Print onto card, laminate and you have a handy reference tool for punctuation marks.

Exception words and high frequency words that are commonly taught to children at the beginning stages of learning to read. Includes 37 Exception and High Frequency words. Activities includes: Word Slides including discussion prompts about using the words in spoken sentences Word Line activities Flashcards with sound symbols Word Maker sheets The words have been ordered to ensure they are introduced at times that enable you to build upon children’s existing phonics knowledge (for example learning ‘as’ after children have learned the letters ‘a’ and ’s’ and learning ‘the’ after they have been introduced to the ‘th’ digraph). This allows you to use the unusual sounds and spellings in exception words as a point of interest while also consolidating children’s prior learning. Each word includes teaching notes to help explain the unusual spellings/sounds as well as discussing parts of the words that children have previously learned. If you are using the Word Wizard Phonics scheme you can simply follow the included planning. If you are using another scheme you can adapt the planning in order to match up exception words to appropriate phonemes with the scheme you use.

Set of 19 posters featuring the punctuation monsters and a description of their personality (based on their corresponding punctuation mark). A fun way to introduce punctuation marks and their shapes. Includes versions for US-English and British-English

Trace and colour the letter shapes Fun activity featuring all of the consonant and short vowel phonemes taught to children at the Expected level for the Foundation Stage. 32 pages that can be collated as a personal workbook. Includes the following phonemes: a.m.t.s.d i.n.o.p.g c.k.u.b.ck e.f.l.h.sh r.j.v.y.w th.z.ch qu.x.nk.ng

A fun activity for thinking about punctuation. Fold up the questions and then select one at random. Players work out which punctuation mark applies to the question and then check their bingo sheet to see if they have it. Play for a line and a full house! Includes versions for US-English and British-English

An Adventure in Punctuation! This illustrated story follows three Punctuation Monsters who find themselves investigating the mysterious disappearance of letters from local signposts. Children can try to guess what each of the missing letters are and have a go at spotting the different types of punctuation marks used to create the illustrations (look closely). The story features: – Period (Full Stop in the British-English version) – Question Mark – Hyphen – Apostrophe Includes versions for US-English and British-English

Introducing & Monitoring Fine Motor Pencil Skills Use the five different sheets to introduce children to basic writing shapes. The sheets can be revisited at a later stage to monitor children’s progress. Useful as an initial introduction to pencil skills for all children and for additional support and interventions. The shapes used are taken from the Word Wizard handwriting schemes which break every written letter into simplified shapes that can later be combined to write letters.

Stage 1 Story Writer is a pre-writing writing activity! It’s intended to be used BEFORE children begin to develop their formal handwriting skills and shortly after they have started learning to read. The activity involves children having a go at writing sentences as part of an overall story. They are not ‘taught’ to write but are instead asked to dive straight in and just give it a go. The aim is to focus on handwriting as an enjoyable activity while providing a baseline for children’s writing skills. When the story has been completed children will be able to see the progress they have made having received only minimal guidance. This helps them to recognise how their skills develop and equips them with confidence prior to beginning their structured handwriting lessons. Children can return to the characters in the story towards the end of the school year with the Stage 2 Story Writer activity which can be used to demonstrate the progress children have made across the school year. Both resources provide a lasting memento for teachers (and children) and lots of evidence for teachers. Guidance and examples for this resource is available here.

Boost handwriting with these simple to use handwriting sheets featuring animated paths of motion for every letter. Ideal for consolidation for after children have first learned their letters and perfect for a refresher after the school holidays. Includes: lowercase letters UPPERCASE letters numbers Each sheet features: deconstructed letter shapes combined shapes into letter forms mouth shape for the letter sound printed version of the letter tracing letters tracing phonetic words Word Wizard Writing uses a handwritten style rather than computer generated letters to help children develop a natural, fluid style of handwriting. When viewed as slides each worksheet features an animated version of the letter. Letters are ordered into five subsets. Select the relevant slides for each set and copy them into a new file to send to parents and/or print them off for children to put into their person writing workbooks. Note that a cursive version of the boost sheets is available here.

Boost handwriting with these simple to use handwriting sheets featuring animated paths of motion for every letter. Ideal for consolidation for after children have first learned their letters and perfect for a refresher after the school holidays. Includes: cursive letters UPPERCASE letters numbers Each sheet features: deconstructed letter shapes combined shapes into letter forms mouth shape for the letter sound printed version of the letter tracing letters tracing phonetic words Word Wizard Writing uses a handwritten style rather than computer generated letters to help children develop a natural, fluid style of handwriting. When viewed as slides each worksheet features an animated version of the letter. Letters are ordered into five subsets. Select the relevant slides for each set and copy them into a new file to send to parents and/or print them off for children to put into their person writing workbooks. Note a lowercase print version of the boost sheets is available here.

Registration, planning & resources for schools involved (or planning to be) with stories4schools. Children at your school can create a professionally published illustrated story book to share with others. Sell copies to parents and the local community to cover the costs and to generate funds to enable your book to be shared to those that will benefit from it. Further details can be found at www.thinky.xyz

Includes slides and display sheets featuring descriptions for the letter shapes for each letter in the Word Wizard Uppercase handwriting scheme including all capital letters and numbers 0-9.

Stage 2 Story Writer is a sentence-writing activity based on the story of a duck that lost its quack. It is intended for children after they have learned to write their lowercase letters and after they have started to learn to read with phonics. The activity involves children having a go at writing sentences in different ways including copying and ‘listen & write’ as well as a piece of independent writing. The additional Story Line activity can be used to learn about the structure of a sentence including basic punctuation. The writing activity covers all the letters and sounds that children are expected to learn at the Foundation Stage. A teacher assessment is provided that can be used by teachers to monitor children’s writing and reading progress. Guidance and examples for this resource is available here.

Phonics consolidation activities for new readers. This set includes six weeks of activities and introduces 90 new words featuring phonemes that children learned at the beginning stages of phonics. Each new word includes a symbol and a definition to help prompt discussions about how words can be used in spoken language. Supporting children to develop their spoken vocabulary and grammar in this way helps ensure they can use phonics as an effective reading strategy. Children can develop their fine motor skills by cutting and pasting letters into words with the Word Maker sheets and they can work with friends to create Word Lines and better understand how letters form words. Included in this resource: Examples of words that can be made using phonemes that have been previously taught Discussion prompts about using words in spoken sentences Word Line activities Flashcards with sound symbols Word Maker sheets ~~~~ Other Resources ~~~~ Word Wizard Phonics Expected Sets: Introducing consonants, short vowels and some long vowels Phonics Consolidation 7-10: Extended consolidation for basic phonemes Phonics Boost Pack 1: initial consolidation activities, ideal for children to use while you update your monitoring & assessment Phonics Monitoring & Assessment: including individual and class tracking

Phonics consolidation activities for new readers. This set includes four weeks of consolidation activities and introduces 60 new words that use phonemes that children learned at the beginning stages of phonics. It also introduces children to sentences with basic punctuation via the Sentence Line activity. Each new word includes a symbol and a definition to help prompt discussions about how words can be used in spoken language. Supporting children to develop their spoken vocabulary and grammar in this way helps ensure they can use phonics as an effective reading strategy. Children can develop their fine motor skills by cutting and pasting letters into words with the Word Maker sheets and they can work with friends to create Word Lines and better understand how letters form words. Included in this resource: Examples of words that can be made using phonemes that have been previously taught Discussion prompts about using words in spoken sentences Sentence Line activities Flashcards with sound symbols Word Maker sheets ~~~~ Other Resources ~~~~ Word Wizard Phonics Expected Sets: Introducing consonants, short vowels and some long vowels Phonics Consolidation 1-6: Extended consolidation for basic phonemes Phonics Boost Pack 2: initial consolidation activities, ideal for children to use while you update your monitoring & assessment Phonics Monitoring & Assessment: including individual and class tracking

Comprehensive and simple to use progress and monitoring resources to quickly identify children’s development and gaps in learning. Use the resources at the beginning of children’s learning to identify a baseline and then repeat periodically to monitor progress. Includes: Read Sheet: Quickly cover every phoneme and word on a single sheet Individual Child Progress Sheet Class Tracking Sheets Personal writing book Personal Progress Record Flashcards for all assessment phonemes and words Can be adapted for use alongside other phonics schemes and will work perfectly for those following the Word Wizard Phonics scheme. Ideal for using during consolidation weeks alongside Phonics Boost Pack 1 and Phonics Boost Pack 2.

Interactive phonics display activity. Add the phonemes that children learn each week to the line and let them have a go at forming them into words. Can be used to complement the Word Line and Sentence Line activities as featured in the Word Wizard Phonics scheme.

Reading Together with your Child Print this guide double-sided and then fold it and fold again to create a short guide packed with tips to help parents support their child’s reading development at home. ~~~~ Other Resources ~~~~ Word Wizard Phonics Expected Sets: Introducing consonants, short vowels and some long vowels

Helping children understand phonics Help children get an understanding of the concept of using phonics as a reading strategy before diving into learning phonics. This short set of slides introduces the concepts of reading and phonics to children. It includes activities for learning to associate sounds with symbols and an example of how picture symbols became the letters of the alphabet. Use this as an introduction for children at the very beginning of their training to become word wizards. ~~~~ Other Resources ~~~~ Word Wizard Phonics Expected Sets: Introducing consonants, short vowels and some long vowels

Make a Word Wand and learn the Magic Grip position to master the pencil grip. Develop grip strength and technique with vertical tracing activities. Follow the animated shapes with your Word Wand. Make a smaller wand to play Leaping Lizards and to help your Wizard find their way home. Test pencil control with the pencil control sheets.