What the lesson is about

Use crosswords to make home revision more fun for pupils and parents alike.

Parent Ash Sharma found that his daughter Nicole was uninspired by her schoolwork and distracted from homework. Frustrated, like many parents, by the style and content of available resources, he decided to make revision more enjoyable for his daughter by turning existing material into entertaining crosswords.

Sharing these activities with Nicole’s peers proved to be popular, so Sharma decided to self-publish a series of Skips CrossWord books, which are available from Waterstones.

Tailored to the national curriculum requirements for literacy, numeracy and thinking skills at key stage 2 (upper primary), the CrossWord books are divided into sections including nouns, adjectives and homophones.

Sharma also wants to support schools’ fundraising efforts. He has made the books available to schools for 4.99, so that they can sell them on to parents at the recommended price of 7.99.

Hungry hippos and curious cats

ZSL London Zoo has joined forces with publishers Bloomsbury and Aamp;C Black to release a series of books that introduce young children to the wonders of the wild world. Titles include:

Who Lives Here? (0+) - peek behind the flaps to see who resides in the rainforest, river and reef;

Wild Things! Hippo in the House (4+) - what equipment would pupils need to look after a pygmy hippo at home?

Pawprints in the Snow (8+) - a junior adventure story of big cat exploration.

www.storiesfromthezoo.com

What else?

Pupils can pick their own zoo pet with Ibuzzybea’s “Dear Zoo” literacy task, or match animals to habitats with a photo-sorting game.