Year 5 teacher and curriculum lead

Emily Carter

A local river, canal or museum can give pupils a place to ask questions and connect an abstract idea with something they can observe or read about.

Explore the collection

A little about me

I teach Year 5 and lead Science, Geography, History and enrichment. I plan by unit, identifying core knowledge and vocabulary across a sequence of lessons. Having worked examples ready helps pupils see what a useful response might look like before they try one independently.

I like to anchor a unit somewhere real. A local river, canal or museum can give pupils a place to ask questions and connect an abstract idea with something they can observe or read about. The example should support the learning rather than become a decorative detail.

I look for resources that make the key ideas explicit and give pupils more than one way to work with them. Pre-teaching vocabulary can help pupils join a discussion; whole-class feedback can help the teacher respond to patterns in their work. I value coherent sequences that make the next step clear and support pupils who need more explanation.

How I approach a lesson

Plan a sequence around named knowledge and vocabulary.
Use worked examples before independent responses.
Anchor units in real places or evidence.

Templates I'd use with my class

Explore these templates and decide what fits your own setting.

Science

Bees and pollination: know, wonder and learn

Use an inquiry chart to connect prior ideas, questions and information learned from a short text.

View resource

English reading

The Keeper’s Lantern

Find stated details, use context to consider word meaning, support an inference with a quotation and summarise the story briefly.

View resource

History and social studies

Great Fire sources: compare two viewpoints

Use source labels, dates and short classroom summaries to compare what a private diary and an official newspaper report can show, while identifying what remains unknown.

View resource