Complete Comprehension sample units

Sequencing

The Three Little Pigs

by Jo Gray

1 SAMPLE UNIT

YEAR

Year 1 Sample Unit

Like ‘Little Red’ in Unit 7, this popular fairy tale has been adapted so that young children can apply their phonics to read the text more independently. In this version, the Three Little Pigs respect each other’s feelings and work as a team against the wolf – you could discuss their empathetic behaviour with the children. The text’s exploration of the best building materials also links well to the science curriculum for this age group.

1 Get ready

Discuss the Key vocabulary identified in the Language toolkit and then complete the vocabulary and phonics activities as desired. Please note that the selected vocabulary is a guide. Depending on the needs of your cohort, additional vocabulary discussion may be beneficial before, during and after reading. Next, display the text (pages 6 to 7) so the children can see the title and any illustrations, and encourage the children to discuss the following questions before reading.

1 What type of text is this? How do you know?

Answers will vary (e.g. I think this is a fairy tale because the picture shows three pigs and a wolf ). Support the children to understand that a fairy tale is a type of made-up story and is therefore an example of fiction.

2 Have you read any stories that are similar? Answers will vary (e.g. ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ has a wolf in it as well, so I think this might be a similar story).

3 Who is in the story?

Looking at the picture, I know that there are three pigs and a wolf. If the children already know the story, they may also mention Mummy Pig.

4 What do you think will happen in this story? I think that the wolf will be mean to the pigs because the wolf wasn’t nice in ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. If the children have heard the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ then they may retell it.

Language toolkit

Key vocabulary

brother build careful chimney finished fire hasty kind knocked

Vocabulary discussion questions

l What materials would you use to build a house?

l Would you rather be hasty or careful when building a house?

l Is fire a good thing or a bad thing?

Vocabulary activities

Discuss which sentence makes the most sense.

1 The wolf knocked on the fire OR The wolf knocked on the door.

2 A fire is a chimney OR A house might have a chimney Phonics

Year 1 phonics build, burnt, clever, first, hair, house

Split digraphs came, made, fire, home, used, time

Common exception words

Phonics activity

come, he, his, house, my, no, once, one, there, said, your

Ask the children to correct the sentence below. th big bad wolf bernt his bottom

The children should add a capital letter to the start and a full stop to the end. They should also correct the spelling of ‘the’ and ‘burnt’. Some may add capital letters to ‘Big Bad Wolf’.

Printable text • Modelling slides Photocopiable text and questions • pages 6 to 9

2 First steps

Read the text together and then encourage the children to discuss the following questions.

1 What happens at the start of the story?

At the start of the story Mummy Pig tells the Three Little Pigs that they need to find their own houses.

2 What does Pig One/Two/Three do? He builds a house out of straw/sticks/bricks.

3 What happens at the end of the story?

The wolf can’t blow down the house made of bricks so he climbs on to the roof and goes down the chimney. The pigs light a fire and the wolf burns his bottom!

4 What was your favourite part of the story?

Answers will vary. The children might choose the part where the pigs build their house, the repetitive refrain ‘…not by the hair of our chinny-chin-chins!’, or the part where the wolf gets his comeuppance.

3 Explore

Draw the children’s attention to the repetition of dialogue in the text (e.g. ‘let me come in’; ‘not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin’). Allow them to spend a few minutes working in pairs to find these phrases in their copies.

l Encourage the children to work in groups of four to retell the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’. Ask them to focus on the voices and to think about how each character might speak. This will help them to become more aware of the need to use vocal expression when reading aloud.

l You could also explore the relationship between the three brothers. Pig Two and Pig Three do not make fun of their brother for being hasty and building a straw house, and later in the story Pig Three treats his brothers kindly after the wolf has blown down both of their houses. The children could discuss how the three pigs treat each other compared to how they treat the wolf, and why. With regular practice, this skill will become increasingly automatic and will transfer into all their reading.

4 Skills focus

See pages 4 to 5

Use the information from the Skills guide and the relevant Skills graphic to introduce the skill of sequencing.

1 Model the skill using the Unit 9 Modelling slides and the Modelling sequencing guidance on page 4.

2 The children could then attempt the optional Sequencing questions on page 8. This may be in small groups with adult support as needed.

Answers and marking guidance for all questions are included on pages 4 to 5.

5 Where next?

l Speaking and listening task: In pairs, the children could take turns to pretend they are the wolf and talk about what he thinks and how he feels after trying to blow down each of the pigs’ houses.

l Writing task: Using the text and the Activity resource on page 9, the children could write adjectives or whole sentences to describe each character from the story.

Reading list

Class reads Beware of the Storybook Wolves by Lauren Child Inside the Villains by Clotilde Perrin

The Three Horrid Little Pigs by Liz Pichon The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell The Three Little Superpigs by Claire Evans

Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas

The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka Where’s the Big Bad Wolf? by Eileen Christelow Wolves by Emily Gravett

Independent reads Three Little Pigs by Clare Fennell

Non-fiction Pigs by Robin Nelson Wolves by James Maclaine (Linked text: Unit 8)

Poetry

Fairytale Poems by Clare Bevan

‘The Three Little Pigs’ from Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl (Linked text: Unit 10)

To order call 01484 607080 or email sales@schofieldandsims.co.uk

Use the Skills guide and the downloadable Skills graphic to support your modelling.

1 Number the events to show the order in which they happened in the story.

The wolf blew down the house made out of straw. 2

The pigs had to leave Mummy Pig’s home. 1

The wolf blew down the house made out of sticks. 3

The wolf could not blow down the house made of bricks. 4

This may be the first time that the children have answered questions in this format. Explain that first you will need to find the events mentioned in the question in the text. Think aloud: I will highlight the four events as we find them. Here’s the first one: ‘One day, she sent them out to find their own homes’. That means that the pigs had to leave Mummy Pig’s home. I will highlight this and write a number 1. Repeat this process with the other three events. You could ask the children to do the same on their own sheets and discuss what they find. Finally, model filling in the answer boxes and then checking them against the question.

2 What did the wolf do to the other houses before he tried to blow down the brick house?

He blew them down.

Model reading the question and highlighting the key words. Think aloud: I need to find out what happened to the other houses before the wolf tried to blow down the brick house. Let’s find the part where the wolf visits the first house – that was the straw house, built by Pig One. It says the wolf ‘knocked at the door of the straw house’, so the answer must be near this part of the text. Model skim-reading the section. Continue: Here it says, ‘he huffed and he puffed, and he blew the house down’. This will form part of my answer. Repeat the process for the second house, encouraging the children to contribute to the discussion. Continue: I know the wolf blew down the house of sticks and the house of straw before he tried the brick house. I need to use this information in my answer. Model writing the answer and checking it against the question.

3 What happened after the wolf went down the chimney?

The wolf burnt his bottom on the fire and ran away.

Think aloud: I know this happened towards the end of the story, so I don’t need to read the whole text again. I will start at the last paragraph. It says, ‘When the wolf came down the chimney he landed on the fire and burnt his bottom! The wolf ran away, never to be seen again’. I will use this to write my answer. Model writing the answer with the children’s input and checking it against the question.

4 Summarise this story using four sentences.

The three little pigs built houses out of straw, sticks and bricks. The wolf blew down the house made of straw and the house made of sticks. The wolf could not blow down the house made of bricks. He tried to get in through the chimney but burnt himself on the fire.

This question is quite challenging for Year 1 so ask the children to work in pairs to retell the story in their own words first. Next, work together to identify four main events in the story (you may want to highlight them in the text). Think aloud: I can’t rewrite the whole text as I can only write four sentences. The first important part is when each pig builds a house. I will write: ‘The three little pigs built houses out of straw, sticks and bricks’. Repeat with three more key events in the text. Encourage the children to discuss each event with you, and to keep referring back to the text. Finally, model checking your answer against the question.

The Three Little Pigs, by Jo Gray

Sequencing questions mark scheme

1 2 3

The following guidance can be used with the children if support is needed.

Answer Guidance

1 The pigs built a house each. ✓ Remind the children to find and highlight each of the possible answers in the text. Encourage them to then find the first time the wolf tried to blow down a house and then look back at the highlighted events that come before this to help them select the right answer. Remind them to tick one answer only. Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked.

2 The wolf went down the chimney but the pigs had lit a fire so he burnt his bottom and then he ran away.

Ask the children to find and highlight the relevant part of the text. Encourage them to look at what happens next in the story. Prompt them to write down two things that happen. Award 1 mark for any reference to the wolf getting cross/ going down the chimney. Award another mark for any reference to the pigs lighting a fire and/or the wolf running away. Do not accept answers that only refer to the wolf hurting himself.

3 Mummy Pig asked the pigs to find their own homes. ✓

Ask the children to find each event in the text and highlight it. They could then number them in the order in which they happened. If necessary, encourage the children to think about which of the events happened at the very start of the story. Remind them to tick one answer only. Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked.

4 The wolf tried to get the three little pigs. 2 The pigs built their own houses. 1 The pigs lived happily ever after. 4 The wolf ran away. 3

Ask the children to work in pairs to find, highlight and number the events in the text before filling in the answer boxes. The events take place over several paragraphs, so encourage them to look at the whole text, thinking about what happens at the beginning, middle and end of the story. Award 1 mark for the correct numbers in at least two boxes. Award 2 marks for the correct numbers in all boxes.

The Three Little Pigs, by Jo Gray

The Three Little Pigs, by Jo Gray

The Three Little Pigs, by Jo Gray

In this story, the Three Little Pigs leave their mummy to build new homes. Do you think they will be safe from the Big Bad Wolf? Will they be safer together or apart?

Once upon a time there was an old mummy pig who had three little pigs. One day, she sent them out to find their own homes.

Pig One felt that straw would be good to build a house with. He used straw to build his home. He finished first but he was hasty.

Pig Two did not think straw would be good to build a house with. He felt that sticks would be best. He used sticks to build his home. He finished second but he was careful.

Pig Three did not think sticks or straw would be good to build a house with. He felt that bricks would be best. He used bricks to build his home. He finished last but he was clever.

Soon the Big Bad Wolf came and knocked at the door of the straw house. He said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.”

Pig One said, “No, no, no. Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!”

“Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!” said the wolf. So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew the house down. Pig One ran to his brother’s house.

Pig Two was kind to his brother. He did not tell him that straw was no good to build a house with.

The Big Bad Wolf came and knocked at the door of the house made of sticks. He said, “Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in.”

Pig One and Pig Two said, “No, no, no. Not by the hair of our chinnychin-chins!”

“Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!” said the wolf.

So the wolf huffed, and he puffed, and he blew the house down. Pig One and Pig Two ran to their brother’s house.

Pig Three was kind to his brothers. He did not tell them that straw and sticks were no good to build a house with.

The Big Bad Wolf came and knocked at the door of the brick house. He said, “Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in.”

The Three Little Pigs said, “No, no, no. Not by the hair of our chinnychin-chins!”

“Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!” said the wolf. So he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed, and he huffed, but he could not blow the brick house down.

Then the Big Bad Wolf got cross. He told the Three Little Pigs that he would come down the chimney and eat them up.

The Three Little Pigs lit a fire. When the wolf came down the chimney, he landed on the fire and burnt his bottom! The wolf ran away, never to be seen again. The Three Little Pigs felt that bricks were best for building a house with. They lived happily ever after.

The Three Little Pigs, by Jo Gray

1

Sequencing

Name:

What happened before the wolf tried to blow down the houses? Tick one.

The wolf ate a pig.

The pigs built a house each.

The wolf burnt his bottom.

2 What happened after the wolf tried to blow down the house made of bricks?

YEAR 1 SAMPLE UNIT

3 Which of these events happened first? Tick one.

Pig Two built his house out of sticks.

The wolf blew down the straw house.

Mummy Pig asked the pigs to find their own homes.

4

Number the events to show the order in which they happened in the story.

The wolf tried to get the three little pigs.

The pigs built their own houses.

The pigs lived happily ever after.

The wolf ran away.

The Three Little Pigs, by Jo Gray

Name:

Write a word or a sentence to describe each character. Use the text and the word bank to help you.

Pig One

Pig Two Pig Three

Mummy Pig

The Wolf

Word bank

old kind hasty careful clever big bad cross

The Three Little Pigs, by Jo Gray

2 SAMPLE UNIT

The Great Fire of London

by Emma Adams

Year 2 Sample Unit

The Great Fire of London is one of the most famous events in the city’s history. This unit’s text explains how the fire started and where it spread first. This unit is linked to Unit 4, which tells another famous tale from the same period in history – that of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. After completing both units, you may wish to discuss how the stories are both true, historical accounts but they are written in different ways: Unit 4’s text is written as a traditional information text, while this unit’s text conveys the information in the form of a narrative.

1 Get ready

Discuss the Key vocabulary identified in the Language toolkit and then complete the vocabulary and phonics activities as desired. Please note that the selected vocabulary is a guide. Depending on the needs of your cohort, additional vocabulary discussion may be beneficial before, during and after reading. Next, display the text (pages 14 to 15) so the children can see the title and any illustrations, and encourage the children to discuss the following questions before reading.

1 Have you ever heard of the Great Fire of London?

Answers will vary depending on the children’s experience. If they have heard of the Great Fire, encourage them to share what they know with one another. Encourage discussion of the word ‘great’ – does it mean great in size or does it express a positive emotion? If the children have never heard of this event, you may need to discuss the size and scale of it. You could ask the children how they would feel if all the houses in their area were on fire.

2 What type of text is this? How do you know?

The children are likely to say that it looks like fiction or a story. Although this is correct, remind the children of your discussion of the previous question to help them to understand that the text is based on fact.

3 Can you think of any other famous events that happened in the United Kingdom a long time ago? Answers will vary depending on the children’s experience. Encourage the children to share their ideas about this even if they are unsure about them.

4 Have you ever read any other books that are set a long time ago?

Answers will vary depending on the children’s exposure to texts, but they should be able to contribute examples of fiction, non-fiction or both.

Language toolkit

Key vocabulary

ashes beaten down combination deny ember licked rose thatched troubled Vocabulary discussion questions

l Is rose a flower or an action? Can it be both?

l When have you been troubled by something?

l When I mix flour and water to make bread, am I making a combination?

Vocabulary activities

1 Discuss how we normally use the verb licked when discussing food but it can also be used for flames. Can the children think of other verbs that can be used in different ways?

2 Ashes and ember are different parts of a fire. Challenge the children to think of other words (nouns) for parts of a fire.

Phonics

Decoding support words

High frequency words

Common exception words

Phonics activity

buildings, continued, mayor, southwards, Thames, throughout, warehouses

Decodable: by, day, house, made, put, time Tricky: asked, could, people

because, busy, could, even, great, most, move, only, people, sure, would

How many words can the children spot that include the /oo/ phoneme?

Printable text • Modelling slides Photocopiable text and questions • pages 14 to 17

2 First steps

Read the text together and then encourage the children to discuss the following questions.

1 Who was Thomas Farriner?

He was the baker to King Charles II and he owned a busy bakery on Pudding Lane.

2 When did the fire start?

In the early hours of Sunday 2nd September 1666. Some children may respond with ‘Saturday’. In this case, refocus them on the sentence beginning ‘In the early hours …’.

3 Which other people are there in the story?

The maid; Samuel Pepys; King Charles II; Sir Thomas Bludworth, the Lord Mayor of London.

4 Did you like the text? Why? Why not?

Answers will vary but encourage the children to explain their answers (e.g. I liked finding out about the fire in a story but I want to know what happened next!).

3 Explore

l Discuss how lucky we are that we have smoke alarms now, and that buildings are built from less flammable materials than wood. Point out that even in modern times it is still very important to keep ourselves safe from fire. Discuss what we can do to keep ourselves safe and prevent fires. What should we do if we find a fire in school or at home?

l Samuel Pepys wrote a very famous diary about life in London during the 1600s. Discuss whether any of the children write their own diaries. What might we include in a diary entry written about our day today?

l The author gives information about the Great Fire of London but she has written the facts like a story. To help illustrate this, you could draw the children’s attention to phrases like ‘some say’ and ‘others say’, as well as to instances of emotive language and personification (e.g. ‘sprang back to life’, ‘dying fire’, ‘the fire … licked’, ‘deadly’). Can a fire really lick or die? Discuss why the author might have written in this style rather than in the more traditional nonfiction style of Units 1 and 4. Which do the children prefer, and why?

4 Skills focus

See pages 12 to 13

Use the information from the Skills guide and the relevant Skills graphic to introduce the skill of retrieval.

1 Model the skill using the Unit 3 Modelling slides and the Modelling retrieval guidance on page 12.

2 The children can then attempt the Retrieval questions on page 16.

3 Finally, the Mix it up! questions on page 17 offer practice in a range of comprehension skills.

Answers and marking guidance for all questions are included on pages 12 to 13.

5 Where next?

l Speaking and listening task: The children could research what happened next during the Great Fire of London by reading extracts from Samuel Pepys’ diary (see Reading list). They could work in small groups to retell the story in their own words to another class or year group.

l Writing task: Following on from your class discussion during Explore, the children could create fire safety posters to display around school. These could include tips on how to prevent fires as well as what to do if you ever encounter one.

Reading list Fiction

The Baker’s Boy and the Great Fire of London by Tom Bradman and Tony Bradman Class reads Raven Boy by Pippa Goodhart Non-fiction

Great Fire of London Activity Book by Sally Jane Morgan

Guy Fawkes by Laura Lodge (Linked text: Unit 4) Samuel Pepys by Izzi Howell

See Inside London by Rob Lloyd Jones

Who was: Samuel Pepys? by Paul Harrison

You Wouldn’t Want to Be in the Great Fire of London! by Jim Pipe Poetry

‘The Great Fire of London’ by Paul Perro Websites

The National Archives website offers a free ‘Great Fire of London game’.

To order call 01484 607080 or email sales@schofieldandsims.co.uk

Modelling retrieval

Use the Skills guide and the downloadable Skills graphic to support your modelling.

1 Look at the first paragraph. What was lit every day in the bakery? Tick one the fire the stone the oven ✓ the bread

Read the question together and remind the children that this is a retrieval question. Model identifying the key words. The distractors (incorrect answers) in this question could prove challenging for some children as they all occur in the text. Think aloud: We need to use the key words from the question. Model using the locator to find the relevant part of the text, and scanning for the sentence beginning ‘The large stone oven …’. You could use ‘Fastest finger first’ (see page 17) to demonstrate that you have used the text to answer the question.

2 Look at the second paragraph. Give one reason why the fire might have started. An ember fell from the oven and set fire to some wood. OR They had forgotten to sweep out the oven so the fire sprang back to life.

Read the question together and model using the locator and key word ‘started’ to find the right part of the text. Continue by reading the paragraph and discuss the reasons given for the fire starting. Encourage the children to prove their responses by using ‘Fastest finger first’. Some children may choose to answer vaguely from memory (e.g. the fire was not completely out). If so, remind them that we are retrieving information and therefore we must take our response from the text.

3 Look at the third paragraph. From how far away could the fire be seen?

from a quarter of a mile away

Read the question together and model using the locator and key words (e.g. from how far away, seen) to find the relevant information. Think aloud: Which words tell me how far away the fire could be seen? You may wish to check children’s understanding by modelling writing a vague response, such as ‘quarter’, and asking them whether the answer is specific enough. Discuss the need to include ‘from a quarter of a mile away’ to answer the question properly.

4 Draw lines to show what each person did during the fire

The Lord Mayor of London

created a firebreak asked the King to take action owned bakery where fire started

Read the question together. It is likely that the children will have had few opportunities to attempt matching questions, therefore it is particularly important to spend time discussing the type of question this is and modelling how to approach it. This question requires the children to understand the whole text, therefore it is important to spend additional time identifying the key words to support finding the information. Model identifying the key words ‘Pepys’, ‘Mayor’ and ‘Farriner’, and scanning the text for them one at a time, discussing each against the three options. Make sure to model matching each person and action.

Retrieval questions mark scheme

Answer

1 Pudding Lane

2 Thomas Farriner ✓ the maid ✓

Guidance

Some children may use the question stem and respond with ‘east London’. In this case, reread the question together and explain that we cannot use words that are in the question itself. Award 1 mark for the correct answer.

If the children rely on their memory of the text and respond incorrectly, refocus them on the locator and the key word ‘blamed’. Award 2 marks for the correct answers ticked.

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The Great Fire of London, by Emma Adams

Pepys

Thomas Farriner

Answer Guidance

3 the wind

4 houses

5

Mix it up! questions mark scheme

Some children may use inference skills and answer ‘dry wooden frames’, or use extrinsic knowledge about the fire. These answers should not be accepted. In this case, refocus the children by supporting them to scan for the key word ‘helped’ within the paragraph. Remind them that the answer will be very close to this word. Award 1 mark for any reference to the wind.

Some children may benefit from being provided with a locator or being encouraged to scan for the word ‘firebreak’ to help answer this question. Award 1 mark for any reference to houses or buildings.

This question requires that the children understand the whole text. As it may be the first time the children are attempting a matching question independently, you may wish to provide two statements already matched up (e.g. ‘Thomas Farriner’ matched to ‘owner of a busy bakery’). Award 1 mark for all pairs correctly matched.

? 1 2 3

Answer Guidance

1 flames

2 the maid

3 upset ✓

4 the Mayor ✓

5 It might rain./People will bring water./ Firefighters might come.

page 17

If the children respond with more than one word, remind them of the rules of ‘find and copy’ questions and model this again if necessary. Some children may respond using the word ‘ashes’. In this case, you may need to explain the difference between a fire and its ashes. Award 1 mark for the correct answer. Also accept ‘flame’ or ‘the flames’ as the children may not yet be confident with this question type. Skill: Word meaning.

If the children find this question challenging, remind them to identify a key word (‘killed’) and scan the paragraph for that word before reading around it. Award 1 mark for the correct answer. Skill: Retrieval.

Children with strong inference skills may argue that these people were happy that the fire would be put out, or that they felt a mixture of emotions. In this case, discuss the clues in the text (‘most people didn’t want …’) and then ask them to choose the most appropriate option from those listed. Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked. Skill: Inference.

Encourage the children to find, highlight and number each of the possible answers in the text before filling in the answer boxes. Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked. Skill: Sequencing.

This is a tricky prediction question as it is not obvious that it is asking for a prediction. The children may use extrinsic knowledge, which should be accepted. Award 1 mark for a plausible prediction. Skill: Prediction.

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Great Fire of London, by Emma Adams

Thomas Farriner Charles II

Thomas Bludworth

The King of England

The Lord Mayor of London Owner of a busy bakery

The Great Fire of London, by Emma Adams

This text is from a longer story which tells the true story of the Great Fire of London in 1666. This text tells us about when the fire started in a bakery on Pudding Lane.

Thomas Farriner owned a busy bakery on Pudding Lane, in east London. He was the baker to Charles II, the king at that time. The large stone oven in the bakery was lit in the early hours of each morning and burned throughout the day. At night, as the bakery was closing, the flames were beaten down to ashes. But on Saturday 1st September 1666, no one made sure that the fire in Farriner’s bakery had been properly put out. The oven continued to burn, and no one noticed …

In the early hours of Sunday morning, the Great Fire of London started. Some say it was because a hot ember fell from the oven and set fire to a nearby pile of wood. Others say that Farriner had forgotten to sweep out the oven, which meant that the dying fire sprang back to life. Even Farriner’s maid was blamed –although she never had the chance to deny this, because she was one of the first people to be killed by the fire.

By 3 o’clock in the morning, flames rose high above Pudding Lane and could be seen from a quarter of a mile away. A strong wind helped the fire move quickly, blowing it west from house to house. It fed off the dry wooden frames of buildings and licked at thatched roofs and pitch, pushing southwards towards London Bridge. If the fire travelled across the bridge, everyone and everything south of the river would also be in great danger.

The Great Fire of London, by Emma Adams

The only way to stop the fire from spreading was to create a firebreak – houses had to be pulled down to create space between the fire and the buildings still standing. Most people didn’t want to tear down their homes, but nothing else would stop the fire. Pepys went to King Charles and asked him to take action. The King was deeply troubled by Pepys’ visit and sent him to deliver his message to the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Bludworth. The Mayor was sent into a panic, shouting, “Lord! What can I do? … I have been pulling down houses, but the fire overtakes us faster than we can do it.” The fire continued to spread west towards Thames Street, to warehouses filled with oil and alcohol. This deadly combination fed the flames and made the fire even more dangerous.

From The Great Fire of London by Emma Adams. Reproduced by permission of Hodder Children’s Books, an imprint of Hachette Children’s Books, Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DZ.

The Great Fire of London, by Emma Adams

Name:

1 Where in east London was Thomas Farriner’s bakery?

YEAR 2 SAMPLE UNIT

2 Look at the second paragraph. Who was blamed for the fire starting? Tick two. the King Thomas Farriner the maid the Mayor

3 Look at the third paragraph. What helped the fire?

4 What was pulled down to make a firebreak?

The Great Fire of London, by Emma Adams

5 Draw lines to match the person to the job they had in the story.

Thomas Farriner Charles II Thomas Bludworth

The King of England The Lord Mayor of London Owner of a busy bakery

Mix it up!

Name:

1 At night, as the bakery was closing, the flames were beaten down to ashes. Find and copy one word that means the same as ‘fire’.

2 Look at the second paragraph. Who was one of the people killed by the fire?

3 Look at the last paragraph. How do you think the people felt when their houses were pulled down? Tick one upset bored happy excited

4 Look at the last paragraph. Who did Pepys speak to last? Tick one his wife the King Farriner the Mayor

5 What do you think will help stop the fire?

The Great Fire of London, by Emma Adams

The Madhatters

by Aoife Mannix

Year 3 Sample Unit

‘The Madhatters’ is a contemporary poem based on the poet’s own childhood experiences. As a child, Aoife Mannix moved from the suburbs of Dublin to the inner city and lived next door to three mysterious old ladies. In the poem, the ladies invite Aoife and her younger brother round for squash and cake. The children are enthralled by their strange, cluttered house and their promises that one day they will invite the children to a magical tea party, just like the one featured in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Unit 17).

1 Get ready

Discuss the Key vocabulary identified in the Language toolkit and then complete the vocabulary activities as desired. Please note that the selected vocabulary is a guide. Depending on the needs of your cohort, additional vocabulary discussion may be beneficial before, during and after reading. Next, display the text (pages 22 to 23) so the children can see the title and any illustrations, and encourage the children to discuss the following questions before reading.

1 Does the title – ‘The Madhatters’ – remind you of any characters you know? Remind the children of the previous unit and the Mad Hatter’s tea party in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Explain that books and poems often refer to other books and poems, even though in this case the texts were written about 150 years apart.

2 What type of text do you think this is? What do the title and illustrations make you think this text will be about?

The children should notice from the layout of the text that this is a poem. Support them also to notice that there are a few weird and wonderful things going on in the illustrations, as there were in the previous unit on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

3 What do you think this poem will be about? Based on the genre, the illustrations and the link to the Mad Hatter’s tea party, the children might hazard a guess that this poem will include an element of nonsense.

Key vocabulary

Language toolkit YEAR 3 SAMPLE UNIT

ancient animation ball gown confined don faint romance rustling sport stacks tuxedos whiff

Vocabulary discussion questions

l How would you feel if you had stacks of homework to do?

l Why wouldn’t you and your friends wear tuxedos to do PE?

l When did you last sport a fancy outfit? Where were you going?

l What subjects get you and your friends talking with animation?

l If a sound is faint, is it loud or quiet?

Vocabulary activities

l The word ancient comes from the Latin word ante meaning ‘before’. Explore other words beginning with the same root. You could look at the abbreviation a.m. (antemeridian, or ‘before midday’) used for describing time.

l Whiff is a synonym for ‘smell’. How many other synonyms can the children come up with?

Printable text • Modelling slides Photocopiable text and questions • pages 22 to 25

2 First steps

Read the text together and then encourage the children to discuss the following questions.

1 How are the old ladies next door related to each other? They are sisters.

2 Who does the poet take next door with her? Her brother.

3 What do the children have for tea at the old ladies’ house? Orange squash and cake with pink icing.

4 How do the old ladies light their house? With candles.

5 What kind of pets do the old ladies have? Budgies/birds.

3 Explore

l Explain that poems are a very efficient platform for exploring ideas. This is a good opportunity for the children to explore difference and our relationships with people that are different from us. Ask the children if they know anyone (not a relative) on their street or in the community who is very old. How do they feel about this person? They might be a little bit afraid; or they might feel sorry for them; they might even feel hostile towards them. Explain that these feelings can arise if you don’t know the person well. You could ask the children to contrast how they feel about older people they know well, such as (great) grandparents. Discuss the relationship between the children in the poem with their older neighbours. Based on the poem, how do the children feel about the three sisters?

l Discuss the similarities and differences between the fantasy tea party in this poem and Alice’s tea party with the Hatter, Hare and Dormouse in Unit 17 Which one seems sillier?

l Point out that this poem does not rhyme. Discuss why some poetry uses rhyme (e.g. to make it more musical, more powerful, easier to predict and remember) and why some poetry doesn’t (e.g. instead focusing more on the words being used and the structure conveying meaning through different line and verse lengths). You could look at some of the verses in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (e.g. the ‘Mock Turtle’s Song’) or another rhyming poem to support your discussion.

4 Skills focus

See pages 20 to 21

Use the information from the Skills guide and the relevant Skills graphic to introduce the skill of inference.

1 Model the skill using the Unit 18 Modelling slides and the Modelling inference guidance on page 20.

2 The children can then attempt the Inference questions on page 24.

3 Finally, the Mix it up! questions on page 25 offer practice in a range of comprehension skills.

Answers and marking guidance for all questions are included on pages 20 to 21.

5 Where next?

l Speaking and listening task: In pairs, the children could practise reading and reciting the poem. Then, working in larger groups, the class could perform the poem as part of a school assembly. They could come up with some actions to go with the words for their part of the poem. You could even enter a poetry recitation competition or run one in school at the summer fair.

l Writing task: Look at some invitations to parties. Ask the children to each write an invitation to a ‘fantasy’ party, describing some of the amazing and wonderful things that guests will see. The invitations need to be really exciting to make the guests want to come! You could read out some examples and have the class vote on the most exciting one.

Reading list

Fiction

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Linked text: Unit 17)

The Apprentice Witch by James Nicol

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill Me and Mrs Moon by Helen Bate

The Truth About Old People by Elina Ellis

Class reads Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling Films

Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Pictures, 2010) Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Walt Disney Productions, 1971)

Websites

The CLPE website has some interesting videos of Aoife Mannix introducing and reciting some of her poems, including ‘The Madhatters’.

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Modelling inference

Use the Skills guide and the downloadable Skills graphic to support your modelling.

1 Find and copy a group of words in the first three lines that tells you this poem is written from a child’s perspective. us kids

Model the strategy for ‘find and copy’ questions by reading the first three lines carefully in full a few times before looking for the answer, emphasising that the answer will include more than one word. The use of the word ‘us’ before ‘kids’ is the key clue. Explain that the word ‘us’ means the speaker in the poem is talking to the reader directly and letting them know that she is a kid too. If the phrase was ‘you kids’ or just ‘kids’, it wouldn’t have the same meaning.

2 … their front room remains continually lost in the romance of candlelight. Why do you think the poet says that candlelight is romantic?

Because candlelight is only used on special occasions.

Point out the phrase ‘Why do you think’. Remind the children that this means the answer is not given in the text – they need to use their background knowledge as well as the information in the text. Read the text around the phrase to see what can be learnt. Model thinking about what candlelight looks like. Maybe they have seen a Valentine’s Day candlelit dinner, candles in a church or their mum lighting candles for a bath? Discuss why candlelight is used, and model coming to the conclusion that it is used on special occasions, or that it is beautiful/exciting/special.

3 … faded yellow prints … . What does this tell you about the magazines and newspapers?

They are old. OR They have been there for a long time.

Model using the key words ‘faded’ and ‘yellow’ to conclude that the papers are old. Think aloud: I remember finding some newspapers in the loft. They had gone yellowy-brown and some of the ink had rubbed off. I looked at the date and saw that the papers were very old. My mum/dad must have saved them and put them there years ago. The papers in the poem sound like they look the same as the ones I found. I think this means they have been there for a long time.

4 How do you think Sara feels when the children come round? Explain your answer. Sara enjoys her time with the children because she starts to tell her stories enthusiastically/with animation.

Model scanning the poem for the key word ‘Sara’. Ask the children to help you collect words and phrases that tell us about Sara’s everyday life (e.g. ‘confined to a wheelchair’; ‘spends her days sitting in the window’). Then model looking for evidence of her feelings towards the children (she tells them stories with animation). Discuss the contrast between these two states and model using this to infer how Sarah feels when the children visit.

Answer Guidance

1 They are extremely old.

2 Because the old ladies were holding on to memories of the past. OR Because they were old so it was hard for them to move around and tidy up.

Encourage the children to think back to your discussion of Modelling question 1 Award 1 mark for a plausible answer.

Some children may rely on their extrinsic knowledge to answer (e.g. ‘Because they love reading’). If so, draw their attention back to the text, and phrases like ‘stacks of newspapers, magazines everywhere’ and ‘ancient books’. Why might the old ladies want to keep and read so many out-of-date magazines and books? Award 1 mark for a plausible answer.

Answer Guidance

3 Impression: kind/friendly/magical Evidence: They invite the children over for cake and tell them wonderful stories/the poet’s little brother thinks they might be witches.

4 Because the guests will be wearing formal evening wear such as hats, tuxedos and ball gowns. OR Amazing food and drink will be served.

5 Because the ladies would need to have magic powers to have things such as flying birthday cakes. OR Because their house seems mysterious and unusual.

You may need to remind some children how to approach this question format. The children’s own opinions are likely to influence their answers here. Accept any plausible impression linked to the text. Award 1 mark for a plausible impression. Award 2 marks for a plausible impression with appropriate evidence from the text.

If necessary, provide the children with a locator (third verse). If they refer to other unusual details, such as animals at the tea party, point out that we are looking for evidence of the party being ‘fancy’. Award 1 mark for any reference to formal wear or the cake.

If the children struggle, encourage them to use the text to make a list of the things that are unusual about the old ladies and their home. Can they see any details that link to witches or magic? Award 1 mark for any plausible answer.

See page 25 Mix it

up! questions mark scheme ?

Answer Guidance

1 discoloured ✓

2 trapped in/unable to leave/escape (her wheelchair)

3 She sits in the window and feeds her pet budgies.

4 an adult remembering their childhood ✓

You could remind the children of your discussion of Modelling question 3 Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked. Skill: Word meaning.

You may wish to remind the children of your discussion of Modelling question 4 Award 1 mark for any plausible reference to not being able to leave or escape the wheelchair/not being able to move around freely. Skill: Word meaning.

If the children only refer to sitting in the window, encourage them to extend their answer. Award 1 mark for the correct answer. Skill: Retrieval.

‘Cake’ is a strong distractor, as the characters in the poem eat cake and dream about a wonderful tea party with a flying cake. Remind the children that they need to choose the option that sums up the whole of the poem rather than only one of its themes. Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked. Skill: Summarising.

5 Yes ✓ Because the old ladies are witches and can do magic.

OR No ✓ Because those things don’t exist, they are just in the ladies’ imaginations.

Some children may benefit from verbally explaining their ideas before writing their answers. Award 1 mark for an answer ticked plus one piece of appropriate evidence. Skill: Prediction.

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The Madhatters, by Aoife Mannix

3 SAMPLE UNIT

That one day we’ll have a proper tea party, just like Alice in Wonderland, with hats and everything, and there’ll be magic teapots that can talk, and a cat that never stops smiling, and the budgies will don their tuxedos, and they’ll wear their ball gowns, and my brother can sport his cowboy suit if he wants. And we’ll have an enormous birthday cake shaped like an aeroplane that will zoom around the room, and endless cups of tea that can refill themselves.

When we leave, my brother whispers to me, “do you think they really are witches?” I reply, “It’s hard to tell, we’ll have to wait till we get the invite.”

‘The Madhatters’ by Aoife Mannix, from Growing Up an Alien (Tall Lighthouse, 2007). © Aoife Mannix.

The Madhatters, by Aoife Mannix

YEAR 3 SAMPLE UNIT

Inference

Name:

1 They’re sisters, well into their eighties, but to us kids, they seem beyond time. Why do the sisters seem beyond time to the children?

2 Why do you think the old ladies’ house was full of old newspapers, magazines and books?

3 What impression do you get of the old ladies? Give one impression and one piece of evidence from the text.

Impression Evidence

4 How do you know that the old ladies want the tea party to be a fancy occasion?

5 Why do you think the poet’s brother thinks the ladies are witches?

Mix it up!

Name:

1 Their faded yellow prints paw at us … . Which word is closest in meaning to faded in this sentence? Tick one colourful dark discoloured bright

2 The eldest sister Sara is confined to a wheelchair. What does the word confined mean in this sentence?.

3 What does Sara do each day?

4 Which of the following best describes what this poem is about? Tick one. Alice in Wonderland an adult remembering their childhood the poet’s brother cake

5 “… we’ll have to wait until we get the invite.” Do you think that an invitation to the party the sisters describe will ever arrive? Tick one. Yes No Explain your answer using evidence from the text.

1 mark 1 mark 1 mark 1 mark 1 mark

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The Madhatters, by Aoife Mannix

Everything Castles

by Crispin Boyer

Year 4 Sample Unit

Castles are fascinating buildings that reveal a lot about how life has changed since the Middle Ages. This nonfiction text offers many opportunities for comparison as it outlines how castles have developed over time, starting out as simple wooden structures to keep people safe and developing into complex military fortresses before becoming the decorative palace castles we are familiar with today. The structure of the text is unusual for non-fiction as direct speech is used to portray the views of different people in the past and bring the text to life. This text would be interesting to compare with that of Progress check 3, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

1 Get ready

Discuss the Key vocabulary identified in the Language toolkit and then complete the vocabulary activities as desired. Please note that the selected vocabulary is a guide. Depending on the needs of your cohort, additional vocabulary discussion may be beneficial before, during and after reading. Next, display the text (pages 30 to 31) so the children can see the title and any illustrations, and encourage the children to discuss the following questions before reading.

1 Look at the text. What type of text is this? How do you know?

The text is a non-fiction or information text. The children should be able to use the subheadings to identify the genre of this text. However, the speech marks in the first section may cause some confusion and you may need to encourage them to read on before they answer. You might want to spend some time discussing this unusual use of direct speech at the beginning of a non-fiction text and the effect it creates.

2 This text is a non-fiction text about castles. What information do you think it will include? How castles are made/what they were for/who lived there. Answers will vary but the children should all be able to come up with some suggestions (e.g. features such as moats and drawbridges).

3 Castles have been very important in history. Have you ever visited a castle or seen a picture of one? What were these castles like?

Some children will have visited castles with their families or on a school trip. Others will have seen castles in pictures, films or on television. Descriptions will vary depending on whether the castles are ruins or still occupied, and whether they are real or fictional. You could show some images of famous castles (e.g. Cardiff; Carrickfergus; Edinburgh; Windsor) to support this discussion.

Language toolkit

Key vocabulary

arsenals feudal society havens keep loomed noble peasant pioneer rank realm squat sturdy

Vocabulary discussion questions

l What is a pioneer? Can you name any?

l If something is described as squat, what would it look like?

l What rank did a peasant have in feudal society? What about a noble lord or a king?

l What is the relationship between a ruler and their realm?

Vocabulary activities

l

If the word ‘strong’ was at one end of a scale and ‘weak’ at the other, where would the children put sturdy? Can they think of some other words to fill in the gaps?

l Discuss the different meanings of keep when it is a noun and when it is a verb (e.g. ‘The castle’s keep was destroyed’; ‘I keep my books near my bed’). Challenge the children to think of some other nouns and verbs that are spelt the same.

www.schofieldandsims.co.uk/completecomprehension

Printable text • Modelling slides Photocopiable text and questions • pages 30 to 31

2 First steps

Read the text together and then encourage the children to discuss the following questions.

1 How do the people at the beginning of the text describe the castle?

As a symbol of power, a home, a fortress and ‘a big pain in my neck’. You could explain why the peasant might describe the castle in this way (e.g. the lord of the castle took a share of the peasant’s crop and could demand some of his labour).

2 Where and when were the first castles built? Europe in the Middle Ages/ninth-century France. The children may draw their answer either from the section What is a castle? or from the section The evolution of castles

3 What are the four types of castle in the text?

Motte-and-bailey, stone keep, concentric and palace.

4 What can break through castle walls?

Gunpowder and cannon. Some children may also mention that fire burns down wooden walls, or refer to sieges and the work of archers/crossbowmen.

3 Explore

l As a class, research the nearest castle to your school. Find out about its history (e.g. when and why it was built; notable inhabitants) and about how it is used today (e.g. Does someone still live there? Can people visit it?). If possible, look at photos or watch a virtual tour of the site online.

l Show the children pictures or diagrams of different types of castle, including those described in the text. Compare the features of each using a graphic organiser. Discuss the similarities and differences between them. Draw some conclusions about what makes a building a castle (e.g. has a defensive geographical position; built to protect local area; has defensive architecture, such as walls, moats, towers and ‘murder holes’). Resources from the Reading list may be useful here.

l As a class, collate descriptions of castles in stories from books the children are familiar with. These might include modern novels (see Reading list) or fairy tales. Compare these fictional castles with real castles (e.g. they are often used in magical settings; they don’t often play a role in sieges; they are normally made of stone and have tall towers).

4 Skills focus

1 Model the skill using the Unit 21 Modelling slides and the Modelling comparison guidance on page 28.

2 The children can then attempt the Comparison questions on page 32.

3 Finally, the Mix it up! questions on page 33 offer practice in a range of comprehension skills.

Answers and marking guidance for all questions are included on pages 28 to 29.

5 Where next?

l Speaking and listening task: In pairs, the children could role-play a conversation between the lord/lady who owns the castle and a servant/lowly soldier who lives in the castle, using the first part of the extract as inspiration. Encourage them to think about where these characters would have lived before the castle was built and how they would feel about the castle when they lived there. What would their life be like if the castle didn’t exist? See whether these characters end up having anything in common.

l Writing task: Ask the children to pick one type of castle and one type of perspective on it (e.g. a motte-and-bailey castle from a lord’s perspective). Encourage them to use the text to note some key words about that castle type and the character’s perspective (e.g. ‘wooden keep’; ‘courtyard’; ‘quick to build’; ‘our home’). They could then use these words in a description of the castle for the opening paragraph of a story.

Reading list

Fiction

The Beast of Buckingham Palace by David Walliams Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm by Cornelia Funke (ed)

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling Mortimer and the Sword Excalibur by Joan Aiken Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Michael Morpurgo (Linked text: Progress check 3)

The Sleeping Sword by Michael Morpurgo The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy Class reads

The King Arthur Trilogy by Rosemary Sutcliff Non-fiction Castles by DK

Crackin’ Castles by Terry Deary

See pages 28 to 29

Use the information from the Skills guide and the relevant Skills graphic to introduce the skill of comparison.

See Inside Castles by Katie Daynes

A Year in a Castle by Rachel Coombs

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Modelling comparison

Use the Skills guide and the downloadable Skills graphic to support your modelling.

1 Look at the section ‘What is a castle’? What was different about how the lord and the knight thought about the castle?

The lord saw the castle as his home but the knight saw it as a fortress where fighting happened.

Model using the locator to find the relevant section. Next, identify the question’s key words and use these to focus on the sentences spoken by the ‘noble lord’ and the knight. Establish that the lord sees the castle as his home, while the knight sees it as a ‘fortress’ used in war and highlight both words. Model writing a complete comparison that acknowledges both views.

2 Look at the section ‘What isn’t a castle?’. Compare castles and fortresses. Give one similarity and one difference.

Similarity: Fortresses and castles look similar.

Difference: Fortresses are only built for defence/don’t have living quarters like castles do.

Encourage the children to help you find the right section and then locate the relevant sentence. Read through it together and go through any vocabulary they are not sure of (e.g. ‘solely’). Point out that the word ‘but’ separates the similarity from the differences because it signals a contrast. Remind them that even though the text gives more than one difference, you should choose only one for your answer.

3 Look at the section ‘The evolution of castles’. What did motte-and-bailey castles and concentric castles have in common? Tick two.

They were both made of wood. They both had a keep. ✓

They both had a courtyard. ✓ They both had stone walls.

Model using the locator and identifying the key words. Explain that you will focus on the paragraphs about motte-and-bailey and concentric castles. Model comparing the two paragraphs by reading them one after the other and then going through them again and comparing each sentence with the other section. The children should be able to use the key words ‘courtyard’ and ‘keep’ to choose the correct options.

4 Compare motte-and-bailey castles and concentric castles. Which castle would be the safest to live in? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.

A concentric castle because they were difficult to capture/the most well defended/they wouldn’t burn down.

Although there is no locator, the children should recognise that this question is about the same section as Modelling question 3. Model scanning the whole section for useful information and noting that the text says the concentric castle is ‘the ultimate in defensive design’, and that this type of castle was very difficult to capture. You could also support the children to understand that the sentence ‘Timber castles had one major flaw: attackers could burn them to the ground.’ refers to motte-and-bailey castles. You could use a graphic organiser (see page 29) to model organising your thoughts about each castle type.

Comparison questions mark scheme

Answer Guidance

1 They all liked/approved of/had an important connection to castles.

Encourage the children to look at the conversation at the beginning of the section and think about how the three target characters’ opinions differ from the peasant’s opinion. Which characters think castles are good/bad? How can you tell? Award 1 mark for a correct answer.

2 Castles were less comfortable/luxurious than palaces. They were more sturdy/easier to defend.

If the children struggle, remind them of the steps you followed to work through Modelling question 4 Award 1 mark for one difference. Award 2 marks for any two differences.

Everything Castles, by Crispin Boyer

Answer Guidance

3 They were both extremely powerful. OR Church leaders were as powerful as kings.

4 They were made of wood. ✓

5 It was quicker to build than other types of castle because it was made of wood and other castles were made of stone.

Some children may need a locator to help them answer this (the section What isn’t a castle?). Some might refer to both being leaders or both creating elaborate buildings. These answers are also acceptable. Award 1 mark for a correct answer.

To compare the castles, the children need to have an overall idea of the other options, so encourage them to scan each castle type in turn, underlining key words, before they tick their answer. Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked.

Some children may need a locator (the last section). If their answers refer to being made of wood, point out that although this is a difference it is not ‘a good thing’, as it made them less safe. If necessary, direct them to the sentence ‘Lords could build motte-and-bailey castles quickly to take control of new lands’ and ask them why this is a good thing compared to the other castles – were they quick too? Remind them that their answer must be a complete comparison that refers to both parts of the question. Award 1 mark for a reference to motte-and-bailey castles being quicker to build than stone castles.

Mix it up! questions mark scheme ?

Answer Guidance

1 Yes, because they are a way for him to show people how powerful he is. OR No, because they are only symbols to him/he can’t live in all of them!

2 land

3 community ✓

4 by building cathedrals

5 to help bring the past to life for the reader ✓ to show that castles were important to different people in different ways ✓

To answer this question, the children need to understand this meaning of ‘might’. If necessary, discuss this first. Accept both positive and negative responses, provided that the explanation is clearly linked to the text. Award 1 mark for a plausible explanation linked to the text. Skill: Inference.

Some children may struggle to identify the correct part of the text as this question has no locator. If so, you could provide one (the first section). Award 1 mark for the correct answer. Skill: Retrieval.

If children are struggling, remind them of strategies used to answer other word meaning questions, substituting each word in place of ‘society’ and then selecting the word which is the best fit. Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked. Skill: Word meaning.

This is not a ‘find and copy’ question, so answers with additional words can be accepted. Award 1 mark for the correct answer. Skill: Retrieval.

Some children may need support to think about how the first two sections are different. Point out the use of direct speech. Discuss whether this is something you usually see in information texts, as well as what the author tells us in this section. Award 1 mark for each correct answer ticked, up to a maximum of 2 marks. Skill: Relationship.

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Everything Castles, by Crispin Boyer

Everything Castles, by Crispin Boyer

This text is about how castles have changed over the years. It starts by imagining what it would be like if we could travel 800 years back in time to hear what different people in the Middle Ages would have said about castles.

WHAT IS A CASTLE?

“It’s a symbol of my might,” the king says as he sweeps his hand across a map of his realm – a map dotted with many castles. “Maybe it’s just a symbol to His Majesty,” says a noble lord, while his lady shows you around their castle’s feasting hall, gardens, and sleeping chambers, “but it’s our home!”

“A home, sirrah? Well, it’s a fortress, too,” says one of the lord’s knights as he points out the castle’s many defences – its towers, its moat, and its ‘murder holes’ for raining arrows on enemies.

“Humph,” snorts a peasant in the field. “A castle is just a big pain in my neck.”

A home, a fortress, a symbol – a castle was all these things in Europe during the Middle Ages, also known as the medieval period. It was a time when land was more precious than gold, and kings rewarded their supporters with pieces of the realm and noble titles. These nobles built castles and hired their own supporters, from noble knights for defence down to lowly servants who did the dirty work. No matter your rank in this ‘feudal’ society, the castle loomed large in your life.

WHAT ISN’T A CASTLE?

It isn’t just a fortress: Fortresses might look like castles, but they’re built solely for defence and lack fancy living quarters fit for lords and ladies.

It isn’t a palace: As the popularity of castles declined in the 15th century, nobles moved into luxurious palaces that were more comfortable but not as sturdy.

It isn’t a cathedral: Church leaders were powerful in the Middle Ages – as powerful as kings – and they built elaborate cathedrals made for worship, not warfare.

Everything Castles, by Crispin Boyer

THE EVOLUTION OF CASTLES

Life was no fairy tale in ninth-century France. Invaders terrorized the countryside. Vikings sailed swift longboats up rivers to pillage villages. Fed up with these raiders, warlords built wooden forts to surround their homes and serve as havens for the local farmers. These first castles spread across Europe and evolved into the towering stone structures we know today. Here’s how castles changed over their five-hundred-year reign …

1. The Motte-and-Bailey Castle This early castle type looked more like a pioneer fort. A moat and timber fence enclosed a bailey – or courtyard – in which a wooden keep sat atop an artificial hill called a ‘motte’. Lords could build motteand-bailey castles quickly to take control of new lands.

2. The Stone Keep Timber castles had one major flaw: attackers could burn them to the ground. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, lords constructed massive keeps with thick stone walls. Keeps took years to build and were expensive, but they were towering symbols of a lord’s power.

3. The Concentric Castle Considered the ultimate in defensive design, a concentric castle consisted of a courtyard ringed by several stone walls, with the keep and living areas built into the towers of the inner walls. Archers and crossbowmen on these inner walls could shoot over the heads of defenders on the outer walls, doubling the castle’s firepower. The only way to capture such castles was to wage long, bloody battles called sieges – or through trickery.

4. The Palace Castle Once armies added gunpowder and cannon to their arsenals in the 14th century, castle walls didn’t stand a chance. Kings moved into grand palaces and left the defence of their realms to squat, thick-walled fortresses. Palaces still featured classic castle features – but only out of a sense of tradition and as a sign of noble wealth.

From Everything Castles, by Crispin Boyer. Copyright © National Geographic Creative.

bailey

keep motte

4 SAMPLE UNIT

Comparison

Name:

1 Look at the section What is a castle?. What did the king, lord and knight have in common?

2 Look at the section What isn’t a castle?. How were castles different from palaces? Give two differences.

1 2

3 What did Church leaders and kings have in common in the Middle Ages?

marks

4 Look at the section The evolution of castles. What was the main difference between motte-and-bailey castles and the other types of castle? Tick one

They were made of wood.

They were more luxurious.

They had stronger defences. They had thicker walls.

5 According to the text, what was the good thing about a motte-and-bailey castle compared to the other types of castle?

Everything Castles, by Crispin Boyer

Mix it up!

Name:

1 “It’s a symbol of my might,” the king says as he sweeps his hand across a map of his realm – a map dotted with many castles. Are the castles important to the king? Explain your answer.

1 mark

2 In the Middle Ages, what was more precious than gold?

3 No matter your rank in this ‘feudal’ society, the castle loomed large in your life. Which word best describes the meaning of society in this sentence? Tick one. place community haven family

4 Look at the section What isn’t a castle?. How did Church leaders show their power in the Middle Ages?

1 mark 1 mark 1 mark

5 The author uses two different writing styles in the first section and the second section. Why do you think he does this? Tick two to help bring the past to life for the reader to confuse the reader to show that castles were important to different people in different ways to show that peasants thought castles were unimportant

2 marks

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Everything Castles, by Crispin Boyer

Unit

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

by Joan Aiken

SAMPLE UNIT

? YEAR 5

Classic fiction is sometimes overlooked in a world where there is so much newer children’s literature. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is wonderful for exploring the meaning and in-context use of a wide range of vocabulary. The ever-present threat of the wolves provides a suspenseful atmosphere in this extract, in which the historical setting and the character of Miss Bonnie are also focal points. Wolves are also essential to the plot of the Unit 8 text, The Wolf Wilder, but there they are portrayed very differently. You could compare the presentation of wolves in both texts once both units have been completed.

1 Get ready

Discuss the Key vocabulary identified in the Language toolkit and then complete the vocabulary activities as desired. Please note that the selected vocabulary is a guide. Depending on the needs of your cohort, additional vocabulary discussion may be beneficial before, during and after reading. Next, display the text (pages 38 to 39) so the children can see the title and any illustrations, and encourage the children to discuss the following questions before reading.

1 This text is an example of classic fiction. Classic texts were written a long time ago and are still popular today. Can you name any other classic stories? You may have explored examples of classic children’s literature during lessons. If so, you could prompt the children to recall the names and plots of these texts. If they cannot name any other examples, you could share some from the Reading list

2 This story is set during the Victorian era. What differences might you expect to find between a text set in the present day and this one? You could ask the children to think about key topics such as housing and clothing, as they did in Unit 3 when discussing the Tudors. You could also choose to explore the Victorian era in more detail using the non-fiction resources listed in the Reading list

3 In this story, the main character has a maid. What is a maid? What do they do?

Unless the children have read other texts that feature servants, they may not be able to answer. As the children’s understanding of this topic will be extended during Explore, at this point a basic understanding of what a maid is and does will be sufficient.

Key vocabulary

commanded corniced eminence hubbub indignation inevitable obstinate reckless savage sombre survey vigil

Vocabulary discussion questions

l What can be savage?

l When have you been reckless?

l What might you hear in a hubbub?

l Would you be likely to laugh and smile if you were in a sombre mood?

l If you survey the view outside your window, what are you doing?

l Why might you show indignation if someone was being obstinate?

Vocabulary activities

l Savage, reckless, sombre and obstinate are all powerful adjectives. Ask the children to find synonyms for their choice of one of these words and rank them on a scale from the weakest to the strongest.

l Inevitable and indignation begin with the prefix ‘in–’. What do the children think this prefix means? How many other words can they think of that share this prefix?

l This text contains some old-fashioned vocabulary with which the children may be unfamiliar (e.g. ‘turrets’; ‘battlements’; ‘goffering’; ‘porters’; ‘stationmaster’; ‘muskets’; ‘fowling pieces’). You could discuss these terms to support their understanding.

Printable text • Modelling slides Photocopiable text and questions • pages 38 to 41

2 First steps

Read the text together and then encourage the children to discuss the following questions.

1 Where is the story set?

In a house called Willoughby Chase, in Willoughby Wold. The children may infer that the house is in England. However, as this is not referred to in the text, remind them to retrieve information they can see in the text only.

2 Which characters appear in the extract? What are their roles?

A little girl called Miss Bonnie who lives in the house and her maid Pattern who looks after her.

3 What is Miss Bonnie waiting for?

For someone to arrive on the train. The children may also note that the person who is arriving is female, as Miss Bonnie refers to her using the pronoun ‘she’.

4 Did you enjoy the story? Why? Why not?

Answers will vary. The children should be able to justify their responses (e.g. I didn’t like the idea of lots of wolves being near the train station).

3 Explore

l Many of the texts that we think of as classic literature were written, and are set, in the Victorian and Edwardian eras (e.g. The Secret Garden). Discuss how Joan Aiken evokes the past in this extract. You might talk about the setting, the characters or other elements such as descriptions of clothing or interiors (e.g. petticoats; nursery). You could also encourage the children to compare the extract with life today –what is different?

l In the extract, Miss Bonnie is a child from a rich family who live in a large house. She is cared for by her maid, Pattern, and it is likely that her family employed many other servants to clean and cook for them. Discuss how in the past it was common for rich people to employ servants. The children could do some research to find out the differences between life ‘below stairs’ and upstairs.

l Throughout the extract, the pleasant description of Willoughby Chase is interspersed with comments about the ravenous wolves loose around the countryside. Joan Aiken builds up tension and atmosphere slowly through brief comments alluding to their presence. Discuss the language Aiken uses to do this and whether the children think she is successful in creating a tense atmosphere.

4 Skills focus

See pages 36 to 37

Use the information from the Skills guide and the relevant Skills graphic to introduce the skill of word meaning.

1 Model the skill using the Unit 9 Modelling slides and the Modelling word meaning guidance on page 36.

2 The children can then attempt the Word meaning questions on page 40.

3 Finally, the Mix it up! questions on page 41 offer practice in a range of comprehension skills.

Answers and marking guidance for all questions are included on pages 36 to 37.

5 Where next?

l Speaking and listening task: The children could work in pairs to role-play the extract, with one child acting as Miss Bonnie and one as Pattern. Challenge them to use clues from the reporting clauses (e.g. ‘was her continual cry’) to help them plan out what their characters’ actions and expressions should be.

l Writing task: The children could rewrite the extract from the point of view of Miss Bonnie’s maid Pattern. They could spend time discussing how Pattern might feel during her conversation with Miss Bonnie – is she frustrated at Miss Bonnie’s impatience, or does she understand why she is so excited and eager?

Reading list

Fiction

The Lottie Project by Jacqueline Wilson Moondial by Helen Cresswell

The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

The Secret Diary of Jane Pinny: Victorian House Maid by Philip Ardagh

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell (Linked text: Unit 8)

Class reads

The Whispering Mountain by Joan Aiken

Non-fiction

100 Facts on Victorian Britain by Jeremy Smith

Vile Victorians (Horrible Histories) by Terry Deary Films

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Atlantic Entertainment Group/Zenith Entertainment, 1989)

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Modelling word meaning

Use the Skills guide and the downloadable Skills graphic to support your modelling.

1 There were hundreds of them at work, wrapped in sacking because of the bitter cold, and keeping together in groups for fear of the wolves, grown savage and reckless from hunger. Underline a group of words that tells you the weather was freezing.

bitter cold

Although the quote is lengthy, it is still important to model locating it in the text. You should also draw the children’s attention to the key words ‘Underline’ and ‘group of words’ in the question. You could discuss what the weather is like when it is freezing, to activate the children’s background knowledge. Next, talk about words that are used to describe ‘freezing’ temperatures and model scanning the sentence for similar words. Remind them that they are looking for a group of words, so ‘cold’ alone would not be sufficient. Some may suggest ‘wrapped in sacking’. Explain that the answer must describe the weather rather than what people are wearing as a result of the weather.

2 … corniced with snow, … . Which word is closest in meaning to corniced? Tick one joined crowned ✓ covered decorated

The question includes a short quotation as its locator. Model finding it and reading the relevant paragraph. This will help the children to understand that the house’s appearance is being described. Although they will have encountered ‘corniced’ in the Key vocabulary, you could recap its meaning before modelling substituting each option into the text and discussing whether it makes sense. Finally, model choosing the most effective synonym and ticking your chosen answer.

3 “Will she be here soon, Pattern? Will she?” was her continual cry. What does continual tell you about how Miss Bonnie was speaking?

She asked the same thing again and again/lots of times/constantly. After modelling using the locator to find the correct section of text, draw the children’s attention to the key word ‘continual’ and discuss its meaning. Remind them that they have to relate the meaning to the context. Discuss what ‘continual’ tells you about Miss Bonnie’s speech and model writing a response that links the meaning and context together.

4 Her square chin also gave promise of a powerful and obstinate temper, not always perfectly controlled. Find and copy one word that means the same as ‘stubborn’. obstinate

Model finding the quote in the text. It is important to remind the children to always read around the target quote to learn more about the context. Discuss the meaning of ‘stubborn’ and gather synonyms for it. Next model searching the target sentence for a possible synonym. Model locating ‘obstinate’ and discuss whether it is a synonym. Finally, use substitution to see if ‘stubborn’ works in the target sentence.

Answer Guidance

1 fierce ✓

2 hideous howling

‘Severe’ can also be used as a synonym for ‘savage’ in a different context. If the children choose this option, you could recap the different meanings of ‘savage’. Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked.

As this question asks for a group of words, the children might include additional words in their answer. This is acceptable if the words are taken from the phrase ‘the hideous howling of the wolves without’. Award 1 mark for the correct answer.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken

Answer Guidance

3 survey

4 She could barely see them/couldn’t see them very well. OR She almost couldn’t see them.

5 completely

You could discuss the meaning of ‘observe’ and in what contexts we might use this word, or a synonym for it, before the children attempt the question. Award 1 mark for the correct answer.

Some children may overread and respond that Pattern ‘couldn’t see’ the tongs (at all). If so, discuss whether ‘hardly see’ is the same as ‘couldn’t see’ or whether it is less extreme. Award 1 mark for a reference to not being able to see the tongs very well.

The children may focus on the sense of ‘perfect’ meaning ‘to be without fault’. However, the adverbial form is used slightly differently here. If the children struggle, gather synonyms and encourage them to use substitution to decide which is most effective. Award 1 mark for an appropriate synonym.

Mix it up! questions mark scheme ?

Answer Guidance

1 Willoughby Chase

Some children may provide only part of the name. This should not be accepted. You could prompt them to check that they have written the ‘full name’. Award 1 mark for the correct answer. Skill: Retrieval.

2 She can quickly change moods. Less precise answers such as ‘sometimes she is cheerful and sometimes she is angry’ should be accepted. Some children may say that Miss Bonnie is ‘moody’. Do not accept this as it shows incomplete understanding. You could prompt the children to think about ‘dance with laughter’ and ‘flash with indignation’ as separate points. Award 1 mark for a reference to Miss Bonnie’s changing moods. Skill: Word choice.

3 No, because Pattern says that the people who work at the station have been practising with their guns so they can stop the wolves if they attack the train. OR Yes, because there are lots of wolves around. Miss Bonnie is worried about the train so they must have delayed the train before.

4 Impression: impatient Evidence: She won’t stop asking Pattern when her visitor will arrive.

The children’s responses may be positive or negative; either is acceptable, as long as an appropriate explanation is given. Award 1 mark for a plausible prediction with one piece of evidence from the text. Award 2 marks for a plausible prediction with two pieces of evidence from the text. Skill: Prediction.

The children’s own opinions are likely to influence their answers here. Accept any plausible impression linked to the text. Award 1 mark for a plausible impression. Award 2 marks for a plausible impression with appropriate evidence from the text. Skill: Inference.

5 Waiting for a Visitor ✓ Some children may choose ‘Miss Bonnie’ as much of the action revolves around her. You could remind them that titles should focus on the main points of the text – is the focus on telling us about Miss Bonnie, or telling us about Miss Bonnie’s wait for her visitor? Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked. Skill: Summarising.

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The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken

This story is about a young girl called Bonnie who lives in a great house called Willoughby Chase. At this point in the story, Bonnie is waiting impatiently for someone’s arrival.

It was dusk – winter dusk. Snow lay white and shining over the pleated hills, and icicles hung from the forest trees. Snow lay piled on the dark road across Willoughby Wold, but from dawn men had been clearing it with brooms and shovels. There were hundreds of them at work, wrapped in sacking because of the bitter cold, and keeping together in groups for fear of the wolves, grown savage and reckless from hunger.

Snow lay thick, too, upon the roof of Willoughby Chase, the great house that stood on an open eminence in the heart of the wold. But for all that, the Chase looked an inviting home – a warm and welcoming stronghold. Its rosy herring-bone brick was bright and well-cared-for, its numerous turrets and battlements stood up sharp against the sky, and the crenellated balconies, corniced with snow, each held a golden square of window. The house was all alight within, and the joyous hubbub of its activity contrasted with the sombre sighing of the wind and the hideous howling of the wolves without.

In the nursery a little girl was impatiently dancing up and down before the great window, fourteen feet high, which faced out over the park and commanded the long black expanse of road.

“Will she be here soon, Pattern? Will she?” was her continual cry. “We shall hear soon enough, I dare say, Miss Bonnie,” was the inevitable reply from her maid, who, on hands and knees in front of the fire, was folding and goffering the frills of twenty lace petticoats.

The little girl turned again to her impatient vigil. She had climbed up on to the window-seat, the better to survey the snowy park, and was jumping on its well-sprung cushions, covered in crimson satin. Each time she bounced, she nearly hit the ceiling.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken

“Give over, Miss Bonnie, do,” said Pattern after a while. “Look at the dust you’re raising. I can hardly see my tongs. Come and sit by the fire. We shall hear soon enough when the train’s due.”

Bonnie left her perch reluctantly enough and came to sit by the fire. She was a slender creature, small for her age, but rosy-cheeked, with a mass of tumbled black locks falling to her shoulders, and two brilliant blue eyes, equally ready to dance with laughter or flash with indignation. Her square chin also gave promise of a powerful and obstinate temper, not always perfectly controlled. But her mouth was sweet, and she could be very thoughtful on occasion – as now, when she sat gazing into the fire, piled high on its two carved alabaster wolfhounds.

“I hope the train hasn’t been delayed by wolves,” she said presently.

“Nonsense, Miss Bonnie dear – don’t worry your pretty head with thoughts like that,” replied Pattern. “You know the porters and stationmaster have been practising with their muskets and fowling pieces all the week.”

From The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, Vintage Children’s Classics, copyright © 1962, 1990 by Joan Aiken. Reproduced by permission of The Random House Group Ltd.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken

YEAR 5 SAMPLE UNIT

Word meaning

Name:

1 … the wolves, grown savage and reckless from hunger. Which word is closest in meaning to savage? Tick one severe fierce tame loud

YEAR 5 SAMPLE UNIT

2 Look at the second paragraph. Find and copy a group of words that describes the noises the wolves were making.

3 Look at the paragraph beginning The little girl turned … . Find and copy one word that means the same as ‘observe’.

4 I can hardly see my tongs. What does the word hardly tell you about how well Pattern can see her tongs?

5 Her square chin also gave promise of a powerful and obstinate temper, not always perfectly controlled. What word could be used to replace perfectly in this sentence?

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken

Mix it up!

1 What is the name of Miss Bonnie’s home?

Name:

2 … two brilliant blue eyes, equally ready to dance with laughter or flash with indignation. What does this group of words tell you about Miss Bonnie’s personality?

3 “I hope the train hasn’t been delayed by wolves, …” Do you think the train will be delayed by the wolves? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.

4 Think about the whole text. What impression do you get of Miss Bonnie? Give one impression and one piece of evidence from the text.

Impression Evidence

5 Think about the whole text. Which of the following would be the most effective title for this extract? Tick one The Wolves Wait Winter and the Wolves Miss Bonnie Waiting for a Visitor

1 mark 1 mark 2 marks 1 mark

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5 SAMPLE UNIT

2 marks

Prediction

Sky Song

by Abi Elphinstone

UNIT

Year 6 Sample Unit

Abi Elphinstone is well known for creating wonderfully atmospheric magical settings. Following the adventures of Eska and Flint as they travel the lands of Erkenwald to defeat the evil Ice Queen, Sky Song is sure to excite all readers. In this extract, we learn about the Ice Queen’s rise to power. This theme is worth exploring across a range of texts Year 6 children may have already read. This text is linked to The Snow Queen (Progress check 1). Once the Progress check has been completed, you could compare and contrast the themes, settings and characters of both texts.

1 Get ready

Discuss the Key vocabulary identified in the Language toolkit and then complete the vocabulary activities as desired. Please note that the selected vocabulary is a guide. Depending on the needs of your cohort, additional vocabulary discussion may be beneficial before, during and after reading. Next, display the text (pages 46 to 47) so the children can see the title and any illustrations, and encourage the children to discuss the following questions before reading.

1 This text shares some themes with fairy tales and traditional tales. Can you name some common themes found in fairy tales? Suggestions might include: good triumphing over evil; magical settings; heroes and villains; references to royalty; heroes overcoming a problem. Answers will vary according to the children’s understanding of the genre.

2 The main character in our extract is the evil Ice Queen. Who is your favourite fictional villain? Why? Answers will vary here depending on the children’s exposure to different texts. However, they should all be able to contribute a fictional villain and their reasons why.

3 This text is set in an imaginary snowy kingdom, a little like the Arctic. What do you already know about the Arctic?

Answers should mention the weather, terrain, animals and people. If the children find this challenging, use the resources in the Reading list to increase their background knowledge.

4 Can you think of any other stories you have read that are set in the Arctic, or other similar habitats? Answers will vary but most children should be able to contribute a number of different stories that have been a focus in school or in their own reading.

Language toolkit

Key vocabulary

command faith glacier lingers loyalty only a matter of time plucked safe passage shaman staff tethering wield

Vocabulary discussion questions

l If a feeling lingers, does it stay or go away quickly?

l Does staff only mean a group of people, like the staff at our school, or can it have another meaning?

l If we were tethering something to a tree, what would we be doing?

l If the head teacher gave you command of our school, what changes would you make?

l Can you wield a football? Why? Why not?

Vocabulary activities

l Loyalty and faith are both positive characteristics. How many synonyms can the children generate for the two words? Are there any synonyms that link the two terms?

l The extract includes idioms and other turns of phrase (e.g. safe passage and only a matter of time). Explore what these mean and when they might be used. Can the children find other idioms with similar meanings or themes?

l The text also includes vocabulary that is specific to the setting (e.g. ‘tribe’; ‘skin-boat’; ‘igloo’). You may wish to explore these terms.

Printable

2 First steps

Read the text together and then encourage the children to discuss the following questions.

1 Who are the main characters in this extract?

The Sky Gods; the North Star; Slither; the Ice Queen It is worth drawing the children’s attention to the fact that ‘the smallest Sky God’ and the Ice Queen are the same character – the Ice Queen is only mentioned by name in the final three paragraphs. Some children may suggest the Tusk chief or members of the Tusk Tribe. In this case, explain that these characters are only mentioned in passing.

2 The extract describes Erkenwald before the Ice Queen took power. What was life like in Erkenwald? Peaceful and wonderful. Accept any reference to Erkenwald being a positive or happy place to live. Encourage the children to link their answers to the text (e.g. ‘They spun hammocks from moonlight … and that meant the world was as it should be.’).

3 The Ice Queen is the villain in this story. What details from the text make this clear? She takes over; she persuades Slither to kill the chief; she becomes stronger as people start to hate each other; she controls the tribe.

4 Did you enjoy the story? Why? Why not?

Answers will vary. Encourage the children to justify their responses using the text (e.g. I thought it was interesting because it contrasted what life was like before and after the Ice Queen came to power).

3 Explore

l Explore life in the Arctic today for indigenous peoples such as the Saami, Chukchi, Aleut and Inuit. You could use resources (see Reading list) to compare and contrast life in the Arctic with life in the United Kingdom today (e.g. You could discuss homes; clothing; food; everyday activities; festivals).

l Discuss how the Ice Queen controls Slither by promising him power if he kills the chief of the tribe. Ask the children if they have ever been promised something for doing something else, possibly something that they would not normally do? How can they make the right decision in these situations? Who can they talk to? You may wish to expand this discussion to include pressure to accept ‘dares’ or the pressure the children may face on social media.

4 Skills focus

See pages 44 to 45

Use the information from the Skills guide and the relevant Skills graphic to introduce the skill of prediction.

1 Model the skill using the Unit 7 Modelling slides and the Modelling prediction guidance on page 44.

2 The children can then attempt the Prediction questions on page 48.

3 Finally, the Mix it up! questions on page 49 offer practice in a range of comprehension skills.

Answers and marking guidance for all questions are included on pages 44 to 45.

5 Where next?

l Speaking and listening task: Use the texts in the Reading list to research the myths and legends of indigenous cultures in the Arctic. The children could choose their favourite story to perform in a special story-time session for a younger year group.

l Writing task: The children could research other indigenous groups from around the world, culminating in a class book. You could also make a link to British history and colonialism, referring back to the Ice Queen taking over Erkenwald in the text.

Reading list Fiction

The Dreaded Ogress of the Tundra by Neil Christopher The Eye of the North by Sinéad O’Hart

How Things Came to Be by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen (Linked text: Progress check 1)

Class reads Winter Magic by Abi Elphinstone (ed) Non-fiction

Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights by Debbie S. Miller Avati by Mia Pelletier Expedition to the Arctic by Alex Woolf North by Nick Dowson

Poetry

Book of Nature Poetry by J. Patrick Lewis (ed) Films

The Eagle Huntress (Altitude Film Distribution, 2016) Websites

The Canadian Encyclopedia website provides information on Arctic indigenous peoples in Canada.

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Unit

YEAR 6 SAMPLE UNIT

Modelling prediction

Use the Skills guide and the downloadable Skills graphic to support your modelling.

1 ‘The Sky Gods will start dancing again by the end of the story.’ Do you think this prediction is correct? Explain your answer using evidence from the text. Yes, because the story is similar to a fairy tale and good always triumphs in fairy tales. The Sky Gods will dance if the evil Ice Queen is defeated.

Encourage the children to remind themselves why the Sky Gods were dancing. Explain that this question would be worth two marks, so the explanation needs to include two points. You may wish to hold a class vote on whether they agree or disagree with the prediction before exploring reasons why. It is important to explore how successful the children’s justifications are – you could use the ABC model of discussion (agree with, build upon, challenge) to facilitate this.

2 Look at the fifth paragraph. What do you think the Tusk Tribe will do next? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.

They will do whatever the Ice Queen tells them to do because she is controlling them.

Model using the locator and identifying key words. Answers will vary depending on the children’s personal responses to the text. Encourage them to discuss their predictions and link them back to the text before deciding on a final response as a class. You may wish to use a graphic organiser to model structuring your response (see Skills guide page 23).

3 Look at the last paragraph. What do you think Slither will do next?

He will use the magic to gain more power.

Model using the locator and identifying key words. The children will benefit from discussing their predictions and linking them back to the text. You could extend this question by requiring them to justify their responses (e.g. ‘He will use magic to gain more power because that’s why he killed the Tusk Chief in the first place’).

4 What do you think the reign of the Ice Queen will be like? Explain your answer using the text. Frightening, because she could use her magic to persuade others to kill. The text says the North Star stopped her ‘before she could spread her evil across the land’.

Model identifying the key words and discuss the expectations of the question. Prompt the children to scan back through the text to find all mentions of the Ice Queen. You may wish to model underlining or highlighting each mention. The children will benefit from discussing their predictions and linking them back to the text prior to deciding on their final response. Explain that the question would be worth two marks, so the explanation needs to include two points.

Prediction questions mark scheme

Answer Guidance

1 But darkness can come to any kingdom OR so it came to Erkenwald OR knew it was only a matter of time OR before long, someone did OR the Sky Gods stopped dancing then

2 She will be controlling. ✓ She will be sly. ✓

Accept quoted and paraphrased responses. Some children may state that the first paragraph is very positive compared to the rest of the extract. Do not accept this unless it is explained in the context of the atmosphere of the text changing after this point. Award 1 mark for each correct answer, up to a maximum of 2 marks.

Encourage the children to look back through the whole text before choosing. You could refer back to your discussion of Modelling question 4. Some children may need to clarify the meaning of ‘sly’ to understand this question. If the children do not immediately think that the Ice Queen is likely to be controlling, refocus them on the sixth paragraph. Award 1 mark for both correct answers ticked.

Sky Song, by Abi Elphinstone

Answer Guidance

3 Yes, because he killed the Tusk Chief and he did it because he wanted dark powers, which means he’ll probably do it again to get even more power.

4 The Ice Queen Advances ✓

Some children may need support to justify their choice rather than giving a vague response (e.g. ‘Yes, because he’s a bad man’). In this case, you could provide them with a graphic organiser to support their thinking process. Award 1 mark for a plausible prediction with one piece of evidence from the text. Award 2 marks for a plausible prediction with two pieces of evidence from the text.

Some children may choose the second distractor. If so, refocus them on the sixth paragraph as it proves that this has already happened. Encourage them to justify their response after the questions are completed to gauge the depth of their understanding. Award 1 mark for the correct answer ticked.

5 No ✓

Because she can use her magic to control everybody and everything. Also, there are no heroic characters in the story yet – she has everybody on her side.

Some children may assume that they will be awarded 1 mark for just choosing ‘yes’ or ‘no’. In this case, explain that the 2 marks relates to their justification only. Award 1 mark for an answer ticked plus one piece of appropriate evidence. Award 2 marks for an answer ticked plus two pieces of appropriate evidence.

See page 49 Mix it up! questions mark scheme ?

Answer Guidance

1 the northern lights

2 (was) drawn to

3 It makes you think about the magic shooting out the shape of the bridge like a snake moving. OR Snakes are often bad or dangerous in stories so it shows that the Ice Queen’s magic is evil.

4 Impression: foolish

Evidence: He believes the whispers.

Impression: ambitious

Evidence: He kills the chief to get power.

5 The Rise of the Ice Queen

Some children may answer with a vague response referring only to lights/colours. If so, remind them to be specific in their answers and refocus them on the first paragraph. Award 1 mark for the correct answer. Skill: Retrieval.

Some children may only respond with ‘drawn’. In this case, remind them to look for a group of words. Award 1 mark for the correct answer. Skill: Word meaning.

Some children may provide a vague response (e.g. ‘It looks like a snake’). In this case, refocus them on the snake’s movement –why might the author have used this image? Award 1 mark for reference to the effect of the imagery. Skill: Word choice.

The children have encountered the impressions and evidence format many times. However, you could discuss the grid format and how to respond to this type of question. Award 1 mark for an appropriate impression. Award 2 marks for one impression plus supporting evidence. Award 3 marks for two impressions plus at least one piece of supporting evidence. Skill: Inference.

If some children find this challenging, you could provide them with options to choose from. You may also wish to encourage all children to justify their choice of title once the questions have been completed. Award 1 mark for any plausible title. Skill: Summarising.

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Sky Song, by Abi Elphinstone

Sky Song, by Abi Elphinstone

Sky Song, by Abi Elphinstone

Sky Song tells the story of Eska and Flint, who make the perilous journey to the Never Cliffs to find an ancient song with the power to defeat the evil Ice Queen and free the kingdom of Erkenwald. This extract introduces Erkenwald and explains how the Ice Queen came to power.

Because magic often lingers long after it has been used, the power of the Frost Horn hovered over Erkenwald, and as time went by the people learnt how to use it. They spun hammocks from moonlight which granted wonderful dreams; they trapped sunbeams in lanterns which burned through the winter months; they stored wind inside gemstones which granted their boats safe passage through the stormy seas. And the people knew all was well in their kingdom whenever they saw the northern lights. For those rippling colours were a sign that the Sky Gods were dancing –and that meant the world was as it should be. But darkness can come to any kingdom, and so it came to Erkenwald.

The smallest Sky God grew jealous of the North Star’s power and, seeking to rule Erkenwald herself, she pulled away from the constellation one winter night and plunged towards Earth. The North Star acted swiftly and trapped her in a glacier before she could spread her evil across the land. But the Sky Gods stopped dancing then because they knew that it was only a matter of time before someone heard the whispers of the fallen star calling out behind the ice. And, before long, someone did.

One night, Slither, the shaman for the Tusk Tribe, was drawn to the glacier and he listened as the voice within promised him dark powers if he killed his chief and made it look like a plot brewed by the Fur and Feather Tribes using Erkenwald’s trusted magic. Although the words were only whispers, they plucked at Slither’s heart and, believing all they said, the shaman slew the Tusk Chief while he slept with an enchanted knife. In the weeks that followed, distrust between the tribes gave way to hatred and faith in Erkenwald’s magic died. And it was then that Slither climbed back into his skin-boat and paddled beneath the cliffs towards the glacier.

The voice was still there, only it was louder now – as if the hatred between the tribes had given it fresh force – and this time Slither could make out the body of a woman behind the ice. She was tall and slim, with skin as white as marble and lips a cold pale blue. Her eyelashes were crusted with frost, her silver hair twisted through a crown of snowflakes and in her hand she held a staff of glittering black ice. Slither raised a palm towards the Ice Queen and, because this was a palm that had done a terrible thing, it melted the frozen wall before him and the woman stepped out from the glacier and into the skin-boat.

She held up her staff and thunder rumbled across the sky as every man, woman and child in the Tusk Tribe, now locked under the Ice Queen’s hold, stepped out of their igloos. They watched in silence as she pointed her staff towards the glacier she had been trapped inside. An enormous chunk of ice broke free from its tip and slid into the sea, but it did not drift away. The Ice Queen waved her staff and a bridge snaked out between the cliff and the iceberg, tethering it in place. Then domes, turrets and towers formed, shooting out of the iceberg with ear-splitting cracks until, finally, there stood a shimmering fortress carved entirely from ice.

Winterfang Palace was born; the reign of the Ice Queen had begun. And to reward his loyalty, the Ice Queen gave Slither command of the Tusk Tribe and taught him how to wield the very darkest magic.

From Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone, Simon & Schuster, 2018, copyright © Abi Elphinstone, 2018. Reproduced with permission of the publisher.

Sky Song, by Abi Elphinstone

1 Look at the first two paragraphs. What clues does the text give you that things will change in Erkenwald?

2 How is the Ice Queen likely to behave in the rest of the story? Tick two

She will be respectful. She will be kind.

She will be sly. She will be controlling.

She will be playful.

YEAR 6 SAMPLE UNIT

3 Do you think that Slither will stay a villain for the rest of the story? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.

4 Which of the following would be the most effective title for the next chapter in the story? Tick one.

Erkenwald Celebrates

The Tusk Tribe Are Defeated

The Ice Queen Advances

The Palace Crumbles

5 Do you think that the Ice Queen will ever be defeated?

Yes No Explain your answer using evidence from the text.

1 What did the people of Erkenwald use to check whether the Sky Gods were dancing?

2 Look at the third paragraph. Find and copy a group of words that means the same as ‘attracted to’.

3 The Ice Queen waved her staff and a bridge snaked out between the cliff and the iceberg, tethering it in place. Why do you think the author used the words snaked out to describe the bridge?

4 What impressions do you get of Slither? Give two impressions, using evidence from the text to support your answer.

Impression

Evidence

5 Look at the whole text. What title could be used to summarise the story?

1 mark 1 mark 1 mark 1 mark

3 marks

Name: Sky Song, by Abi Elphinstone

Text passages from across the series

Each Complete Comprehension book contains a wide range of text passages that have been carefully selected to provide a rich and diverse reading repertoire. They cover a broad range of topics, allowing you to make links with other areas of the curriculum and compound knowledge.

Year 1 text passages

Unit Target skill Title

Author Genre

1 Inference Starting School Jo Gray Picture 2 Retrieval Our Senses Jo Gray Picture 3 Retrieval Mary Had a Little Lamb Sarah Josepha Hale Poetry 4 Word meaning Jack and Jill Traditional Poetry 5 Inference Snow Bear Tony Mitton Fiction 6 Word meaning Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? Martin Waddell Fiction 7 Inference Little Red Jo Gray Fiction 8 Retrieval Wolves James Maclaine Non-fiction 9 Sequencing The Three Little Pigs Jo Gray Fiction 10 Inference The Three Little Pigs (Revolting Rhymes) Roald Dahl Poetry 11 Word meaning Looking After Rabbits Fiona Patchett Non-fiction 12 Prediction The Pet Tony Bradman Poetry 13 Inference Chocolate Cake Michael Rosen Poetry 14 Sequencing Chocolate Cake Recipe Jo Gray Non-fiction 15 Word meaning Plant Facts Izzi Howell Non-fiction 16 Retrieval Jack and the Beanstalk Jo Gray Fiction 17 Inference My Two Grannies Floella Benjamin Fiction 18 Word meaning Grandad Mandela Zazi, Ziwelene and Zindzi Mandela Non-fiction

Progress check 1

Mixed skills Bee Frog Martin Waddell Fiction

Progress check 2 Mixed skills You Can’t Take an Elephant on the Bus Patricia Cleveland-Peck Fiction

Progress check 3

Mixed skills Seaside Towns Claire Hibbert Non-fiction

Every teaching unit focuses on a particular target comprehension skill that mirror those identified in the Reading Test Framework as being essential for meaningful reading.

Year 2 text passages

Unit Target skill Title Author Genre 1 Retrieval Lions, Lions, Lions Laura Lodge Non-fiction 2 Inference There’s a Lion in My Cornflakes Michelle Robinson Fiction 3 Retrieval The Great Fire of London Emma Adams Non-fiction 4 Retrieval Guy Fawkes Laura Lodge Non-fiction 5 Word meaning Eight Candles Burning Celia Warren Poetry 6 Retrieval Christmas Eve Brian Moses Poetry Progress check 1 Mixed skills Ruby’s Worry Tom Percival Fiction 7 Inference Perfectly Norman Tom Percival Fiction 8 Sequencing Sir Charlie Stinky Socks: The Really Big Adventure Kristina Stephenson Fiction 9 Inference The Night Dragon Naomi Howarth Fiction 10 Retrieval How to Build a Gingerbread House Laura Lodge Non-fiction 11 Retrieval Hansel and Gretel Laura Lodge Fiction 12 Inference Hansel and Gretel Bethan Woollvin Fiction Progress check 2 Mixed skills The Life of Roald Dahl: A Marvellous Adventure Emma Fischel Non-fiction 13 Retrieval George’s Marvellous Medicine Roald Dahl Fiction 14 Prediction Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend Francesca Simon Fiction 15 Word meaning The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog Jeremy Strong Fiction 16 Word meaning The Darkest Dark Chris Hadfield Fiction 17 Retrieval Dogs in Space Vix Southgate Non-fiction 18 Inference A Bottle of Happiness Pippa Goodheart Fiction Progress check 3 Mixed skills Ossiri and the Bala Mengro Richard O’Neill and Katharine Quarmby Fiction

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Year 3 text passages

Unit Target skill Title Author Genre 1 Summarising The Pebble in My Pocket Meredith Hooper Non-fiction 2 Retrieval Stone Circles Dawn Finch Non-fiction 3 Relationship My Brother Is a Superhero David Solomons Fiction 4 Inference The Magic Finger Roald Dahl Fiction 5 Summarising Sugar: The Facts The NHS Non-fiction 6 Retrieval Prawn Pizza Jane Sowerby Non-fiction 7 Word choice The Iron Man Ted Hughes Fiction Progress check 1 Mixed skills The Selfish Giant Oscar Wilde Fiction 8 Inference The Ice Palace Robert Swindells Fiction 9 Retrieval A House of Snow and Ice Stephen Whitt Non-fiction 10 Inference The Heavenly River (Chinese Myths and Legends) Shelley Fu Fiction 11 Comparison New Year Celebrations Jane Sowerby Non-fiction 12 Word meaning Night Comes Too Soon James Berry Poetry 13 Inference Tom’s Midnight Garden Philippa Pearce Fiction 14 Word meaning The Story of Tutankhamun Patricia Cleveland-Peck Non-fiction Progress check 2 Mixed skills Secrets of a Sun King Emma Carroll Fiction 15 Word choice The Butterfly Lion Michael Morpurgo Fiction 16 Retrieval Wild Animals to Be Banned from Circuses in England by 2020, Says Government

The Independent Non-fiction 17 Word meaning Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll Fiction 18 Inference The Madhatters Aoife Mannix Poetry 19 Inference Stig of the Dump (Extract 1) Clive King Fiction 20 Prediction Stig of the Dump (Extract 2) Clive King Fiction 21 Retrieval Norse Mythology Neil Gaiman Fiction Progress check 3 Mixed skills Discover the Vikings: Warriors, Exploration and Trade John C. Miles Non-fiction

Year 4 text passages

Unit Target skill Title Author Genre

1 Summarising Roman Britain Ruth Brocklehurst Non-fiction 2 Retrieval The Time-Travelling Cat and the Roman Eagle Julia Jarman Fiction 3 Retrieval Volcanoes in Action Anita Ganeri Non-fiction 4 Word meaning Tsunamis on the Move International Tsunami Information Center, Hawaii, USA

Non-fiction 5 Word meaning Russian Doll Rachel Rooney Poetry 6 Inference The Little Daughter of the Snow Arthur Ransome Fiction 7 Retrieval The History behind Christmas Traditions The Telegraph Non-fiction

Progress check 1 Mixed skills A Christmas Tree Charles Dickens Fiction 8 Relationship The Moomins and the Great Flood Tove Jansson Fiction 9 Inference For Forest Grace Nichols Poetry 10 Retrieval The Borrowers Mary Norton Fiction 11 Prediction Max and the Millions Ross Montgomery Fiction 12 Inference My Secret War Diary by Flossie Albright Marcia Williams Fiction 13 Inference The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips Michael Morpurgo Fiction 14 Inference The Secret World of Polly Flint Helen Cresswell Fiction

Progress check 2 Mixed skills Heatwave Raises Lost ‘Atlantis’ Village from Its Watery Grave Daily Mail Non-fiction 15 Retrieval Threats to African Elephants World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Non-fiction 16 Inference The Great Elephant Chase Gillian Cross Fiction 17 Retrieval Black Beauty Anna Sewell Fiction 18 Word meaning Charlotte’s Web E.B. White Fiction 19 Word choice A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning Lemony Snicket Fiction 20 Word meaning Little Women Louisa May Alcott Fiction 21 Comparison Everything Castles Crispin Boyer Non-fiction

Progress check 3 Mixed skills Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Michael Morpurgo Fiction

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Year 5 text passages

Unit Target skill Title

Author Genre 1 Retrieval Dragonology

Dugald Steer Fiction 2 Comparison How to Train Your Dragon Cressida Cowell Fiction 3 Summarising Life in Tudor Britain Anita Ganeri Non-fiction 4 Word meaning Love Letter from Mary Tudor to Her Husband, Philip of Spain Brian Moses Poetry 5 Inference The House with Chicken Legs Sophie Anderson Fiction 6 Prediction The Wizards of Once Cressida Cowell Fiction 7 Inference The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club Alex Bell Fiction

Progress check 1 Mixed skills A Boy Called Christmas Matt Haig Fiction 8 Retrieval The Wolf Wilder Katherine Rundell Fiction 9 Word meaning The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Joan Aiken Fiction 10 Word choice Whale Boy Nicola Davies Fiction 11 Relationship SeaWorld Decides to Stop Killer Whale Breeding Program

The Guardian Non-fiction 12 Summarising Beetle Boy M.G. Leonard Fiction 13 Word meaning Beetle Boy: The Beetle Collector’s Handbook M.G. Leonard Non-fiction 14 Inference The Boy at the Back of the Class Onjali Q. Raúf Fiction

Progress check 2 Mixed skills Who are Refugees and Migrants? And Other Big Questions Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young Non-fiction 15 Retrieval The Jamie Drake Equation Christopher Edge Fiction 16 Word meaning Once Upon a Star James Carter Poetry 17 Retrieval Harry Houdini Laura Lodge Non-fiction 18 Inference The Nowhere Emporium Ross MacKenzie Fiction 19 Retrieval Plague! John Farndon Non-fiction 20 Inference The Island at the End of Everything

Kiran Millwood Hargrave Fiction 21 Inference The London Eye Mystery Siobhan Dowd Fiction

Progress check 3 Mixed skills The Last Chance Hotel Nicki Thornton Fiction

Year 6 text passages

Unit Target skill Title Author Genre 1 Inference Who Let the Gods Out? Maz Evans Fiction 2 Retrieval To Asgard! Rachel Piercey Poetry 3 Summarising Hidden Figures Margot Lee Shetterly Non-fiction 4 Relationship The British (serves 60 million) Benjamin Zephaniah Poetry 5 Inference War Horse Michael Morpurgo Fiction 6 Word meaning For the Fallen Laurence Binyon Poetry 7 Prediction Sky Song Abi Elphinstone Fiction Progress check 1 Mixed skills The Snow Queen Hans Christian Andersen Fiction 8 Inference Tin Pádraig Kenny Fiction 9 Retrieval The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum Fiction 10 Inference Welcome to Nowhere Elizabeth Laird Fiction 11 Retrieval Malala Yousafzai: ‘Nobel Award Is for All the Voiceless Children’ The Guardian Non-fiction 12 Inference The Crooked Sixpence Jennifer Bell Fiction 13 Word meaning Cogheart Peter Bunzl Fiction 14 Comparison Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll Fiction Progress check 2 Mixed skills The Hunting of the Snark Lewis Carroll Poetry 15 Summarising What’s So Special about Shakespeare? Michael Rosen Non-fiction 16 Retrieval Macbeth William Shakespeare Play 17 Word meaning Deforestation for Palm Oil Rainforest Rescue Non-fiction 18 Word choice The Explorer Katherine Rundell Fiction 19 Inference Pig-Heart Boy Malorie Blackman Fiction 20 Retrieval Marius the Giraffe Killed at Copenhagen Zoo The Guardian Non-fiction 21 Word meaning Evolution Revolution Robert Winston Non-fiction Progress check 3 Mixed skills Charles Darwin: History’s Most Famous Biologist Kerry Lotzof Non-fiction

To order call 01484 607080 or email sales@schofieldandsims.co.uk