This is a 13 page pdf file containing 5 separate activities suitable for KS3 or upper KS2 English. The unit begins with a 500 word comprehension about the origin of Christmas crackers. The comprehension contains 15 questions, with available marks indicated. A mark scheme is supplied. It is followed by differentiated dictation: 3 versions of the same 100 word text based on the reading passage. Teacher notes are supplied. The third activity is a speed dictation (Dictagloss). Another 100 word text is read at speed and pupils are tasked with re-assembling it collaboratively. This activity should generate a lot of talk. Full teacher notes accompany the text. After that there is a worksheet on root words and word families, with teacher notes. Finally, the writing activity is an acrostic poem entitled CRACKERS. 2 examples of teacher-generated acrostic poems are included in the teaching notes.

A 10 question multiple choice comprehension exercise. The text is the Door Knocker passage from Stave 1 of A Christmas Carol. A good starter or plenary activity for Y6 and up.

Sheets of focussed marking comments for printing onto small Avery labels. 65 labels per sheet - 20+ each of positive and next stop comments. For pain free marking of technical aspects of writing at KS3 and upper KS2.

A worksheet where 5 easy synonyms have their letters jumbled up. (Answers : frightened. small, quick, answered, large)

3 handwriting worksheets for practising the pen movement for letters like ‘c’. One of the worksheets focuses on top joins. Suitable for beginner or remedial work for any year group.

A complete lesson for introducing or revising commas for lists. Objectives, introduction, independent work and plenary all included.

For upper KS2. Two pdf files to support the teaching of sentence punctuation, and particularly the problem of run-on sentences and comma splices. A help sheet that can either be distributed to pupils or used as classroom display, plus a worksheet with answers.

For younger primary classes. Ten thematically linked sentences containing capital letter and full stop errors which pupils have to correct. The sentences form a mini narrative about a child with a migraine, and suggestions are given in the teacher notes on ways in which the narrative could be exploited in writing lessons on various genres.

An online Google Slides game for practising verbs. It works well on desktop computers or interactive whiteboards, especially in full screen mode. It's less suitable for mobile devices. Players have to identify words in sentences in order to collect fruit to make a fruit salad. If they go wrong, they are sent back to the beginning. Beware of the cheat potential with this, however: the slide controls at the bottom om the screen enable the player to click through the slides without answering the questions!

A short teacher-controlled presentation for more able KS2 and KS3 pupils. It shows that that the Active and Passive ‘voices’ of verbs can exist in all tenses, including present and past continuous forms. The presentation ends with an on screen exercise where the task is to change 10 sentences from active to passive. The sentences require pupils to manipulate a variety of compound verbs (e.g. James Smith was reading the news / The news was being read by James Smith)

This is a customisable resource for English designed to get the creative juices flowing. A list of random words (choice of 2 - 5) is generated and pupils are challenged to come up with ways of including all of them in a piece of collaborative writing. As the class comes up with ideas, the teacher records them by typing on the onscreen board. The work can be saved at the end of the session. If pupils are not used to this kind of exercise, I suggest beginning with the 2 word sentence option. Challenge them to make sentences that make links between the words. You can move on to the other options in the menu as they become more confident… Although designed for use in English classes, this resource can easily be adapted for other subjects and for whole school sessions like assemblies. It is great for CPD too (safeguarding training, for instance). The PowerPoint file is stored in a folder with a text file named ‘words’. By replacing the words on this list by your own, the words generated on the screen can be related to any topic you like. Make sure that you keep the text file and the PowerPoint file together, however, or the nothing work. I have included a separate folder with three extra word lists (summer, adjectives, and synonyms for ‘said’). If you decide to use them, you need to rename them as ‘words’ and swap them with the original file in the main folder. You need to enable macros on your computer to use the resource, otherwise nothing will happen!

This resource consists of two worksheets, each with 10 sentences where verbs have to be changed from the simple present to the simple past (preterite) tense. Some contain more than one verb. Answers are supplied.

An animated 8-slide presentation guides students through present, past and future versions of active and passive voices of verbs. Simple pictures of a rabbit and a carrot show how word order in a sentence can be changed when a passive verb is used, The term ‘agent’ is introduced. There are two versions of the presentation. The teacher-controlled version has a click button between each slide to enable the teacher to pace the lesson according to the needs of the class. The fully automated version is designed to run independently, either at the front of the class, or as an independent literacy-centre or home-learning resource. The classroom poster takes things a bit further, by including versions of tenses not covered in the presentation. This is a resource designed for extension work for more able students. Two worksheets provide follow-up practice. Answer sheets are included.

This is a collection of worksheets supporting the teaching of 4 compound tenses: present perfect, past perfect, present progressive/continuous, past progressive/continuous. They address the difficulty presented by participles that do not form part of a compound verb (e.g.ten the sound of running water; a broken window), and also that of identifying a compound verb when it is split by other elements (eg I have only just arrived). There are ten worksheets in all - two worksheets and two answer sheets in each of the five folders.

Three worksheets, each with ten sentences where the student has to underline the adverb. Answer sheets included.

This collection of resources is sufficient for a 5 sessions of work on adverbs. The material is suitable for Y6 and over, and would also be useful for adult classes or staff training. Editable lesson plans are included. Each session begins with a short starter activity followed by the main input which is taught through a section of a teacher-controlled PowerPoint presentation. Most slides contain step-by-step reveal animation to enable interaction with the class and provide the possibility of individual whiteboard work. Although full accompanying teacher notes and handouts are provided, teachers are strongly advised to familiarise themselves in advance with the click and reveal system and the links between slides. A PDF version of the presentation is also available for anyone wishing to avoid the animation. This version would also be useful for producing classroom display material. The unit begins with a general introduction covering the kind of words adverbs modify, and what 4 types of adverbs there are. Each of the other sessions is dedicated to one of the following: adverbs of manner, time, place and degree. Each of the slide sections ends with a 5 question practice slide to facilitate supported group work. Pupil handouts are provided for recording answers to the questions, and each practice slide is linked to an answer slide. After the teaching input, learners move to an independent worksheet activity linked to the day’s focus. The activities vary in type (multiple choice, gapfill, wordsearch etc) throughout the week. Every lesson ends with a short plenary.

This is a fully resourced one hour lesson on subject and object pronouns. There is a full lesson plan indicating how the lesson could be structured. For the starter activity, there is a screen display of a nonsense poem containing pronouns. The main teaching input is via a 7 slide presentation covering the form of subject and object pronouns, their position in relation to the verb, and how to avoid common mistakes. It ends with a short practice exercise to be done in pairs or small groups. Most slides contain teacher-controlled slow-reveal animation in order to keep the class involved throughout. The independent exercise which follows contains 15 sentences in which I/me has to be inserted correctly into gaps. During the plenary, pupils work together on a printed version of the poem seen in the starter. This could be finished as a homework task.

This collection of resources is sufficient for 6 one hour lessons on adjectives. The material is suitable for Y6 and over, and would also be useful for adult classes or staff training. Lesson plans and answers are included. Each session begins with a short starter activity followed by the main input which is taught through a section of a teacher-controlled PowerPoint presentation. Most slides contain step-by-step reveal animation to enable interaction with the class and provide the possibility of individual whiteboard work. Teachers are advised to familiarise themselves in advance with the click and reveal system and the links between slides. A PDF version of the presentation is also available for anyone wishing to avoid the animation. This version would also be useful for producing classroom display material. Topics covered include: adjectives before the noun adjectives after the verb adjectives modifying pronouns antonyms of adjectives comparative and superlative adjectives correct use of comparative and superlative. Each of the presentation sections ends with a practice slide to facilitate supported group work. Pupil handouts are provided for recording answers to the questions, and each practice slide is linked to an answer slide. After the teaching input, learners move to an independent worksheet activity linked to the day’s focus. The activities vary in type (multiple choice, crossword etc). There is also an optional writing extension which is continued throughout the unit. Every lesson ends with a short plenary.

Printable crosswords linked to Graded Spelling Lists (available separately). For upper KS2 and KS3. Free interactive versions available here : http://www.reall-languages.co.uk/spelling-crosswords.html. You need to enable and run Java on your computer for them to display properly.