Story Starters for writing lessons in the classroom. They are all for writing in the first person (ie they all contain 'I') Print these out and laminate them back-to-back. Hand them out (or children can 'lucky-dip'). Students can then choose which story starter interests them the most and use that one to begin writing in their exercise book. Collect them in and use them again another time. 8 A4 sheets with 8 story starters on each page (total 64).

A large set of synonym matching cards. What you get: 88 pairs of words (22 pages with 4 sets on each page). Blank template for creating additional synonyms if you wish. A4 size chart with the definition of a synonym. Provided in colour as well as black and white. Great for word study, daily 5, word work, early finisher activity, literacy box activity, etc

A fun, interactive activity for your students to practise their spelling words. Print and laminate the mats. Students use alphabet letters such as magnetic letters, scrabble tiles, letters written on milk bottle lids or pieces of card. They gather the letters they need and manipulate them until they see the word. Words used: NZ Essential Spelling Words lists 1-8 (list 8 = commonly misspelt words). 2 Different Formats: ♦ With a prompt – a dot under the starting letter ♦ Without a prompt 69 ‘Unscramble it’ mats in total Just print the mats that suit the level of your students: ♦ List 1 – 2 mats ♦ List 2 – 4 mats ♦ List 3 – 6 mats ♦ List 4 – 10 mats ♦ List 5 – 10 mats ♦ List 6 - 14 mats ♦ List 7 – 12 mats ♦ List 8 – 11 mats * This is the type of activity that your ‘hands-on learners’ will appreciate. * Great for a learning station, early finisher activity, etc. * This activity will reinforce both spelling and reading. The font used is ‘NZ Basic Script’. The letter shapes are the same as those recommended in the NZ Ministry of Education Handbook – ‘Teaching Handwriting’. 5 words on each A4 page. The level of each mat is written in the bottom right corner. Answer sheets are not provided. If you can’t work out what the word is (particularly some of the longer words in list 7 and 8) just look at the starting letter and refer to a copy of the essential spelling list. Please note that when making some of the longer words, the letter tiles will not fit in the allocated space on the page. These longer words will spread out onto the table/floor. Also, there are two words in List one that are only 1 letter long (a and I) so these will not require unscrambling. The words are displayed in a different order to my other resource – Essential Spelling Words ‘Make it’ mats. © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

Activity sheets for lists 1-4 of the NZCER Essential Words. A great way to reinforce spelling and handwriting at the same time! 110 activity sheets in total. A5 size (two of the same activity sheet on each A4 size page). Activities: ♦ write your name at the top of the sheet. ♦ read the word. ♦ cut the letter tiles out and decide which ones you need to keep. ♦ glue the letter tiles in the empty boxes. ♦ trace the word written in the light grey font. ♦ write the word independently. The lines for writing are 14mm high with a 7mm dashed line. The font used is ‘NZ Basic Script’. The letter shapes are the same as those recommended in the NZ Ministry of Education Handbook – ‘Teaching Handwriting’. List 1 – 10 words List 2 – 20 words List 3 – 30 words List 4 – 50 words Also available in my store: Lists 5-6. ********************************************************************** © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

Activity sheets for lists 5 and 6 of the NZCER Essential Words. A great way to reinforce spelling and handwriting at the same time! 120 activity sheets in total. A5 size (two of the same activity sheet on each A4 size page). 3 of the words are on an A4 size worksheet due to the length of the word. Activities: ♦ write your name at the top of the sheet. ♦ read the word. ♦ cut the letter tiles out and decide which ones you need to keep. ♦ glue the letter tiles in the empty boxes. ♦ trace the word written in the light grey font. ♦ write the word independently. The lines for writing are 14mm with a 7mm dashed line. The font used is ‘NZ Basic Script’. The letter shapes are the same as those recommended in the NZ Ministry of Education Handbook – ‘Teaching Handwriting’. List 5 – 50 words List 6 – 70 words Also available in my store: List 1-4 © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

Celebrate the Māori New Year with this writing/art activity. Write a haiku poem on the feather template. Add colour and cut it out. Join the class feathers together to make a korowai (Māori cloak). Included: ♦ Haiku framework chart ♦ Example poem ♦ Feather template – with lines for writing ♦ Feather template – without lines Please note that information/instructions are not included for the making of the korowai. To see examples, please do an image search online (Matariki feather cloaks). The Haiku Poem: The haiku poem is a simple, 3-line poem that involves counting syllables. The framework is: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. Early finishers can use the feather template without the lines to create additional decorative feathers that can then be interspersed between the haiku feathers. Made on A4 size paper. Two feathers per sheet. ********************************************************************** © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

A poetry writing activity for your students that can be used for war remembrance days such as: ♦ Anzac Day ♦ Remembrance Day ♦ Armistice Day ♦ Memorial Day ♦ Veterans Day Write the acrostic poem, add colour, cut and display as bunting. Simply trim the flap off if you don’t want to display it as bunting. There are 5 different styles of poppy headers for each of the words listed below. (80 different templates altogether). The 16 Words: SOLDIER PLATOON BATTLE REMEMBER POPPIES SACRIFICE MILITARY CONFLICT TRENCHES WEAPONRY VETERAN FREEDOM WAR PEACE ANZAC DAY (for NZ and Australian classrooms) GALLIPOLI (for NZ and Australian classrooms) Provided in 2 Paper Sizes: ♦ A4 paper size ♦ Letter paper size ********************************************************************** © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

A creative way to present some poetry on war remembrance days such as: ♦ Anzac Day ♦ Remembrance Day ♦ Armistice Day ♦ Memorial Day ♦ Veterans Day Write the acrostic poem in the square and then cut it out. Fold the pocket template and glue the poem in centre, under the flaps. Template Options: ♦ Acrostic Poem – 8 templates to choose from (see list below). ♦ Ode of Remembrance – this is not a writing activity, it is just a copy of the poem that students can glue in and learn. ♦ ‘Thank you for …’ – write a list of things you appreciate about the men/women who serve in the military. ♦ Blank – decide on your own writing (or drawing) activity. The Acrostic Poem Templates: MILITARY SOLDIER WAR VETERAN WAR REMEMBER ANZAC DAY ANZAC COVE GALLIPOLI Approximate size (once folded): 9cm x 8.5cm. Two Paper Sizes: ♦ A4 paper size ♦ Letter paper size Please note that with the letter size paper, the pocket template is on one piece of paper and the square that gets glued in the middle is on another piece of paper (4 squares per sheet). ********************************************************************** © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

A poetry writing activity for your students that can be used for war remembrance days such as: ♦ Anzac Day ♦ Remembrance Day ♦ Armistice Day ♦ Memorial Day ♦ Veterans Day This poem has the format of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. Write the poem then add colour, cut, fold in half and glue together. Laminate if desired. Included: ♦ 2 x poppy bookmark templates – with and without lines for writing ♦ 1 x soldier silhouette bookmark template – with and without lines for writing ♦ Poem Framework ♦ Example poem 2 paper sizes: ♦ A4 size paper ♦ Letter size paper Approximate size: 19cm x 7 cm (once folded) ********************************************************************** © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

A high-interest activity to assist your students with learning their essential spelling words. Students use a ‘Secret Code Alphabet Sheet’ to decode the 5 mystery words on their worksheet. Then they complete the other activities using these 5 words. Activities: ♦ Decode the mystery words using the secret code alphabet sheet. ♦ Write the words in the letter boxes. ♦ Write the words in alphabetical order. ♦ Select one (or more) words and write it in a fancy way (word art). Included: ♦ 58 activity sheets for all of the words in Lists 1-7. ♦ Secret code alphabet sheets ♦ Answers ♦ Teacher notes ♦ Materials for teaching the ‘letter boxes’ activity 58 Worksheets: ♦ List 1 - 2 sheets ♦ List 2 - 4 sheets ♦ List 3 - 6 sheets ♦ List 4 - 10 sheets ♦ List 5 - 10 sheets ♦ List 6 - 14 sheets ♦ List 7 - 12 sheets The Secret Codes: ♦ List 1 & 2 – flowers (the same code) ♦ List 3 - circles ♦ List 4 - faces (emotions) ♦ List 5 - tribal patterns ♦ List 6 - heads ♦ List 7 - ice blocks The ‘Alphabet Code Sheets’ are designed to be laminated and used multiple times. There are 2 on each A4 size page. Print and cut. Sheets are labelled with the list number in the top left corner (eg 4e) The code breaking activity works on important skills such as comparing/contrasting, predicting and skimming/scanning. ********************************************************************** © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

Mystery Sight Words! Students work out the starting letter of each image and place an alphabet manipulative underneath it to work out the secret word. A great hands-on activity that supports both reading and spelling of high frequency words. Use alphabet manipulatives such as magnetic letters or letters written on milk bottle lids. Alternatively your students could ‘write and wipe’ the letters with a whiteboard marker (laminate first). Included: ♦ 45 x 3 letter word cards ♦ 45 x 4 letter word cards ♦ 30 x 5 letter word cards ♦ Teaching aids (little flashcards to ensure your students know what each image is). Made on A4 size paper. 3 word cards per sheet. Words Used: 3 letter words: mum, the, dad, and, can, sat, for, get, put, was, you, she, are, too, not, but, big, see, one, all, day, out, ran, him, saw, his, got, yes, her, let, had, end, now, fun, bag, did, run, use, old, new, how, who, our, man, dog. 4 letter words: like, look, said, went, here, come, with, they, this, will, down, when, came, make, back, into, play, take, that, then, from, baby, have, help, home, need, soon, find, very, were, your, walk, girl, last, what, goes, next, than, cake, good, know, them, want, feel, just. 5 letter words: going, today, where, likes, there, again, laugh, could, under, about, their, right, still, water, after, think, other, these, began, never, first, found, night, small, three, every, bring, catch, brown, funny. Images Used: Apple, ball, car, dog, egg, frog, guitar, hammer, ice-cream, juice, key, lamp/light, mouse, nine/number, orange, pig, queen, rainbow, sun, tortoise, umbrella, violin, whale, xylophone, yacht, zip. The same image is used throughout the cards (a is always apple, b is always ball …) (Note: the letters q and z do not appear in any of the words.) ********************************************************************** © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

A fun concertina booklet to present information about 27 different zoo animals. The Report Headings: What do I look like? What do I eat? Who are my enemies? What do I like to do? Where do I live? Interesting fact. What type of animal am I? (amphibian, bird, fish, mammal, reptile – tick the correct box) Cover page – give the animal a name; write your own name; colour the animal. How To Construct: 1. Trim around the outside of the page. 2. Fold in half and glue. 3. Concertina fold to make a booklet. Included: ♦ Template for 27 different zoo animals. ♦ Blank template (to make for other animals). ♦ Construction instructions. The Animals: Bear Cheetah Crocodile Elephant Flamingo Frog Giraffe Gorilla Hippopotamus Kangaroo Koala Lion Lizard Monkey Panda Parrot Peacock Penguin Polar Bear Rhinoceros Sloth Snake Tiger Toucan Tortoise Walrus Zebra Designed on A4 size paper. Can be enlarged to allow additional room for writing. ********************************************************************** © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

A fun activity to reinforce letter and number formation. The font used is ‘NZ Basic Script’. The letter/number shapes are the same as those recommended in the NZ Ministry of Education Handbook – ‘Teaching Handwriting’. Students roll a dice, look on the sheet and write the letter/number that corresponds to the number on the dice. Various templates are available to allow you to differentiate the activity for your students. Included: ♦ Lower case letters (a-z) – 5 pages ♦ Upper case letters (A-Z) – 5 pages ♦ Lower and upper case letters (Aa-Zz) – 5 pages ♦ Numbers (0-10) – 2 pages 3 Different Formats: ♦ Trace all ♦ Trace 2 and write 3 ♦ Write all Your students can write on the sheets, or you can laminate them and have it as a ‘write and wipe’ activity. Great for early finishers, literacy station, etc… * Four of the vowels (a,e,i,u) appear twice in each set. This was done simply because there are 30 spaces and only 26 letters of the alphabet. * The number zero (0) also appears twice in the set of number sheets as there are 12 spaces and 11 numbers are used (0-10) © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

Activity worksheets for lists 1-4 of the NZ Essential Spelling Words. Practise spelling and handwriting at the same time! Great for a literacy activity, word of the day, homework activity, etc. A total of 110 worksheets. Activities on the Worksheets: ♦ Write your name. ♦ Count the number of letters in the word and write the number in the box. ♦ Spell the word out loud 3 times. Tick the boxes to indicate this has been done. ♦ Count how many syllables. Colour the hand to show your answer. ♦ Colour the word. ♦ Write the word in the ‘letter boxes’. ♦ Trace the word (written in light grey font). ♦ Write the word. ♦ Write the word in the bricks on the word wall. ♦ Write the word in a sentence. The font used is ‘NZ Basic Script’. The letter shapes are the same as those recommended in the NZ Ministry of Education Handbook – ‘Teaching Handwriting’. The lines for the tracing and writing activities are 14mm high with a 7mm dashed line. Made on A4 size paper. Each worksheet has the same format. Also available: Lists 5-6 ********************************************************************** © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

Activity worksheets for lists 5-6 of the NZ Essential Spelling Words. Practise spelling and handwriting at the same time! A total of 120 worksheets. Activities on the Worksheets: ♦ Write your name. ♦ Count the number of letters in the word and write the number in the box. ♦ Spell the word out loud 3 times. Tick the boxes to indicate this has been done. ♦ Count how many syllables. Colour the hand to show your answer. ♦ Colour the word. ♦ Write the word in the ‘letter boxes’. ♦ Trace the word (written in light grey font). ♦ Write the word. ♦ Write the word in the bricks on the word wall. ♦ Write the word in a sentence. The font used is ‘NZ Basic Script’. The letter shapes are the same as those recommended in the NZ Ministry of Education Handbook – ‘Teaching Handwriting’. The lines for the tracing and writing activities are 14mm high with a 7mm dashed line. Made on A4 size paper. Each worksheet has the same format. Also available: Lists 1-4 ********************************************************************** © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

An activity/game that supports learning in oral language and math (geometry). TASK: Can you direct your buddy to draw an identical image to the one you are holding? Students are paired. Person A is given an image. He/She must use his/her amazing communication skills to give instructions to Person B to draw an identical image. Person A cannot watch what Person B is drawing. This activity results in students becoming better at using specific vocabulary (eg, shape, position, direction, size). SUPER FUN … your students will love it! This resource contains: 30 different task cards Teacher notes This is LEVEL C (challenging). Two other levels are available: Level A (basic) Level B (intermediate) © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

Professor Diggalot has discovered some ancient documents that belonged to the ‘Puggawigga’ people from long ago. He has been unable to decipher the mysterious code that these texts are written in, so he has written to you to ask if you can help him. Are you up for the challenge? Interesting, fun facts about 22 different minibeasts are written in code and displayed on ancient parchment paper. (Plain black and white copy is also included) This resource includes: * Scenario outline * Teacher notes – how to decipher the code, etc. * List of the 22 minibeasts * Poster – definition of minibeast / invertebrate * Letter from Professor Diggalot (requesting your assistance) * Photo of Professor Diggalot at the site of the Puggawigga ruins * Ancient document - alphabet grid * Code breaking tool – alphabet grid - student handout (also in black and white) * Ancient documents on parchment paper (the codes) (also in black and white) * Answers Facts/Codes for these 22 creatures: Ladybug, grasshopper, ant, wasp, spider, praying mantis, moth, butterfly, snail, worm, bumble bee, dragonfly, honey bee, earwig, flea, mosquito, fly, aphid, caterpillar, cicada, cockroach, millipede. A super-fun activity for learning about minibeasts / invertebrates. Get your code-breaking cap on! © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

An activity/game that supports learning in oral language and math (geometry). TASK: Can you direct your buddy to draw an identical image to the one you are holding? Students are paired. Person A is given an image. He/She must use his/her amazing communication skills to give instructions to Person B to draw an identical image. Person A cannot watch what Person B is drawing. This activity results in students becoming better at using specific vocabulary (eg, shape, position, direction, size). SUPER FUN … your students will love it! This resource contains: * 30 different task cards * Teacher notes This is LEVEL A (basic). Two other levels are available: Level B (intermediate) Level C (challenging) © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

An activity/game that supports learning in oral language and math (geometry). TASK: Can you direct your buddy to draw an identical image to the one you are holding? Students are paired. Person A is given an image. He/She must use his/her amazing communication skills to give instructions to Person B to draw an identical image. Person A cannot watch what Person B is drawing. This activity results in students becoming better at using specific vocabulary (eg, shape, position, direction, size). SUPER FUN … your students will love it! This resource contains: * 30 different task cards * Teacher notes This is LEVEL B (intermediate). Two other levels are available: Level A (basic) Level C (challenging) © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources

This is a bundle for Level A, B, C of the 'Communic-8' game. An activity/game that supports learning in oral language and math (geometry). TASK: Can you direct your buddy to draw an identical image to the one you are holding? Students are paired. Person A is given an image. He/She must use his/her amazing communication skills to give instructions to Person B to draw an identical image. Person A cannot watch what Person B is drawing. This activity results in students becoming better at using specific vocabulary (eg, shape, position, direction, size). SUPER FUN ��� your students will love it! Each of the three levels contains: * 30 different task cards * Teacher notes Level A - Basic Level B - Intermediate Level C - Challenging © Suzanne Welch Teaching Resources