From cliche to creativity. Matching cliched similes (e.g. dry as a bone) with picture clues to inspire the production of new fresh as a daisy similes. Now doubled in size. A new set of 24 similes added. Keywords: simile. metaphor, poetry, word work, metalinguistics

Two games to practice the spelling of words with silent letters. The activity has been on the collaborative learning website for some years and has always been popular but now it has had a spring clean. Keywords: word work, silent letters, speaking, listening, oracy.

Information gap activity to prepare for the reading of Michael Morpurgo's Butterfly Lion. Designed for group work, notetaking and jigsawing by exploring the themes of First World War, Boarding Schools, Blue Butterflies, Chalk Figures, Circuses and White Lions.

Fun practice in deciding when and when not to double your consonants by applying the rules and knowing which words refuse to obey the rules. Templates to produce your own versions to try out on other confused individuals. We adding new activities on our webpage (link below) daily on grammar, punctuation and spelling.

A catalyst to encourage talk around heroism or to stimulate story writing. Originally developed when the value of oracy was waxing. Now there is another chance for oracy to expand with the clear message of its importance in the Alexander review. Pupils sort predicaments and decide which hero (if any) can solve the problem. A range of other activities can be found through the web link.

Simple track games to encourage early readers to play with words that can’t be decoded and have to be learned.

Game designed to discuss the issue of apartheid in 1989, this simulation activity can also support Beverley Naidoo's 'Journey to Jo&'burg. We have also provided links to our other Black history materials and to our new project with NATE to provide resource materials for multicultural texts.

An information gap activity about a Black composer born in Croydon, who worked in Britain and the USA. Featured last week on BBC Composer of the Week; so his music, some specially recorded, is still available for downloading.

This is an information gap activity where different groups acquire different knowledge and then share it with each other. Good for developing speaking and listening. Makes information more accessible through pleasurable repetition and paraphrase. Good for EAL learners. Big thank you to colleagues in Fife for developing this in time for everyone to use it. We have other Olympic activities on the webpage.

This game is for two or two pairs of players sitting opposite. You need a set of counters in different colours for each player. Shuffle the word definition cards and place them in a pile face down. You are going to cross the board from left to right. Take it in turns to pick a word definition card from the pile. If you can think of a word that uses a consonant cluster in the far left row, you tell the other players what it is and put your coloured counter on that hexagon.

A board game to simulate the tasks and punishments given to boys and girls. A follow up discussion and writing activity.

A connect four game to put a bit of sparkle into Atlas work, improve social relations in the classroom, promote speaking and listening in Geography and engage EAL learners in exploratory talk with plenty of repetition naturally built in.

This activity, from our citizenship webpage, draws upon an article published in the New Yorker about Britain's treatment of migrant children from the Kindertransport to the Calais jungle. Despite the Dubs amendment not one child has to date (July 2017) entered the UK under these arrangements. The Collaborative Learning Project develops and disseminates activities that promote talk for learning or oracy in context and information gap activities (we have many on our website) are designed to make difficult content more accessible. We have used this activity from Year 5 to 12.