Apologies

I am sorry the downloads have stopped working. I forgot to log into the account with Ripway where they are stored and they have deleted it. I will set it all up again soon.

In the meantime, please email me if you would like any of the materials mentioned.

Deb

Whatever Next By Jill Murphy Resources

I have just completed this week's English plan for Year 1 Term 1 Unit 1a and have chosen Whatever Next by Jill Murphy as the main text. I have put six of the resources together in a pdf file if you would like to download it.

Deb

Work/Life Balance For Teachers

I have received an email from Mr Educator (whom I have nicknamed Mr. Ed!), author of a new blog who, like myself, believes in teachers sharing in order to make all our lives easier.

He has created a blog called I'm a Busy Teacher on which he hopes to share some of the resources he has made and the ideas he has to save us all time and allow us to have a personal life! The idea sounded so fantastic, I just had to go and have a look!

As I have mentioned, it is a new blog and currently contains just 2 posts. However, there is already a resource available! There is a set of editable book labels which will be very useful come September.

I think this blog may be worth adding to your favourites and checking on periodically.

Thanks Mr Ed and do not spend too much of that valuable free time blogging!!!

Deb

New Site - Free Teaching Resources

I have had an email from David, a KS1 teacher, who has set up a blog of his own on which he is posting the worksheets he makes. Like myself, he seems keen to share resources for free! There are only a few things on there at present but he will be adding more as he makes them. I think this could prove useful for anyone using Oxford Reading Tree in their school. Worth adding to your favourites and popping back to.

Deb

Spelling Activities PowerPoint KS1

For anyone looking for independent spelling work to use in Guided Reading or Writing, I have put together a few suggestions made by our team in a PowerPoint.

I have printed out the slides and put them in a packet with the magnetic letters, making a little spelling centre.

The activities are suitable for most Key Stage 1 children and the children love them! Sometimes I tell them which activity to do, other times I let them choose.

I hope you find it useful.

Deb

Text Organisers and Interactive Maths Games

In case you have not clicked on the links yet, there are a couple of really nice links, also designed by Jenny, at the bottom of the Maths Dictionary page.

The first is to a site called Writing Fun, where you can get simple writing frames (or text organisers) for persuasion, narrative, poetry etc. What I really like about this site is that there are examples of each text type, ranging from simple pieces to more elaborate and detailed ones. These would be really useful for shared reading.

The second site is Rainforest Maths which has simple online flash activities arranged according to year group.

I thought I would mention them in case you had not yet noticed!

Deb

Online Maths Dictionary For Kids

A colleague at school sent around a link to an amazing online Maths Dictionary for the children to use which I just have to pass on. I think it is fantastic!

It has been created by an Australian primary school teacher called Jenny Eather, who made it some years back for use in her own school. It now contains over 600 words and is extremely popular, having had over 8 million visitors!

The alphabet is at the side and clicking on a letter shows the maths vocabulary starting with that letter. When you click on a word, you not only get a definition, but samples, examples and quizzes too. It is really child friendly, simple to use and great fun.

I can think of loads of ways of incorporating this into both maths and English lessons, but, I think to start off I am just going to let the children explore it and have some fun!

Thanks Jenny!

Deb

Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 Resources - Kiz Club

I know, I know, it has been far too long since I last posted! I am sorry, but had good reason - first I moved house and then, well, I went on holiday for two weeks! Thanks to everyone who has been emailing. I have a bit of a back log of links to post about and I will get to them soon.

In no particular order then, thanks to Lynn who loved Topic Box. She has recommended a site she has been using regularly called Kiz Club. It has some very sweet resources, all in pdf format, that will help you create some nice displays in Reception and Y1 classes. It seems to be more American style, (I think it may even have links to Korea) so do check the spellings on some of the resources like the flashcards.

There are some nice phonic and word work sheets and I like the way there are some activities to go with the nursery rhymes.

It is quite a simple site, but may just save you a bit of time at the start of each term.

Deb

Topic Box

I saw a link to Topic Box on Andrew's Primary Teacher UK site and went for a mooch around. I am really impressed with it. As well as being refreshing on the eyes being bright yellow, it is simple to navigate and very well organised. Click on a subject, on a topic and there is a page of online resources all ready for you. Very simple and very fast!

The authors of the site state that they made the site to replace the dusty old plastic topic boxes we all have in school (sound familiar to you too???) which are full of almost antique resources. This being a relatively new site, the resources are up to date, can be rated by anyone who downloads them and I should imagine will be updated regularly.

The site is free to use and will provide hours of fun for anyone with a projector or IWB in school. All they ask is that you spread the word - which is what I am doing!

Thanks all at Topic Box!

Deb

The Thinking Chair

Sorry for taking so long to post yet again! School has been extremely busy and I have just spent half term in Egypt, three days of which were spent in a school delivering some Jolly Phonics INSET. (An amazing experience!) Thanks to everyone who has been e-mailing and keeping in touch.

I have recently read an article in Child Education Magazine about a teacher who set up a 'Thinking Chair' in her classroom. She jazzed up an old chair, brought in a funky 'thinking hat' and used the Thinking Cards which she found in the TES resource section. It sounds like a great idea so I have decided to give it a try this week and I will keep you posted as to how it works out.

I have found 2 sets of cards so far on the TES. The first is for the Foundation Stage which you may want to adapt slightly and remake with more images (they are in a pdf file so can't be edited). The second set is for older children and contains some super ideas. They are listed as speaking and listening cards, but there are lots of writing opportunities. It is a large file with 119 pages, so do not press print accidently! You need to be a registered member of the TES to download the resources, but it is free and only takes seconds.

Thanks to TES users 'alison-stewart' and 'Bluerose' for sharing such great resources. I am really looking forward to seeing how my Year 1 class respond!

Deb