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Dicing with Grammar

Average Rating4.74
(based on 229 reviews)

It's simple really: English grammar can be a very dry subject, but this need not be the case. For a few years now, I have been developing a games-based approach to teaching important grammar concepts. It is amazing how the introduction of dice takes the learning into a new place - the element of chance making it seem less like work and more like play. Because I test my games extensively in the classroom, I get a feel for what works. Dump your boring worksheets and start dicing with grammar.

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It's simple really: English grammar can be a very dry subject, but this need not be the case. For a few years now, I have been developing a games-based approach to teaching important grammar concepts. It is amazing how the introduction of dice takes the learning into a new place - the element of chance making it seem less like work and more like play. Because I test my games extensively in the classroom, I get a feel for what works. Dump your boring worksheets and start dicing with grammar.
27 editing stations
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27 editing stations

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27 ways to for KS2 writers to edit and improve their own writing. This project was loosely inspired by Brighton Train Station (bear with us). We put it together to help children develop writing further at the editing stage. The PowerPoint explains how it works, but we are sure you’ll find your own ways to use this. It was a lot of work, so if you spot the odd error, please let us know and we will put it right. We hope it saves you some precious time. Please leave a review. Happy editing!
Label a mosque
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Label a mosque

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Simple ‘label a mosque’ activity. I couldn’t find one, so I hope it saves you some time. I drew the mosque.
Civil War on The Moon, by Ted Hughes, space poetry
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Civil War on The Moon, by Ted Hughes, space poetry

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A one week unit for Y5 or Y6 exploring the weird and wonderful poem ‘Civil War on The Moon’, by the amazing Ted Hughes. Once the children have unpicked the tricky vocabulary (using the presentation attached), they will love this poem about two armies fighting for domination of the moon. My classes are always very keen to create new armies for a poem of their own. I use it during our space topic. I have included teacher notes about the parts children find a little tricky and a breakdown of each verse. I hope you have fun with this!
The Tear Thief, 3 weeks of planning
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The Tear Thief, 3 weeks of planning

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Three weeks of creative and fully resourced Year 2 Talk for Writing planning involving drama, reading skills (information retrieval and then inference), poetry, grammar skills, drawing, diary writing and story writing. Only a few of the lessons and outcomes are shown in the preview. Each lesson is fully resourced and differentiated - there is also a focus on greater depth opportunities. To get the most from this writing project, it would be useful if the class had access to a copy of ‘The Tear Thief’ by Carol Ann Duffy - a magical picture book. If you buy this unit, PLEASE USE THE ZIP FOLDER - everything you need is in there. Each session is organised into a separate folder. The other files are simply there as a preview to show some of the resources included. Over the three weeks, the following Y2 objectives are thoroughly covered: Grammar • I can say and write a sentences with a capital letter and a full stop • I can use different joining words (conjunctions) to join my ideas • I can use carefully chosen adjectives/expanded noun phrases • I can use an apostrophe to show ownership Reading • I can spot meaning breakdowns • I can visualise a character from a story • I can find information in a story • I can read like a detective (inference) Composition • I can retell a story in sentences • I can add a new part to a story I know • I can create a character • I understand how a story can be organised • In my own writing, I can use words and ideas from a story I have read • I can write a story (using the skills I have been learning) This unit could be easily adapted for use in other year groups.
–able and -ible, two player dice game, presentation, warm-up
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–able and -ible, two player dice game, presentation, warm-up

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It can be tricky for young spellers to choose between the suffixes ‘-able’ and ‘-ible’. The two player dice game ‘WinnABLE’ gives players lots of opportunities to spell and discuss these words and introduces a much needed element of FUN! There is also a simple presentation and a word sorting warm up to use with your class. I’d allow a full session for this suffix work.
Amulet by Ted Hughes, poetry with patterns
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Amulet by Ted Hughes, poetry with patterns

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KS2 poetry with patterns - 4 lessons - fully resourced. I love using ‘Amulet’ by the amazing Ted Hughes as a model for children’s poetry writing. Here are four sessions that explore this rich and powerful poem in creative ways. By the end of session 4, children will have created powerful poems of their own. Objectives covered: Part 1 Understanding a poem I can discuss a poem in a group, listen carefully to others and build on my own ideas. I can explore the meaning of tricky words and phrases. I can infer what the poet may have been thinking. Part 2 Reciting a poem I can read using intonation to add meaning I can visualise a poem I can recite a poem from memory Part 3 Exploring nouns and noun phrases and gathering ideas I understand the terms noun and noun phrase I can use precise nouns and rich descriptive language Part 4 Creating poems of our own I can create a magical poem with patterns Your class will love creating poems in the style of Ted Hughes!
Stone Age
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Stone Age

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Three week writing unit for Year 3/Year 4. A fully resourced and differentiated unit including all slides and activities. Drama! Talk! Reading skills! Grammar skills! Organising information in fun and inviting ways! It’s all ready to pick up and use. I have included the full unit in a zip folder (if you buy, just use the zip!), as you cannot see it all in the preview. The children begin with an assessment task (a cold task) and then spend a week exploring a model text about the Stone Age and learning some key grammar skills for year 3 and 4. They go on to learn about structure and organisation whilst also learning about mammoths! Finally they use all of their new skills to create their own information text about the Iron Age. The whole 15 lesson unit is full of games and activities focused on these skills: I can show what I already know about writing an information text I can ask questions to improve my understanding of the text I can quickly find information in non-fiction texts I can use conjunctions (when, before, after, while) to explain when things happen I can use prepositions (in, on, inside, at, by, during, before, after) to explain when and where I can spot the key features of information texts I can use paragraphs to group information I can use headings and sub-headings to organise an information text I can present (show) information in different ways I can use glossaries to check the meaning of words (repair ‘meaning breakdowns’)
Stone Age model text
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Stone Age model text

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Fully resourced 3 week unit for this text also available in my store! I wrote this model text for year 3/4 children learning about the Stone Age (Bronze Age and Iron Age models are also included in your download). Important year 3/4 conjunctions, prepositions and adverbs are shown in red. The model has been written so that the children can easily use it to help them structure their own reports on the Bronze Age or the Iron Age. There is one image and it is from PIXABAY. I have also included some teacher notes about the text. If you are a talk for writing school, I have included the ‘story map’ for the first 4 paragraphs - that’s the amount we ‘talk’ off-by-heart. I have included Bronze Age and Iron Age versions of the Stone Age model. This is to show how the model can easily adapted to new subjects, and to give ideas for outcomes that the children could research and write. Finally, there are two activities related to the Iron Age version of the model that may be handy. One involves adding prepositions to information sentences. The other involves organising information in a sensible way (sub headings, captions etc).
Theseus and the Minotaur, Greek Myth writing unit
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Theseus and the Minotaur, Greek Myth writing unit

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Three-week writing unit about a Greek myth, planned in detail and fully resourced and differentiated. It is pitched at Year 4, but would work equally well in Year 5 or 6 (please see the key skills covered below). For most sessions, there are resources to extend high attainers and resources to support SEN learners. By the end of the unit, children will have written a Greek myth of their own, informed by the structure of Theseus and the Minotaur. Along the way, there is drama, grammar skills, vocabulary work and short-burst diary writing - please see the objectives below. This unit is ready to go! Three weeks of differentiated resources is a lot of files, so you can’t see it all in the preview. When you buy, please use the zip folder. The contents of the zip are organised into weeks and then into individual lessons (the other files are only there so that people can preview the unit!) . The zip will enable you to navigate your way through the plan and related resources with ease. All resources are PowerPoint and Word, so you will have no issues opening anything - and you can edit to suit your own needs - no PDFs! There are many, many resources included. Here are a few key examples: model text (short and long versions); a story map; drama activities; story boards; cold task/assessment task; reading comprehension activities; conjunctions activities; scavenger hunt; paragraphing activities; pronoun activities; noun phrase activities; fronted adverbial activities; tool kits; idea gathering resources; planning grids; peer assessment resources; and many more! The key objectives covered repeatedly throughout the unit are: Reading: • increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths and legends, and retelling some of these orally • asking questions to improve their understanding of a text • drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence Vocab/grammar/punctuation • I can use a wide range of subordinating conjunctions (when, if, because, although) • I understand the term ‘adverbial’ and I can use fronted adverbials (with a comma) • I can choose a variety of nouns and pronouns (to avoid repetition) Composition • discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar • organising paragraphs around a theme Evaluate and edit by: • assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements These have been broken down and written in ‘child speak’ within the planning.
Talk for Writing planning frame
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Talk for Writing planning frame

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Many teachers love the Talk for Writing approach but do not find it easy to organise all of Pie’s brilliant ideas into a unit of work. It is a challenge! I have been following the TfW approach for many years, and I have spoken at a few of Pie’s national conferences. Over the years, I have organised Pie’s ideas into a three week planning grid. The planning frame attached is not supposed to be prescriptive; it is designed to ‘hold your hand’ while you put a unit together. It is invaluable for teachers new to this approach, but even old-timers like me find the prompts helpful. This planner has been taken on in many schools and you may adapt it for your own use. This work is designed to support teachers using the TfW approach.
I can build a solid sentence, KS2 writing, grammatically correct extended sentences, differentiated
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I can build a solid sentence, KS2 writing, grammatically correct extended sentences, differentiated

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Word and PDF both included Assessment focus I can build solid sentences Explanation We teach a lot of grammar in primary schools, but many children still struggle to see how it all fits together. There are plenty of children in upper KS2 who cannot compose grammatically correct sentences. Whilst it is true to say that reading, story-telling and listening to stories are the best ways to build awareness of sentences, it may also be helpful to give children some basic sentence patterns to use. If children can internalise these basic patterns, they may be able to use them in infinite different ways. Ultimately, we hope that children feel confident enough to move away from the patterns we give them and onto creating patterns of their own. Who is this for? On Track (ARE) The ‘4 brick’ version of this activity is for writers who could be at age related expectation if they could create grammatically correct extended sentences. Support There is also very simple ‘3 brick’ version of the activity for learners who are not able to write in simple ‘one clause’ sentences. Going deeper Children who are already confident at writing in accurate sentences can try the ‘Follow the dice’ activity (included). These learners will focus on using sentence variety.
I can subtract from multiples of 10, subtraction, mastery, Year 3
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I can subtract from multiples of 10, subtraction, mastery, Year 3

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This lesson is planned in detail and fully resourced, with warm up activities and 5 independent activities, all about subtracting from multiples of 10. First there is a subtraction fluency warm up activity, to get children involved straight away. Using the mastery approach, the lesson begins with simple concrete activity (using counters) that everyone can access. Following this, children can quickly move on to other activities, at their own pace. I used this in a Y3 class and it was a great session. It could work well in Y2 or early in Y4, to check understanding.
I or Me? A Pronoun Lesson and Game
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I or Me? A Pronoun Lesson and Game

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I or Me? These two pronouns are used regularly in English spoken language and writing, but often incorrectly! In KS2 children are expected to make an 'appropriate choice of pronoun or noun within and across sentences to aid cohesion and avoid repetition'. This resource provides a lesson plan outlining the rules regarding when to use 'I' and 'me' correctly (focussing on using I or me with another name) through a Powerpoint presentation with working examples and a board game. It also teaches the children a 'trick' to use to self-check that they have chosen the correct pronoun. There are 'support' and 'challenge' versions of the game and the grids are complete with no cutting out required, saving you plenty of time! The game is a fun way to consolidate the learning and includes a simple lesson plan, the game, the powerpoint presentation and the game boards, all of which can be edited and adpated to suit your pupils. I or Me? is best suited to Years 4-6 for use with children who speak english as their first language or for older children for whom english is an additional language.
Whole school fluency map, fluency grids for year groups, fluency grids for parents, other resources
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Whole school fluency map, fluency grids for year groups, fluency grids for parents, other resources

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These resources are designed to promote the teaching and learning of basic number facts across primary school. If children are fluent they do not need to keep going back to inefficient counting methods! Many of the fluency skills promoted here may be the same in Key Stage 1 as they are in Key Stage 2. This is because for many children it is just as important to learn root addition and subtraction facts in Year 6 as it is in Year 1. These number facts will support children when facing the very large numbers they have to deal with at primary school, so it is well worth promoting fluency across your school…and I’m not just talking multiplication tables! Everything is fully editable, so adapt it to make it work for your school. Resources included: A whole school fluency map, showing the number facts that must be learned from Y1 to Y6 ( a lot of skills are repeated across every year group. This is intentional! Fluency guides for each year group, linked to the whole school map Fluency guides for parents (please make sure you send out with the ‘addition and subtraction roots on one page’ document copied onto the back of the sheet) Addition root facts Subtraction root facts Optional reward chart for parents to use at home, linked to parent guides Multiplication facts pre and post assessment sheet Division facts pre and post assessment sheet In the zip folder: Multiplication and division - bronze, silver and gold timed challenges, including medal chart and medals. We give out a times tables wristband anytime a child gets a gold medal - this has proved a big hit. Bronze - times table in order, 30 seconds Silver - times table out of sequence, 40 seconds Gold - times table with division facts, 80 seconds Good luck! I hope your fluency work has a positive impact on mathematics teaching and learning at your school. And remember explicit teaching of fluency skills is just as important as practising and rapid recall.
Growth mindset, whole school change
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Growth mindset, whole school change

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6 editable posters, pupil questionnaire, pupil response sheet, spreadsheet for data This resource is designed to support learning about growth mindsets in primary schools. It includes 6 growth mindset posters. These are saved as jpegs and as a powerpoint, so that you can edit them to meet your own needs. It also includes a pupil questionnaire made up of 11 questions in a powerpoint, so that you can assess the impacts of raising awareness of mindsets in your school. Use it before you start any work on mindsets, and then again at the end of the year. There is a pupil response sheet too, to make data analysis easy. I used this across Year 5, as a sample group, but I think it could be used across the primary age range. I have now added a simple spreadsheet. This will help you analyse your data giving a percentage for each response and generating a simple bar graph for each question. I dropped the graphs into a powerpoint to share with staff, governors and of course pupils. It’s a useful ‘before and after’ activity to show any impact/identify where you need to do more work.
relative pronouns and clauses, dice game, 'Meet the Relatives'
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relative pronouns and clauses, dice game, 'Meet the Relatives'

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I can use the relative pronouns ‘who’, ‘which’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘whose’ and ‘that’ to write relative clauses. Specific relative pronouns are used when referring to different nouns. The fun dice game ‘Meet the relatives’ encourages children to think about which relative pronoun is most suitable for the noun in the sentence. The aim of the game is to be the first player to write an embedded relative clause using each of the relative pronouns on the game card. There are three versions of the game, to ensure that all learners are included and appropriately challenged. Enjoy meeting the relatives!
Theseus and the Minotaur, various Key Stage 2 resources
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Theseus and the Minotaur, various Key Stage 2 resources

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I have recently produced a far more in depth ‘Theseus’ unit with masses of carefully produced, differentiated resources and detailed planning. It is available here: /teaching-resource/theseus-and-the-minotaur-3-weeks-of-detailed-planning-fully-resourced-and-differentainted-11914692 Here are lots of older Theseus resources, including a model text, comprehension work, story boards, fronted adverbials activity, planning frames etc.