Familiar Settings Lower + PDF

Description

The “Familiar Settings” series consists of 11 engaging lessons that expertly combine the teaching of core English skills like grammar, parts of speech, writing descriptively, and reading comprehension with the development of crucial evidence-based learning (EBL) competencies.

Each lesson explores a different everyday setting like the beach, garden, or campsite through fun story extracts and creative writing activities. Pupils build key literacy abilities like identifying nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and understanding tenses. But the real power comes from the seamless integration of EBL strategies proven to maximise learning.

Throughout the unit, pupils constantly practise vital skills like collaboration, cognitive thinking, peer assessment, metacognition, self-regulation and independent learning. Visual icons reinforce which of the 8 core EBL competencies are being developed at each stage. The lessons provide ample opportunities for pair work, group discussions, self-evaluations and pupil-led learning.

What really sets this resource apart is the quick 5-minute Teacher CPD (Continuing Professional Development) section included in each lesson. These summarise relevant education research and provide simple practice activities to strengthen teachers’ own EBL pedagogy in areas like metacognition, thinking skills, peer assessment and self-regulation.

By creatively blending engaging English content with evidence-based instruction, this 11-part unit ensures pupils not only master literacy fundamentals but also gain lifelong learning capabilities. The lessons differentiate well with scaffolding, word banks and varied tasks to meet all needs. 

Overall, the “Familiar Settings” series stands out as a high-quality, research-backed resource for boosting Year 3-4 attainment. It equips pupils with enduring language skills while empowering them as self-directed learners and critical thinkers – a winning combination for any KS2 classroom.

These 8 skills are the EBL skills developed across these Familiar Settings (Lower) lessons. Click on each skill to learn more about that skill.

1. Collaboration
2. Thinking Skills
3. Peer Assessment
4. Peer Teaching
5. Self-Assessment
6. Metacognition
7. Self-Regulation
8. Independent Learning