Preschool teaching resources

Spellings, particularly the retention of spellings, are a particular issue in our school - it has been holding many children back from achieving Expected Standard in their writing. We are trying to combat this! I have made 9 step challenges that would span from years 1-6. Each step has its own ‘sub-steps’ – this is because there are a lot of words to get through, but each sub-step isn’t necessarily more difficult than the previous one as all the words from one step are the same level of difficulty (just split into lists of 20). I've attached a file called "Step Challenges - word origins" which explains where I got the words from (clue: the National Curriculum!) and how I'd expect the children to work through them (KS1 = steps 1-4, KS2 = steps 5-9). Every list has 20 words in it, so each step (apart from Steps 4 and 9) consists of 100 words in total. Ideally, SCs would take place weekly. In my experience, children may often get high marks in the usual weekly spelling tests (where all words follow a certain rule) but then, a few weeks later, forget how to spell them, as retention is such an issue. It would still be beneficial to teach a spelling rule a week, which may apply to some of the words in their step challenge, but not all. The 20 words in each list do not follow a rule for this reason. Children need to get 20/20 before moving on to the next sub-step. A reward for passing a ‘sub-step’ could be house points, or something relevant to that age group/your school. Once they’ve passed all sub-steps (a-e), they then need to pass a ‘Challenge’ to have passed the whole step. The challenge would be 20 words randomly picked from the whole 100 on that step – if the children achieve 18 or above out of 20 on these, they then pass that whole step and are awarded a certificate! (We have created one personalised for our school.) Children’s progress could be tracked on Excel – I’ve made a grid that could be useful for this (see attached). This could either be updated on the computer or printed off.

Facebook Profiles completed for composers from Bach to 20th Century, including works they composed and personal details. Ideal for using as a timeline through the musical periods wall display.

Print, laminate, cut and learn with MONSTERS!! - 220 clip cards – (11 facts per numbers 1 – 20) - Each card has one fact and three choices - 20 Fact Sheets - 20 Recording Sheets - 20 Cover Cards Place on ring, if desired, using cover – Students can use this with clothespins or a wipe off marker. Use the full set or individual number sets in either a math center or as a small group activity. You can place a dot on the back of the card to show the correct answer for self-checking by the student. If the fact lists are laminated, students can use a wipe off marker to circle facts that are found or write in the numbers, If the word lists are printed, students can use pencil, marker, or crayon to mark answers to the facts.

Cross out the right number of ladybirds to work out the answer to the subtraction questions. Three differentiated versions included. 1 or 2 digit numbers.

This simple booklet can be printed double sided and can be used for any DT activity in KS1. I used it when children made healthy pizzas, puppets and moving pictures based on the theme of 'the sea'. Children are able to learn the necessary stages of the Design process by following the steps in the booklet. Children start by stating what they are making, then can discuss and add to the booklet by stating what the product needs to do. Next, they will list the items needed to make the product and draw a picture, labeling it in order to show their DT skills. Literacy can be incorporated into the task by children writing a report of what they did. Finally, children can test and evaluate their products and write a basic evaluation about the product.

This resource is a comprehension activity for year 2. There are three differentiated booklets on Bonfire Night safety, which covers how to handle sparklers, fireworks and bonfires and is aimed at KS1 children. The booklets are based on the year 2 SATs comprehension paper and contain a range of 'what,' 'where' and 'how' 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. PDF file format and editable Microsoft word format included in the price.

Find two numbers which have a difference of... I used it with a numberline - other resources could be used, too.

How many different combinations of eggs could the Easter Bunny have in his basket? Simple problem solving - could use practical resources to assist e.g. coloured counters.

A series of 9 chalkboard style display posters for different types of punctuation. Suitable for supporting English and other literacy based lessons.

4 differentiated levels of worksheets covering the Year 2 Science objective: Notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults. This resource can be printed or used interactively. Find more Science resources here: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/search/?fwp_subject=science

Maths word problems based on the story of The Polar Express. Contains spaces for children to draw pictures to show their working.

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