Questions about non fiction fact books on a prompt sheet. These are intended to help parents to discuss books with their children. There is a separate sheet of questions about fiction books. Reading Riddle is a free website that aims to support parents and gives information about reading with children.

This powerpoint summarises the what, who, why, when and how of Remembrance Day. It uses simple language and clear illustrations from the picture book, Vlad and the First World War. The powerpoint is editable to suit your specific audience but the illustrations are the copyright of Sam Cunningham so should not be used elsewhere. If you want any further information on the book or the first book Vlad and the Great Fire of London please visit the Reading Riddle website.

This classroom activity looks at war memorials and considers who they are for, what they are made from and what images are used. Children then use this to design a memorial of their own. Through this activity the children think about why we have memorials and the wide range of people and animals who are being remembered. For further information about the Vlad flea books visit the Reading Riddle website.

These documents include the rationale, list of activities and record sheet for a set of activities targeted at children who find handwriting and controlling pencils difficult. The aim is to strengthen their grip and improve their ability to control pencils. I put this together after having been asked to do these activities with children by Physios and Occupational Therapists over the years, and having been told that often a barrier to the writing was an inability to hold a small grip. Obviously larger pencils and pencil grips also help but these mini-workouts were targeted at children who still had difficulties and had is many cases had less access to activities needing fine motor control at a younger age.

These resources support a set of lessons on purposeful persuasive letter writing (KS2). Based on research I did to write Vlad and the First World War, they focus on Walter Tull and Phoebe Chapple. Both could have been awarded the Military Cross, but prevailing attitudes discriminated against them. The lessons support writing a letter to persuade the Ministry of Defence to award them posthumously. It includes a set of lesson plans linked to the literacy curriculum, templates for making notes and crib sheets if you want to focus on the letter writing rather than note taking. There are website links for research and 2 videos summarising their lives. Government offices respond to letters so if sent will receive a letter back. Further resources are available on the Reading Riddle website along with information on my books and school visits.

This is a word mat including vocabulary needed to write as part of a topic on Florence Nightingale. It uses illustrations from Vlad and the Florence Nightingale Adventure. Look for the other planning and resources on the topic from my shop on TES or on the Reading Riddle website Check out the website for information on the books, author visits and links to other resources.

A list of questions that parents can use to talk about the book they have read with their child. These are the same questions on the classroom fiction question sheets, but on one sheet that can be shared with parents. This could be included as homework or in reading records to extend the reading experience between parents and children. Reading Riddle is a free website that aims to encourage parents and help them become more confident when reading with their children.

This 6 minute video shows the evidence for the fire starting at Pudding Lane in Thomas Farriner’s bakery. It shares Pepys diary entry, the Hearth Tax entry for 1666 and maps from 1593, 1667 and now. The film then moves to Pudding Lane to show what it looks like now, the memorials and the spot where it all began. It is suitable for sharing during the primary topic and is based on the research I used when writing my picture book, Vlad and the Great Fire of London. I have lots of other resources here and on the Reading Riddle website.

This lesson can be used in connection with the larger Florence Nightingale plan or as a stand alone lesson. Create a poster persuading people to wash their hands properly. Linked to the science investigation on hygiene the aim of this lesson is to produce text for a poster. For other free lesson plans and resources see my TES shop or the Reading Riddle website The website also includes information on the books and author visits.

Editable vocabulary on sweet wrappers for display. The words were brainstormed by my class so obviously you can use them or edit and add your own according to your class. I hope they are useful.

This is a set of history plans for the topic of Ancient Egypt. They are linked to Vlad and Tutankhamun’s Tomb picture book, and show how to use the story and facts in this in the lessons. All linked resources (powerpoints, information sheets are available to download for free on the Teacher resource section of the Reading Riddle website Further activities and plans can be found on the shop and on our YouTube channel.

This is a set of 5 lessons which focus on the personal testimonies of those caught up in the First World War. The activities and objectives are included on the lesson plan and there are resource sheets and a planning sheet. Children work in groups to read and re-enact stories from eye-witness accounts. They then plan and write their own accounts and read them to the class. For other free resources, information about the Vlad history stories school visits and online sessions visit the Reading Riddle website.

This is a set of 6 lesson space plans with objectives and links. They are in a word document so fully editable so you can alter or reformat them. All supporting resources marked in the planning are available to download from the Reading Riddle website (including a space timeline activity, powerpoint about satellites and space wordmat). The lessons cover: What is space? A timeline of space achievement. What does it take to be an astronaut/cosmonaut? Designing a spacesuit and how design has changed over time. Our Solar System - what have we discovered and what will happen in the future? The lessons link to Vlad and the Space Race, which is part of the Vlad flea history picture books. You can use them without this book but the reason I wrote it was to bring history into the classroom through historically accurate stories as I believe that engages the children. For further information about the books, school visits and resources visit the website. Thank you , Kate Cunningham

This is a lesson plan linked to the Florence Nightingale plan but can be used as a stand-alone lesson. The objectives of this lesson are for children to learn a first aid skill and to be able to write instructions on this skill. For further free resources see my TES shop or the Reading Riddle website There is also further information on the other Vlad books and author visits on the Reading Riddle website.

With illustrations and vocabulary from the book Vlad and Tutankhamun’s Tomb this word mat is one of the resources created for the ancient Egypt topic. There are many more free resources including planning and lesson resources. The picture book Vlad and Tutankhamun’s Tomb is a many layered story that was written to engage, trigger ideas, discussion and help children visualise life for a ancient Egyptian worker. The linked resources help understand the research behind the story. More information about the books, resources and school visits can be found on the Reading Riddle website

Vlad and Tutankhamun’s Tomb is a story about Kel the tomb artist and the rush to prepare Tutankhamun’s tomb after his sudden and unexpected death. The illustrations show the methods and materials the artists used and this plan explains this and helps children understand some of the logistic and artistic challenges to painting the tombs. There are activities including the resources to recreate an illustration from the book and produce a large scale mural for the classroom wall. Finally, there is information about copyright - what it means, how to check it in a book and crediting artists and understanding that this is their livelihood.

Encourage children to become involved in their local library by setting a holiday homework which involves joining their library, borrowing a book, reviewing it and returning the book. Children colour the tree as they achieve each part of the task. This could also be used as part of a campaign of activities to support their local library and encourage broader reading habits. My blog about this and ideas for parents who lack confidence reading with their children can be found on the Reading Riddle website.

This is a word sheet which includes labelled illustrations from the book Vlad and the First World War. The book includes a fuller glossary, map, fact file and story told by Vlad flea and his companion Crisp VC, the carrier pigeon. For other resources, activities and information on visits go to the Reading Riddle website.

A vocabulary sheet/word mat using images from the picture book Vlad and the Space Race. Linked free lesson plans and resources are available on the Reading Riddle website. The picture book Vlad and the Space Race is available from the Reading Riddle website, Amazon, or any bookshop. Further information about all the Vlad flea books and my schools visits is available on this website too.

This planning has the resources and links needed to write a newspaper article about what Dr Phoebe Chapple did to be awarded the Military Medal during the First World War. It would work well with the story book Vlad and the First World War - but does stand alone. Dr Phoebe Chapple was an Australian doctor who paid to travel to England and join the medics serving in the First World War. She was awarded a Military Medal after putting herself in danger during an attack on a medical centre on the Western Front. She survived and returned to Australia after the war. Read about her and other inspirational people from a wide range of backgrounds in Vlad and the First World War, which includes a fact file about the real people included in the story. For information about school visits go to the Reading Riddle website.