How to make your own guided reading toolbox

(Sample toolkits above) After my probation year, I shared a class with an *amazing* teacher who introduced me to her guided reading toolbox and now I can't live without one! (In the classroom. In general life I would be ok).When it's time to hear reading, I grab the toolbox and am ready to go! Here are a …

Fronted adverbial sorting activity

Who doesn't love a fronted adverbial? This game allows children to sort fronted adverbials into three groups: those that describe the where, when and how of the verb in each sentence. After sorting into groups, children can then add the most suitable fronted adverbial to the incomplete sentence strips. This makes for a spot of …

Greater than or less than resources

Yesterday, the SATS revision continued for my KS1 students. We looked at greater than and less than symbols, and used these resources to help solidify their knowledge. For some reason, the crocodile is a very prominent feature in most teachers more than/less than lessons, so I stuck with tradition and used a handy alligator rhyme …

How my students’ story openers went from zero to hero! (Thank you TES!)

Recently, I have been working on  creative writing with a core group of 6 year old students that I teach every week. In an attempt to expand their story openings, I sought advice from my trusty friend TES. They didn't fail to deliver! I came across the "SAD" strategy for story writing. The idea is, …

Pizza themed fraction games

Differentiated three ways, this pizza fraction game encourages students to recognise halves, thirds, quarters, sixths and eighths with lots of opportunities to discuss all things equivalent. Varied pizza toppings are of course included, with the exception of the pineapple chunk as I still refuse to accept it's place in  the pizza environment. The gist of …

Fraction and decimal dominoes

  A simple dominoes game to help children recognise the relationship between fractions and decimals. The game focuses on tenths as it is an introduction to the concept of decimals. The flashcards can also be used to play matching games. FREE DOWNLOAD: Fractions and decimals dominoes  

15 “wins” that only teachers will truly understand. Let the victory dance commence!

The teaching profession is a stressful one, with more paperwork than you can shake a stick at (although that stick is useful in batting off brand new initiatives that are thrown our way on a seemingly daily basis). However. Let's all take a minute to think about the joys of teaching. Of course, seeing children …

What’s the problem? Incorporating dilemmas into creative writing

I am a huge Pie fan. The Corbett variety of course! I think Pie Corbett's story mountain is a fantastic aid for helping children to structure their creative stories and the idea of incorporating a "problem" and a "solution" into each story makes for much more sophisticated and detailed writing. It also allows children to …

Using Disney to teach comprehension

A few weeks ago I watched an incredible documentary called "Life, Animated" which showcased the life of a young man called Owen Suskind. Owen has autism and when he was a child he lost the ability to communicate with others. Incredibly, he used Disney films to regain his communication skills and as he grew older, …

Speech Marks Powerpoint

A Powerpoint presentation that investigates what speech marks are and the rules that apply when using them in writing. The slides also allow opportunities for children to practice writing using speech marks. Challenge slides at the end encourage children to look for common mistakes that are made when speech is being used. Sample slides: FREE …

Easy as 1,2,3! Free counting in 3s Powerpoint

One of my pupils needs a little bit of help counting in 3s at the moment, and for some reason I couldn't find a Powerpoint anywhere that focused just on this skill! So here is a wee freebie - an interactive presentation that encourages counting forwards and backwards in 3s, finding missing numbers in a sequence …