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

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

Reading journal activities worksheet Repeat tasks or encourage children to colour in each task as it is completed. Stick in the front of a child’s reading journal exercise book. Upper KS2 Example tasks: Design and draw your own front cover for a book you are reading. Write 5 interview questions for the author of your book or for a character in the story. Make a list of words from a text that you would like to learn and/or use in your own writing. Write a diary entry for one of the characters in the story. Write a blurb for your story. Don’t give too many details away!

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

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

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

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

FREE Get to know your pupils and find out about their reading habits. How many sustained the habit of reading regularly this summer? How often did they read? What different genres and authors are they reading? How do they feel about reading? Did they get the chance to visit a library or a bookshop? Where is their favourite place to read? Use our free ‘Summer Reading Habits’ worksheet to find out! SPace is also provided for children to design three front covers for their favourite recent reads to help you gain a picture as to what their reading preferences are. Why not blow it up to A3 and keep them in a class folder for sharing?

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

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

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

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

3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on an extract from the Blue Peter book award winner, ‘Podkin One-Ear’ by Kieran Larwood. Whole class reading, paired reading, pre-teaching vocabulary Reading Skills foci: visualise, infer, question 31-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 2 x printable PDF activities. Extract not included. Suitable for ages 9+

3 whole class reading comprehension lessons based on 3 poems from ‘Werewolf Club Rules’ by Joseph Coelho. Extracts included. Whole class reading, paired reading, pre-teaching vocabulary Reading Skills foci: feature’splore, summarise, word’splore, infer, clarify 37-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 4 x printable PDF activities. Suitable for ages 7+ Lesson 1 – feature’splore, summarise pages 8-9, ‘Hamster! Hamster!’ Opportunity to write their own poem Lesson 2 – word’splore Pages 86-89, ‘If all the world were paper’ Opportunity to write their own poem Lesson 3 – infer, clarify Pages 13-15, ‘Miss Flotsam’ Available for £3 on our website.

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

Based on an extract from chapter 5 of ‘Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow’ by Benjamin Dean. Year 5 & 6 Book recommended age 9+ 10-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint 1 lesson 2 x PDF activities Clarify word meanings Making inferences about characters based on their actions Extract included WINNER OF THE DIVERSE BOOK AWARDS 2022 My name’s Archie Albright, and I know two things for certain: My mum and dad kind of hate each other, and they’re not doing a great job of pretending that they don’t anymore. They’re both keeping a secret from me, but I can’t figure out what. Available for £2 on our website. My Teaching Hive.

4 whole class guided reading comprehension lessons based on chapter one of ‘A Dangerous Game’ by Malorie Blackman. 34-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 1 x printable PDF activity (other activities featured on the PowerPoint slides) Extract included. Pre-teach vocabulary, about the author, whole class reading, paired reading Reading Skills foci: predict, infer **Lesson 1 ** To use clues in a text to predict what might happen next. To recall any similarities or differences between books by the same author. Lesson 2 - 4 To make inferences about a character. To support your inferences with evidence from a text. Suitable for age 7+ Recommended for Year 3 and 4. Story Synopsis Although Sam has a long-term illness, all he wants is the chance to lead a normal life. So he is thrilled when he finally gets his mum and dad to let him go on the school trip to the Scottish Highlands. Sam’s desperate for an adventure and wants to prove to everyone that he’s just as strong as his friends. But when some of the boys from his class take a reckless risk in order to win a challenge, the trip turns out to be more dangerous than Sam could have imagined. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers.

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

2 x reading comprehension lessons based on the Prologue and Chapter One of ‘The Girl who Speaks Bear’ by Sophie Anderson. Years 5 & 6 Book recommended age 9+ 23-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint 2 lessons 1 x PDF activity questioning, inference, looking at connections/themes within a text. Extract included. Visit our website for more book comprehension lessons.

KS2 Book comprehension resources Recommended for Year 3/4 Whole Class Reading Lessons Based on extracts from: Werewolf Club Rules, by Joseph Coelho- POETRY A Dangerous Game, by Malorie Blackman - ADVENTURE Hilda and the Troll, by Luke Pearson- GRAPHIC NOVEL Escape from Pompeii, by Christina Balit- HISTORICAL FICTION/PICTURE BOOK Knights & Bikes, by Gabrielle Kent - ADVENTURE The Boy Who Grew Dragons, by Andy Shepherd - FANTASY The Selfish Giant, by Oscar Wilde - CLASSIC Viking Voyagers, by Jack Tite - NON FICTION Each pack contains a detailed teaching PowerPoint and PDF printable activities. Most extracts also included. £35 yearly personal membership - ACCESS TO ALL YEARGROUPS £240 yearly school membership. Support us in growing our resource library and make comprehension lessons FUN!