Four short passages where children must use inference with regards to the text in order to answer 3 mark questions. This is good practice for providing evidence from the text itself and explaining reasoning. These exercises can be carried out in a whole class guided reading environment, small groups or individually. Might be a good idea to one text as a class and discuss how to answer the questions. Give another as a paired exercise and the final two as individual work. A teacher notes/answers sheet is provided as a separate file for ease of marking.

Reading comprehension (4 pages) about a girl who plays for her reserve team as a striker. She really wants to get her big chance playing in the first team and this story is about her first opportunity. Comprehension includes 16 questions with true/false, fact/opinion, chronological ordering, identifying similes and exclamatory sentences, retrieval and vocabulary/word meanings. Answers are enclosed for ease of marking. Exercise is good practice for SAT reading and the questions are designed to mirror the question types in previous papers.

Newspaper article on Prometheus stealing fire from The Gods and giving it to humankind. Uses formal language and writing features expected in a news article as well as including a shift to informality where appropriate in interviews. Article is accompanied by a 14 question (19 mark) reading comprehension comprising of: retrieval inference true/false fact/opinion synonyms language level of formality Available as Word and PDF with answers for ease of marking.

A useful year 6 revision tool comprising of 19 grammar and punctuation questions. Also includes 20 spellings with a mixture of year 5/6 list spellings, frequently used words and homophones. Questions targeted on: clauses adverbs and adjectives relative clauses word classes tenses ‘a’ and ‘an’ formal language passive and active voice All answers are included for ease of marking.

1 page of reading - Oliver Twist Reading Comprehension for Year 5 and 6. Text is taken from the opening page of Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Some text has been altered to make it less antiquated and age appropriate so it is not entirely the original text (but it is close and the same in meaning). 24 mark reading comprehension (with answers for ease of marking). retrieval inference fact and opinion true and false word comprehension and synonym

A GPS quiz for Christmas consisting of 20 spellings and 20 Grammar and punctuation questions. A time filler for that approach to the end of term and a good assessment tool to see how children are doing in GPS by using the Christmas context. Answers are included for ease of marking. Quizzes can be done individually, in pairs or in cooperative groups.

A time saving assessment tool providing a quiz for year sixes to inform their teacher on work that needs to be done in specific areas. Exercises include: Determiners ‘a’ and ‘an’ Which Punctuation Mark?!. Exclamation, Question, Statement or Command? Modal Verbs of Certainty and Possibility Capital Letters and Punctuation Conjunctions and Sentence Types Relative pronouns and clauses Identifying prepositions Using verbs and nouns in context Identifying adverbs and adjective Each page has a 10 mark marking system. You could give the pupils one exercise at at time (out of 10) or give them the whole quiz (out of 90). The quiz could also be used to show progress if taken at the beginning of the autumn term, for example.

Year 5/6 Reading comprehension based on a newspaper article written about a planned housing development in a fictional town. Contains layout of a newspaper report, opinions and examples of formal writing throughout. Also contains interviews and opinions to provide context to the report. Comes with a 20mark reading comprehension paper with questions based around the following: True and False Fact and Opinion Inference Retrieval Word comprehension Synonym Questions are accompanied by an answer sheet for ease of marking and marking boxes for speedy feeback (especially if peer-marking is to be used).

A two-page first-person narrative written by the Ghost of Christmas Past that describes his visit to Scrooge. A good example of a well-known story being written by another character’s point of view with shifts in formality (good for modeling and discussion). Exercise can be done as whole-class guided reading, group guided reading or individually. Story comes with a 15 question comprehension consisting of: true/false fact/opinion inference retrieval Some elements of GPS All answers are included at the end of the document for ease of marking.

The Christmas views of a rather grumpy Christmas tree who is dragged indoors every December. Written in the first person, the story/narrative is accompanied by a comprehension quiz (15 questions) requiring pupils to infer, recall, retrieve, state true or false, state fact or opinion, consider word meaning/comprehension and look for synonyms. Questions are styled to be a good practice ahead of the SAT reading paper. All answers are included for ease of marking.

A short autumn poem with 12 mark reading comprehension to welcome in the autumn term. Five stanza poem describing the author’s feelings about autumn. Question areas include: retrieval true and false statements statements of fact or opinion word meanings word comprehension Answers are included in a separate document for ease of marking.

A nice resource to break pupils into the autumn term. A five stanza poem about autumn accompanied by a 12 mark reading comprehension. Question areas include: retrieval true or false fact and opinion synonyms word comprehension inference Good for general poetry study or simply as a reading task. Short nature of poem should make the task accessible to most abilities.

A poem consisting of 8 stanzas that explains Henry’s sixth wives. Good cross-curricular link between English, poetry writing and history. Poetry contains examples of alliteration, repetition, metaphor, rhyme and rhythm. First stanza sample: Henry wanted a male heir A bouncing baby son Katherine of Aragon couldn’t give him one So Henry told her they were done. “I’ll find another wife,” he said And consigned her to the bin And before his poor first wife was dead He was chasing Anne Boleyn. Comprehension consists of 15 SAT style questions ranging from: true/false fact/opinion chronological ordering retrieval inference GPS (finding a metaphor) features of poetry All answers are included at end of document for ease of marking.

2 page reading comprehension where Father Christmas writes his own festive wish-list to the children. Activity is accompanied by a 22 mark reading comprehension quiz consisting of questions based on: retrieval Fact or opinion True of false Synonyms Word comprehension inference recall Answers are included in a separate file for ease of marking.

2-page reading comprehension River Systems and how they flow from source to mouth. Includes passages on the different river courses, meanders, deposition and erosion. Question types include: retrieval true/false word comprehension Answers included for ease of marking.

Two page reading comprehension - contains references to ghosts and witchcraft. Followed by 18 mark reading comprehension that includes questions on: retrieval inference true/false fact/opinion word comprehension/synonyms ordering events chronologically Answers are included in a separate file for ease of marking. Exercise can be conducted independently, in pairs/small groups or as a larger group/whole class guided reading task.

An exercise children can do in pairs, groups or individually based on identifying subordinate clauses and conjunctions. I find that children often get confused when asked to underline either clauses or the conjunctions. This is a good exercise to get them used to what the vocabulary is referring to.

A starter exercise to get the class thinking about formal and informal language and promote class discussion. There are also a couple of slides based on missing commas just to jog pupils’ memories.

If you’re struggling to find something to fill those end of the term time gaps then this might give you half an hour respite. Rearrange the anagrams of film titles. Can they get them all?