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Literacy Resources


All the resources on this page are free for you to access and use.  To see the resource, click on the blue hyperlink next to the description. The resource will open up in a separate window. To return to this page, simply close the new window when you have finished with it.

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bullet1.gif (148 bytes) Policies and Planning
bullet1.gif (148 bytes) Marking and Assessment
bullet1.gif (148 bytes) Miscellaneous Teaching Resources
bullet1.gif (148 bytes) Word Level
bullet1.gif (148 bytes) Spelling
bullet1.gif (148 bytes) Reading
bullet1.gif (148 bytes) Poetry
bullet1.gif (148 bytes) Writing

 
Policies and Planning
Resource Description Link(s)
Action plan for language St Augustine's Catholic Primary School have given us their Action Plan for Language as an example. Thanks to Jo Riglar. doc  
LCP files Address and contacts for the popular LCP files.  HTML file.   htm
ICT in literacy
hour
Here is a case study on the use of portable word processors to raise children's achievements in Writing. It has been submitted by the manufacturers of Alphasmart, but written by Emma Cansdale, Key LIteracy Teacher at Down Lane Junior School, Tottenham. doc  
Library skills A policy for teaching library and information skills to KS 2.   pdf
Literacy websites This is the definitive collection of websites suitable for use with reading and literacy.  Don't miss any of them!  HTML file, with hyperlinks.   htm
Literacy hour text sy4 Suggested texts for covering some of the Literacy Hour objectives for Year 4. HTML file.   htm
Literacy
summary
One school's solution to overall literacy strategy planning with vertically grouped classes in mind. Office97 file.   pdf
NLS targets_yrr For those using NLS here are a set of MS Excel sheets containing the targets for the scheme. Thanks to the prolific Neil Whitmill! Neil says: I took all the NLS word, sentence, text level objs for each term and put them in Excel. A column for the teacher to number them/week is put in then when the teacher has decided which week to use that obj they highlight the grid and sort it numerically (auto-sort) and hey presto all objs are sorted into the weeks they will be covered and no more writing for medium term planning!!!!
NB yr5 and yr6 files have now been updated and are complete.
  zip
NLS Targets yr1   zip
NLS Targets yr2   zip
NLS Targets yr3   zip
NLS Targets yr4   zip
NLS Targets yr5   zip
NLS Targets yr6   zip
Marking and Assessment top.gif (1541 bytes)
Resource Description Link(s)
Analyse writing A zip archive containing 2 MS Word documents listing statements for analysing the level of a child's writing (from 2c - 5a). See also writingprofile, below, for the matching KS1 sheet.   zip
Langarts test A simple test for 8-10 year olds to help assess their literacy skills. doc  
My writing
review
A self assessment sheet for pupils in years 5/6 to review their own writing and see what level they are working at. doc  
NC levels nc1 sl A self assessment sheet for KS3 pupils for Speaking and Listening. Submitted by Vanessa Carr, Sedgehill School. doc  
NFER calc If you use the NFER Group Reading Test 9-14 this little spreadsheet from Roberta Downton will calculate "Standardised Age Score" and "Reading Age" for the NFER Group Reading Test 9-14 - using Combo sliders to avoid numerical input and the ambiguities of "duodecimal" years. It needs no instructions or Add-Ins, and is protected to be blunder-proof.

This file requires MS Excel 2000 or later.

xls  
Reading
interview
2 sheets for recording assessments during a reading interview. 2 MSWord docs from Sheena Florey. doc zip
Reading record sheet From Neil Whitmill comes this simple sheet to plot graphically progress in reading from Reception. (Updated September 2004)   zip
SAT marking writing A crib sheet from Kath Budd to help with deciding just which level that piece of writing is at. doc  
SRS2 Reading A score sheet and calculator for the NFER Suffolk reading tests. Put in your class's scores and it will tell you their reading ages. Thanks to Iain McJannet. xls  
SAT story
markscheme
A mark sheet based on the mark scheme for the story task at KS2. Thanks to Steve Gailor for compiling this one. doc  
Writing auto assessment Thanks to Damian Railston for this spreadsheet that automatically calculates levels from scores. It also gives you % children at L4 and % at L3c. xls  
Levels Assessment sheets for levels KS 1 & 2 4 for assessing writing levels in both narrative and non-narrative writing. Simply highlight the appropriate skills. 4 MS word docs from Sheena Florey.   zip
Writing profile A profile of levels for KS1, from Beryl King. Beryl writes, "I use the attached pro-forma when marking writing. I highlight what they have achieved and see which column has most highlighted bits." See also analyse_writing, above, for the matching KS2 sheets. doc  
Miscellaneous Teaching Resources top.gif (1541 bytes)
Resource Description Link(s)

Active
and passive

A MS PowerPoint presentation to help explain active and passive verbs and the difference between them. Thanks to Jo Garton of Pinehurst Junior School in Swindon  

ppt

Fact- opinion A worksheet by Jeanie Calverley to help children think about the difference between fact and opinion. rtf  
FRET This is a link to an excellent website called Free Resources for Teaching English. It has loads of downloadable worksheets, lesson plans, schemes of work etc. for KS3/KS4. There is also an excellent links' page.  

htm

Insults Choose a word from each of three columns and generate your own Shakespearean insults. rtf  
Missing project An idea for a KS3 / Y7 class submitted by Vanessa Carr, Sedgehill School. The idea of the lesson is to generate thought and work around the idea of emotive advertising. doc  
Passive
active tense
Another of Jamie Nairn's electronic worksheets. Children work on the computer to convert sentences from passive to active voice. doc  
Recipe A poster to print showing the recipe for making cakes. Useful support for sequential writing / instructional writing. Thanks to Theresa Boyle. xls  
Sentence Thanks to Dave Bryant of Northwood Primary School, IoW, for this set of 10 Acorn-only MyWorld2 screens for YR & KS1. They use the first 45 Keywords. Children can pick up the words and arrange them into sentences. (You will need an unzipping utility such as !Sparkplug. You may need to reset the filetypes, too. They are all Drawfiles).   zip
Visual Literacy Here's a great idea from Gary Chapman at Pennington Infant School (Lymington, Hants). A week's worth of planned literacy hours using artworks rather than text. "This lesson plan takes a very different approach to literacy hour than the normal model. There is no big book, no phonic focus, no guided reading. It makes a very refreshing break from the norm and introduces the children to some interesting concepts. The majority of the work is either done as a whole class or in four mixed ability groups." The lessons here are aimed at infants but the ideas would be useful with KS2, too.

Get it straight from Gary at: http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/pennington.infants/vis-lit.htm

Wordlist Great list of words for use with Literacy Hour. pdf  
Year 6 sentence level An "I can.." self assessment sheet for sentence level work. pdf  
Word Level top.gif (1541 bytes)
Resource Description Link(s)
Adverb1 2 worksheets by Jeanie Calverley to help children learn about adverbs. rtf  
Adverbs2 rtf  
Alphabetical order A neat little MS PowerPoint presentation about putting words into alphabetical order by the first, second and third letters. Thanks to Chris Allton, Lea St. Mary's Catholic Primary School, Preston.   ppt
Bwords Thanks to Bridgeen McNulty for this interactive PowerPoint presentation. She writes: The resource is intended for use in Reception/Key Stage 1 as a short reinforcement activity in recognising the spelling some common words with B as the beginning sound with animations and sound effects. The resource can be manipulated to represent any letter of the alphabet, simply change the pictures and words.   ppt
246K
Cockney A PowerPoint presentation from Jane Armstrong, dealing with cockney rhyming slang.   ppt
59K
Homophones An electronic worksheet from Jamie Nairn. Children copy and paste words to match the homophones. (There are pop up help notes over a couple of words - just hover the mouse over the yellow bits) doc  
Homophones (2) A set of posters of common homophones. Thanks to Samantha Norling doc  
Loan words A PowerPoint presentation from Jane Armstrong about words that English has "borrowed" from other languages.   ppt
170K
Masculine and feminine words 2 worksheets by Jeanie Calverley dealing with masculine and feminine words (eg. prince / princess) rtf  
Masculine and fem words2 rtf  
OO A neat little PowerPoint presentation from Theresa Boyle about the sounds that oo makes.   ppt
OUGH words An electronic worksheet (the children complete the task at the computer) to reinforce knowledge of the pronunciations of words ending in -ough. Thanks to Jamie Nairn. doc  
PIP class
record
A spreadsheet (MS Excel) for recording a class's progress on the Progression in Phonics scheme. Thanks to Margaret McMullin, Holy Family Catholic Primary School, Southport. xls  
Powerful verbs A worksheet by Jeanie Calverley dealing with powerful verbs (eg strode instead of walked) rtf  
Slang
dictionary
A PowerPoint presentation from Jane Armstrong dealing with slang - based on Geordie dialect words.   ppt
35K
Thesaur12 A zip archive containing 2 simple worksheets, from Tonya Culligan, about using a thesaurus   zip
Word level yr6 An "I can.." self assessment sheet for word level work. pdf  
Spelling top.gif (1541 bytes)
Resource Description Link(s)

Here is a set of MS PowerPoint presentations produced by Veronica Carter for her reception class at Camelsdale First School (www.camelsdale.w-sussex.sch.uk). They are zipped because PowerPoint files can be quite large. To view the instruction use PowerPoint's View menu and choose Notes page. One of the joys of PowerPoint presentations like these is that you can easily modify them to suit your own needs.

Ch_sh_th This one deals with recognising words that begin with the three sounds ch, sh, th.   zip
253Kb
CVC words presentation Consonant - Vowel - Consonant (but you knew that!)  Great for reinforcing those phonemes! .   zip
108Kb
CVCs_vc A PowerPoint presentation, which builds on the one above. CVC words are illustrated and animated letter by letter. This one is from Veronica Carter.   zip
172Kb

Final
phonemes

What is the last letter ....   zip
116Kb
 
Cards phonemes
-air
A set of flash cards showing the vowel phoneme air (all three spellings). It is for showing the different spelling patterns (different spellings are highlighted in different colours). It is aimed at Year 2, Term 2. Thanks to Faye McKinney. doc  
CVC words Another CVC presentation (MS PowerPoint), this one from Michelle Ross and aimed at Reception. Each picture is followed by the word letter by letter.   zip
348K
ING words Designed to be printed as a worksheet. Add onsets to make -ing words. There are pictures to help. Thanks to Theresa Boyle. xls  
Mnemonics A PowerPoint presentation from Samantha Norling showing mnemonics for some tricky spelling words. You could also print the individual slides as posters.   ppt
400K
Rec words2 This is an idea for allowing children to practise spelling on the computer. The children are shown the spellings which they then scroll out of the way before typing it themselves. They are told whether their attempt is right or wrong. The list of words supplied can easily be changed. Thanks to Kirstie Palmer. xls  
Spelling1 Celia Thomas from Rhydypenau Primary School in Cardiff sent in this PowerPoint presentation which she uses as a way of revising the typical spelling patterns that commonly appear in the KS2 SATs.   ppt
145K
Spelling parents

 

Have parents ever asked you about their children's spelling problems? Here are 5 questions that parents ask - answered in an extract from a book called:
MY KID CAN'T SPELL!
Understanding and Assisting Your Child's Literary Development
by J. Richard Gentry
rtf pdf
Spelling presentations A collection of 8 PowerPoint presentations from Jane Armstrong. Well worth a look.   zip
731K
Tricky words A set of simple posters displaying words which are commonly misspelled. Thanks to Samantha Norling. doc  

Y3_1 spell
obj8

This MS PowerPoint presentation from Samantha Norling, Claycots School. Slough. Berkshire. deals with adding -ing.   ppt
275K

Y1_2 key
 words

A PowerPoint  presentation, from Dave Bryant, with the Y1 & 2 key words in order of size (ie number of letters). Very colourful and with printable certificates. Ideal for your IWB.   ppt
1M
Reading top.gif (1541 bytes)
Resource Description Link(s)
ALS reading record Jeanie Calverley's individual reading record for ALS module 1 rtf  
ALS reading mod2 Jeanie Calverley's individual reading record for ALS module 2 rtf  
Early reading research Some interesting research findings on early reading.   pdf

The Highwayman

A PowerPoint presentation from Mike Boswell, aimed at Year 5 or 6. He says: The ppt includes the text of the narrative poem "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes, an activity for learning the more challenging words from the text and identifies metaphors, similes and onomatopoeias within the text.   ppt
600K
Phonics cards Picture cards to print. Thanks to Theresa Boyle. xls  

Reading wall

A reading wall - reading skills set out as bricks on a wall. As you go up through the courses of bricks you go up through the levels. From W1 - L3/4. Thanks to Beryl King for this useful assessment / tracking tool doc  
Poetry top.gif (1541 bytes)
Resource Description Link(s)
Bumblebee This MS PowerPoint presentation examines the process of writing a narrative poem. It is based around How the Bumble-bee Got His Stripes by Nick Toczec which can be found in The Works (which many of you will have  copy of). Thanks to Samantha Norling.   ppt
384K
Button box Using a prop (Grandma's button box) to stimulate poetry writing. Another of Jane Armstrong's PowerPoint presentations.   ppt
36K
Jack and Jill A set of printable sheets about rhyming Probably KS1 - early KS2. Thanks to Theresa Boyle. xls   
Poetry comprehension A PowerPoint presentation containing a poetry-based comprehension exercise. Thanks to Jane Armstrong.   ppt
137k
Preposition poetry Using prepositions in patterning a poem. Another PowerPoint from Jane Armstrong.   ppt
49K
Spring poems A selection of simple poems on aspects of Spring. Probably best suited to KS1. rtf pdf
Winter
acrostic
A worksheet by Jeanie Calverley rtf  

Write a rap

A great little PowerPoint presentation about how to write a rap. Thanks to Lisa Montandon.   ppt
73K
Writing top.gif (1541 bytes)
Resource Description Link(s)

Build
suspense

Here's one that deals with story writing skills. Peter Smith describes how he sets about the task of helping young writers develop their abilities to write suspenseful stories. He describes a number of strategies that he has used and would love to hear how others do it. (particularly applicable to Y6 approaching SATs). doc zip
Cultural
stories
A Powerpoint presentation from Jane Armstrong which looks at the way cultural contexts affect the way stories are written.   ppt
100K
Direct
speech
A fun MS PowerPoint presentation to help children get to grips with the correct use of speech marks and their associated punctuation. Thanks to Jo Garton of Pinehurst Junior School in Swindon.   ppt
Idioms A PowerPoint presentation from Jane Armstrong.   ppt
300K
Letters A PowerPoint presentation dealing with the purposes and styles of letters "found in newspapers". F   ppt
216K
My myth Another PowerPoint from the computer of Jane Armstrong. This one provides lots of stimuli and help in writing myths.   ppt
493K
Narrative
build up
Thanks to Samantha Norling for this presentation aimed at Year 6 to review the build up phase of writing a story.   ppt
Nonfict guides Here's a terrific set of posters (A4 size) covering the key points of various kinds of non-fiction writing. Thanks to Elaine Brent. doc  
Planning an argument A writing frame from Arthur Daley. This one scaffolds the construction of an argumentative piece of writing. rtf  
Planning autobiog Arthur Daley has submitted this set of sheets to help pupils plan autobiographies. The first few deal with first second and third person pronouns; the later sheets deal with planning and writing the autobiography itself. doc  
Reviewing your writing Useful sheet for helping upper Key Stage 2 children review their own writing.   pdf
SAT_shortstory A hint sheet to help Y6 children prepare for the short story task in KS2 SAT. Thanks to Kath Budd. doc  
Sentence punctuation A PowerPoint presentation from Jane Armstrong, dealing with the functions of different punctuation marks.   ppt
136K
Story prompt sheet1 Two great sheets for helping children develop their story writing techniques.   pdf
Story prompt sheet2   pdf
Write A Flash application from Patrick Allen. Practice handwriting on the IWB. Control the colour and thickness of the pen, rub out, write with or without lines on the page.   zip
(PC Version 553Kb)

zip (Mac Version  833Kb)

Writing self assessment l34 Two more sheets for helping children assess their own story writing.  Particularly useful for levels 3-4.   pdf
Writing self assessment l4   pdf
Verbs_ alphorder 2 Simple worksheets: one on verbs, one on alphabetical order. Thanks to David Hatchett, who is a KS2 English advisor for NC tests with Edexcel (so knows what he is about!) doc pdf

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