contains: Teacher notes, including a grid overview of all activities showing their potential for individual, pair, group and class work Pre-reading activities: (3) a timeline survey, research task and cover image discussion Comprehension questions (with answer key) Post-reading activities: (15) writing tasks, including fiction and non-fiction writing a comparative thinking task contextual reading tasks, including reading for character, setting and supernatural elements and a 'fun task' about Old English (some activities include answer keys) Speaking & listening tasks, including debate, interviews and role play, discussion and plot sequencing Some of the activities require research around the Great Flood and what life was like in the seventeenth century. The story and some of the activities can also be used in cross-curricular projects with historical, geographical and environmental perspectives e.g. water/flood management, life in Britain in the 17th Century and human habitat issues.

Pirate Pete’s cook, Jolly Jack Fetch-Me-Pan, has to find something to feed the hungry crew. Pete and the cook take the first mate, Billy Do-As-You’re-Told, to search for food on the mainland. Little does Pete know, he will have to face a difficult childhood food memory when the pirates bump into Jenny and Jake, two children who offer to share their lunchtime kebabs, but all comes well in the end and the hungry crew are satisfied. The play has a cast of 8 characters: Pirate Pete, the ship’s captain Jolly Jack Fetch-Me-Pan, the ship’s cook Billy Do-As-You’re-Told, the ship’s first mate Jenny, a child Jake, a child Catherine (Jenny’s Mum) Linda (Jake’s Mum) The props person Other students can be used as extras for the ship’s crew. The play ends with a song about Pirate Pete, using the melody ‘What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor’, which is a well-known rousing tune and easy to use with children. The script can work well as an end-of-year play, an assembly play, as part of a drama lesson or at a drama club. As well as developing collaborative drama skills, the theme of the story is ideal for use as a resource in projects about food and/or pirates. The performance time of the play is approximately 20 minutes. I had a lot of fun writing this script. I hope you enjoy trying it out with your students!

‘Save the White Stag’ is a children’s story which follows on from my earlier book, ‘Footprints in the Snow’ and takes the same four children on a new fantasy adventure, in which they have to save a white stag that has magic powers. I only wrote this new story in July 2021 and sent it out to primary schools and home-schoolers who signed up for my White Stag Project. The story was received with excitement and enthusiasm, so I went ahead, published it (available at Amazon and via Gardners/Askews) and am now in the process of creating classroom resources for it. You can read the first 3 chapters for free at this link: bit.ly/3ovEFxW This resource is a chapter-by-chapter reading comprehension package. The format is the same for all 18 chapters: A set of literal comprehension questions with answers found in the text Some broader questions to encourage inferred/critical thinking Some questions for class discussion Some words from each chapter to encourage vocabulary knowledge (For this exercise, I have deliberately chosen words which I hope will extend student vocabulary knowledge, rather than general vocabulary) At the end of the resource there is an appendix which contains the answer key. Here I have not always included a specific answer for every inferred/critical thinking question, as I felt it was important to let students feel confident to think creatively for these questions, and not look for an answer from the resource itself. For ease of printing and use, the questions and their answers for each chapter start on a new page, so as a teacher you can decide which pages you might want to print or laminate. The answers are also clearly set out and well-spaced so that a student could follow them independently to check their answers. The book and this resource are ideal as a fantasy reading project, a project about forests or about animal care and welfare. Because the main character is a traveller child who lives in a camp, it is also relevant to this student group. The story is aimed at middle-grade readers aged 8-12, but is also appropriate for younger readers who read above their age. I totally enjoyed writing this story, connecting with students while doing so and creating a resource for it. I hope you also enjoy reading the story and find this comprehension resource useful in your classroom. Thank you, Maggie

‘The Lost Angel’ is a short story about kindness and caring. It’s a fantasy Christmas story (approximately 850 words) for young readers aged 7-8 years old, which tells the story of Jenny and Jake and their missing Christmas tree angel. The angel turns up in their garden, alive and life-size, and when their Mum helps to fix her wing, she disappears and then re-appears in the decoration box, tiny again. The following resources are included with the copy of the story: A size-14 font version of the story with spaces in the text, so that students can add their own illustrations. This is a bit of fun which also checks their knowledge of the progress of the story. A set of 10 literal comprehension questions, with answers, and 2 open-ended questions which could also be used for discussion. A scripted version of the story, for groups of 4 students. The resource is aimed at Year 3 & 4 and could be used as a whole-class activity, for small group work or as an extension activity for individual students. The script version is organised with a minimum of props and no scenery. It’s a simply-staged, short play which helps to introduce younger children to the conventions of drama performance, while building their social skills too, and the theme of kindness in the story can be used to develop social and empathic skills. This is a resource with a ‘little bit of magic’ for a magical time of the year!

This reading text is an extract from the beginning of my modern-day version of the Little Mermaid story. It begins when Talia receives a mysterious mermaid tail for her thirteenth birthday. Fabric mermaid tails are popular with young girls and teenagers, and I thought it would be fun to write a story which centres around one which actually turns out to be real! To accompany the extract, I have included the following resources: A set of reading comprehension questions, with an answer key A plot sequencing task Two creative writing tasks; complete the story & write a diary entry as Talia There are also two questions for group discussion and suggestions for art work The resource is aimed at upper primary classes. While mermaids are quite often more popular with girls than boys, one of the discussion questions does ask ‘How would the story be different if there were three brothers rather than three sisters?’ I hope you find this take on the Little Mermaid interesting and that your class will enjoy it reading it and carrying out the activities.

Troll Pudding is from a collection of short stories which all involve food in some way, and then the recipe for the food of that story is included at the end. The stories are intended to be a fun way to combine the skills of reading and cooking in one resource. Students can read each story themselves or it can be read to them, then they can go on to make the recipe of the text. Each story is approximately 1500 words in length. Story 1 is ‘Troll Pudding’: When Tilly is playing in the woods, she follows a troll underground and is captured by a huge community of trolls who have just finished eating their dinner. To escape being eaten as their dessert, she makes up a story about a new troll pudding and shows them how to make it. The story is aimed at 6-8 year olds, and the downloadable file has a 4-page story, a recipe card and a blank page where students can draw a picture. The pages are A4 and can be laminated to be used again and again.