I love making resources that take concepts from the curriculum, and express them in an abstract and engaging way. I have seen great improvements in the grades of the children in the classes as I teach as a result of this labour intensive (but ultimately rewarding) approach.
My big passion is reading. Whether it is a comprehension activity or something with a maths or grammar focus; you can guarantee that reading skills to develop understanding will underpin it.
Richard
Reading for Success
I love making resources that take concepts from the curriculum, and express them in an abstract and engaging way. I have seen great improvements in the grades of the children in the classes as I teach as a result of this labour intensive (but ultimately rewarding) approach.
My big passion is reading. Whether it is a comprehension activity or something with a maths or grammar focus; you can guarantee that reading skills to develop understanding will underpin it.
Richard
Reading for Success
Engaging activities for multiplication facts.
These multiplication fact sheets have been a great hit with my students, and Iām sure they will be with yours too. They will help students understand the concept of multiplication, as well as memorize their multiplication facts. They can be used as morning work, bell work, extra activities for early finishers, or even homework. Every page is aligned to the Common Core Standards.
Students will learn to:
- identify numbers in times tables
- work out spellings of numbers in cryptic puzzles.
- sequence numbers forwards and backwards
- explore the relationship between multiplication and division
- compare calculations
- process information in word problems
The activities not only test a childās math skills, they also encourage them to use logic, reasoning and comprehension skills.
Each worksheet is double sided and space is maximised to challenge your children with TEN different times table related activities linked to the table you are studying. Answers are provided. Your children will become familiar with the format as they work their way through the exercises table by table.
Your children will certainly enjoy this different approach to learning their times tables!
CONTENTS
3x table activity sheet
3x table answers
4x table activity sheet
4x table answers
5x table activity sheet
5x table answers
6x table activity sheet
6x table answers
7x table activity sheet
7x table answers
8x table activity sheet
8x table answers
9x table activity sheet
9x table answers
11x table activity sheet
11x table answers
12x table activity sheet
12x table answers
2018 marks the centenary of the end of the First World War.
This remarkable set of TEN guided reading activities uncovers the horror, humanity and humour of life in the Great War.
Each activity focuses on a different part of the war, such as life in the trenches; the Christmas Truce and the assasination of Franz Ferdinand. Also, find out about the fascinating story of the British soldier who spared the life of a young Adolf Hitler.
These guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, test childrenās retrieval, inference and deduction skills. They will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children explore these stories for themselves.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
In December 2015, Star Wars - The Force Awakens was released and became the highest grossing movie at the box office in history.
Star Wars is just one of several series of movie blockbusters - and the children in your class can find out all about them in this guided reading compilation!
JAWSā¦STAR WARSā¦JAMES BONDā¦HARRY POTTER
These guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, test childrensā retrieval, inference and deduction skills.
Questions and answers are provided, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
Your children will love finding out about the stories behind some of the worldās movie blockbusters!
Apollo 13
Plane crash in the Andes
Mine rescue in Chile
Castaway
This collection of four guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, tests childrenās inference and deduction skills. It will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children explore these remarkable stories for themselves.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
PLEASE SEE MY NEW PACKAGE - AGAINST ALL ODDS - Four more amazing stories of survival!
Engaging activities for multiplication facts.
FREE, AS A GIFT FOR ALL IN 2020. :-)
These multiplication fact sheets have been a great hit with my students, and Iām sure they will be with yours too. They will help students understand the concept of multiplication, as well as memorize their multiplication facts. They can be used as morning work, bell work, extra activities for early finishers, or even homework. Every page is aligned to the Common Core Standards.
Students will learn to:
identify numbers in times tables
work out spellings of numbers in cryptic puzzles.
sequence numbers forwards and backwards
explore the relationship between multiplication and division
compare calculations
process information in word problems
The activities not only test a childās math skills, they also encourage them to use logic, reasoning and comprehension skills.
Each worksheet is double sided and space is maximised to challenge your children with TEN different times table related activities linked to the table you are studying. Answers are provided. Your children will become familiar with the format as they work their way through the exercises table by table.
Your children will certainly enjoy this different approach to learning their times tables!
CONTENTS
3x table activity sheet
3x table answers
4x table activity sheet
4x table answers
5x table activity sheet
5x table answers
6x table activity sheet
6x table answers
7x table activity sheet
7x table answers
8x table activity sheet
8x table answers
9x table activity sheet
9x table answers
11x table activity sheet
11x table answers
12x table activity sheet
12x table answers
This guided reading resource includes a pair of texts about Antarctica with four comprehension skills sheets to complete, providing reading passages and questions that are challenging and engaging.
Using the āLIMSā approach, students work through Literal, Inference, Meaning and Summary questions to ensure that in the course of a week, they have practised skills in reading right across the Common Core.
Text is differentiated and an answer scheme is provided.
Suggested itinerary:
Day 1 (30 mins) ā Read both texts as a class. Highlight key parts. Discuss together. What have we learned? What do we want know more about? It is worth asking the students to write down any questions they have about the texts and putting them on display.
Day 2 (30 mins) ā Literal sheet
Day 3 (30 mins) ā Inference sheet (or meaning sheet if you prefer)
Day 4 (30 mins) ā Meaning sheet (or inference sheet if you prefer)
Day 5 (45 mins) ā Summary sheet and looking back at questions from the start of the week.
This is the first in a series of Paired text resources looking at the seven continents of the world. Keep an eye on my store.
**
Differentiation:**
All questions are the same, which should make marking easier! However, the texts differ, with asterisks in the bottom right corner indicating the reading level.
In December 2015, Star Wars - The Force Awakens was released and became the highest grossing movie at the box office in history.
Star Wars is just one of several series of movie blockbusters - and the children in your class can find out all about them in this guided reading compilation!
JAWSā¦STAR WARSā¦JAMES BONDā¦HARRY POTTER
These guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, test childrensā retrieval, inference and deduction skills.
Questions and answers are provided, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
Your children will love finding out about the stories behind some of the worldās movie blockbusters!
In this reading pack, your students will develop their reading skills through a range of specially created documents about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. These include:
Fawkesā birth certificate
His school report
Minutes of the meeting of conspirators
A letter to his mother
A testimony of the Kingās Guard
Fawkesā confession
His death certificate
Ideal as a booklet for the week running up to November 5th, these activities, aimed at children aged 8-11 years old, test skills in retrieval; inference and deduction; and summarising. It will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children explore the tale of Guy Fawkes in greater depth than ever before.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
Did you know that the first and last soldiers to be killed in World War One are buried just feet apart? Have you heard the story about the American Naval Officer who escaped from a Prisoner of War camp, swimming up the River Rhine to safety? How about the tale of the soldier who spared the life of a young Adolf Hitler?
2018 marks the centenary of the end of World War One.
This collection of four guided reading activities, aimed at 10 to 14 year olds, tests childrenās comprehension, retrieval, inference and deduction skills through some intriguing stories from the soldiers at war.
It will also promote reflective and engaging classroom discussion as children discover more about this important chapter in the worldās history.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required. The texts take the form of different written genres, such as diary extracts, letters, newspaper reports and information texts.
CONTENTS
A Tale of Two Soldiers: Private John Parr
The story of the first soldier to be killed in World War One
A Tale of Two Soldiers: Private George Ellison
The story of the last Allied soldier to be killed in the war, just minutes before peace was declared. Read about the extraordinary link between Ellison and Private John Parr.
Saving Corporal Adolf
How one British soldierās humanity spared the life of future dictator, Adolf Hitler.
The Daily News
Stories of courage and loyalty from the war, including Edouard Izac, the American naval officer who escaped from a prisoner of war camp to pass on vital intelligence to his commanders.
Here is a maths activity which is guaranteed to help your students progress in their learning as they get into the festive spirit.
Join Rudolf and friends in these multiplication tables activities, which are designed to help your students learn their tables in a variety of ways. They are linked to the āMasteryā approach being used in many UK schools.
CONCEPTS EXPLORED:
Greater than/less than
Inverse operations
Multiples
Factors
Number sequences
Word problems
Number sentences
Related division facts
There are also puzzles such as word searches and calculation crosswords. The activities not only test a childās math skills, they also encourage them to use logic, reasoning and comprehension skills.
Each times table can be printed on a double-sided sheet, cutting out the need for endless trips to the printer and ensuring a quiet and busy classroom!
Your children will certainly enjoy this different approach to learning their times tables!
CONTENTS
3x table activity worksheet and answers
4x table activity worksheet and answers
8x table activity worksheet and answers
5x table activity worksheet and answers
6x table activity worksheet and answers
7x table activity worksheet and answers
9x table activity worksheet and answers
11x table activity worksheet and answers
12x table activity worksheet and answers
Apollo 13
Plane crash in the Andes
Mine rescue in Chile
Castaway
This collection of four guided reading activities, aimed at children aged 10-13 years old, tests childrenās inference and deduction skills. It will also promote lively and engaging classroom discussion as children explore these remarkable stories for themselves.
Each activity has questions and answers, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
Children will be fascinated to discover exciting facts about Brazil.
There are 2 levels of questions to suit all learners:
A red border for simpler questions
A green border for more advanced questions
An extension activity is also provided.
You can use this as a comprehension exercise, a guided reading activity, a geography lesson or as part of a literacy project. Children can complete as homework, and develop their general knowledge about this amazing country.
If you like this, then perhaps you might look at my 'Around the World in 8 Days' product. This includes seven more countries for you to read about.
This guided reading resource includes four epic stories of survival.
These include the pilot who crash landed in the Hudson River, the football team who got trapped for weeks in a flooded cave and the child who fell into the gorilla enclosure at the zoo.
Using the āLIMSā approach, students work through Literal, Inference, Meaning and Summary questions to ensure that as your students find out about these captivating stories, they will also practise skills in reading right across the curriculum.
As answer scheme is provided, and the product is ready to print and go.
Here is a short sample taken from one of the stories:
But shortly after take off, disaster struck. As the plane climbed from the airport, the pilotās view was filled with a huge flock of large birds. Passengers heard a series of loud bangs, and showers of flame coming from the engines followed by silence and a sickening smell of fuel. The plane had struck a flock of Canada Geese, and lost power in both of the aircraftās engines. Now useless as a plane, Sully found himself in charge of a 75-tonne glider. He had to think quickly.
And examples of questions:
*What type of birds struck the engine of Flight 1549?
*Why is the plane described as a glider in the second paragraph? *
This is the second set of survival stories I have compiled. The other package can be found here:
Stories of Survival
Who will be the next President of the United States? Will Donald Trump continue for a second term? Or will veteran Democrat Joe Biden beat him to the White House?
These reading comprehension activities, ideal for close reading, will help your students find out about the candidates for the 2020 US presidential election.
Your students will develop reading comprehension skills through a range of retrieval and inference questions, using skills to skim and scan the text. There are also word meaning and text summary questions in the activities.
Just print and goā¦no prep needed!
I have also included a black and white version of the product to avoid the costs of colour graphics printing,
Thanks for your interest!
When Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, it was perhaps the greatest scientific achievement in history.
July 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of this extraordinary voyage. Thousands of scientists, mathematicians, engineers and astronauts had a part to play in working together on the Apollo 11 mission - but space exploration goes much further than the Lunar landings.
In this space exploration comprehension package, your students will take part in FIVE reading activities, which will open up the world of space exploration to them:
*1) The Space Race: What was the space race, and why was it so important?
The First Man on the Moon: A celebration of the life and achievements of Neil Armstrong.
The Last Man on the Moon: A celebration of the life and achievements of Eugene Cernan
āHouston, Weāve got a problemā: Disasters in space, featuring the amazing survival story of Apollo 13.
Space Travel - next steps: Find out about plans to travel to Mars, passenger space travel, and how a 41-year old probe is still sending messages to scientists from 11 billion miles away!*
Students will use inference and deduction skills as well as fact retrieval, word meaning and summarising.
Questions and answers are provided, with an indication of how many marks are on offer at the end of each question. This is particularly helpful for children preparing for reading tests and exams, encouraging them to give fuller answers where required.
As with all of my reading exercises, I try to write content that is interesting and engaging - stories that may not be on the curriculum, but are important for children to know.
Find out about the mysteries of Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster. Discover the heartbreak of the tsunami and the sinking of the Titanic. Revisit the shooting of JFK and Apollo 13. Marvel at the miraculous escape of the miners in Chile. Find out why we have Christmas trees. Learn about soldiers stories from World War Oneā¦and much much more!
This collection of reading activities are a selection of some of my favourites. I have put them together as a bigger collection to allow teachers to plan a whole yearās worth of reading comprehensions for their children.
Each activity contains a range of challenging questions which test inference, deduction and retrieval skills ā ideal preparation for reading assessments. Children are also given an indication of marks on offer for each question, and teachers are provided with answers.
As with all of my reading activities, I try to make the subject matter informative as well as engaging. Children get the chance to find out about a whole range of interesting stories and topics that may not be covered in the curriculum.
CONTENTS:
2 - 10 Stories of Survival
11 - 22 Mysteries of the World
23 - 30 Soldierās Stories ā World War One
31 - 36 The Queen and the Royal Family
37 ā 42 Christmas
43 ā 50 Days that made the world stop
51 ā 74 Answers
I have received excellent feedback, for which I am very grateful. This should give you confidence in the products I offer. Hope you enjoy these!
Explore the world in just eight days with this comprehension reading compilation.
Children will be fascinated to discover exciting facts about the following countries:
China
India
Italy
Russia
Brazil
Australia
Egypt
South Africa
Each activity comes with 2 levels of questions to suit all learners:
A red border for simpler questions
A green border for more advanced questions
An extension activity is provided with each activity, and each activity should take about an hour in total.
You can use these as a comprehension exercise, a guided reading activity, a geography lesson or as part of a literacy project. Children can complete as homework, and develop their general knowledge about the world around them.
Enjoy your travels!
NOW WITH BONUS QUIZ ON KAHOOT! IDEAL FOR END OF UNIT. https://create.kahoot.it/#jumble/24391ecb-8e85-4ae3-9ddb-801ce9c79c93
This reading activity pack tells the story of the Jesusā death and resurrection from Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday. It is ideal all year round for reading or Religious Studies, but is particularly useful in the run up to Easter, as they follow the last week in Jesusā life. They can also be used as Sunday School activities or as readings in church.
Based on the gospel accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, I have written five reports from key people in the Easter story about what happened with comprehension based questions and answers for each. These will bring the well-known story of Jesusā crucifixion and resurrection to your students in a fresh, engaging and enlightening way.
The characters featured are:
Peter
Pontius Pilate
A Roman soldier
Mary Magdalen
Cleopas
The comprehension questions tackle the following skills:
Literal and retrieval
Word meaning
Inference and deduction
There is also an activity at the end to summarise each of the characters stories. All activities are aligned to the common core.
As an added extra, there are a number of posters with key bible verses for your displays, including posters to colour in. These can be found at the end of the reading pack.
A bit about me:
Before teaching, I was a journalist. I still work as a freelance writer, and like nothing more than writing engaging texts to challenge and inspire children and young people. I choose subjects that may not be on the curriculum but are still of great importance for students to know about.
Everything I write has been comprehensively researched from a number of sources and been written by myself. No plagiarism here! This is all original material. My questions are pitched at a high level, but with a bit of patience and persistence (and some adult help if necessary) most students will have great fun as they learn, especially as the penny drops.
I am aware of the impact of printed resources on our environment so try to condense my reading activities into as compact a space as possible. Hopefully this will help you save time in printing, and keep the bills down!
Check out my store if you enjoy this ā youāre sure to find more. Thanks!
While you are hereā¦
You may also be interested in a similar pack of reading comprehensions I have written about the birth of Jesus. Follow the link for more:
Stories from the Stable
This set of multiplication tables activities is designed to help your students learn their tables in a variety of ways. It explores other mathematical concepts such as greater than and less than; inverse operations; word problems and number sequences. There are also puzzles such as word searches and calculation crosswords. The activities not only test a childās math skills, they also encourage them to use logic, reasoning and comprehension skills.
There are ten individual activities for each times table - so thirty in total for this pack.
Your children will certainly enjoy this different approach to learning their times tables!
CONTENTS
3x table activity worksheet
3x table answers
4x table activity worksheet
4x table answers
8x table activity worksheet
8x table answers
I specialise in maths and reading resources. You can check out other items in my store, which include activity packs for other times tables. There is also a bumper pack which includes all of the times tables.
AMUSING, ENTERTAINING AND EDUCATIONAL!
These reading comprehensions will test your studentsā reading skills as they explore the four greatest April Fools of all time, as ranked by the Museum of Hoaxes. Using research skills and their reporterās notebooks, the young journalists will find out about:
Spaghetti growing on trees in Switzerland
A fake volcanic eruption in Alaska
Instant Colour TV in Sweden
An iceberg in Sydney Harbour
Each story comes with questions and answers, and will require students to check dictionaries; summarise stories; think critically; retrieve facts; and prioritise statements. They will also generate lively and fun classroom discussion. Would your students fall for these pranks? Can they come up with anything better?
A template for a news story is also provided so children can write them up for themselves. A scaffold is included to show them how to fill in the boxes. Finally, posters are enclosed if you want to make the studentsā work into a simple, effective display.
As a journalist and teacher, itās my passion that children should have an awareness of what is going on in the world through engaging reading material.
Contents:
3: SWISS SPAGHETTI HARVEST
4: INSTANT COLOUR TV
5: ERUPTION OF MOUNT EDGECUMBE
6: THE SYDNEY ICEBERG
7-10: Questions
11-14: Answers
15: How to write a newspaper article
16: Newspaper template
17-20: Posters for display