Counting on together
Build addition within 20 through counting on and combining groups. Make time to compare strategies.
- Combine quantities and explain an addition strategy.
One screen. The whole class.
Learning paths and classroom games · England
Explore: Counting on together, Multiplication at the market, A trail of complete sentences. See learning goals and a suggested sequence; start with any available activity.
Ready-to-teach learning paths
Multiplication at the market
Connect repeated addition, equal groups and facts for 2, 5 and 10. Use this as supported recall alongside the wider year programme.
- Interpret equal groups and multiplication facts.
A trail of complete sentences
Build meaningful sentences from word groups and explain the order using grammar and meaning.
- Construct a complete, meaningful sentence.
Exploring living things and habitats
Explore the needs and features of living things and how habitats provide resources. Review the broad bank for your year group.
- Connect features, needs and habitats using evidence.
Sounds into words
Sounds into words: Hear, blend, read → Common exception words → Word endings → Choose a decoding strategy.
- Match printed graphemes and simple words within a declared taught sound set; teacher supplies sounds.
- Recognise taught Year 1 common exception words in short meaningful sentences.
- Read -s, -es, -ing, -ed, -er and -est in familiar words without untaught graphemes.
Stories and information
Stories and information: Who, where and what? → Retell the story → Clues and predictions → Words and rhymes → Find a fact.
- Retrieve characters, setting and explicit events from a supplied short text.
- Order three/four clearly stated events and recognise beginning/middle/end.
- Infer a simple feeling/action and choose a prediction supported by text.
Counting and representing numbers
Counting and representing numbers: Count without missing → Ten and some more → Neighbours on the line → Counting patterns.
- Count pictured sets to 20, including zero; match numeral, word and quantity.
- Compose teens as ten and ones using ten frames; distinguish 14 from 41.
- Order three or four numbers within 100; identify one more and one less.
Adding and taking away
Adding and taking away: Parts make a whole → Crossing ten with pictures → What remains? → One-step stories → Explain the missing part.
- Find number bonds to 10 and 20 using missing parts and the equals sign.
- Choose a sensible addition strategy within 20 using partitioning.
- Subtract by taking away or finding a difference with objects and number lines.
Habitats and food links
Habitats and food links: Living, dead or never alive → Homes for living things → Food chains → Protect a microhabitat.
- Classify examples using life-process evidence, handling wooden objects carefully.
- Match organisms to local habitats/microhabitats and basic needs.
- Identify plant-based energy links in simple producer–consumer chains.
Thinking like a historian
Thinking like a historian: Dates and periods → Archaeology and written sources → Support a claim → Compare two accounts.
- Read BCE/CE on a supplied timeline and distinguish period labels from precise dates.
- Identify what different evidence can and cannot establish.
- Select a conclusion supported by supplied evidence and qualify uncertainty.
Light and shadows
Light and shadows: Seeing needs light → Reflection and safety → Shadows appear → Changing a shadow.
- Distinguish sources from reflectors and explain darkness.
- Recognise reflected light and safe ways to study sunlight without looking at the Sun.
- Explain shadows where opaque objects block light.
Words across texts
Words across texts: Morphology for meaning → Dictionary and context → Spelling and possessives → Word-family reasoning.
- Use roots/prefixes/suffixes to interpret unfamiliar curriculum words.
- Choose a dictionary sense that fits a supplied sentence.
- Apply lower-KS2 spelling patterns and plural possessive apostrophes.
Reading beyond the surface
Reading beyond the surface: Summarise a paragraph → Justify an inference → Language and structure → Poetry and plays → Compare viewpoints.
- Choose a main idea supported by relevant details.
- Compare plausible character inferences and select the best textual support.
- Explain how a writer’s words or text organisation shape meaning.
Simple electric circuits
Simple electric circuits: A complete loop → Switches control flow → Conductors and insulators → Find the fault safely.
- Identify complete simple circuits with cell, wires, lamp, buzzer or motor.
- Predict the effect of opening/closing a switch.
- Classify tested materials using circuit evidence.
England · 7–9 yearsThe discovery gardenConnected short activities, one shared discovery.
England · 6–8 yearsThe number trailConnected short activities, one shared discovery.
England · 8–11 yearsThe experiment workshopConnected short activities, one shared discovery.
England · 5–7 yearsThe number bridgeJoin small groups and practise addition within 20.
England · 7–9 yearsThe multiplication marketCount equal groups of fruit, books and classroom treasures.
England · 6–8 yearsThe word trailPut the pieces together to build complete sentences.
England · 7–11 yearsHabitat explorersDiscover living things and the places they call home.
England · 5–6 yearsHear, blend, readListen to your teacher, match letters and blend short words.
England · 5–6 yearsCommon exception wordsRead familiar words carefully in short, teacher-read sentences.
England · 5–6 yearsWord endingsRead the whole word: small endings can change its meaning.
England · 5–6 yearsChoose a decoding strategySpot skipped sounds, check whole words and explain how you read.
England · 5–6 yearsWho, where and what?Listen as your teacher reads each story. Find the detail that answers the question.
England · 5–6 yearsRetell the storyYour teacher reads the story. Put its event cards in order and tell it again.
England · 5–6 yearsClues and predictionsListen to your teacher. Use what the story says to explain a feeling or predict a next step.
England · 5–6 yearsWords and rhymesYour teacher reads original little poems. Listen for rhyme, repeated language and word meanings.
England · 5–6 yearsFind a factListen to short notices, labels and information texts. Use the heading to find the fact you need.
England · 5–6 yearsParts make a wholeFind partners that make ten or twenty, and explain what equal means.
England · 5–6 yearsCrossing ten with picturesUse parts of a group to reach ten, then include the rest.
England · 5–6 yearsWhat remains?Use objects, matching and number lines to explain subtraction.
England · 5–6 yearsOne-step storiesChoose the calculation that matches joining, changing and comparing.
England · 5–6 yearsExplain the missing partSolve a missing number and explain why a counting mistake fails.
England · 5–6 yearsCount without missingCount each object once and connect the amount to a numeral or number word.
England · 5–6 yearsTen and some moreUse teacher-drawn ten-frames to build and read teen numbers.
England · 5–6 yearsNeighbours on the lineOrder number cards and reason about one more and one less.
England · 5–6 yearsCounting patternsContinue, repair and explain counts in twos, fives and tens.
England · 6–7 yearsLiving, dead or never aliveSort real-life evidence, find pictured examples and explain tricky cases.
England · 6–7 yearsHomes for living thingsConnect pictured living things to places and resources that meet the stated need.
England · 6–7 yearsFood chainsBuild pictured food links, find plant foods and explain how food energy passes.
England · 6–7 yearsProtect a microhabitatUse pictured resource records to predict effects of a small habitat change.
England · 7–8 yearsDates and periodsRead dated timelines, keep uncertainty and separate an event from its discovery
England · 7–8 yearsArchaeology and written sourcesChoose evidence for a question, and keep track of what it cannot tell us
England · 7–8 yearsSupport a claimUse a clue, qualify the conclusion and ask what could change it
England · 7–8 yearsCompare two accountsKeep shared details, notice differences and ask the next useful question
England · 7–8 yearsSeeing needs lightSort light evidence, distinguish sources from reflectors and explain darkness.
England · 7–8 yearsReflection and safetyExplain reflected light and choose safe ways to investigate it.
England · 7–8 yearsShadows appearUse material-test evidence to explain where light is blocked.
England · 7–8 yearsChanging a shadowExplore a torch model, arrange evidence and decide what makes a fair test.
England · 8–9 yearsLanguage and structureBuild a stated paragraph plan and explain how wording changes meaning
England · 8–9 yearsJustify an inferenceUse linked clues, compare motives and revise when evidence changes
England · 8–9 yearsCompare viewpointsCompare short sources, connect a theme and keep fact separate from inference
England · 8–9 yearsPoetry and playsCompare images, repeated language and the meaning of supplied performance cues
England · 8–9 yearsSummarise a paragraphFind the central idea, connect details and keep the important limits
England · 8–9 yearsMorphology for meaningBuild, compare and test meanings from familiar word parts
England · 8–9 yearsDictionary and contextOne word, different senses: let the sentence decide
England · 8–9 yearsSpelling and possessivesUse word structure and ownership evidence to choose precise forms
England · 8–9 yearsWord-family reasoningProve a meaningful connection and challenge look-alike letter strings
England · 8–9 yearsA complete loopTrace the connections, test a loop and explain when a component can work.
England · 8–9 yearsSwitches control flowTest switch outcomes, locate gaps and reason about changes.
England · 8–9 yearsConductors and insulatorsClassify controlled test records and distinguish evidence from appearance.
England · 8–9 yearsFind the fault safelyChoose one informative next test and keep uncertain causes open.