Use leaflets and websites of castles and tourist sites to provide examples of many different text types. Study features of formal language and transform ‘officialese’ into accessible English. Children then create a virtual guided tour using appropriate language styles. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

Children study and compare a range of posters on the theme of pets and animals. They look at the meaning behind each and how they are effective through text, colours and pictures. They create their own posters and then web pages using headings, captions and pictures.

Maisie’s pet dragon runs away and Maisie sets out to find it. She meets many characters on her quest. Children create alternative fantasy pets and settings through improvisation and art. They write their own story about losing and recovering their pet. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

Children discuss the differences between legend and history – mentioning famous legends about Rome and also historical events. They are told the story of Mount Vesuvius erupting, and then write their own eye-witness account of the event using imagination. Suitable for years 3 and 4. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

Children locate the Roman empire on a timeline and discuss how historians and archaeologists are able to piece together the facts. They look at the 3 systems of government: monarchy, republic and emperors, and debate advantages/disadvantages of each. Suitable for years 3 and 4.

Children recognise the need for affordable social housing. Groups discuss different forms of affordable housing – council houses, tower blocks, housing associations, prefabs. Feedback to class with pros and cons and decide which would be most useful after a problem.

Children look at every day objects which have changed since WW2, choose one and write a museum card for it.

Children read the description of a fictional tourist town, they consider the way the town is dependent upon the tourist industry that surrounds the Coral Lake. A proposed new bylaw aims to change things – what effects will this have? Children hold a town meeting.

Children consider the different types of erosion, water, wind, glacial, sea and soil. In groups each with a different type of erosion children research for information and then draw cartoon strips explaining how the types of erosion occur.

Find out about the New Towns that were planned to help with housing shortages. Look at some examples. Children identify the key elements that they would like included in a new town, and then write a report for a new town planning committee.

After WW2 many towns that were badly damaged in the bombing needed to be re-built. Children research what happened in Coventry and consider what could be done to help re-build and re-construct the area. Present their findings as a conversation between friends.

Children understand that millions of houses were destroyed during WW2 and they needed to be replaced. Houses were designed that were pre-fabricated. They were quick to build; thousands were put up in the 1940s/1950s. Children choose key info needed to sell a prefab.

Children look at streets around the school, houses, shops and street furniture. Compare today with the 1940s. Use old photos of home town/village or city as resources. Children produce a leaflet showing how their street has changed between then and now.

Read some poems from We are Britain by Benjamin Zephaniah and ask what these children have in common. Discover where in the world children in the class came from originally – locally, elsewhere in Britain, another country? Write poetry about each other in BZ style.

Using the wonderful book Augustus and his Smile, children are stimulated to write patterned poems, to use onomatopoeia and to produce rhyming couplets. Following a traditional patterned dance poem, they write and perform their own version based on the book. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

Use stimulus of Boris Flies High to distinguish between fact and fiction and recognise features of information text. Write questions to research bats and write factual sentences, labels and captions. Then children research and write a report on a pet. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

A range of poetry structures is identified through examples of poetry written on the theme of weather. Children consider the effect of patterned language, imagery and rhyme. They write and perform their own weather poems.

In this two-week block, children use a classic story to generate orders. They then turn orders into instructions and use an Animated Alphabet to provide stimulus for reading, following and writing instructions. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

Children explore books with repeated phrases/sentences and use these as the basis for their own writing. Children will create additional pages to known stories and will also produce their own book, based on the imaged adventures of their soft toys. Suitable for Year 1 pupils. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

The children reinforce their understanding of fact and fiction. Reading Wolves is a lovely example of how information text can be exciting. They research polar bears, plan and organise their work into paragraphs, finally creating their own Web Page Report. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.