'The Great Kapok Tree' Year 3 Planning and Resources

Year 3 English Unit of Work based around the story ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ by Lynne Cherry. English planning objectives link to the Year 3 National Curriculum for Reading, Speaking and Listening, Grammar and Writing. This unit comes downloadable with lesson plans, worksheets, presentations and display posters.

**Unit Overview: **

In this unit, the children will be ‘hooked in’ by receiving a letter from the author Lynne Cherry. As the class explore ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ by Lynne Cherry through shared reading lessons, they will make predictions based on what they have already read. As they continue to read the text, they will be taught how to summarise the main points. As they discover new vocabulary within the text, they will use a dictionary to find word meanings and definitions. They will also begin to make inferences about the characters feelings, through speaking and listening, forming opinions and verbalising arguments as to why ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ should not be cut down. Using the vocabulary throughout the text, children will explore the use of expanded noun phrases to describe the rainforest animals. They will also be taught to recognise where pronouns have been used appropriately within the text to avoid repetition. They will take a closer look at the punctuation used within the text, recognising and learning more about how direct speech is punctuated. The children will then identify a special tree within the school grounds that they discover is about to be chopped down. They will debate pros and cons for this. They will plan and write a persuasive letter to the Headteacher, asking for the tree to be saved, backing up their reasons and arguments.

Reading Objectives

• Use dictionaries to check the meaning of words that they have read.
• Draw inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence.
• Predict what might happen from details stated and implied.
• Identify main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarising these.

Speaking and Listening Objectives

• Articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions.
• Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates.

Grammar Objectives

• Build on existing knowledge of adjectives. Understand that adjectives are used to describe nouns (objects, people, places, feelings).
• Choose nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to avoid repetition.
• Using and punctuating direct speech.

Writing Objectives

• Discussing and recording ideas.
• Discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar.
• Organising paragraphs around a theme.
• Read aloud their own writing, to a group or the whole class, using appropriate
• intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear.