Raising standards in KS1 and Special Needs: helping every child to succeed.
I have taught systematic phonics to all ages and abilities for over 30 years. My teaching degree was in Environmental Studies and I hate to see science reduced to box-ticking when there is so much to discover about the wonderful world we live in.
So, I produce Phonic resources that meet the real needs of children and teachers, along with science resources to engage children in learning about the natural world.
Raising standards in KS1 and Special Needs: helping every child to succeed.
I have taught systematic phonics to all ages and abilities for over 30 years. My teaching degree was in Environmental Studies and I hate to see science reduced to box-ticking when there is so much to discover about the wonderful world we live in.
So, I produce Phonic resources that meet the real needs of children and teachers, along with science resources to engage children in learning about the natural world.
This is a pack of 12 phonic worksheets to teach ‘U-E’ (silent ‘e’, Magic ‘e’, long vowels, split digraphs) words.
These ‘U-E’ Phonic Worksheets can be used with very young children, although I made them for children who have processing difficulties and need more systematic teaching.
They are:
highly systematic
have a limited amount on each page as these pupils tire easily.
Pupils should be confident blending with consonant blends (Phase 4 Letters and Sounds for example).
I use ‘Sound-it-out boxes’ for new words, where digraphs are grouped together to give the child the visual reminder to make one sound.
The worksheets include activities to:
Develop blending and segmenting
Give needed repetition to to develop word recognition
Develop phonemic awareness - much needed by early learners
Tracking activities - to see and recognise the new sound in words
Comprehension activities
Writing practice
Reading of longer passages
Fluency triangles
Lots of repetition builds confidence and success! Help a struggling reader today.
You will find it hard to find such a comprehensive programme of systematic phonic instruction for a special needs child for such a price.
A complete course for Letters and Sounds taking pupils form initial sounds in Phases 2 and 3, to blending cvc words, in Phase 3, to the new digraphs and trigraphs of Phases 3, plus the consonant blends of Phase 4, ending with the new digraphs of Phases 5.
Four books packed with over 350 fully differentiated worksheets.
The Phase 5 book also contains reading comprehension passages with questions to answer, and short sentences to read suing the new sounds.
These resources cater for all needs and abilities of the average class, and can also be used for special needs education.
All tried and tested on pupils for many years.
For the discerning teacher of phonics who wants to ensure that all children succeed, these books are truly systematic - building upon each other with no nasty surprises.
Written by a phonics specialist teacher with over 30 years teaching phonics to all ages and abilities, and the author of Reading Made Simple, a 100% FREE systematic programme of phonics, teaching reading through writing.
For Phases 3 to 5 of Letters and Sounds, here are over 270 fully differentiated worksheets to take pupils from Phase 3 to phase 5, passing through the introduction of consonant blends words in Phase 4.
Help every child to succeed by selecting the worksheet that is right for each pupil.
Here are two of our most popular books bundled together so that you save money!
Here are 12, FREE to download, Consonant Blends decodable, phonic reading books to support the blending of consonant blends words with a short vowel sound, for the very earliest stages of learning to read with phonics, WITH MATCHING WORKBOOKS to consolidate learning.
Suitable for use with all phonic programmes.
These books follow our FREE CVC words reading books, and are followed by our Graded Decodable readers, introducing common digraphs.
Together they form a FREE phonic reading scheme. Give your child a head start in reading, or help your struggling reader to succeed!
Suitable for home-education, parents, teachers, private tutors and all else who need them!
The focus is purely on sounding out with only the key words
** I, and no, go, to**
being gradually introduced.
Pictures are minimal to encourage the child to gain meaning from the text and not to guess.
Phonic words are introduced and then met again in subsequent readers, to help develop confidence and fluency.
The highly structured nature of these books helps every child to succeed.
They can be used alongside my consonant blends videos too:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZVljvSHfcAcPMCPlu9tBdsb5WJJ_k-wh
The stories are based around farmer Tom with his animals, his wife, his son Sam and daughter, Pam, dog Jiff and the cat.
Highly suitable for special needs children who have failed with other programmes.
Many parents have told me they wished they had found these books sooner, or had found them at all, as they would have been ideal for their struggling reader.
They have been thoroughly tested by my current pupils all of whom are boys. Even my nine-year old boy pupil loves them.
Teachers can find my consonant blends worksheets here:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12653569
A bumper pack of 72 Short A CVC worksheets for all abilities in your class, fully differentiated helping every child progress in their phonic journey:
Whether you require worksheets for word families or activities with mixed families, we have you covered.
Suitable for use with Letters and Sounds Phase 2, Read, Write Inc Set 1 and all UK Gov. approved phonic programmes.
These CVC Short A worksheets take pupils from the early stages of blending and segmenting, helping them to gain confidence, to reading short phrases made up of purely decodable Short A words. Only two more advanced worksheets include the words ‘the’ and ‘is’.
They are particularly helpful for the child who needs intentional and consistent practice with Short A words.
These short A worksheets focus particularly on the most common short vowel a endings: at/an/ap, with other endings included in mixed/non-picture sheets.
See a FREE sample of 5 worksheets from this pack here!
Use them for independent work, classwork homework: various activities for variety, with enough similarities to enable children to work independently. Here you will find ample material even for the slower learners, who can progress from the simplest sheets to the more complex as their confidence grows.
The plain design of these worksheets means that those with dyslexia or another learning difficulty will not be overwhelmed.
The realistic pictures mean that older ESL/EFL pupils do not think they are doing babyish work.
The worksheets are fully differentiated so that you can find the perfect activity for each child.
The worksheets are multisensory, utilising the power of the hand in learning phonics requiring children to trace and write as much as possible, alongside using the eyes in seeing, the ears in hearing and the lips in sounding out.
Pupils will develop phonemic awareness by blending and segmenting words and finding the beginning, middle and final sounds.
Exercises include:
Trace, cut and stick words under pictures
Trace, read and write words under pictures
Read a set of words and circle the one that matches the picture
Cut and stick: find the initial or final sound
Write the initial and final sounds
Activities working with rhymes
Change a letter and make a new word
Write the words under the pictures
Fill in the vowel, read and stick pictures next to the correct words.
Unscramble the letters
100% decodable reading comprehension; short phrases, read and draw
The following words are used (I only use words that will make sense to the majority of children as at this early stage reading must be meaningful and not just for the sake of decoding):
an: can, fan, man, pan, ran, van, nan
at: bat, cat, hat, mat, rat, sat, fat, pat
ap: cap, gap, map, nap, tap, zap
am: jam, ham, Pam, Sam, dam
plus:
bag, sad, lad
This is a listening game to help the child to hear the ‘ee’ sound in words, as different to the ‘e’ sound as some children have difficulty hearing the new ee’ sound as their brain is trying to say 'e.
One of my pupils has a speech delay. When I introduced him to ‘ee’, he tried to sound out the words saying ‘e’ instead of ‘ee’. It was as if ‘ee’ was a foreign sound to him. So, I devised this game to help him to hear the ‘ee’ sound in words he uses frequently in speech. After playing it a few times he is now happily sounding out to read and spell words with the ‘ee’ sound. In addition it helps the pupil to understand that the sound ‘e’ does not change as some children will start to say ‘ee’ every time they see ‘e’.
Find more help with teaching the ee sound at Reading made Simple, my FREE Phonic reading and spelling programme that is really simple and really works!
https://readingmadesimple.weebly.com/level-1---ee.html
An easy reader about mushrooms for those beginning to read longer simple texts - with words that can be sounded out using phonic knowledge and only a few most common sight words.
Learn about mushrooms through a simple story.
For lesson notes and more help see:
https://ks1nature.weebly.com/free-science-lessons/mushrooms-for-ks1
See also our mushroom lesson resources and Power Point.
This Leaf Sorting lesson pack can help you to deliver the National Curriculum for Science in Year 1. The Leaf Sorting Pack includes
12 pictures of varying leaves, suitable for sorting according to vein pattern, formation and leaf properties (e.g. prickly/rounded edges, deep cut edges etc…) - in two sizes for whole class/group use or display.
a My leaf recording worksheet
a sheet of 12 small pictures to sort, cut out and stick.
See also our Why do leaves fall ? PowerPoint, which goes well with this pack of resources.
Full lesson notes are provided at KS1 Nature.
Two PowerPoints suitable for use when teaching about Seasons/weather/changing levels of light through the year.
Covers many areas of science:
Seasons:
Learn what changes to look out for across the four seasons
Learn that days get shorter and longer throughout the year
How this affects the weather
How the seasons affect us: what we wear/what we do
How the seasons affect plants and animals
Light and Dark
Darkness is the absence of light
The sun is the main source of light on Planet Earth
Reminds pupils never to look directly at the sun
The sun provides warmth too - or Earth would be very cold
Why plants need the sun: to make food to help them reproduce
Creatures of the day (the need for survival)
Shadows - how they are formed
Plants and animals that prefer the shade and why (the need for survival)
Creatures of the night
Nocturnal (the need for survival)
Both with full narration notes plus notes under slides for use in Presenter View.
A cheerful Weather Word Mat for younger children. This mat is phonetically coded to help with reading and spelling.
Many uses!
This Weather Word Mat is included in the Weather Resources Pack:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12616669
Please do not Purchase twice!
22 ‘ck’ fully differentiated worksheets, for use with any phonic programme. Written for those just beginning to blend, e.g Letters and sounds Phases 2 -4 and RWI Speed Set 1, Special friends. These worksheets cater for the needs of the average class and special needs.
The worksheets give practice in:
Reading and spelling ck words
Tracking the ck sound in words and sentences
Proofreading
Comprehension
Writing sentences using ck words.
These worksheets are simple, but effective. For use by teachers and private tutors.
Find activities suitable for all abilities
Assume no knowledge of other digraphs
Two worksheets for most activities: one without consonant blend words, and one with consonant blend words.
Suitable for Special Needs/intervention work/homework.
If you have already purchased our big book of Phases 3 and 4 worksheets for Letters and Sounds, you may have a few of these sheets, but this pack contains mainly new/changed material.
A pack of two super fun games to help children learn to hear the final sound of words, so vital for spelling with phonics. The games cover the final sounds: t,d, k, g, p, b, n, m and s.
They can also be used for speech therapy giving practice in like sounds: d/t/, k/g/ and p/b with which some children struggle.
Children from EYFS to teens with sepecial needs will enjoy playing these games!
Some children need a little extra practice to hear the final sounds of words, and a game takes the tedium out of learning!
Children will want to play these games again and again and you can change the sound each time. Nine sounds with 63 picture cards and two boards to choose from means the child will not get bored
Build a Castle, Win the Race: you choose! You can even change the fun level by adding in extra/missed turns - but play it simply first.
The games can be for up to 4 players, though it is recommended that each player plays first with an adult until s/he has begun to hear the final sound.
Full instructions are given.
Both games come in either colour or ink-saving black and white.
I made these games to help a ten-yr-old reluctant pupil to hear the final sounds of words. It won him round and now he is an expert!
I hope they help you too!
31 ‘ng’ fully differentiated worksheets, for use with any phonic programme, catering for the needs of the average class and special needs.
Written for those at the early stages of phonics, e.g.: Letters and Sounds Phase 3 and Read Write Inc, Set 1 Special Friends and for catch up work, extra practice, ESL/EFL and special needs.
The worksheets give practice in:
Reading and spelling ‘ng’ words
Tracking the ‘ng’ sound in words and sentences
Proofreading
Comprehension
rhymes
Writing sentences using ‘ng’ words.
These worksheets are simple, but effective. For use by teachers and private tutors.
Find activities suitable for all abilities
Assume no knowledge of other digraphs (except on two stated worksheets where ‘th’ and ‘ck’ are used in higher level worksheets)
Two worksheets for most activities: one without consonant blend words, and one with consonant blend words.
Suitable for Special Needs/intervention work/homework.
Our CVC Words Read and Reveal books are perfect for those just starting to blend.
Read the word on one page, turn over to reveal the picture and check that you are right!
Children love the visual feedback and it boosts their confidence no end when they find out that they can really read!
7 booklets, each with 7 words, grouped into sound families, and 7 pictures:
ap words
at words
an words
ip/in words
op/og words
Mixed shore vowel ‘e’ words
Mixed short vowel ‘u’ words
For use with all UK approved phonics programmes.
Prints on 2 pages of A4 double-sided - flip on the long edge.
Simply trim to A5, and staple.
Great to use in class, or to send home in book bags.
This Year 1 teaching resource pack, based on squirrrels, will help children to use the local environment throughout the year to explore and answer questions about animals in their habitat.
Pack includes Year 1 Science lesson outlines and worksheets on the subject of squirrels useful for follow-up work.
Background information for teachers so you have the answers to hand and can feel knowledgeable bout your subject without spending hours researching.
Lesson notes and ideas to help you plan
18 Differentiated worksheets will cater for all abilities in your class!
The worksheets cover
What squirrels eat
Parts of a squirrel
Labelling a squirrel (characteristics)
Where they live
Writing paper for recording
Comprehension sheets
And more!
The pack will:
Help you to fully embrace the non-statutory guidance for the Year 1 National Curriculum for Science as well as teaching the statutory requirements.
Bring Science alive and help you to deliver excellent lessons based on squirrels in the local environment.
Designed to appeal to the Y1 child, gently introducing key vocabulary. Written by an Environmental Education, Early Years specialist (ages 3 to 8) who understands how children learn.
Year 1: Science curriculum covered:
• identify and name a variety of common animals, including birds.
• describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals (including birds).
Identify and name a variety of common animals that are …omnivores.
The Squirrel worksheets can be used with:
Our Squirrel PowerPoint which is great for starting a lesson, or reinforcing what has been learnt at the end.
In two books, 140 differentiated worksheets. 70 for teaching initial sounds,and a further 70 to take the child on to blend and segment cvc and consonant blend words with a short vowel sound.
For stages 2 and 3 of Letters and Sounds, or Set 1 or RWI (excluding ‘Special Friends’)
These sheets provide plenty of practice of vital early reading and spelling skills and can also be used for assessment purposes to help the vigilant teacher to plan the next step forward.
These sheets are simple and yet they work! Created to meet the needs of children in the average classroom.
All beautifully illustrated by Vera Conway.
Preview here:
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A6e21d937-a35d-440e-ba0c-3ed5ad9a1bdb
and
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A5027d2de-1ad5-49d9-a9c2-2d15cff37d8a
Five phonic games to help pupils read and spell words with consonant blends (short vowel sound only). Suitable for use with Read, Write Inc.
Make Phonics learning fun and help it to stick!
These games have all been written by a special needs teacher, who knows exactly where children get stuck and what is needed to help them progress. The children will not know they are learning!
These games work wonderfully to help disillusioned readers succeed, but great for helping all children Pre K to 2nd grade and older special needs pupils.
Great for book bags, for use by classroom assistants and for the home-school.
Supplied in pdf format, all ready coloured in. Just print and play! These games are very simple to play but very effective. Full instructions provided and tips on how to help your child/ren.
See our Games for teaching Initial Sounds and CVC words too!
Six phonic simple games to help children learn to blend and segment cvc words.
Suitable for use with Read, Write Inc. Learning to blend with set 1 sounds.
These games work wonderfully to help disillusioned readers succeed, but great for helping all children Pre K to 2nd grade and older special needs pupils.
These games have all been written by a special needs teacher, who knows exactly where children get stuck and what is needed to help them progress. The children will not know they are learning!
Make Phonics learning fun and help it to stick!
Perfect for teaching assistants, to send home in book bags and for the home-school.
Supplied in pdf format, all ready coloured in. Just print and play! These games are very simple, but effective. All you need is in the pack. Full instructions provided and tips on how to help your child/ren. Laminating them will help them to last longer, but iw not necessary.
Contents:
Short vowel games: ‘a’, ‘e’/‘i’ and ‘o’/‘u’ (three games) - reading games
All vowels Game - a reading game
Missing Vowel Game - a spelling game
Final sound Game - a spelling game
18 weather-related worksheets and puzzles covering 6 areas of weather:
•What is the weather like today?
•Hot and Cold
•What shall I wear today?
•It’s Windy
•It’s Raining
•General Weather
3 Worksheets for each:
1 easy activity for younger children/lower ability,
2 word searches, 1 easy and 1 harder.
Use for a topic on weather, or as early finisher activities at any time of the year.
The harder words searches were originally written for a class of Y3 children so can be used with that age group too.
These worksheets are included in the Weather Project Pack but are listed here separately for those who only want the worksheets.
Help your child/ren learn to count and write the numbers 0 to 5 - suitable for home or school use. 28 worksheets.
Each number is introduced and then practiced to build confidence and ensure success.
Includes:
Learning to write numbers
Matching 1 to 1
Ordering
Biggest/smallest
Number patterns
The easy, clear format is suitable for all ages and abilities - including those with learning difficulties.
Reinforces classwork - schools can print individual pages for home or school use.
Parents can download and print themselves as a first maths workbook.
See also:
Count 6 - 10
Beginning addition and subtraction