This Sci-Fi Thriller has echoes of Stranger Things and has been designed for upper primary to read as a whole class. Every chapter is an A4 page and can be printed or shared via device for pupils to read in pairs. There are tasks to accompany every chapter, covering all of the second level reading E&O’s (some not in much depth but enough to complement any other work you might be doing in literacy). “I can see this working brilliantly at the start of the year for any upper primary classroom” “I was hooked and raced to find out what happened as every chapter seemed to end on a cliff hanger” “A fantastic read, I really need to know what happens in the final chapter” And that, is where you might be a little annoyed - this story doesn’t have a final chapter - it hopefully reveals enough throughout the story for the pupils to try and create their own endings. Could be a Big Write or end of unit assessment style task too. However, if you are desperate for a solid ending, just message me on twitter and I’ll gladly send it over to you.

This is a set of 10 reading lessons aimed at upper primary. All the tasks are designed for success criteria to be co-constructed. I have found these to be a great vehicle for pupils choosing their preferred reading style. A general lesson sees the class reading for 20 minutes in their chosen setting (independent, pair, small group, techer group) and with their own novel. We then all come together as a class to co-construct success criteria before moving to desks and jotters to complete the activities. I’ve found peer assessment and self assessment to work well with these tasks. I pause 10 minutes before the end of the lesson, the class assess and then they have 5/6 minutes to act upon the feedback.

This is a selection of 12 reading lessons - 5 of them short ones for when you only have 20 minutes and the rest longer response activities that children can really dig their teeth into. Many are designed to have the pupils read the example and co-construct the success criteria with you the teacher - I usually just write this up on the slide with numbers (“What is the purpose of paragraph 1?”) Most importantly, these are all tried and tested activities that a whole class can work on together YET still be reading their own unique stories. I have 33 pupils all reading their own stories and doing these tasks together, peer assessing one anothers work and producing great jotter work.

Starting with a verb Setting the scene Sentence length Word Choice and Vocab building This is a four part writing workshop sequence that could be used in either a one-off carousel style lesson or split into 4 separate lessons with a mini assessment at the end. I’ve used it previously over the course of three days. Split my class into 4 mixed ability groups. Day One I had each group attend to two activities. The next day, they got involved with the final two stations and then on the third day they composed a piece of descriptive writing and I was able to see if they were using the techniques they had explored the previous days.

Folding a square piece of paper into four and chopping on line to the centre, you can create small backdrops for peg dolls or other characters. Using the scene descriptors included in this pack (which all link to the Global Goals) pupils can scan for key information, before drawing onto their paper to create a vivid scene.

Whole class reading sounds great but I’ve always found two issues - financing and finding a suitable text the whole class can engage with. Books can be long! This is designed for upper primary. Each chapter is no more than two pages long but there is a real variety of rich language and literacy techniques. Every chapter comes with a set of questions - ranging from word finding, literal questions to more higher order thinking tasks and a playful activity. If you are lucky enough to have 1:1 devices (I am in that position) I am looking to airdrop this to their iPads using the Notes app, chapter at a time. Means they can markup, use read aloud and quickly look up definitions of words - whilst also saving on printing. The story links to the Global Goals - specifically Climate Action and Life on Land.

All my Christmas lessons packed in here: A 3 lesson unit of script writing, with WAGOLLs, progressions and full story Two circuit lessons Two maths lessons (revising FDP, Time and Measure) A couple more small activities Currently delivering this to two P6 classes but could be used from P4 to P7 with ease.

I must apologise as this is unfinished but had a fair number of people ask me to upload it. This is a poetry unit designed for upper primary, teaching about famous figures from black history and culture, whilst also learning about different poetry techniques.

This 4 week unit of work looks at music review writing. It starts with identifying key features and structure, before moving on to subject specific vocabularly and relevant imagery. Pupils have lots of choice throughout and I’d highly recommend you edit the musical artists to those that your class are interested in.