I use this in year 5 and year 6 - I'm sure it could be useful for ages 7-14. I can understand the meaning of ‘addition’ words and ‘cause and effect’ words I can develop an argument using ‘addition’ or ‘cause and effect’ Explanation When children try to add a further point to an argument they often get confused between two key language functions: • ‘addition’ - adding a further related point (also, in addition to, furthermore, moreover…); • ‘cause and effect’ - explaining the effect of the previous point (therefore, consequently, as a result of, because of this…). This can result in children making points that are nonsensical: Mobile phones make children safer because they can contact their parents in the event of an emergency. Consequently, children can contact online safety websites and get useful advice about online bullying. Here we see that a misunderstanding of the adverb ‘consequently’ has weakened the argument. An ‘addition’ adverb such as ‘furthermore’ would make a lot more sense. The same problem can occur in reverse. Text messaging during lessons is a distraction. In addition to this, children secretly sending text messages will fall behind their classmates. In this passage, the second point is a consequence of the first and not an additional argument. A cause and effect adverb such as ‘therefore’ would make much more sense. Use the activity "Addition or cause and effect?" to help children understand how to develop a point without confusing the reader.

In Key Stage 2, especially from Year 4 onwards, children are expected to use a variety of conjunctions accurately. I think that ‘if’ and ‘although’ deserve as a whole session on their own because they are two of the trickier conjunctions. Children often use ‘although’ inaccurately as they do not understand it’s meaning. Included is: a warm-up activity to get children thinking right from the moment they come in; a 20 slide PowerPoint with lots of activities to engage with; a detailed lesson plan; a simple SAN/low attainers activity.

This is a terrific descriptive writing lesson. Children contrast the inside of a tent (at night) to the outside. Lesson summary: 1. Vocabulary/simile sorting activities for 'meaning breakdown' and then for inside/outside 2. Release high attaining (AMA) writers to do indoor/outdoor writing independently 3. Shared (teacher led) writing of ‘indoor’ for everyone else 4. Rest of class use word bank (developed during part 1) for independent ‘outdoor’ writing It would work well from Y2 upwards - I used it in Y3, but I can imagine older writers enjoying this activity. Children use images and word banks to create wonderfully rich descriptive writing. You are buying: a detailed lesson plan and presentation, with inside/outside image word banks tasks suggested shared writing Enjoy!

Two dice games for KS2: ‘Point or show quantity’ pupils explore the two basic functions of determiners. ‘Introduce the noun’ pupils add determiners to noun phrases and sort determiners into groups. Both games have a competitive element but are tightly focused on the following objectives: I know that determiners have two jobs: ‘pointing’ or ‘showing quantity’ I can use determiners accurately in sentences I can use a wide variety of determiners to introduce nouns I can sort determiners into groups Determiners can get a little confusing for primary school aged children when you get beyond simple ‘a’ or ‘an’ activities. How far you go with your class is best judged by you (of course!). Through the presentation (which you may wish to simplify, depending on how far you wish to go with determiners) and engaging dice games, children will use lots of talk, and really engage with this tricky-to-define but important group of words.

There are lots of resources already available for expanded noun phrases, but none that really challenge children to develop their vocabulary and make really adventurous or precise choices. This dice activity encourages children to try out new word choices from extensive word banks, and it is fully differentiated into three versions. In its simplest form, children add adjectives and pairs of adjectives to noun phrases. In its most challenging form, children may have to add two compound adjectives and a preposition phrase - this can result in some wonderfully descriptive sentences. It all depends on the roll of a dice. Of course, teachers that love using my games will have guessed that already! Try it with your class and then ask them to apply the skill in their next composition. Fully editable so that you can easily adapt it to the unit you are working on by changing the single clause sentences that the children will be developing. *The main version here works well with myth, legend and adventure, but I have added a sci-fi version to show how it can be adapted for use with any fiction.

Create stunning descriptive sentences about WW2 settings. During this sentence building activity, young writers describe damaged homes, a pier and a pavilion. You could quickly edit the images and the word banks to match landmarks in your local area. We went on to use the sentences we created in stories set during WW2. Enjoy!

Play this to develop children’s understanding of clauses and to encourage children to vary the number of clauses they include within their sentences. I have tried so many approaches to teaching this, and I have had the most success with this one. Assessment focus I can understand the terms ‘clause’ and ‘conjunction’. I can write sentences with one or more clauses. I can write sentences with many clauses, without confusing the reader. Here you will find three versions of the engaging dice activity ‘Clauses, clauses, clauses’. In its simplest form, children write one or two clause sentences, using a limited number of conjunctions. Other versions go up to six clauses - very tricky! I have also included an extra version (my favourite activity for teaching clauses, conjunctions and multi-clauses sentences) called ‘Clauses, clauses, clauses - scavenger hunt version’. This activity promotes lots of talk around word classes and building multi-clause sentences. I recommend playing this a few times across the school year, as these skills need revisiting many times to build confidence. I hope your class find these activities as useful as mine did. Good luck!

You are buying four resources here. They could be used in this order: 1. A scavenger hunt activity - active start to the lesson Cut up the word bank provided and stick the cards around the room, or simply leave the word bank out on tables. Children need to hunt for words that match plural rules. Finally, children apply the rule and change the singular noun into its plural form. 2. Extension tasks (in orange) for those that finish quickly. 3. A PowerPoint that goes over the rules from the scavenger hunt. Clear up any misconceptions before moving on to the next activity... 4. A fun dice game for exploring 6 of the most common rules for changing singular nouns into plural nouns. The first one to fill their solar system with plural nouns wins! It has a space theme ('Plural Planets'), but I have included an editable version of the gameboard so that you can easily change the theme to match your class topic. Enjoy! *I have added a' Vikings' themed gameboard to show how the game can be adapted to different writing topics.

Teach modal verbs in the context of the amazing 'Guinness surfer with horses' advert (young teachers: google it). Assessment focus: I know some modal verbs, and I can explain why they are useful. I can use modal verbs statements and questions. I can use modal verbs creatively to show possibility/likelihood. In this fully resourced lesson, pupils learn about modal verbs and then use them in sentences about the doubts and worries of the surfer in the advert and the dangers he faces. There is clear differentiation for high attainer, on track learners and SEN learners. The powerpoint will guide you through. Enjoy!

Dice game! Warm up! Presentation! Missing dashes activity! I’ve probably spent too much time thinking about how to teach young writers to understand dashes and to use them creatively. The end result is a dice activity which teaches children six simple ways of using dashes effectively. Children who take part in this writing activity will learn six different (and fool proof!) ways of dropping in extra thoughts and ideas between dashes. It is surprising the depth this can add to fiction writing. *As well as the dice activity, I have also included a 15 slide PowerPoint. This explains how dashes can be used, and it has extension activities. *I have also included a warm up activity that always leads to some useful discussion. *I have also included a ‘add the missing dashes’ activity Teachers, if you swap the sentences in this activity to match your own writing projects, children can generate superb sentences to add to their own compositions.

Contractions come up in Year 2, but I have made these resources for KS2, as children still need to practise accurate use of apostrophes. Included are two engaing dice games (‘Contraction Creator’ and ‘The Memory Test’). Both are far more memorable and fun than dull worksheets. There is also a support activity and a presentation. Enjoy!

‘Noun or Not?’ is a two player dice game aimed at Key Stage 2 children. It has an interesting wildlife theme and built in peer assessment, so pupils can correct each other as they go along. There are 6 ‘going deeper’ activities involving plenty of challenge. I’m sure your class will love this way of looking at nouns - BETTER THAN A WORKSHEET!

Use the presentation to explore ary, ory and ery word endings. Play the fun two player game with built in self assessment - Word race: ‘ary’, ‘ery’, ‘ory’ Challenge and support activities are included. Challenge: Try the ary ory ery riddles included (‘challenge activity’). Support: Match the word cards and sentence cards and write the sentences down.

Excellent grammar session! Fully differentiated! Including ‘support’ and ‘going deeper’ activities and a detailed PowerPoint to use in class. Available as word and PDF docs. Assessment focus I can identify nouns and verbs When I classify (group) a word, I think about the job it is doing in the sentence Explanation We spend a lot of time telling children that nouns are ‘people, places, things and ideas’ and verbs are ‘actions or states of being’. These are useful starting points for younger learners, but there is a little more it… If you ask children to classify ‘walk’, ‘laugh’, ‘object’ and ‘book’, they will likely tell you that the first two are verbs and the second two are nouns. Understandable! In fact, these words can be nouns or verbs, and there are many similar examples. Therefore, when children are classifying a word, we need to encourage them to look at the function of the word within its sentence. The walk was long and tiring. (Noun) I walk to school. (Verb) This two player dice game, aimed at upper KS2, gives pupils lots of opportunities to identify nouns and verbs. More than that, they also explore the function of words that can be used as nouns and verbs. Children have to look at the whole sentence before classifying a word. It has built in peer assessment, so there is NO MARKING REQUIRED! Pupils assess each other’s answers as the game progresses: player A has player B’s answers and vice versa. Lots of opportunities for pupil talk! It’s an engaging way to get pupils talking about the function of words and is much richer than a simple worksheet.

Fun dice activity exploring causal connectives, also warm-ups and model texts Explanation writing is one of the trickier non-fiction genres in the primary curriculum. Although we rarely explain sequences using formal language, we often explain things in every day terms. How do you complete that level of the game? How do you do that magic trick? How did you solve that problem? There is a group of words and phrases that can help explain cause and effect more precisely. These can be called ‘causal connectives’. This is not a strictly defined group of words – more collection of conjunctions, adverbs and other cohesive devices that can be useful for this genre of writing. Try the dice activity ‘Explain yourself’ and watch your class get comfortable using these connectives aloud as they explain diverse subjects including ‘how to take the perfect selfie’ and ‘how the digestive system works’. When they are ready, they can write some of their favourite explanations, using causal connectives with accuracy. I have added 4 simple oral warm up activities. These encourage to children to rehearse useful vocabulary (consequently, as a result of this, so, so that, therefore, however) and add brackets to explanation sentences. Try that tricky language aloud before you get into any writing! I have added an ‘eco-explanations’ activity. I have also added 9 model explanations to give some ideas of things to write about.

Orally rehearse the language of persuasive writing and balanced discussion before writing using these dice games, model texts, planning frames and toolkits. Throughout Key Stage 2, children are expected to take part in debates and compose one-sided arguments or balanced discussions. To be successful at this, children need plenty of opportunities to use the language of argument. Connecting phrases such as ‘it is obvious that’, ‘other people claim that’ and ‘opponents of’ need to be orally rehearsed as children do not encounter them regularly in their daily lives. This fully planned session, complete with a presentation and a fun dice game, will give children the experience of using the language of argument in a purposeful way. Use this session prior to any ‘argument’ style writing and it will give children the tools to be successful. *I have now added ‘Whose side are you on? Advanced’. This version is for 4 players and enables children to create full balanced discussions orally. The patterns they use exactly mirror the structure of a written balanced discussion. **I have also added a model text, a planning frame and a self assessment sheet for persuasive writing and a model text, a planning frame and a self assessment sheet for discussion writing. ***I have also added: a one sided model text in favour of Victorian style child punishment (for children to argue against!) a one sided model against mobile phones in school for children to argue ‘for’ a mobile phone fact or opinion sorting activity a one sided model for animals in circuses for children to argue against a one sided argument against computer games for children to argue ‘for’ a computer games counter argument activity a computer games fact or opinion sorting activity a for and against sorting activity linked with space a for and against sorting activity linked with aliens

Drama! Talk! Poetry map! Scavenger hunt! Reading skills! Team work! Creative writing! 13 resources included! This is a seven day poetry unit exploring Alfred Lord Tennyson’s ‘The Kraken’. It has been planned in a lot of detail and is fully resourced. There is clear guidance all the way through, so if you’re in a rush, you can pick it up and use it! There is also a one-symbol-per-line story map to help children learn the poem off-by-heart with help from picture cues. All of the tricky words are also defined. The unit begins with children performing and learning the poem through drama and then moves on to explore the imagery in the poem, including comprehension questions. Children then begin to use imagery of their own. They work collaboratively (using a’ jig-saw’ approach, explained in the plan), use language playfully and finally write their own poem. It is a very enjoyable unit, which inspired some superb writing in my class. It could work with Year 4, Year 5 or Year 6. Sessions cover these objectives: 1. I can recite one line of a poem from memory. (Drama) I can recite a whole poem from memory. I can find meaning within the puzzle of a poem. 2. I can understand wide range of imaginative and ambitious vocabulary. (Definitions scavenger hunt included) I use a wide range of imaginative and ambitious vocabulary accurately and precisely. 3. I understand the term imagery. (14 comprehension questions included) I can find examples of imagery in poem. I can suggest reasons why a poet has used certain imagery. 4. I know what the terms metaphor and simile mean. (Group work activities creating new Kraken imagery) I can use simile and metaphor (imagery) and magic! I can play with the order of words to add impact. 5. I can draft a poem and develop my ideas by ‘magpie-ing’ from other writers and drawing on poems that I am reading. (Supportive writing frame included) 6. I can evaluate, edit and improve my own writing. I hope your class love it and create some incredible poems.

Reading comprehension! Drawing! Drama! High quality writing! Newspaper reports! These five fully resourced sessions aimed at Year 5 or Year 6 give children an opportunity to produce excellent non-fiction using a fiction context - no research required! Available in Word and PowerPoint so that you can edit and adjust to suit your needs. Through these 5 sessions, children will explore 3 news reports about heroes; generate their own toolkits; strip a fiction text (Beowulf) back to its bare bones; create captions and draw scenes from the story; take part in drama activities and finally write news reports using a consistent style and appropriate register. I have recently added useful editing questions for children to ask each other - I would suggest a final session for editing and improving. It is helpful (though not essential) if the children have previously explored the story of Beowulf. If they have not heard the story before, allow a little extra time to get familiar with the text (included). These sessions could make up a one week unit or be run over one day, as a writing workshop. Enjoy!

Updated for 2019! Young people are interested in drones, so if you are teaching argument, persuasion or discussion, make the most of their enthusiasm for these popular flying gadgets. Also, drones are always in the news and it is motivating to pick a current issue. Here are two fantastic drone themed lessons (around 150 minutes required) broken into nine activities, suitable for Key Stage 2 writers and no doubt useful for KS3 as well. All children will have opportunities to ‘talk the language of debate’ and produce a piece of writing either ‘for’ or ‘against’ drones. It’s a winner! There is also drone background information; links to videos; key argument cards; banks of useful sentence openers; modal verbs; suggestions for support/extension activities; a planning sheet; an example text and a detailed self/peer assessment sheet (or toolkit). Everything you need. The nine fully resourced activities are: 1. Get to know drones! 2. Meaning breakdown – understand tricky new words 3. Pick a side 4. ‘For’ or ‘against’? 5. Organise your debate 6. Useful sentence openers for debate and persuasion 7. Switch sides! 8. Write a persuasive letter/blog for the school website 9. Self assessment/peer assessment