In ‘Quack! said the Billy Goat’, the silly poem by Charles Causley, the animal sounds are all mixed up. The poem is fantastic for learning about farm animals, the sounds they make and using speech bubbles. Children enjoy making the sounds and exploring how to write them. This resource comes with a guide with suggestions for introducing the poem, shared reading ideas to involve children and follow up games. There are animal silhouette pictures, animal names and speech bubbles with sounds. These are in the form of a picture for retelling the poem and to make cards for games and activities.

Contents: Spots and Stripes worksheets and printable socks for games, templates for colouring. Cute patterned socks matching pairs card game. Teacher’s guide with instructions for games and ideas for activities. These resources are great for awareness days: #oddsocksday November 16th (part of Anti-bullying Week) #LotsOfSocksDay 21st March (World Down Syndrome Day) Read more ideas for sock topics here https://teacherstellingtales.com/socks-rock/ Related resources are available from Teachers Telling Tales, including sock-topus counting activities, repeat patterns and Fantastic Footwear which includes templates for socks and a variety of shoes and themed design challenge task cards. Get them all in a bundle at a discounted price.

These writing frames are designed to inspire young children to engage in purposeful recording through mark-making or emergent writing during their role play. Topics: Personal Social Health Education, People who help us, Keeping healthy, parts of the body, numbers 1-5. Skills development: speaking and listening, beginning writing. Depending on their developmental stage, children may enjoy mark-making as they see fit, or they may follow the invitation to write names, crosses, ticks and circles. The pictures are designed to prompt discussion and introduce and consolidate vocabulary. The frame introduces the concept of forms and tables and includes numbers 1-5. The writing frames can act as a guide for children role playing a visit to the doctor, prompting questions and responses such as “Where is the problem?” and “Take medicine three times a day.” The first time the frames are introduced, it would be good for an adult to model using them. Context and Linked Resources This resource pack was inspired by A Visit From the Nurse https://teacherstellingtales.com/a-visit-from-the-nurse/ an activity to help students overcome anxiety about visiting the school nurse (or other health care professionals). In that lesson students observe how a nurse cares for us by demonstrating with soft toys in a range of familiar scenarios, e.g. “I bumped my head, I feel sick, I feel itchy”. These are free to download here https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-visit-from-the-nurse-12174039. As a follow up, children then explore being a carer through role play. This could be with other children (as a patient or carer) or with toys and dolls. The role play area could be set up as a health centre, hospital, veterinary clinic etc. Includes Greyscale versions, as you may need to print lots if they are popular! These can be made into a notebook (perhaps a prescription pad) or attached to a clipboard. Colour versions could be laminated and used as examples displayed in the role play area, or used by the children with dry wipe pens.

Some fairytale folk have been up to no good! After reading the model case file on the alleged crimes of Goldilocks, students practise their form filling skills to complete a case file for another fictional character. They will need to complete sections for personal details (name, age, address etc. as well as information on the crime, witnesses and a short statement from the accused. This activity provides the opportunity for humour and imagination, while developing real-life writing skills. Basing writing on well known stories will support students who struggle to come up with ideas. Good for: fairy tales writing skills citizenship, crime There are seven fairy tale character writing frames, (including a blank version of Goldilocks) and 1 blank template so other characters can be used. There are colour versions for best work/display and greyscale to save on colour ink! This resource is part of a ‘Once upon a crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales. The activity is one of twelve in a Fairy Tale Forensics unit of study and works well as a springboard for other activities involving role play and writing in the unit. The mug shots are also available as a separate resource. You can also ‘bundle and save’ on this series.

A collection of lessons / activities in the form of a presentation with slides to inspire, instruct and guide through each activity. This unit uses well known fairy tale stories and characters to explore story and citizenship themes through a fairy tale crime topic. The activities are designed to build from one another and can be followed consecutively, or used as a stand-alone lesson or activity in any order. Teachers notes are included in the presentation and a document with screen shots of each slide, notes and links. This presentation can be bought as part of a bundle which includes lots of supplementary materials such as templates to enhance the lessons. These resources are optional and linked to specific lessons so you may prefer not to use them or to purchase individually. Key ideas, concepts and questions explored Good and bad deeds What is a crime? Victim or Villain? Viewpoints and motivation, do two wrongs make a right? Mitigating circumstances. Truth, Lie or Excuse? Consider complexity moving from black and white to shades of grey. Perspectives and Persuasion, considering, expressing and explaining a viewpoint. Investigation. Questions: who, what, why, when, where. Fact and Opinion, looking at evidence. Critical Thinking Skills Focus Reasoning Expressing an opinion Considering differing viewpoints Explanation Persuasion Ways of Working Discussion Drama (hot seating, role play) Writing (different genres and styles – forms, reports, statements, social media posts, case files, persuasive, factual). Drawing Contents Introduction (assess prior knowledge). Police line-up of fairy tale characters Right, Wrong or Crime? Discussion, vocabulary. Right, Wrong or Crime? Write a list. Share and compare with classmates. Victim or Villain. Consider case of Jack and the Giant. Truth, Lie (or excuse) show and share your opinion. Arrest or Release (or keep for further questioning) show and share your opinion. Criminal Case File. Record personal details, crimes, witnesses, defence. Present your Case (drama) take turns to be the accused and questioners and have a discus about your case. (Questioners in role as witness / victim / law enforcement etc.). Perspectives and Persuasion Writing Prompts. Four styles to choose from – police report, lawyer case notes, reporter article and suspect/victim social media post. Detective Evidence gathering. In small forensics teams collect the evidence from a scene. Photograph, bag and label each item. Special Agent Investigation Board. Examine a sample investigation board then apply the questions (what, when, why, who, where) and different aspects (crime scene, suspect, witness, evidence, victim) to assigned case. Create investigation board. Magic Mirror. Draw a portrait of the meanest, guiltiest or biggest villain from the fairy tale world in the magic mirror frame. Explain your choice. Who would be the kindest or most heroic of them all?

This pack features fifteen adorable monsters to describe, compare and sort. They come in four colours with carefully selected similarities and differences, perfect for Guess Who games to develop observation, concentration and vocabulary skills. Use the quiz as a model for describing, for example, I am pink, I have three sharp teeth, I have horns. The presentation can be used on screen / interactive whiteboard and there are PDF files for poster / cards. Ideas and instructions for games along with photograph illustrations are included. For more monster-themed literacy and numeracy resources, check out the Teacher Telling Tales shop.

An activity pack with garden themed games inspired by Nature Trail, a poem by Benjamin Zephaniah. A range of activities for different ages, abilities and literacy skills. Good for living things, habitats, garden, animals and minibeasts themes. Read or listen to the poem and remember or find all the creatures living in the garden. Scavenger hunt, bingo, matching and list variations using pictures and words. Dyslexia friendly font version of poem. Draw the garden or design your own including habitats for living things. Create your own nature trail.

Good for spelling and vocabulary. Can be used in class or for online teaching / home learning. These presentations feature twenty pairs of homophones, split over two quiz PowerPoints, suitable for two lessons. The Lesson Starter: a fun tongue twister activity Main: Quiz Choose from the two versions with differing levels: • Label (students drag or cut and paste correct spelling to picture) • Annotate (students type/write words next to pictures) Follow up activity: create a mnemonic to remember how to spell tricky words. Examples are shown and a worksheet is included for this. A lesson plan is included and presentations have notes as guidance. To further consolidate homophones try the Teachers Telling Tales Pairs or Pears Games. Receive a discount if you buy both resource packs as a bundle.

Creating a Wanted poster or a Missing Poster is a great way to follow up reading The Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl. These templates provide a framework for students to demonstrate their reading comprehension skills through character description and fact retrieval (listing the crimes, stating the place last seen etc.). There are educator’s notes and student notes with instructions to guide through the text characteristics as well as examples of students’ work using the templates. Provided in Powerpoint and PDF format for flexibility, the activity can be printed or completed digitally. Other Revolting Rhymes resources are available from Teachers Telling Tales, including Revolting Times (a news summarising pack) and Sublime Rhymes (with examples of idioms). If your students are motivated by the crime theme, they may also enjoy the Once Upon a Crime resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/fairytale-forensics-learning-unit-12222954

An engaging activity to develop reading comprehension skills linked to The Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl. Focus on retrieval and summarising the main idea or events. Use the templates to create a newspaper, newsflash or breaking news on the television. Guidelines for students include: headline, caption and story characteristics of news texts is included such as punctuation, alliteration, rhyme The television (old and new style) templates can be used for other topics too. Powerpoint and PDF versions allow for adapting the resource for your needs. Includes educator’s notes and examples of work by students using the templates. You may also like the Teachers Telling Tales resource Revolting Crimes and Sublime Rhymes, (available as a Revolting Rhymes bundle).

The classic tale of Sam’s Sandwich is fantastic for engaging students as they eagerly await to discover which creature will be added with each sandwich ingredient. This pack contains resources to accompany the book, including word and picture cards for participation in read-alouds and retellings, a fill the gaps activity focussed on rhyming words (with two levels) and reading comprehension questions. Good for food and minibeasts topics. You may also like the Teachers Telling Tales minibeasts resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/minibeasts-big-bug-bundle-12340248 This pack contains two formats, PowerPoint and PDF.

These mug shots were taken at the Fairy Tale Police Department! The fairy tale characters are suspects of crimes. Did they do something wrong? Did they commit a crime? Are they innocent or guilty? There are seven mug shot pictures featuring well-known characters from favourite stories and a blank template for students to create their own. The pictures are a versatile resource that can be used for guessing games, discussion, drama and writing prompts. Activity ideas are included in the download. Good for a fairy tale or crime topic, English and Citizenship. This resource is part of a ‘Once upon a crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales and accompanies the Fairytale Forensics unit of study. You can also ‘bundle and save’ on this series.

Writing and drawing frames for evidence collecting at the scene of a crime! Great for role play or building a case in a crime scenario. Contains a model for students to use as inspiration / guidance, label and two sizes of bags. You can, of course, use real bags and add the printed labels, especially if using real objects as evidence. This resource is part of the ‘Once upon a crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales. It is designed for one of twelve activities featured in a Fairy Tale Forensics presentation. It can be a one-off lesson or an introduction to the Special Agent Investigation Board project. The police and Fairytale Bureau of Investigation (FBI) badges and ID cards complement this resource. You can also ‘bundle and save’ on this series.

Logic and reasoning skills with a minibeasts theme. Featuring cute cartoon creepy crawlies, these activities are a fun way to develop thinking skills. Students cut and paste pictures to complete the sequences and sudoku squares. Easy, medium and hard versions for different levels of challenge. Ink saving variations included (different puzzles to the colour ones). Perfect for a minibeasts topic, a challenge for early finishers or a discrete lesson in problem solving. For related minibeasts resources, check out the Teachers Telling Tales shop, there are bundle and save options.

An interactive story to learn about the sea turtle life cycle, natural and human threats. Children sit in a circle around a turtle nest (a hoop or mat) with 100 eggs. As they listen to a story they take turns (going round the circle) to remove eggs as a predator or problem arises. As the story continues, the remaining eggs are turned over to reveal hatchlings which in turn face more problems as they try to reach the sea. As juveniles in the sea there are yet more problems. How many will survive and return to the beach where they hatched to lay their own eggs? What will the beach be like when they have become an adult Printables included in the pack: Turtle eggs templates. Students can cut out the circles and draw their own hatchling on one side, (optional, if you prefer use the pre-made cards below). Turtle egg and hatchling cards. Print and cut out. (Place face down for eggs and turn over for hatchlings.) Story Scripts, 2 versions, ‘Take 5’ and ‘Against the Odds’. Turtle problem picture cards. Turtle problem word and picture cards. Story Script Excerpt: One moonlit night a green turtle heaved herself along the beach and dug a hole in the sand with her flippers. She laid 100 eggs and took care to cover them again with sand to disguise the nest. Slowly, she made her way back to the sea where, exhausted, she slipped with relief back into the water as the sun began to rise. Early the next morning, a dog roamed the beach and could smell where the turtle had been. She dug up part of the nest, ate five eggs and cracked five more which were eaten by ants. Also included: Ideas for activities using turtle problems cards. Maths (subtraction) story idea. Related Resources: For an active game on the threats to turtles, see the Teachers Telling Tales resource https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/turtles-in-danger-game-12237706 A Sea Turtle quiz can be downloaded for free from https://teacherstellingtales.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Sea-Turtle-Quiz.pdf Turtle book recommendations (fiction and non fiction) https://teacherstellingtales.com/turtle-tales-and-truths/

These card games are a fantastic way for children to become familiar with classic stories, characters and speech. 16 colourful fairy tale / traditional tale character cards and 16 corresponding quote cards to print and play. Games ideas and instructions are included. Through playing games students learn in a fun way and also practise their social skills.

A maze to solve and colour featuring a chameleon and grasshopper. Linked to activities based on The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle.

Celebrate #WorldBeeDay with some bee-themed handwriting patterns and cutting skills! For more minibeast-themed resources including card and board games, mazes, sudoku and book making check out https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/minibeasts-big-bug-bundle-12340248 Teachers Telling Tales also have a free bee-themed maths activity here which can be adapted for different ages and abilities: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/buzz-off-square-numbers-multistep-game-12521661

A lesson plan on hand washing. Perfect for Global Handwashing Day, October 15th annually. Glitter Germs activity, Card games, songs, quiz and teacher / facilitator’s notes. Links to resources such as posters and card games. In Word format for easy editing. Differentiated activities for lower and upper primary school children.