A selection of Christmas themed words scrambled out of order.

This is a selection of 15 images all containing an action (for example: a dog barking, a bird flying, a child skipping). These are to use in any capacity of a way of generating sentences. I have used them in order to provide ideas for work on main and subordinate clauses. The dog barked --> The dog barked when the doorbell rang.

A simple zone of relevance board. Children can use this for ANY topic as it is generic. Find words (either known or using a thesaurus) and sort them based on how well they describe the topic or person. The words which are okay sit on the outside, the words in the center of the diagram describe the person/topic perfectly. Can be a great starter task or activity for LAP.

Give children a selection of non-fiction books either based on your current topic or all topics. Children will work in pairs (sheets should be on a3 is possible) to look through the books and gather the relevant information. There is a higher and lower ability or children can work in mixed ability pairs.

Here is a set of differentiated resources which can be used for all abilities. There is a HAP, MAP, LAP and SEN resource. Children need to join the sentence to the matching adverbial phrase. There is also a word bank sheet for children to use with their own writing.

Children write how the character feels inside the body and what they look like or can see outside of the body. Links to the video Eleven from the Literacy Shed (free video clip) but the picture could be removed to link to any topic or can be used as a generic space man.

Gives the children five different categories for starting their sentences. Preposition (P) ‘ing’ words (ing) Adverbial (AD) Passing of time (PT) Conjunctions (C) Sheet contains example sentences and the word bank to support in their own writing.

Fact box template. Lined with space for a picture, title and a few interesting facts.

Children to generate words and ideas based on the five senses. Helps to build vocabulary based on settings, topics or characters.

This is an excellent way to engage children in a reading/comprehension lesson. Each child has one of each card (can be laminated back to back to use again and again). The teacher (or another child) will make a claim about the text. For example: In this chapter, Harry and Ron dislike each other. The children must then take a minute to decide if this is true or not. If it IS true, the children will hold up their cards with the agreement side showing. If it IS NOT true, they will show the objection side. The teacher will then select a child at random (could use random name generator or lollipop sticks with names on etc.) to discuss which card they are showing and why. Opens up a great discussion as children will often disagree and can they debate their suggestions. Make it very clear to the children from the beginning that your decision MUST be backed up by evidence from the text and cannot be speculation. This has had great feedback in observations etc.

This is a great activity to begin developing a good understanding of the character. It can be used in many different ways, but the most basic is the children recording the characters emotions and feelings inside the character outline and his appearance and attributes on the outside. It could also be used to explore for/against arguments and what he did vs what he wanted to do etc. A great little resource. Please note: I do not own the rights to Marine4511, this is a fantastic video which can be found on the literacy shed alongside many other valuable resources. I have simply created a resource to use alongside this video.

I have taken the Roz Wilson criteria for Year 5 and converted it into a child friendly version which the children can use for self or peer assessment. Please note: I do not own any copyright for the Roz Wilson criteria itself.

This is a set of five texts which can be used during shared/guided reading sessions. Each text includes literal retrieval as well as ‘find and copy’ style questions and interpretation questions. The children should be given between 20 and 30 minutes to complete the questions therefore meaning their is time left to review the answers as a group/class. Within a whole class, the higher ability children can be given an initial task to complete, such as dictionary work, while the remainder of the class begin their text. After ten minutes the higher ability children then begin their text. This means all children should complete their work at the same time. All texts are aimed at Upper Key Stage 2, however could be accessible by confident Year 4 children or some Key Stage 3 children. Please note: I do not own the copyright to any of the texts used within these worksheets. Copyright for the original texts remains with the individual authors.

The story of Romeo and Juliet written in note form as story mountain. A great resource for children to turn into their own story. I have used this with gifted and talented intervention groups and whole classes and it is always a hit.

A selection of twenty SPAG questions all themed around the topic of Easter. A great revision tool for lessons on the run up to Easter. It covers topics such as punctuation, word class, suffixes and spellings.

A great resource to use for a variety of topics. Each box is lined and the children can record their own story ideas or retell a story they are familiar with. Lines can easily be increased in size for lower ability/younger writers.

A word bank with pictures and meanings. Split into two sections, one to describe the fire and one to describe the feelings of people affected. Some words have brackets to give a simple meaning. A great little resource to encourage the use of high level vocabulary all through this unit. We used it when writing a newspaper report and a diary entry from the time.

An extract from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with questions similar to those the children will find in a test/SATs style paper. For example: Find and copy a phrase which… How does Charlie feel… Why has the author… List three adjectives/verbs…

A series of phonic resources which I use to teach each sound across a week. This week is the ‘OR’ sound. Although the template could be easily adapted to suit any sound. Also a great resource for interventions to support the main teaching. Activity 1: Children to read the words in the table and circle the ones which have a ‘OR’ sound. During this time the teacher will circulate to hear blending and support as needed. Activity 2: Children to read the words in the list. Teacher will then call out some ‘OR’ words and children to segment into the boxes below e.g. sore s-or-e. Activity 3: Children to read the sentences. Teacher to circulate and hear reading, support as necessary. Children again to practice writing ‘OR’ words using segmenting. Activity 4: Children to read the questions and answer ‘yes or no’ to each one. Children will then write basic sentences of their own using ‘OR’ words e.g. I like chips. Blank lines have the brave and scared monkey from kinetic letters, however this can be removed if not using.

I have divided the year 1 and 2 spelling lists into 5 weekly spellings on a ‘Look, Cover, Write, Check’ style format. All that would need updating is the dates for your personal use. This is a total of 16 weeks worth of spellings. Please note: I have discounted some spellings which were overly repetitive in order to fit them all into weekly slots, for example cold, gold, told, hold.