51����

FREE! Firework Night - an exciting, atmospheric poem by this author, a published children’s poet. Read out, pin up, copy and distribute, use as a base for your class poem, draw from its vocabulary, imagery and poetic techniques for inspiration and examples. So much to do with this poem! See my many other fireworks poetry and colouring resources too.

This writing sheet features the letter and phonic ‘e’ in ‘hen’ and ‘red hens’, with attractive pictures to illustrate and enhance understanding. Children can colour in the white hen, and also count the 3, adding the ‘1’ and ‘2’ given. Supports phonics, handwriting, reading, spelling, numbers, adding, and also nature and animal studies. The colour red is also highlighted, supporting colour work, and fine motor skills are developed in the colouring. If you like this sheet, see my others for different vowels, in my catalogue/shop. Click ‘newest’. BOOK NEWS - I have a new book of poems for children: ‘SQUEAK! SQUAWK! ROAR! Amazing Animal Poems’, published by Otter-Barry Books. ‘A brilliant resource for schools’ - School Reading List.

Seaside poetry writing on a fabulous seaside photograph! Line starters for free, expressive writing. Example sheet provided, to inspire ideas of all sorts. Flexible for all ages and abilities, written or out loud. Text: In the sea’s sparkly blue I find… In the sea’s soft hum I hear… In the sand’s ______ I feel… Metaphors, description, long or short responses, literal or imaginary - all sorts are welcome here! I have a debut book of poems: ‘SQUEAK! SQUAWK! ROAR! Amazing Animal Poems’, published by Otter-Barry Books. ‘A brilliant resource for schools’ - School Reading List.

Beautiful, evocative eco-poster. Words - ‘Our World - in our hands’ - on natural scene of wild flowers. Celebrates nature. Sends out gentle reminder to care for our natural world. Will inspire children with the beauty and wonder of nature, and help them understand its vulnerability and our duty of care. See my other ‘green’ and ‘eco’ resources too, many free. I have a debut book of poems: ‘SQUEAK! SQUAWK! ROAR! Amazing Animal Poems’, published by Otter-Barry Books. ‘A brilliant resource for schools’ - School Reading List.

Birds in flight is a fascinating, exhilarating theme, ideal for the evocative mini-poem, the haiku. This sheet provides 3 haiku frames, three haiku starter-lines, information about haiku and how they work, inspirational commentary on the theme, and tips for preparing your children to compose them. Birds may sweep and swoop, tip and tilt, glide and cruise through skies of all sorts, perhaps catching the sun on their wings. What do they look like, up there against that crystal blue, peachy sunset or leaden cloud? Are they like darts, bullets, a swarm of bees, dancing butterflies or some other image? Where are they heading, how long is their journey and how do they know the route? Young, fluffy chicks are fun to write about, too, hop-skip-flapping off on their first, bumpy flight. More haiku sheets here, on other topics. CHILDREN’S POETRY BOOK NEWS! I have a new book of poems: ‘SQUEAK! SQUAWK! ROAR! Amazing Animal Poems’, published by Otter-Barry Books. ‘A brilliant resource for schools’ - School Reading List.

Sh words to read and write, illustrated: fish, ship, shark, shell . Text in soft colours for over-writing. Lines below for re-writing, independently. ‘sh’ can also be over-written, at top and bottom of this full, A4 page. Simple, attractive, motivating activity. See my other Phonics sheets for more sound-writing. I have a debut book of poems: ‘SQUEAK! SQUAWK! ROAR! Amazing Animal Poems’, published by Otter-Barry Books. ‘A brilliant resource for schools’ - School Reading List.

p, f and d are shown next to familiar pictures starting with their letters: pig, fish, dog. The words are not written out, but just brought to mind, with meaningful association. Extra copies of the letters follow the pictures, reinforcing the link. Children can write over all the pale letters. Help them sound them out as they go. See my other phonics sheets for young children, all attractively illustrated, some free. BOOK NEWS - I have a new book of poems for children: ‘SQUEAK! SQUAWK! ROAR! Amazing Animal Poems’, published by Otter-Barry Books. ‘A brilliant resource for schools’ - School Reading List.

A fun, attractive, seasonal writing and colouring sheet for creative expression and language-stretching, celebrating autumn leaves - their movements and colours. Similes, action words and description are invited on the lines, which wave like the floating leaves. Preparation: let children watch leaves flying and falling, and gather some to inspect and spin. Discuss the leaves’ movements through the air - gliding, floating, darting, whooshing, dancing, skipping, cartwheeling, etc. Also discuss the colours, eliciting exotic ones - lemon yellow, crimson, bronze… Think up similes together too, before handing out the sheets. See also my easier versions, and other leaf and tree writing resources, for a wide range.

**FREE! Autumn leaf picture to write inside and below, with colouring fun too. ** ’ Autumn leaves can be - ’ Describing words can be written inside the page-size leaf-drawing. Encourage words such as - crispy, floaty, gentle, calm, red, gold (+ other colours), crunchy, delicate, twirly, crinkly, dry, wet, soggy, spotty, beautiful, colourful, torn, ripped, patched. Text below picture - 'They are as colourful as __ ’ perhaps jewels, flowers, petals, treasure, fire, candles, fruit, strawberries or butterflies. Supports creativity, vocabulary, seasonal work, colour work, art and design, and PSHE (calming and uplifting). See my other leaf writing activities for all primary stages.

Snow is … This simple, one-line picture poem will tempt any emergent writer to have a go at a word or more to describe snow, especially if they’ve just been out in some! Encourage with simple suggestions, such as soft, cold, fluffy, fun… For more adventurous writers, encourage interesting words like - smooth, gentle, swirly, floating, peaceful, pure white, white as icing sugar, calm, exciting, magical, twinkly, crunchy. See also my harder version: /teaching-resource/snow-writing-ys-1-3-12466490 BOOK NEWS! ‘Squeak! Squawk! Roar!’ - my animal poetry book - comes out with Otter-Barry Books on 9th January! Available from all good bookstores.

Fun in the Snow - this is a simple, 40-word story, lightly illustrated, about a boy enjoying the snow and making a snowman. There is an extra page highlighting a few words from the text - in different colours for extra fun. Engages young children, encouraging sounding-out and ‘have-a-go’ reading. See my other stories and also Phonics sheets, for more simple, fun reading.

FREE - DRAGONS writing resource! Dragons are fun, exciting, and anything you want them to be. Children love to dream up their own dragon. This simple writing sheet offers a launch pad for actions and similes, and the GUIDE sheet provides a poem, ready-written by this author, a published children’s poet, to clap, chant and build together first! Tips and extra ideas also included in the guide. See also my many other dragon writing sheets and pictures here.

A poem (written by the author, a published poet), describing an autumn wood in metaphors. Blank frame in wood surround also included, for any style. It’s a carpeted castle for hopping rabbits, for instance, and a climbing frame de-luxe for squirrels. But the bright, warm, cheerful poem has a chilly ending. Presented on a golden-red autumn wood backdrop. Supports seasonal work, nature, poetry and literacy.

Attractive colouring sheet representing a hot air balloon with mum and child waving from basket. Supports fine motor control development, colour sense, floating concept, travel and transport topics, holidays, weather and more. **SEE ALSO: ** - BOAT ON SEA COLOURING SHEET - /teaching-resource/boat-on-sea-colouring-sheet-12096606

A beautiful butterfly poem idea, using condensed similes - sun-yellow, pansy-pretty, feather-floaty, for example. More examples are provided, taken from a butterfly poem in my book of animal poems - ‘Squeak! Squawk! Roar!’ A suggested format for the poem is also suggested, with the single word ‘butteryfly’ to finish. Illustration idea also given. An engaging creative writing activity for children aged approx. 8-11, stretching language and imagination, while also nurturing an appreciation of the natural world around us. ‘Squeak! Squawk! Roar! Amazing Animal Poems’ is out now. A solo debut collection by this author.

Children get to write a secret answer in code in this poetry activity! The PDF riddle poem guide sheet offers a fun and successfully tested format for class poetry-writing, using different aspects of language. Best for older children who can follow the simple guide and examples and think up their own ideas to fit their secretly chosen animal. With examples from a poem in my book, Squeak! Squawk! Roar!, children are invited to describe their mystery animal in imagery-phrases like ‘I have the grace of an angel, the whiteness of snow’ (for a dove). They must then find words for how their creature moves, and lastly, words to describe its environment. The poem ends as it begins: ‘What am I?’ And now the coded answer can be added below (tiny, backwards, upside down?). Children will love guessing each other’s poetic riddles!

Language-stretching guide, with describing words as focus and animals as the theme, with examples from my book, *Squeak! Squawk! Roar! Amazing Animal Poems. * Suggestions for building (best) volunteered words into a class poem, or for individual poem-crafting. Starter line ideas provided. Illustration recommended, adding to the fun.

An imaginary castle can be any sort you like - fairy-tale pink or iron grey, for instance, so your children can have fun with this sheet, thinking what their castle could be like as well as thinking up effective similes for them. The two blank lines at the end are for totally free expression. Some children might like to add further similes, others might like to add a warning, or a comment about the castle’s inhabitants, or a rounding-off rhyme, or even a metaphor (the castle is a …). The example sheet can be read out to demonstrate the simile concept and trigger ideas. Recommended for lower juniors, and older writers as a starting point for individual poem-crafting. Book news - ‘SQUEAK! SQUAWK! ROAR!, Amazing Animal Poems’ was published by Otter-Barry Books in January 2025. “Brilliant resource for schools”- School Reading List.

Fascinating creative opportunity for older/more able writers, depicting the sea as different entities or things. Format and starter lines for a sequence of verses are provided, with quality sample poem, written by myself (published poet) for the purpose. Tip: build up to metaphors by (1) discussing sea in different weathers, climates, times and seasons, enacting and sounding out; (2) elicit words and similes for the variations; (3) invite pupils to try taking out the ‘as… as’ or ‘like’ from their similes to form metaphors (e.g. ‘the sea IS a mirror’; (4) read the sample poem; (5) give out the frames and scrap paper for independent writers and let them write their own, personal versions. See also my many other sea poetry frames in my catalogue, with sub-topics such as sea monsters, seabed mysteries, summer’s day sea, stormy sea and a pirate’s treasure map.

Bring fun and laughter into your space studies with this two-page, quick-fire roll of crazy, snappy rhymes about aliens, rockets, stars and more! Most are couplets, with a few 4-line verses too, and all are bonkers! They’ll inspire variations and brand new rhymes from your class, boosting their literacy skills. The rhymes are my own, and I’ve used some in my space poetry sessions. TIPS for class rhymes - I recommend starting with “space”, eliciting a list of single words that rhyme with it to write below. Then fill up the line leading up to “space”, e.g. I saw an alien up in space, and finally think up a line to end with your rhyming word, e.g. She was doing up her lace. Have fun! **SEE ALSO ** - PLANET poetry frame (Yrs 2-4) - /teaching-resource/planet-poetry-frame-ys-2-4-12018025 + Planet picture-poem frame (KS2) - /teaching-resource/planet-picture-poem-frame-ks2-guidance-sheet-11886984