Reading Lesson 1

Reading Lesson 1

The notes in this handout will support the teaching and revision of question types.

Give children the handout with the definitions of question types (copied onto coloured paper) to put in their revision folder.

Teacher notes

Display and read example sentence un-annotated. Give children copy with questions (on white paper).

Display and read the list of questions that accompany it.

Model an answer to each question, annotating the text appropriately and subsequently explaining what sort of question it is and how to respond to it appropriately.

Sentence from: ‘A day in the English countryside’

As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane.

Questions for each type for this sentence

1. How light was it?

2. What three things did the cow do?

3. What time of day was it?

4. Where was the cow?

5. How do you think the cow might have been feeling?

6. What do you think the cow was expecting?

7. What devices does the writer use to give us so much information in a single sentence?

1. As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane.

1, How light was it?

A: The afternoon light was starting to fade

This is a LITERAL question. We can find the answer directly in the text.

To answer it well we need to read the text very carefully and find the exact words that tell us the answer.
2. Sentence from: ‘A day in the English countryside’

As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane.

2. What three things did the cow do?

A: The cow stopped eating grass, stood with its head over the gate and gazed down the lane.

This is a LITERAL question. We can find the answer directly in the text.

To answer it well we need to read the text very carefully and find the exact words that tell us the answer.

3. Sentence from: ‘A day in the English countryside’

As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane.

3. When did this happen?

A: It was late in the afternoon in winter.

Evidence: We know that it was afternoon and the light was starting to fade. Light does not usually fade at the beginning or middle of the afternoon, so it must be the end of the afternoon. In this country, light only fades in the afternoon in winter, otherwise it stays light until what we would call evening.

This is a DEDUCTIVE question. The text does not actually tell us. But we can work out the answer directly from information the text gives us.

To answer it well we need to read the text very carefully and work things out from the information we are given (but not make things up of our own).

[Teacher note: It may be worth taking some time to discuss that that answers like ‘It was Christmas’ or ‘It was a hundred years ago’ are not acceptable, as there is no evidence in the text to support this.]

4. Sentence from: ‘A day in the English countryside’

As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane.

4. Where was the cow?

A: The cow was in a field (possibly adding, on a farm and/or near a lane).

Evidence: We know there was grass and a gate, and it had a cow in, so it was almost certainly some sort of farm field.

This is a DEDUCTIVE question. The text does not actually tell us. But we can work out the answer directly from information the text gives us.

To answer it well we need to read the text very carefully and work things out from the information we are given (but not make things up of our own).

[Teacher note: It may be worth taking some time to discuss that that answers like ‘It was in Yorkshire’ or ‘It was in a large field with other cows’ are not acceptable, as there is no evidence in the text to support this.]

5. Sentence from: ‘A day in the English countryside’

As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane.

5. How do you think the cow might have been feeling?

A: It was probably not hungry any more. It was being patient, but was wanting something to happen.

Evidence: We know that the cow stopped eating grass. This suggests that it might not have been not hungry any more. It stood still with its head over the gate. This might suggest that it is being patient. It is gazing expectantly down the lane so it seems to be wanting something to happen.

This is an INFERENTIAL question. The text does not actually tell us. But we can work out the answer by considering the hints and clues in the text in the light of our own knowledge and experience.

To answer it well we need to read the text very carefully and draw conclusions of our own from the hints and clues we are given (but not completely make things up, or jump to conclusions not supported by the text).

[Teacher note: It may be worth taking some time to discuss that that answers like ‘The cow was happy’ or ‘sad’ are not acceptable, as there are no hints or clues in the text to really support this.]

6. Sentence from: ‘A day in the English countryside’

As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane.

6. What do you think the cow was expecting?

A: It was probably expecting someone (the farmer?) to come to take it in for milking.

Evidence: We know it was late afternoon and that the cow was waiting by the gate for something to happen. We also know from experience that many cows are taken to the farm for milking at this time. [Teacher note: This is, of course, by no means certain. It is however a reasonable inference from the information we have, even if subsequent reading may prove us to have been wrong.]

This is an INFERENTIAL question. The text does not actually tell us. But we can work out the answer by considering the hints and clues in the text in the light of our own knowledge and experience.

To answer it well we need to read the text very carefully and draw conclusions of our own from the hints and clues we are given (but not completely make things up, or jump to conclusions not supported by the text).

[Teacher note: It may be worth taking some time to discuss that that answers like ‘It is waiting for its friend’ are not acceptable, as there are no hints or clues in the text to really support this. However alternative supportable answers are acceptable]

7. Sentence from: ‘A day in the English countryside’

As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane.

7. What devices does the writer use to give us so much information in a single sentence?

A: The writer gives us information about the time by describing the light (in an introductory subordinate clause). In a complex sentence, the writer tells us several things that the cow does, but also implies what it is thinking and feeling by the words chosen (e.g. ‘;stopped eating’, ‘stood’, ‘with its head over the gate’, ‘gazed’ and ‘expectantly’.) The writer shows us, as well as tells us, what is happening;

This is a question asking us about AUTHORIAL INTENT: what the writer has done and why.

To answer it well we need to read the text very carefully and try to put ourselves in the writer’s place (i.e. ‘read like a writer’). We need to think about what the writer was trying to communicate and how he/she went about doing it.

Reading LSA booster sessions Page 6 of 35 Lesson 1

READING HANDOUT 1: Reading question types

LITERAL questions:

Ones where we can find the answer directly in the text.

To answer them well we need to read the text very carefully and find the exact words that tell us what the question asks.

DEDUCTIVE questions:

Ones where the text does not actually tell us, but we can work out the answer directly from information the text gives us.

To answer them well we need to read the text very carefully and work things out from the information we are given (but not make things up of our own).

INFERENTIAL questions:

Ones where the text does not actually tell us, but we can work out the answer by considering the hints and clues in the text in the light of our own knowledge and experience.

To answer it well we need to read the text very carefully and draw conclusions of our own from the hints and clues we are given (but not completely make things up, or jump to conclusions not supported by the text).

Question asking us about AUTHORIAL INTENT:

Ones that ask us what the writer has done and why.

To answer these well we need to read the text very carefully and try to put ourselves in the writer’s place (i.e. ‘read like a writer’). We need to think about what the writer was trying to communicate and how he/she went about doing it.

Reading Lesson 1: A Day in the English Countryside

As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane.

1. How light was it?

2. What three things did the cow do?

3. What time of day was it?

4. Where was the cow?

5. How do you think the cow might have been feeling?

6. What do you think the cow was expecting?

7. What devices does the writer use to give us so much information in a single sentence?

Reading booster [Type text] Lesson 1

Reading Lesson 2

Display and read example 2 un-annotated. Give children copy (on white paper)

Display and read the questions

Work interactively through the four types of questions for this example (see example for each question type), annotating the text appropriately and referring back to the ‘definitions’/required responses.

Text for the second activity

Paragraph from a story with a modern school setting,

For the third night in a row, Zac cried himself to sleep. He had never been happy since he moved into Year 6 a month ago. But, now that Bruiser and his cronies had started singling Zac out, it was worse than ever.

Questions

Paragraph from a story with a modern school setting,

For the third night in a row, Zac cried himself to sleep. He had never been happy since he moved into Year 6 a month ago. But, now that Bruiser and his cronies had started singling Zac out, it was worse than ever.

Who was making Zac particularly unhappy?

How long is it since Zac started a new class?

How old is Zac?

What time of year is it?

Was Zac happier in school when he was younger?

How recently has Zac’s situation at school begun to get much worse?

How does the writer imply that Bruiser is someone who bullies?

Literal questions

Paragraph from a story with a modern school setting,

For the third night in a row, Zac cried himself to sleep. He had never been happy since he moved into Year 6 a month ago. But, now that Bruiser and his cronies had started singling Zac out, it was worse than ever.

Literal questions:

Who was making Zac particularly unhappy?

How long is it since Zac started a new class?

Deductive questions

Paragraph from a story with a modern school setting,

For the third night in a row, Zac cried himself to sleep. He had never been happy since he moved into Year 6 a month ago. But, now that Bruiser and his cronies had started singling Zac out, it was worse than ever.

Deductive questions:

How old is Zac? (10 or 11)

What time of year is it? (Autumn / early October)

Inferential questions

Paragraph from a story with a modern school setting,

For the third night in a row, Zac cried himself to sleep. He had never been happy since he moved into Year 6 a month ago. But, now that Bruiser and his cronies had started singling Zac out, it was worse than ever.

Inferential questions:

Was Zac happier in school when he was younger? (Yes. A point seems to be being made that he has only been unhappy since he moved onto Y6)

How recently has Zac’s situation at school begun to get much worse? (Quite recently. A few days. The fact that he has been crying for three nights and we are told that now it is much worse, as opposed to a month ago, seem to imply that it is fairly recent.)

Questions about authorial intent

Paragraph from a story with a modern school setting,

For the third night in a row, Zac cried himself to sleep. He had never been happy since he moved into Year 6 a month ago. But, now that Bruiser and his cronies had started singling Zac out, it was worse than ever.

Authorial intent:

How does the writer imply that Bruiser is someone who bullies?

(By:

·  emphasising Zac’s sudden unhappiness

·  choice of the name ‘Bruiser’

·  use of word ‘cronies’ (also implies Bruiser needs ‘reinforcements’)

·  use of the tem ‘singling out’, implying ‘picking on’)

Reading LSA booster sessions Page 11 of 35 Lesson 2

Reading Lesson 2: Paragraph from a story with a modern school setting

For the third night in a row, Zac cried himself to sleep. He had never been happy since he moved into Year 6 a month ago. But, now that Bruiser and his cronies had started singling Zac out, it was worse than ever.