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How to use this board

Post your lesson ideas under the relevant section (Maths or English).

Use the subject to note the objective of your session

Add details in the body.

Comment on others’ posts to discuss or share feedback!

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Potions alternative! We are going to create our own BFG dream jars and describe them using our figurative language skills. I have bought lots of different miniatures, they can choose up to 5 different things to put in e.g. different animals/ fairies/dragons/ different people figurines.

We are then going to think about similes/metaphors/ personification/ alliteration/ onomatopoeia to describe the different things we've added.

For example:

Simile: The fairy wings shimmered like rainbows trapped in glass.

Metaphor: The dragon is a volcano waiting to roar.

Personification: The clouds inside the jar sighed softly, sleepy and slow.

Alliteration: Fierce fairies fluttered fearlessly.

Onomatopoeia: Tinkle! went the fairy dust as it fell like snow.

If time allows, we can then make them pretty by adding glitter/ food colouring/ putting labels on them.

Enjoy!

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Teaching subordinate clauses in detective mode. I usually give students a detective style jewellery heist image, we figure out 5 clues, we then write subordinate clause sentences around the clues ( online lesson)

For face to face- the detective image would be printed out or clues would be scattered around the room x

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Concept: Pupils mix magical ingredients (numbers) to make a potion with the right “total power”.

Give each child a cauldron sheet (you can draw or print one).

Prepare ingredient cards with 4-digit numbers (e.g. “Eye of Newt – 3,246”, “Spider Legs – 1,572”).

Pupils draw two or more cards and add the values to find their potion’s total power.

You can make it competitive: “Whose potion has the highest total?”

Variation: Include “poison cards” (subtract instead of add).

I also adapted this task to teach percentages:

Give each pupil a “cauldron sheet.”

Each cauldron starts with a base potion value, e.g. 1,000 potion points.

Prepare ingredient cards with names and percentage effects, such as:

o Eye of Newt – adds 25% of your base potion

o Dragon Scales – adds 40% of your base potion

o Spider Legs – adds 15% of your base potion

o Unicorn Hair – adds 10% of your base potion

o Poison Frog Slime – subtracts 20% of your base potion

How to mix:

Pupils draw two or more ingredient cards and must:

o Calculate the percentage of their base value each ingredient represents.

o Add or subtract to find their final potion power.

Example:

Base = 1,000 potion points

Ingredients: +25%, +15%, −20%

→ Potion Power = 1,000 + 250 + 150 − 200 = 1,200 points

Make it competitive:

o “Whose potion has the strongest power?” (highest total)

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🍁 "Autumn Adverbial Sort"

Give students cards with different adverbial phrases (examples below).

Ask them to sort into "Time", "Place", and "Manner (how)".

Examples:

Before sunrise

In the pumpkin patch

With great care

As the wind howled

Through the crunchy leaves

On a foggy morning

Like a whisper

➡️ Let students stick them onto a whiteboard/chart in categories. Then discuss how they work at the start of a sentence.

✏️ "Build-a-Sentence Challenge"

Give them some base sentences and let them choose a fronted adverbial to add. Example base sentences:

"The fox darted between the trees."

"Children played in the park."

"Leaves danced in the wind."

Task:
Students pick a fronted adverbial and say or write the full sentence with a comma.

On a misty morning, the fox darted between the trees.

We used macaroni as commas which was great fun!

Make this into a game: Let them take turns rolling a dice to choose a category (1–2 = time, 3–4 = place, 5–6 = manner) and build a sentence using that type of fronted adverbial.

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I drew a large rollercoaster track labelled with intervals of 10,000, going from 10,000 up to 110,000.

Each child was given a random number (for example, 53,650). Their task was to decide which 10,000 interval their number would round to — so 53,650 would round down to 50,000.

Two children worked on the rollercoaster itself, placing or writing their numbers on the track at the correct rounded value. The other two children completed rounding loop cards, practising rounding to different place values (tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.).

Afterwards, the groups switched roles — the loop card pair moved to the rollercoaster, and the rollercoaster pair checked the first group’s answers for mistakes before having their own go.

It was a fun, hands-on way to practise rounding large numbers and to reinforce estimation skills through teamwork and checking each other’s work.

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We explored past and present progressive and past and present perfect tenses through an autumn-themed lesson. We began with a buzzer game to identify tenses, then used the big spinny wheel to generate verbs for sentence practice. In the middle of the table, I placed lots of Year 5/6 adjectives to help children expand their ideas (e.g. crisp, golden, swirling, frosty).

The children chose autumn leaves with verbs written on them and created sentences in different tenses, such as:

The wind was blowing the golden leaves across the park (past progressive)

The children are jumping into crunchy piles of leaves (present progressive)

The leaves had fallen before we went on our walk (past perfect)

The trees have turned orange and red already (present perfect)

They then painted their own leaves to display alongside their sentences — a creative touch they absolutely loved! We also recapped our awareness of hyphenated adjectives to up-level our description of colour.

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We explored multiplication through arrays by creating our own array cities! Each child designed buildings with windows arranged in rows and columns, using these to represent different multiplications. We counted how many windows went across and down to form our multiplication sentences.

Since this concept was still new, some children counted all the windows, while others used skip counting to find the total more efficiently.

After creating our buildings, we looked at some pre-made array city cards, working out which times table each one showed. When we flipped them over, the multiplication question was written on the back so we could check our answers.

It was a really lovely, hands-on session that made multiplication visual and creative — and I’ve seen a fun version of this done with Cheerios too! 🌆

Inspiration from @misshallaltutoring.

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This session focused on addition and subtraction with exchanging, using a fun cauldron theme to bring the practice to life!

We began by recapping the method together, then moved through three levels of challenge:

Level 1: 3-digit numbers with no exchanging

Level 2: 3-digit numbers with one exchange

Level 3: 4-digit numbers with two or more exchanges

Each question had a creature at the top (e.g. rats, worms, snakes, lizards, spiders, crickets). When children answered correctly, they could add that creature into the cauldron — which was filled with water, food colouring, and fairy liquid to create a bubbling potion!

The children loved seeing their potion come to life as they worked through each level. It was a brilliant way to build fluency, stretch reasoning, and spot misconceptions.

We finished with some word problems to apply their skills in context — a magical end to a fantastic session! 🪄✨

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MISSION 1 – “CODE ENTRY CHALLENGE”

• Secret agent Place Value mat on floor (Th, H, T, 0)

• Give each child a number. “digit badge”

• Call out “secret code” number (4d) –

“The agents” (children) must

stand in the right order.

• Each time they succeed –

“code accepted, access granted”

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MISSION 2 – THE SAFE CRACKER HUNT

• Hide numbers. Give children a 4d number (a vault code). Find

numbers and place in the right place on the place value chart. Once

complete they have unlocked the safe!

Main activity (partitioning)

• Partition numbers to 1000 (recap) – part whole model on whiteboard.

Model ex 4231 = 4000 + 200 + 30 + 1 (draw part whole)

MISSION 3 – DECODE THE MESSAGE

• Partition numbers to 10,000 – focus.

Model 4285 = 4000 + 200 + 80 = 5. (show using counters)

• Hide 4d numbers around the room. Children find the numbers and then

go back to the table and build them using dienes or counters (spy tools)

Once partitioned they report back. “Code 6305 cracked. It’s 6000 + 300

+5”

• Give children part whole model questions to do in books

Challenge: MISSION 4 – DISARM THE LASER

Whiteboards (as quick as possible before laser timer goes off!)

3245 = 3000 + 200 = 40 = 5

I found an actual laser countdown on YouTube which they loved!

Also adapted this to 3 digit numbers.

The children made their own spy names and added them to a badge at the beginning of the lesson (resource on Twinkl).

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In this session, we practised punctuating direct speech through a fun, dinosaur-themed activity. Knowing this learner’s love of dinosaurs, I printed a short text about Barnum Brown and his discovery of the T-Rex.

We then turned the lesson into an interview activity using a blow-up microphone — the learner pretended to be Barnum Brown while I acted as the reporter. He answered questions like, “What were you feeling when you discovered those first few fossils?” and I quickly jotted down his responses.

Next, we worked on adding accurate punctuation to his speech — making sure the inverted commas, commas, and punctuation marks were in the right places.

To finish, we wrote the quotations into a tea-stained newspaper template and added drawings of dinosaurs and fossils to complete the page. He absolutely loved it — a creative, hands-on way to make grammar meaningful and memorable! 🦕🗞️

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🧪 Potions Class – Measuring, Converting & Comparing Capacity

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🧪 Potions Class – Measuring, Converting & Comparing Capacity

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In this magical, hands-on Maths session, we explored capacity and converting between millilitres and litres through a fun Potions Class theme.

We began by discussing how many millilitres are in a litre, then used matching cards from Twinkl to practise reading scales and matching ml to l (and vice versa).

Next, we moved on to our potion-making setup! Using cups filled with different coloured water, 5ml pipettes, measuring jugs, and markable measuring cylinders (from Amazon), the children created their own colourful potions. They carefully measured and recorded the amounts they used in both ml and l, then worked out the total volume of their mixtures.

We compared our potions to see whose held more or less and discussed how we knew. To finish, the children completed a conversion and ordering challenge, where they had to convert all capacities into the same unit before ordering them from smallest to largest.

It was a fantastic, creative session that built confidence with measurement, estimation, and conversions — and quickly became one of my favourites! ✨

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We started with a recap of the digraphs we had recently covered. The children had to read each sentence (reluctant readers) and identify the digraphs they could see.

Once they had completed each sentence they were given a puzzle piece. The sentences and puzzle were linked to Moana.

Once the puzzle had been completed, we created a spider diagram about what we would be able to see, hear, feel etc if we were on the beach. We have been looking at the use of expanded noun phrases so we then wrote a setting description about the image shown on the completed puzzle.

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Apostrophes for possession and contraction 

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Apostrophes for possession and contraction 

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This session used the story Charlotte’s Web as a fun, engaging theme to explore apostrophes. We began by revisiting possessive apostrophes, using characters and objects from the book. The child matched each character to their belonging (e.g. Wilbur → pen, Charlotte → web) and wrote sentences showing possession correctly — for example, “This is Wilbur’s pen.”

We then moved on to plural possession, discussing how the apostrophe changes position when there is more than one owner. Using pictures showing one animal versus several, the child practised identifying where the apostrophe should go depending on whether the noun was singular or plural.

To consolidate learning, we played a giant noughts and crosses game focusing on contractions (e.g. can’t, didn’t, she’s). Each correct answer allowed the child to place their mark on the board.

As a motivational element, for every completed task the child added a new feature to their pig puppet (bought on Amazon), gradually building their own version of Wilbur.

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This session focused on developing the child’s understanding of time through a fun, interactive Stitch-themed lesson. We began by revisiting telling the time using a large hula hoop clock. The child helped to build the clock face with post-it notes to represent each hour, reinforcing their understanding of the clock’s layout and key time features.

Next, we practised matching 12-hour and 24-hour times, discussing how to convert between the two formats.

The main task centred around calculating time intervals. The child was given a timetable of Stitch’s day, showing different activities at specific times. They then selected balloons labelled with two activities and worked out how much time had passed between them. To support this, they used a large roll of wallpaper to draw out number lines, bridging across hours where needed to visualise the jumps.

Each correct calculation earned them the chance to colour in part of a fuel gauge, linked to the story context: Stitch’s spacecraft had run out of fuel, and each correct time interval helped refill it so he could blast off again!

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I created a variety of ‘recipe cards’ listing different amounts of three ingredients.

The children had to collect the correct amount of ingredients and add it to the cauldron before writing the corresponding addition statement.

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We set up a Minecraft Board Game based on this document (uploaded) that I created.

I wrote our sounds we were learning that week on the blocks (oo,oo,ai,ee,igh,oa) and they moved their Minecraft pieces around and had to read the sound on the block as well as a word containing that sound.

For some of the other blocks, they had different tasks covering objectives such as number bonds to 10, counting in 10s and writing words containing our new sounds.

They recieved blocks as prizes to free the Minecraft characters. This could be adapted for new objectives/age groups.

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I have been learning Spanish abroad and the idea actually came from their lesson. We used a scrabble board and had to make words in Spanish but thought it could be a nice starter for an English session. To make it more challenging you could also include a theme.

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-Discuss how ‘said’ is dead as it is boring and how there are so many exciting synonyms we can use

-They had to swap a said with one of those synonyms they knew (they had to explain to me how it could be used before replacing it)

-Headband game where I chose a synonym for each of them and we took it in turns to offer a an example sentence where it could be used

-We then wrote some of the new, unfamiliar synonyms on our tombstones with a brief description of how it could be used

-We then looked at speech sandwiches to understand the order of the different components

-We finished by writing speech sentences about film/book/real people that we liked (ideas from the parents) with the different parts and our new synonyms

Worked so well and they loved it!

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Another one from my Spanish lessons! Each Jenga piece had a Spanish verb on it and we had to say what the verb was in different tenses with the correct conjugation. In English, you could have verbs written and then the children have to put the verb into a sentence using the tense you are looking at that week. Lots of other ways to use Jenga pieces too but that’s just a start!

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Understanding and identifying the simple, progressive and perfect tense.

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Understanding and identifying the simple, progressive and perfect tense.

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Children have a bauble with a sentence written behind it in the simple, progressive and perfect tense, past, present and future tense the children are to place them on the simple, progressive or perfect branch of the tree.

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Pupil had information to read through and then I asked different comprehension questions. She had the questions on a bingo board and put a counter down every time she answered one correctly. I of course helped with any she was unsure on but she enjoyed shouting line and bingo regardless! ☺️

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Penguin themed lesson. Pupil had to read the information about how many kg of fish each penguin needed then she had to work out which combination of bowls the keeper could use (each bowl had different amounts of fish in). She then used numicon to check her answer.

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A few of my pupils love a a scavenger hunt and being active. For this pancake themed lesson we read a story about pancakes and then I hid different “pancakes” around the room. Some had actions on but most contained retrieval questions on topics we have covered the past couple of weeks. Some involved mental arithmetic whereas others she had to come to the whiteboard to show her working out or prove her answer.

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Focus was on securing Year 4 understanding of negative numbers, with Year 5 stretch where appropriate. Objectives included recognising and ordering negative numbers, understanding distance from zero, counting through zero, and solving simple problems using number lines.

Used a large physical number line to address common misconceptions (e.g. why –15 is smaller than –3). Reinforced learning through a buzzer game identifying the smallest number and an animal temperature challenge, where pupils placed animals on the number line and justified choices using prior knowledge.

Introduced temperature change problems (drops and increases), encouraging mental strategies before using the number line as support. Focused heavily on direction and movement relative to zero.

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Adding and Subtracting Unlike Denominators 

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Adding and Subtracting Unlike Denominators 

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Session focused on revisiting adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators, an area that has been causing some difficulty during recent starters. Aim was to secure confidence and accuracy through clear modelling and purposeful practice.

Used a Minecraft-themed setup to boost engagement. Began with whole-group modelling, reinforcing that fractions must have the same denominator before being added or subtracted. Modelled the process step by step, including multiplying both denominators. Method was largely secure, with only a small reminder needed around changing both denominators.

Main task involved selecting two fraction cards, calculating the sum or difference, and then sorting the answer into categories: less than ½, greater than ½, or more than 1 whole. This added a strong reasoning element, requiring pupils to simplify, find equivalents, or convert to mixed numbers.

Some initial support was needed when comparing fractions to ½, but once modelled, confidence improved quickly. Teamwork was strong throughout, with good peer support and clear mathematical explanations shared between pupils.

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I ran a game inspired by The Traitors where the children completed a series of academic challenges, including a spelling round, a SPaG round, and an arithmetic round. In each round, one student was secretly assigned the role of the traitor. Their job was to either make a deliberate mistake independently or subtly throw the team off without being too obvious. This worked particularly well for spelling, as it made everyone slow down, check each other’s answers, and justify their choices carefully.

At the end of each round, the children voted on who they thought the traitor was and explained their reasoning before the reveal. We played multiple rounds so the traitor changed each time, which kept everyone on their toes. It worked brilliantly because the traitor couldn’t simply get everything wrong without giving themselves away—so they had to think strategically. The level of engagement was unreal…

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Session Concept

Students run a hot chocolate café where they must correctly prepare individual customer orders. Each order includes:

A drink amount given in litres, which must be converted to millilitres

A cup with a maximum capacity (either 200 ml or 400 ml)

A marshmallow calculation involving fractions, decimals, or percentages

Students only get to “serve” the order if all maths is correct.

How the Session Works

1. Setup (5 minutes)

Introduce the café scenario and explain cup sizes:

Small cups: 200 ml max

Large cups: 400 ml max

Recap key skills:

1 litre = 1000 ml

How to find fractions/percentages of an amount

2. Main Activity (30–40 minutes)

Each student receives an individual order card with:

A drink amount in litres

A marshmallow problem (e.g. ½ of ¾ of 16)

Students must:

Convert litres to millilitres

Check the drink fits the cup

Calculate the number of marshmallows

Explain or justify their thinking

Optional:

Tutor checks answers before the “drink” is served

Incorrect orders must be fixed before proceeding

SO much fun!

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Really simple game of 4 in a row to practise spellings. I had a list of spellings on a whiteboard which were numbered. We spun the wheel and the number it landed on was the spelling that had to be written. Each number/spelling could only be written once by each person, then it was eliminated! This added a bit of excitement to who would get 4 in a row first. I just used washi tape on a whiteboard to create the grid.

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11+ Football themed figurative language: oxymorons, hyperbole, metaphors and personification

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11+ Football themed figurative language: oxymorons, hyperbole, metaphors and personification

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Goal: To help students apply advanced figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole) by connecting them to the traits of familiar figures.

In a previous session, have students work in small groups to create "Definition Posters" for each type of figurative language.

In the following session introduced a list o footballers (or any themed characters) and identify their "defining trait."

The Discussion: "What is ___ known for?" "What about Lionel Messi?"

Give students the "Character Cards". Their task is to identify the figurative language they have used in their speech bubble.

Extension options:

Example: "Write a metaphor for a goalkeeper who never lets a ball past."

Student Result: "The keeper was a brick wall at the mouth of the goal."

Example: "Use hyperbole to describe a striker’s shot."

Student Result: "His kick was so powerful it broke the sound barrier."

This can be adapted to other themes too.

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Football themed 11+ figurative language 

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English activities linked to The Fairytale Doctor - children to create a doctor name badge then fill in their doctor note pad. Children to think of a fairytale character they might have as a patient and then write about their illness. After this, the children drew their medicine and made a list of the magical ingredients. There is also a letter formation activity and a reading activity (match the character to their illness).

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Y2 reading lesson including a range of activities such as reading the sentences and sorting them into hero/villain, summarising the story as a comic strip, comprehension questions (choose one from a bag and place it on the comic page to answer) and match the vocab

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The Setup: Use matchsticks (or

lollipop sticks) to lay out Roman Numeral

equations.

Children to identify the roman numerals using the matchsticks - some can be set up for them to decode.

I did this as a 'Traitor' themed task - but it doesn't need to be.

Challenge Task: You must

move only ONE matchstick to fix the

equation and make it true.

Task 1: The Basic Deception

The Traitor wrote: VI = V - I

● Move 1 matchstick to make the

equation correct.

● Solution: Move the I from the left

to the right to make V = VI - I (5

= 6 - 1) or move the minus vertical

bar to make it a plus: VI = V + I.

Task 2: The Double Cross

The Traitor wrote: IX = V - IV

● Move 1 matchstick to make it true.

● Solution: Take one match from the X

to turn it into a V, making it IV =

V - I.

Tricky Number to build:

2. XCIX (99) — Remind them: 100 (C)

What's the longest Roman Numeral you can make?

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Squares, Cubes, Primes, Factors, Multiples

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Squares, Cubes, Primes, Factors, Multiples

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We started with a pairs matching definitions and maths terms to establish understanding, discussed any gaps.

Then used Top Trump Cards (I used superhero theme but could use any theme) and we had to fill in the abilities using worded problems. For example “Character As Strength is a Prime number which is a factor of 44.” Questions increase in difficulty.

Play a game of Top Trumps at the end!

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Insect theme!

Familiarised with bar charts/line graphs already made to assess knowledge. Used insect facts as a hook.

Main activity I hid plastic insects around the garden and student had to tally the insects before creating own bar chart. Repeated by looking at insect habitat instead of insect type (flowerbed/plant pot/patio etc). Came up with own questions based on students bar chart.

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Students will practice plotting and reasoning with coordinates in all four quadrants by navigating a theme park map. They will apply skills in identifying coordinates, solving riddles and reasoning about distance, midpoints, patterns and reflections (a harder and easier version included).

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Students will explore spelling patterns with a cinema and popcorn theme!

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1. Popcorn Bucket Sorting: Words ending in -cious, -tious, -tion, -sion, -cian, -tial, -cial are read aloud or given for them to fill in the endings following their hints/ spelling rules. Place into corresponding buckets with the spelling attached.

2. Word Hunt: Students read a short paragraph about popcorn at the cinema and identify words with the target suffixes/ spellings- can be highlighted in different colours for each spelling rule.

3. Sentence Challenge: Using the words they found, students write their own sentences about popcorn, movies or cinema experiences.

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Horrible Histories theme: https://www.canva.com/design/DAHJiz94AT0/J0M353VTFI_SW8G7v_asEw/view?utm_content=DAHJiz94AT0&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink&mode=preview