LO: to recognise and use passive verb forms. Revises the meaning of subject and object; presents passive form of verbs; gives practice in spotting and using passive verbs. Introduces the term "passive voice" (in the powerpoint; not mentioned on the worksheet.) The worksheets can be used in a lesson or for homework. The more advanced version (marked "HA") includes an activity that can be offered to quick finishers as an extension: writing a paragraph that includes active and passive-verb sentences. The lesson is designed for KS3, but should be OK for a year 6 class or a year 5 "top" English set.

This set of worksheets introduces the rules for direct and reported speech and gives exercises of converting dialogues each way. They are roughly graded from 1 (suitable for less advanced learners) to 7 (for the more advanced group). In a one-off lesson, you might want each child to complete just one or two of these sheets; if you're working on it for a week, you might use all of them. The Powerpoint takes you through the rules in some detail. Use, amend or delete the LO and success criteria according to your school's house style. Age categories are Key Stages 2 and 3 (England), but it's unlikely to be needed much before Year 5.

Questions to test and guide understanding of the vocabulary, plot, literary devices and characterisation in this classic adventure story. Suitable for the most advanced readers in year 5 or 6; average readers in year 7 or 8; less advanced readers in year 9. These questions are based on the full text -- not an abridged version.

Elizabeth Laird's book, set in Ethiopia, is well-written and should appeal to competent readers throughout upper KS2 and KS3. It has some similarities to Beverley Naidoo's "Journey to Jo'burg", but it's a bit less intense. Excellent for conveying the point that African countries are not just a mass of undifferentiated poverty and helplessness. These questions relate to all Assessment Focuses, including some quite technical things about the use of italics, but you can skip these bits if they don't suit your pupils.

Questions on each chapter of Darren Shan's book. Fast-moving story, told in a style that is very accessible to less advanced readers, particularly boys; most suitable for year 7-8. I've used these successfully with boys whose inclination is to read as little as possible. Feel free to adapt, select or combine into one document if that's more convenient for you.

This book is suitable for advanced readers in year 5 or 6, or average readers in year 7 or 8. It’s a classic of Edwardian-era children’s literature and offers possible cross-curricular links to history. A good introduction to early 20th century writing, perhaps before starting on 19th century writers. There are a few questions on each chapter, which should encourage students to pay attention to characters’ motivation, some language features, the social context, etc.

A range of questions that focus children’s attention on vocabulary, figures of speech, inference skills and understanding of the story. It’s a highly readable book, with strong female characters in a setting that will be unfamiliar to many English children but is the backdrop to an exciting plot. Questions on every chapter and a critical review question at the end.

The Legend of Kevin: Roly Poly Flying Pony by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre is a really fun and easy read, with a lovely plot and plenty of silly jokes, which children aged 6 to 12 can enjoy and so can the adults who guide them through it. Questions on every chapter and a critical review opportunity at the end. It’s published by OUP in paperback: ISBN 978-0-19-276609-0

Basic but surprisingly popular resource for years 3-5, or for revision in Y6. Add the target number to itself, write the answer and copy it in the square directly below, then continue the chain. When you get to the end of the row, transcribe the last answer into the start of the next row down. When complete, children can find the answers by counting the threes, fours, fives etc – but they must remember to include the first one. For example, with the three-times sheet, to find 4x3 they count four threes and look at the answer =12. Useful as a simple starter or warm-up task, a time-filler, revision or homework task. In my experience children really like doing these.

Basic but surprisingly popular resource for years 3-5, or for revision in Y6. Add the target number to itself, write the answer and copy it in the square directly below, then continue the chain. When you get to the end of the row, transcribe the last answer into the start of the next row down. When complete, children can find the answers by counting the threes, fours, fives etc – but they must remember to include the first one. For example, with the three-times sheet, to find 4x3 they count four threes and look at the answer =12. Useful as a simple starter or warm-up task, a time-filler, revision or homework task. In my experience children really like doing these.

Quick revision/practice materials for year 6 students, especially in the run-up to SATS. These start with very simple number questions, leading on to more tricky ones. Use as a starter, for assessment, or just for practice. The one on adding 1000 is designed for children who have difficulty with such questions; it’s an A5 sheet, two copies on A4. “Arithmetic Starter” has three columns which can be used on consecutive days or weeks.

Practice in spelling adverbs correctly -- to deal with the common errors such as "completley", "definatley" etc. Exercises in writing the words in isolation, then using them in a continuous passage. Use in class or for homework. Print out the first 2 pages for pupils' use; page 3 gives suggested answers for page 2.

If they liked Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak, they will probably enjoy the sequel. Here are some comprehension questions suitable for Key Stage 3 readers, covering the whole book chapter by chapter. This is book 2 in the series.

In my experience, you can never do enough practice of these pesky homophones. Many students continue to get them wrong into Year 9 and beyond. This can be a stand-alone activity or a revision or homework task. Each sentence has a gap which must be filled by writing in "there", "their" or "they're". Pupils must then give a one-word reason for their choice. The sentences form a little narrative, to help in determining what makes most sense.

You could use this to reinforce work on time or on fractions. Most suitable for years 2 to 4, but can be used as remedial work for those individuals in upper KS2 whose grasp of time (or fractions) is shaky. Note that the less advanced sheet has two sides because it includes more diagrams. Or if you want to stick it in books, print both pages single sided. The MA and HA sheets are one side each.

A flexible art activity if you're not yet sick of the Olympics. Children cut out paper rings. Instead of using 5 colours, they must create 5 different texture effects (e.g. by folding, crumpling, cutting a fringe) and stick them down. Good practice for fine motor skills.

Questions on each section of Terry Deary's feast of alliteration about the British Empire. Some are pure information retrieval, others require pupils to make their own judgements and to critically consider some of Deary's assertions. There is an optional longer project at the end, encouraging children to do their own research.

For revision or homework. Should suit years 6 to 9. Each section, headed by an "I can..." statement, builds up from simpler to more difficult calculations. If preferred, more advanced groups can start at part B, which introduces multiplying an integer by a decimal. Answers provided for marking purposes, or you can ask students to check their own or each other's work with a calculator.

For a one-off lesson. To stretch their brains, get them thinking about maths symbols, number theory. Tell children to draw a Splog -- emphasise it must have 3 tentacles. They are to create numerals suitable for the Splogs. Challenge them to use as few different symbols as possible. Ideally they will 'invent' place value, using base 3. Plenary: discuss how place value makes system more powerful, flexible etc. Can introduce idea of binary -- link to ICT.

KS3 worksheet. First page can be used in a lesson or for homework/revision. Second page has four series of mildly differentiated questions. A less advanced group should do series 1 and 2 (or just 1), while more advanced groups can do series 2 to 4. Pupils need to understand why the product of 1dp x 1dp USUALLY but not always has 2dp and so forth -- it's quite a subtle point. (E.g. 0.4 x 0.5 can be written as 0.20, but you can write it 0.2.) Worksheet aims to help them understand and practise this.

Takes children through the process of checking the answers to division questions by multiplying their answer by the divisor to see if they get back to the original dividend (the number they had to divide). The less advanced version is two sides of A4, to allow plenty of room, the others are one side each. Suitable for Key Stage 2, but may well be useful in Key Stage 3 if you find children are unfamiliar with this technique or can't remember how to do it.