Fiona, of Teachers Telling Tales, has taught in the UK and international schools, trained teachers, worked as environmental educator, in a range of learning support roles and she is currently a tutor.
Through Teachers Telling Tales she aspires to share this experience through creating high quality and affordable resources. While most are targeted at the primary age range, the aim is to provide versatile and adaptable resources to suit a range of ages and abilities.
Fiona, of Teachers Telling Tales, has taught in the UK and international schools, trained teachers, worked as environmental educator, in a range of learning support roles and she is currently a tutor.
Through Teachers Telling Tales she aspires to share this experience through creating high quality and affordable resources. While most are targeted at the primary age range, the aim is to provide versatile and adaptable resources to suit a range of ages and abilities.
These worksheets feature a selection of poems from Commotion in the Ocean and Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae. Students are given the rhyming words to choose from to fill the gaps. There is space for drawing when the work is complete. There are greyscale (black and white) versions for saving on ink.
Creating a Wanted poster or a Missing Poster is a great way to follow up reading The Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl. These templates provide a framework for students to demonstrate their reading comprehension skills through character description and fact retrieval (listing the crimes, stating the place last seen etc.). There are educator’s notes and student notes with instructions to guide through the text characteristics as well as examples of students’ work using the templates.
Provided in Powerpoint and PDF format for flexibility, the activity can be printed or completed digitally.
Other Revolting Rhymes resources are available from Teachers Telling Tales, including Revolting Times (a news summarising pack) and Sublime Rhymes (with examples of idioms).
If your students are motivated by the crime theme, they may also enjoy the Once Upon a Crime resources: /teaching-resource/fairytale-forensics-learning-unit-12222954
An engaging activity to develop reading comprehension skills linked to The Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl. Focus on retrieval and summarising the main idea or events. Use the templates to create a newspaper, newsflash or breaking news on the television.
Guidelines for students include:
headline, caption and story
characteristics of news texts is included such as punctuation, alliteration, rhyme
The television (old and new style) templates can be used for other topics too.
Powerpoint and PDF versions allow for adapting the resource for your needs. Includes educator’s notes and examples of work by students using the templates.
You may also like the Teachers Telling Tales resource Revolting Crimes and Sublime Rhymes, (available as a Revolting Rhymes bundle).
Having a theme for each day is a good way to build community with a group of learners, especially when teaching online. It adds structure to the week and gives students an opportunity to participate.
This pack contains alliterative ideas for each day, such as ‘tongue-twister Tuesday’ or ‘fact or fiction Friday’. There is inspiration for starter activities, quizzes, a range of subject areas and fun dressing up activities.
Ideas can be printed on individual cards for each day or a chart for the week to add to your wall or stick in your planner.
The cards come with UK and US spelling versions, A4 and letter size.
Charts also in UK/US spelling with landscape and portrait variations. PDF and PNG files (so you can adjust the size to suit).
New Update (22.01.21)
Now includes example cards for Would You Rather, This or That and Friday Faves, blank cards for each day and lists of discussion points for Would You Rather and This or That.
Further Update (28.08.22)
Printable cards for Would You Rather (new examples) and This or That for one-to-one or small group discussion. I found these helpful for social games working in alternative provision.
These writing frames are designed to inspire young children to engage in purposeful recording through mark-making or emergent writing during their role play.
Topics: Personal Social Health Education, People who help us, Keeping healthy, parts of the body, numbers 1-5.
Skills development: speaking and listening, beginning writing.
Depending on their developmental stage, children may enjoy mark-making as they see fit, or they may follow the invitation to write names, crosses, ticks and circles.
The pictures are designed to prompt discussion and introduce and consolidate vocabulary.
The frame introduces the concept of forms and tables and includes numbers 1-5.
The writing frames can act as a guide for children role playing a visit to the doctor, prompting questions and responses such as “Where is the problem?†and “Take medicine three times a day.†The first time the frames are introduced, it would be good for an adult to model using them.
Context and Linked Resources
This resource pack was inspired by A Visit From the Nurse https://teacherstellingtales.com/a-visit-from-the-nurse/ an activity to help students overcome anxiety about visiting the school nurse (or other health care professionals).
In that lesson students observe how a nurse cares for us by demonstrating with soft toys in a range of familiar scenarios, e.g. “I bumped my head, I feel sick, I feel itchyâ€.
These are free to download here /teaching-resource/a-visit-from-the-nurse-12174039.
As a follow up, children then explore being a carer through role play. This could be with other children (as a patient or carer) or with toys and dolls. The role play area could be set up as a health centre, hospital, veterinary clinic etc.
Includes
Greyscale versions, as you may need to print lots if they are popular! These can be made into a notebook (perhaps a prescription pad) or attached to a clipboard.
Colour versions could be laminated and used as examples displayed in the role play area, or used by the children with dry wipe pens.
Featuring the beloved little fish and his mum from the story by Lucy Cousins, these activities explore the rhyming words: tiny and spiny, hairy and scary, carrot and parrot, lime and time, heart and dart. This pack contains sets of picture, silhouette and word cards, Bingo cards and simple worksheets with three levels of challenge.
There are greyscale versions of resources for those who want to save ink or include colouring as part of the activity.
Themes: rhyming words, fish, under the sea
Skills: shape recognition, cut and sticking, colouring, beginning reading and writing skills.
A guide is enclosed with the pack which includes ideas for card games.
These activities are a great springboard for creative work, inventing new rhyming fish.
This resource is part of a Teachers Telling Tales series inspired by the Hooray for Fish story and can also be purchased as part of a bundle.
Updated April 2025:
compiled in one pack for ease of use
improved quality of images
Featuring the beloved little fish and his mum from the story by Lucy Cousins, these activities explore the opposites: big and little, fat and thin and happy and grumpy. This pack contains sets of picture, silhouette and word cards and simple worksheets with three levels of challenge.
There are greyscale versions of resources for those who want to save ink or include colouring as part of the activity.
Themes: opposites, fish, under the sea
Skills: shape recognition, cut and sticking, colouring, beginning reading and writing skills.
A guide is enclosed with the pack which includes ideas for card games.
This resource is part of a Teachers Telling Tales series inspired by the Hooray for Fish story and can also be purchased as part of a bundle.
Updated April 2025:
compiled in one file for ease of use
improved quality of images
guide to resource
links to similar resources
A bundle of fishy fun!
Perfect for ocean and sea topics or exploring language, shape, pattern and colour.
Includes mazes, dot-to-dots, tracing and colouring pages, Bingo and card games. Activity sheets at different levels of challenge with matching, cutting and sticking and beginning reading and writing skills.
A mini story and quiz presentation with pattern colouring and treasure hunt activities.
Good for
Follow up to reading The Mixed-up Chameleon by Eric Carle.
Topics : Animals, Colour, Pattern, Camouflage.
Observation Skills: looking carefully at pattern and colour.
Contents and Ideas: (a resource guide is also included)
The Content Chameleon presentation. A mini story and quiz about the no-longer-Mixed-up Chameleon returning to the zoo. He has lots of fun trying out animal patterns. The children guess the animal from the chameleon’s pattern.
(All background photos are free to use and links are provided in the notes.)
Pattern Colouring Sheets. An outline of the chameleon filled with an animal pattern. Children continue the pattern to hide the chameleon. Nine animal patterns and a blank outline are provided.
Blank chameleon outlines. A portrait and landscape version. These can be used as colouring sheets or traced onto plastic pockets to explore inserting different colours and patterns. The traced chameleons can be placed around the classroom or playground for a chameleon treasure hunt. A few photos of ideas are included in the resource guide.
Free Chameleons presentation with interesting facts, free images with links, YouTube and child-friendly website links for further exploration.
A compilation of thirty dice games, presented in an easy to follow document with suggestions for adaptations to meet learners’ needs. The document can be trimmed to produce cards featuring simple instructions, perfect for support staff working with small groups.
Mathematics skills covered include: calculation using all four operations, comparing numbers, place value, doubling, odd and even numbers, times tables, square numbers, number bonds, probability, rounding, power of 10, negative numbers, fractions, sequences, area and perimeter.
Robot, Monster and Ogre get confused with tens and ones, can you help them?
Great starter activities for online and classroom sessions.
Count and create 2 digit numbers. Say which is most / least, double numbers, add one more and correct common mistakes.
A presentation with six problems to solve using tens and ones blocks and candles on cakes… Use the templates to create many more based on your students’ needs.
For more early counting activities check out
/teaching-resource/count-the-coins-treasure-chest-challenges-12563480
An animated presentation, perfect for starter activities. Students pick which treasure chest they think will have the most money, then, as each is revealed they count the coins to see if they were correct.
As it’s a game of luck, everyone has an equal chance of winning. All get to practise the calculation, which could be addition or counting in multiples of 2, 5 or 10. The more challenging quests have mixed coins. This is a good way to demonstrate how different values of coins can make the same amount, e.g. 10 ones and 1 ten.
There are 5 sections, each with 3 games; however, variations can easily be created by duplicating slides and rearranging the coins.
Sections:
Count in 5s
Count in 10s
10s and 1s
1s and 2s
10, 5, 2 and 1
The coins are inspired by UK money, however, as they are a simple design with a large number, no familiarity with UK money is required for the games so they are suitable for use in any location.
Answers and extension ideas are included in the notes.
The pack includes 2 versions: use ppsx to avoid changes in layout/formatting or pptx if you want to change or adapt the presentations. My students loved this and I ended up creating many variations by simply changing the coins.
You may also like the pirate-themed resources in the Teachers Telling Tales shop, including positional language, sudoku and phonics, for example, /teaching-resource/pirates-pack-12183976.
More maths packs will be added shortly.
This engaging presentation features interesting facts about chameleons with colourful photographs and links to short videos as illustration. (All photos are free to use and share, links provided in the notes).
It aims to answer common questions and stimulate new ones. A link at the end to a children’s website enables further research.
Aimed at younger children, text is simple and minimal.
Great as a follow-up to reading The Mixed-up Chameleon by Eric Carle or as part of topics on animals, patterns and colours.
(This resource is included free with other chameleon resources from Teachers Telling Tales.)
Logic and reasoning skills with a minibeasts theme. Featuring cute cartoon creepy crawlies, these activities are a fun way to develop thinking skills. Students cut and paste pictures to complete the sequences and sudoku squares.
Easy, medium and hard versions for different levels of challenge.
Ink saving variations included (different puzzles to the colour ones).
Perfect for a minibeasts topic, a challenge for early finishers or a discrete lesson in problem solving.
For related minibeasts resources, check out the Teachers Telling Tales shop, there are bundle and save options.
A cool collection of ice lolly and ice cream themed activities. Includes craft, colouring and design. Inspire creative ideas and develop vocabulary related to flavours, colours, toppings and discussion of preferences and opinions. Explore symmetry through completing pictures and creating designs.
Perfect for summer, holiday and food topics, parties or play dates.
Creating these cute ice lolly characters is a fun activity for learning about symmetry. The challenge is to draw the missing side of the picture so it is the same on both sides. A grid over the image helps with drawing shapes and placing details in the correct place. You could also use a mirror, place it along the middle line to check in the reflection. There are 3 character designs to complete, two ice lolly shapes with no detail and a blank grid for creating your own designs. Colour and ink saving versions included.
Children love to create a name for their finished lolly and for an extra challenge can design the wrapper using the blank grid.
Check out the ice cream symmetry resources and other ice lolly activities by Teachers Telling Tales for summer topics or parties.
This resource can also be purchased as part of the ‘Ice Ice Bundle’.
A cool creative pack of ice cream goodies, ideal for summer topics or parties. Contains 3 activities:
Ice cream cone symmetry. complete the pictures so the delicious dessert is the same on both sides (3 designs).
‘I dream of ice cream’ design your perfect ice cream template, single and double cone versions.
Ice cream creative colouring sheets (4 designs).
Great for talking about colours, flavours, toppings, preferences.
There are similar symmetry resources featuring ice lollies in the Teachers Telling Tales shop: /teaching-resource/ice-lolly-symmetry-12355898
You can also purchase this resource with other ice lolly resources as part of the ‘Ice Ice Bundle’.
A simple sheet for students to complete to introduce themselves. Pictures and words guide and prompt through the sections and there is an open-ended space at the end for learners to choose something about themselves to share.
No-prep PDF and editable PowerPoint versions.
Perfect for first day / sessions with new students.
Inspired by the magic mirror from Snow White that tells the truth about characters, these templates can be used as frames for portraits.
Heroes and villains are key feature of fairy tales. Characters tend to be represented in black and white terms, purely good or evil. This makes fairy tales a great vehicle for exploring character traits and discussing good and bad deeds. Children can decide who they think is the meanest (or kindest) fairy tale character and draw them. Depending on their age/developmental stage they can ‘show and tell’ their thoughts, perhaps scribed by an adult or write a few sentences to explain their choice. Some children may prefer to write in the frame instead of drawing.
The pack contains two colour images (useful for discussion/display/modelling) and six black and white versions for drawings of the ‘kindest’ and ‘meanest’ of them all. There are variations on the wording, for example, the ‘biggest villain’ and ‘most heroic’.
Did you know in the Disney film the evil queen says “Magic mirror†not “Mirror, mirror� There is a magic mirror version too, in case you prefer this!
This resource is part of a ‘Once upon a crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales. The activity is one of 12 in a Fairy Tale Forensics unit of study presentation which includes a police line-up of characters that could be used as a stimulus for mirror portraits. The Mug Shots resource would also complement this activity. You can ‘bundle and save’ on this series.