-KS2 whole class reading comprehension lessons
-reading templates, assemblies and inspiration -
As Year 6 teachers, we found ourselves in need of comprehension resources that bring texts to life.
YES, we want our comprehension lessons to be rigorous in preparation for the SATs, BUT we also want them to be engaging and fun!
Our aim is to get children excited about comprehension lessons, eager to talk about books and confident in interrogating a text.
-KS2 whole class reading comprehension lessons
-reading templates, assemblies and inspiration -
As Year 6 teachers, we found ourselves in need of comprehension resources that bring texts to life.
YES, we want our comprehension lessons to be rigorous in preparation for the SATs, BUT we also want them to be engaging and fun!
Our aim is to get children excited about comprehension lessons, eager to talk about books and confident in interrogating a text.
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+
3 x reading comprehension lessons based on the Prologue and Chapter One of I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers by Philip Pullman.
Book recommended age 9+
Great comprehension lessons from texts written by Philip Pullman
26-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint
2 x PDF activity
Predict, Clarify, Infer, Connect
Extract not included.
Lesson 1
The first activity focusses on making predictions using ‘I see, I wonder, I think’. Then children are encouraged to make wider connections with other traditional tales they have experienced.
Lesson 2
The first activity clarifies the meaning of words in context so the children gain confidence exploring the text on a deeper level. This lesson provides a great opportunity to develop vocabulary by discussing unfamiliar words within the context of the text.
Lesson 3
Children begin by connecting the events in the story to their modern-day equivalents. Then children consider what evidence they can find to support a given statement. Finally, children discuss what they would have done if they were in a similar situation, building empathy for the characters.
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
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.
3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on ‘Curiositree: Natural World: A Visual Compendium of Wonders from Nature’ by A J Wood & Mike Jolley.
Ideal for lessons on nature for KS2
Whole class reading, paired reading, pre-teaching vocabulary
Reading Skills foci: predict, retrieve and clarify
24-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 2 x printable PDF activities.
Extract included.
Suitable for ages 9+
Lesson 1
Firstly, warm up the lesson with a prediction activity and then pre-teach children key vocabulary to maximise pupil engagement with the text. Children then retrieve more key information about ‘Chameleon – Master of Colour’ and end the lesson with a fun chameleon challenge!
Lesson 2
Children discuss their understanding of the text, exploring the meaning of unfamiliar words in context. After, children learn more key words before they begin a fun activity, using quick challenge cards whilst learning more about ‘Extraordinary Hunters’.
Lesson 3
Finally, children have the opportunity to create their own compendium page, create a factual report about chameleons, or complete a camouflage art task
2 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on chapter one of ‘Rooftoppers’ by Katherine Rundell.
Vocabulary, about the author, whole class reading, paired reading
Reading Skills foci: reading fluency, clarifying your understanding, inference
19-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 2 x printable PDF activities
Extract included.
Suitable for age 9+
3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on Chapter One of ‘A Secret of Birds and Bone’ by Kiran Millwood Hargrave.
Vocabulary, whole class reading, exploration of figurative language.
Reading Skills foci: exploring the meaning of words and the effect of figurative language, making judgements and inferring, summarising, identifying themes in a chapter.
26-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 2 x printable PDFs
Extract not included.
Suitable for ages 10+
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 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+
Whole Class Guided Reading Comprehension resources based on The Explorer by Katherine Rundell
An adventurous story to compliment KS2 rainforests topic work.
Recommended Year 5
Appropriate for age 9+
71-page PowerPoint
40-page PDF document
Pre-teach vocabulary
Mixed comprehension questions
Skills-based comprehension activities
Extract not included
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My Teaching Hive
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
Reading comprehension resources for the following short stories:
Pandora’s Box
Arion and the Dolphins
Daedalus and Icarus
Theseus and the Minotaur
From Greek Myths by Marcia Williams.
43-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 18 x printable PDFs
Extracts not included.
Vocabulary, whole class reading
Suitable for ages 7+
FREE Get to know your pupils and find out about their reading habits. How many sustained the habit of reading regularly this summer? How often did they read? What different genres and authors are they reading? How do they feel about reading? Did they get the chance to visit a library or a bookshop? Where is their favourite place to read? Use our free ‘Summer Reading Habits’ worksheet to find out! SPace is also provided for children to design three front covers for their favourite recent reads to help you gain a picture as to what their reading preferences are. Why not blow it up to A3 and keep them in a class folder for sharing?
Independent comprehension activity
When you finish reading a chapter of your book, roll the die and try the activities you land on. Use what you have just read to help you.
Suitable for all of KS2.
Activities:
Use bullet points to make a list of all of the key facts in the story so far. How many can you record in 1 minute?
Come up with a newspaper headline that summarises an important event that has happened in the story so far.
Rewrite a sentence from the text, which contains adverbs. Change the adverbs. How does this change the meaning?
Draw and label something that is described in detail in the text, for example, a character, setting or even an object.
Think of an adjective that best describes the main character’s feelings. List 2 pieces of evidence that support your idea.
Predict Make 3 predictions about what could happen next. Put a star next to the idea you think is most likely to happen.
A character profile proforma.
Useful for KS2 reading comprehension.
Space to make notes about:
First impressions
Picture
Relationships
Backstory
Personality
Questions
Could enlarge to A3.
More free resources on our website.
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