Get your class excited about their rivers topic using books about rivers. 4 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on the chapters about the Nile and the Yangtze from ‘River Stories’ by Timothy Knapman. Whole class reading, paired reading, collecting/presenting information in a table, opportunity for children to create their own retrieval questions about a different river. Reading Skills foci: retrieval, feature’splore (exploring the features/organisation of a text) 32-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 6 x PDF downloadable activities. Extract not included. Recommended for age 7+ For those teaching rivers as a topic, River Stories is a a must read with your class. Each glorious river-length page brings five rivers from around the world to life by telling all the stories, histories, geography, myths and legends associated with each. It’s the perfect opportunity for classes to look at how a text’s structure contributes to meaning and gives the children lots of opportunities to practise retrieval. They can even enjoy making up their own retrieval question cards based on a river of their choice.

3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on chapter one and two of ‘The Wild Robot’ by Peter Brown. Vocabulary, about the author, whole class reading, paired reading Reading Skills foci: word’splore (exploring how word choices enhance meaning), infer, summarise 28-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 3 x printable PDF activities Extract included. Suitable for age 7+

Romans reading comprehension 3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on ‘Escape from Pompeii’ by Christina Balit. Vocabulary, whole class reading, paired reading. Reading Skills foci: predict, infer, connect: explore books with a historical setting. 24-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 2 x printable PDF activities Extract not included. Suitable for age 7+

2 x reading comprehension lessons based on the introduction and chapter about the astronaut, Mae Jemison ‘Fantastically Great Women Scientists and their Stories’ by Kate Pankhurst. Years 3 – 5 Book recommended age 7+ 24-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint 2 lessons 2 x PDF activities retrieval Extract downloadable at lovereading4kids Lesson 1 Pre-teach vocabulary. Then find out more about women in science before matching the famous scientists with their ground-breaking discovery. If you have time, explore the timeline of women’s rights. Lesson 2 Firstly introduce key vocabulary, asking the children what they already know about the Civil Rights Movement or Segregation. Children then find out more about the life of Mae Jemison and respond to key questions. Finally, what do the children know about female scientists today who are changing the world? Lesson 3 Firstly, ask the children to recap what they have learnt previously about Mae Jemison and consider who else inspires them?

5 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on the prologue and chapter one of ‘The Nowhere Emporium’ by Ross MacKenzie. Vocabulary, whole class reading, paired reading, inference Reading Skills foci: retell key events through role play, summarise, exploring the effect of word choices, inferring about characters and settings. 37-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 3 x printable PDFs Extract not included. Suitable for ages 9+

4 whole class reading lessons based on the Prologues: Ben & Lottie from ‘Voyage of the Sparrowhawk’, by Natasha Farrant Vocabulary, whole class reading, paired reading Reading Skills foci: infer, visualise and predict 30-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 3 x printable PDFs Recommended for age 9+ Extract included

Vanishing Trick - Poetry - Reading Comprehension Resources - age 7+ Reading comprehension resources based on a selection of poems from Vanishing Trick by Ros Asquith More at MY TEACHING HIVE 49-page PowerPoint presentation A range of PDF comprehension activities and questions Comprehension Questions in line with the KS2 National Curriculum Extracts included. Suitable for age 7+ A flexible set of resources which could be used for whole class reading, guided reading, individual and group work as well as for home learning. Discuss what it’s like to have dyslexia, look for idioms, perform a poem out loud, judge performances, explore metaphorical language, write your own poem in the poet’s style, make predictions by looking at illustrations, make inferences and judgements, summarise and clarify.

Bright Bursts of Colour Reading Comprehension by Matt Goodfellow 50-page PowerPoint 26-page PDF activities preteach vocabulary mixed comprehension questions skills-focused activities Recommended for Year 5 and 6 Lesson 1 – poems about being different ‘Chameleon Kids’, page 16 ‘Difficult’, page 57 Lesson 2 – poem about school ‘Missing Lessons’, page 11 and 12 Lesson 3 – poems about relationships ‘David’, page 32 and 33 ‘Broken’, page 72 to 73 ‘The Sky is the Colour of Grandma’s Hair’, pages 74 to 75 Lesson 4 – funny poems ‘A Special Badger’, page 21 ‘Nuts’, page 71 Lesson 5 – review chosen poem

3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on chapters 1, 2 and 6 of ‘Race to the Frozen North’ by Catherine Johnson. About the book, whole class reading, paired reading Reading Skills foci: predict, summarise, reading fluency, infer 34-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 4 PDF activities. Extract of Introduction and Chapter One included only. Reading age 8+. Lessons recommended for age 10+ Lesson 1 To make predictions about what might happen in a text. To summarise the main events in a text. First, remind children of what ‘powerful predictors’ do. Warm up by making predictions about the front and back cover of the story. Also find out about the real Matthew Henson. Shared reading/questioning as a class of the first 5 pages of chapter 1. Children continue the chapter with their reading partner. Summarise the events of the chapter by cutting up and sorting the strips of paper. Finally, make a prediction about the next chapter. Lesson 2 To read with increasing fluency. To make inferences about a character, supported by evidence from the text. Teacher to model reading with accuracy, with expression and at an appropriate pace. Remind children what inference is. Children to look for evidence to support a statement about a character’s personality in chapter 2. Then, make inferences about a character’s feelings. Lesson 3 In pairs, read Chapter 6. Then select 3 words from the cards on the sheet to describe life aboard the ship. Children to justify their answers with evidence from the text. If time allows, children to choose their own creative activity, i.e. letter writing, role play or an artist’s sketch. At the end of the lesson, point children in the direction of other real-life adventure stories.

3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on Viking Voyagers by Jack Tite. Vocabulary, whole class reading, paired reading Reading Skills foci: retrieve, infer, summarise 24-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 3 x printable PDF activities Extract not included. Suitable for age 7+ Available for £3 on our website

3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on the picture book ‘House Held Up By Trees’ by Ted Kooser Whole class reading, discussion cards, exploring themes. Reading Skills foci: predict, discuss, connect (exploring themes in the story 21-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 2 x PDF downloadable activities. Picture book comprehension Extract not included. Recommended for age 7+ Lesson 1 Firstly pre-teach vocabulary. Children then participate in a discussion about the text considering key question cards. Finally, ask the children to reflect on what kind of story it is and what it makes them think about. Lesson 2 Encourage the children to make wider connections with the the book, exploring the main ideas, topics and issues raised. Children then sort cards they think best represents the key themes in the book in order of importance. If they had to pick just one card, which would they choose? Lesson 2 Children consider what inspired the author to write this story. Then children reflect on their own lives and places which are important to them. Finally, the children explore the work of the award-winning illustrator Jon Klassen as inspiration for their own artwork.

5 KS2 reading comprehension whole class lessons Based on the prologue and chapter one of ‘The House with Chicken Legs’ by Sophie Anderson. Vocabulary, whole class reading, paired reading, making connections Reading Skills foci: clarify, infer and connect. 40-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 2 x printable PDFs Extract included. Suitable for ages 9+ Available on our website for £3 or as part of our school subscription.

4 whole class reading lessons for KS2 based on the poem Happiness from ‘Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers’, by Daniel Thompson. A thought-provoking poem encouraging children to consider whether buying things can truly bring you happiness. Whole class reading, paired reading, additional opportunity for children to write their own poem about plastic pollution, Q&A with the author Reading Skills foci: summarising the main message of the poem, looking at the impact of rhythm, rhyme and word choices on delivering the message of the poem, word’splore (exploring word choices), performing the poem, imitating the poet’s style by recreating their own poem. 37-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 3 x printable PDFs, plus a PDF copy of the poem. Poem included. Recommended for age 8+ Lesson 1 Firstly, learn more about Daniel Thompson or skip to the Q and A’s at the end of the PowerPoint to learn more about what inspires him to write poetry. Then pre-teach some key vocabulary to increase pupil engagement with the text. Next, read the text together so children can discuss their responses to key questions and work together to summarise each verse. Lesson 2 This lesson focuses on the poet’s style. Using practical challenges, children work together to discuss how to use words and phrases effectively to reinforce key ideas. Lesson 3 As children have previously explored the poem on a deeper level, this lesson gives children the opportunity to perform the poem, focusing on intonation, tone, volume and actions. Lesson 4 Finally, children can use a similar structure to create their own poem about plastic pollution. For more poetry lessons explore our website, My Teaching Hive.

3 KS2 whole class reading lessons based on the introduction and dipping into the book at chapter 16 ‘The Boy who Grew Dragons’, by Andy Shepherd Vocabulary, whole class reading, paired reading Reading Skills foci: predict, infer, clarify and connect (compare to other stories about dragons) 28-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 3 x printable PDF activities Extract included Recommended for age 7+ Free download when you sign up at My Teaching Hive.

Graphic Novel Reading Comprehension 3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on Hilda and the Troll by Luke Pearson. Suitable for age 7+ Download Contents: 22-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 4 x printable PDF activities Text not included. Lessons Overview: Vocabulary, about the book, warm up game, whole class reading, paired reading Reading Skills: Lesson 1 Use clues in a text to predict what might happen next. Make predictions based on the front cover and part way through the story. Lesson 2 Infer a character’s feelings based on their speech, actions and facial expressions. Infer character’s feelings based on the illustrations. Lesson 3 Summarise the main events in a story. Summarise the main details of the story, decide which are most important. Available for £3 on our website

3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on Aaron Becker, ‘A Stone for Sascha’ . About the author, whole class reading, group discussion Reading Skills foci: predict, infer, retrieve, question, group discussion, exploring themes 23-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 4 x printable PDF activities Extract not included. Suitable for age 9+ Available on our website for £3 or as part of our school subscription.

Years 4, 5 & 6 Book recommended age 7+ 30-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint 3 lessons 4 x PDF activities exploring the poet’s word choices, discussing understanding of a poem, exploring figurative language, prediction, sharing personal responses to a poem. Extract included. Available on our website for £3 or as part of our school subscription.

3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on page 5, and pages 18-19 ‘Exploring the Rio Negro’ and the ‘Collector’s Equipment’ of ‘Darwin’s Rival’ by Christiane Dorion. Whole class reading, paired reading, memory game Reading Skills foci: infer, retrieve and summarise 25-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 3 x printable PDF activities. Extract not included separately from PowerPoint. Suitable for ages 9+

3 whole class reading lessons based on Chapter 1 and 2 from ‘A Library of Lemons’, by Jo Cotterill Whole class reading, paired reading, lesson 3 – PSHE friendships Reading Skills foci: infer 30-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 2 x printable PDFs Recommended for age 8+ Extract included Available for £3 on our website.

3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on Chapter 1 and the first letter in Chapter 2 of ‘Daddy Long-Legs’ by Jean Webster. About the author and the book, vocabulary, whole class reading, paired reading Reading Skills foci: imitating the writer’s style, summarise, retrieve, infer and clarify 42-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 1 x printable PDF activities. Extract included. Suitable for ages 10+