A lesson on mapwork for Y3/4 in which pupils locate and name the major rivers of the UK and some of the major towns and cities that lie along their courses. 4 river/waterway maps are included but it is highly recommended you put out a class set of good quality atlases with detailed mapping of the UK in them. Pupils will need to use their skills of comparing features across different maps in order to label the major UK rivers and answer the questions below. The activity is differentiated three ways.

A lesson for Y3/4 focussing on the skill of historical interpretation. This lesson provides primary and secondary sources (in picture format) that pupils interpret to decide why the Roman army was such a successful fighting force and why they enjoyed such success against the Celts when they invaded Britain. The resources comprise a powerpoint, a sheet with information on the sources (it is suggested you enlarge this to A3), images of the sources to cut and stick (if desired) and the worksheets themselves, differentiated 2 ways.

A lesson for KS1 explaining Hindu beliefs about God and the creation of the universe and Earth. Includes a video explaining the Hindu creation story in child-friendly language. The main activity is differentiated three ways.

A geography lesson for Y2/3 in which pupils make some basic comparisons between the UK and a neighbouring European country (France), relating to both environmental, physical and human aspects of their geographies. Main activity involves a venn diagram, differentiated two ways plus an added extension.

A lesson for KS1 about what goes on and what can be found in a Mosque. Powerpoint contains a link to a video that gives a tour by Muslims of the East London Mosque in Shadwell. Three differentiated activities for pupils to choose between plus an extension and plenary mini quiz .

A complete lesson for Y3/4 on writing rhyming couplets, with water as the context for the poetry. The lesson involves plenty of partner talk and oracy so as to allow pupils to hear the effect of different rhyming structures, as well as the overall rhythms of poetry. The main activity is differentiated three ways with a word bank to support children working at all three levels of challenge.

This is a complete lesson for lower KS2 pupils who are studying Hinduism in RE and have already had a basic introduction to the concepts of Ahimsa, Karma and Dharma. There is a starter intended to ‘hook’ the children in by getting them to ask the questions - these questions could then be used in an alternative plenary in which pupils can answer their original questions. The reading activity could be completed in groups of four (one card each) or pairs (two cards each). There are comprehension questions at the bottom for the pupils to ask each there peers after reading each section. Finally, the main written activity is differentiated three ways to allow children to apply their new understanding of Ghandi and his beliefs.

A lesson for Y3/4 focussing on the skill of historical interpretation. This lesson provides primary and secondary sources (in picture format) that pupils interpret to explain the ways in which the Anglo Saxon invaders of the 6th century AD were different from the Roman-influenced Britons that they found living here. The resources comprise a powerpoint, a sheet with information on the sources (it is suggested you enlarge this to A3), images of the sources to cut and stick (if desired) and the worksheets themselves, differentiated 2 ways.

A lesson for KS1 exploring the meaning behind the Easter Sunday story. Lesson includes a video that explains the key events of the story, as told in the Bible. The pupil activity is differentiated three ways.

A complete, standalone writing lesson for Y3/4 in which pupils complete a written piece to either begin or end a unit on newspapers (with an Anglo Saxon topic theme!). In this lesson, pupils complete a newspaper article breaking the news to Romano Britons that the Anglo Saxons are about to invade their shores. The resources comprise: an example text (WAGOLL), wordbank, planning template, writing frame (pages 1 and 2, with newspaper-style columns) and a step-by-step powerpoint.

This powerpoint contains 82 literacy starters, each one differentiated three ways and most also including an extension challenge - a total of over 300 activities! With the exception of the ‘lipograms’, these activities are all ‘open-ended’, i.e, pupils do not ‘finish’ them. This makes them ideal for morning ‘welcome’ time (for schools that do this), where pupils arrive at different times. Equally, they can be used as regular lesson starters. Nothing needs printing for any of the activities, you literally just put the slide up on your smartboard and off you go! The file comprises the following challenges: Slides 2-18: ‘Word Chains’ (Y1-6) This can be good practice for pupils’ dictionary use skills - can they find a word that begins with the last letter(s) of the previous word? How long can they then make this word chain before they run out of words? Slide 19: ‘Alphabet Sentences’ (Y1-6) A great activity for assessing how well pupils grasp what constitutes a sentence, as well as extending their vocabulary. This activity challenges pupils to create sentences where the words start with consecutive letters of the alphabet. Slides 20-46: ‘Lipograms’ (Y4-6) Ideal for practice in using a thesaurus and extending pupils’ vocabulary, as well as assessing their sense of poetic rhythm and word choice. These activities provide a short poem with a particular theme (e.g ‘water’, ‘Spring’, ‘The Future’, etc.) and challenge pupils to re-write it with the rule that one letter is ‘forbidden’! Note: some of these are harder than others, so choose carefully when first introducing the idea! Slides 47-62: ‘Starts and Ends’ (Y2-6) A chance for pupils to build vocabulary and practice dictionary use, this time in a slightly more competitive way! The starting and ending letters of words are provided, pupils need to think of and write down the longest words they can find/think of with those starting and ending letters. Slides 63-74: ‘9 Letter Challenge’ (Y1-3) Useful for practicing phonics for spelling with simpler words. This activity challenges pupils to make as many words as they can using the provided letters. Note: These only have 2-way differentiation (plus an extension challenge) Slides 75-83: Christmas Specials! These are versions of the above challenges for the festive season, complete with suitably cheesy xmas graphics!

A lesson for Y2 or Y3 on the key locations on Earth (North Pole, South Pole, Equator, Northern and Southern Hemispheres) plus the directions of a four-point compass. Activity comprises three smaller tasks and is differentiated three ways. Includes a world map with the key countries (for the questions) highlighted. However, you may prefer to use a photocopied atlas (perhaps enlarging to A3) for greater readability.

A lesson explaining to pupils the significance of the Palm Sunday story and challenging them to retell it in ‘storyboard’ form. Includes a video recounting the events of Palm Sunday as told in the Bible. The pupil activity is differentiated three ways.

A complete, standalone lesson for Y3/4 in which pupils design a ‘room-cleaning robot’ and then use this as the context for an explanation text on how the robot functions. This can be done as an assessed piece in one extended lesson or the content could be split into separate planning and writing days. The resources comprise: an example text (WAGOLL), wordbank, design template, planning (‘flowchart’) template, L.O page header slips and a step-by-step powerpoint.

An assembly that I used during an assessment day for an deputy head position (I got the job!) This is a presentation with some embedded videos (links to YouTube - please check that they work with your school’s firewall/intranet before using) that starts with the famous ‘marshmallow test’ before exploring the life stories of three very different ‘geniuses’ (Einstein, Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs) and relating their successes and struggles to the growth mindset. Pupils are then confronted with three scenarios and asked to think what a person with a growth mindset would do and what a person with a fixed mindset would do in each of them.

An ideal end-of-unit quiz for upper KS2 to put their knowledge of the Sikh religion to the test in a fun and accessible way. No need to print anything - just put the slides on-screen and click through! Note: the combination of questions and answers takes approximately 1 hour to work through with a class.

A lesson on Ramadan with a video clip following young Muslims as they fast during the holy month, and then celebrate at Eid-al-Fitr. Three differentiated activities for pupils to complete are included, plus an extension challenge.

This resource is ideal for use when teaching lower KS2 pupils how to find fractions of a number. The ‘1chilli’ and ‘2 chillies’ activities are intended to be trimmed into three rectangles and stuck onto the template when completed. For example, a pupil may start with the ‘1 chilli - A’ activity, find they are ready to move onto harder work and so do the ‘two chillies - A’ activity next. The template has space for up to 3 activities. Additionally there are a pair of ‘chilli challenge’ cards that you could trim and laminate for use as an extension or to go in a ‘challenge area’ within your classroom. These challenges are ‘open-ended’ - there are a range of solutions and therefore should keep able Y3/4 pupils busy for some time!

A tarsia puzzle for practice with mentally adding/subtracting multiples of 1, 10, 100 and 1000. Can be used in pairs or individually. Includes missing number problems to challenge pupils’ reasoning. As an extension, why not challenge pupils to create their own puzzle with similar calculation problems?