Lesson video

Hi there.

Thank you so much for joining me for today's reading lesson.

My name is Mr. Charlesworth.

In today's lesson, we're going to be using the text "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover." You're going to need a copy of the book.

It needs to look exactly like mine.

Pause the video now whilst you make sure you've got a copy to hand.

Well done.

Now you've got your copy, we're ready to get started.

I'm really looking forward to sharing this text with you.

I hope you're feeling curious.

Today's lesson outcome is, "I can compare and contrast between two non-fiction texts." The key words are, my turn, your turn, layout.

Skimming.

Scanning.

Compare.

And contrast.

Let's say those once more, layout.

Skimming.

Scanning.

Compare.

And contrast.

Well done.

Let's now have a look at the definitions.

The layout of a text refers to the way the information is organised on the page.

Skimming is quickly glancing over text to get the main ideas and the key points.

Scanning is rapidly searching a text for specific information or keywords.

Comparing involves identifying similarities between two or more things, ideas, concepts, or texts.

Contrasting then involves identifying differences between two or more things, ideas, concepts, or texts.

Don't worry if you're unsure about any of these words, we'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

In today's lesson, we're going to be reading around the text, "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover." To read around something is to read additional information, perhaps linked to the context of the text itself.

To begin with, we're going to be exploring the layout of a non-fiction text before we then move on in the second part of the lesson to compare and contrast this to "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover." Let's get started by exploring the layout of a non-fiction text.

I hope you're looking forward to finding out more about Mars and the Mars Rover.

"Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover" is written illustrated by Markus Motum.

Stuart Atkinson, who's an astronomy expert, was consulted on the text.

Let's have a quick recap about what we know already.

We know the Curiosity rover's landing was really complex.

There were lots of different stages involved.

Once it landed safely, Curiosity set off to explore the surface of Mars.

A range of different equipment and technology allowed Curiosity to conduct experiments on the surface of the planet.

Their purpose was to assist it in achieving the aims of the mission.

Well remembered, you can have a look at the aims in the afterward of the text, right at the back.

In today's lesson, we'll be exploring another non-fiction text.

There are several strategies we can use to help us develop our comprehension of a non-fiction text.

We can use the layout features to help navigate the text.

This includes subheadings, text boxes, captions, and labels.

These can all help you find the information that you need.

You can skim and scan for key terms. This helps you retrieve the information you're looking for quickly.

You can look for clues in the text features, that might be bold writing for importance.

Some texts include coloured font and all will have capital letters for proper nouns.

Finally, you can read around the text, that's looking at the words itself.

Subject specific and technical vocabulary can sometimes be explained by reading the sentence before and after for added context.

Skimming and scanning are crucial skills when it comes to quickly extracting information from texts.

Well done for noticing that they're two of our keywords.

Here are some top tips when skimming.

When skimming, you should read the first and last sentence.

You can understand the text structure, that might be cause and effect, problem and solution, or it might be in chronological order.

When skimming, it's also important to notice illustrations, captions, and graphics.

These usually convey information quickly and visually.

Finally, skimming allows you to really quickly identify keywords to see if the information that you're reading is exactly what you're after.

We're now going to have a look at scanning.

Here are some top tips that you can do when scanning the text.

You can focus on key information.

You can quickly glance over headings, subheadings, and bold or italicised font.

You can find the right section of the text, that could be helpful, especially if it's grouped in paragraphs or columns and rows.

And finally, you can develop scanning by doing it regularly.

Regular practise develops your peripheral vision, that allows you to notice things that aren't directly in front of you.

Peripheral vision is the things that are on the outside edges of your sight.

Here's our first check for understanding.

Which of the following is a top tip for skimming and scanning? Is it A, read every word? B, locate headings and subheadings? Or C, notice illustrations, captions and graphics? There might be more than one correct answer here.

Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done, the correct answers here are B and C.

Reading every single word and trying to understand every detail can be counterproductive when the goal is to quickly locate specific information.

The layout of a non-fiction text plays a crucial role in facilitating skimming and scanning by providing visual cues to the reader.

Non-fiction texts often contain the following layout features: headings and subheadings, bold or italicised text, bullet points and numbered lists, text boxes, visual aids, so these are photographs, illustrations and graphics, captions and labels, use of columns and rows and information organised in paragraphs.

It's important to remember that non-fiction texts don't have to include every single one of these different features, but they're commonly found in lots of different non-fiction texts.

These features help organise information, making it easier for readers to locate and extract the information they need quickly.

I'd now like you to read "Exploring Mars: The Curiosity Rover Mission" from the additional materials.

Take particular note of the words defined in the glossary.

You might want to read these first to help you better understand the text.

Pause video now whilst you read the non-fiction text together.

Well done.

I hope you enjoyed finding out more information about Mars and reading around the text in general.

We can see lots of the different layout features in the non-fiction text.

There's visual aids to show the Curiosity rover and the Martian environment.

These always impress me, to see images from another planet.

There's captions, which help contextualise the image.

In this case, this is a photograph of Mount Sharp on Mars and there's also use of paragraphs to break up text into smaller, more accessible sections.

The two paragraphs we can see here are the introduction to the Curiosity rover and studying Martian environment.

In the next part of the text, we can see that there are headings and subheadings to help orientate the reader.

That means to navigate to the right section.

This text also includes bullet points or numbered lists, a graphic to show how far each of the rovers has travelled.

And finally, at the very bottom, it's got emboldening of keywords and capitalization of proper nouns.

This can be a really helpful way for us to find these words in the text.

We can use our skimming and scanning skills to help support us.

Based on what we've just read, which of the following layout features can be found in the text "Exploring Mars: The Curiosity Rover Mission"? Is it A, visual aids, which includes photographs, illustrations, and graphics? B, labels, C, headings and subheadings, or D, italicised text? For example, Curiosity carefully analysed the data.

Which of the following can be found in the text? There might be more than one.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question.

Well done, there are two layout features.

That's both A, visual aids and C, headings and subheadings.

The non-fiction text that we have just read doesn't include labels, but these can be found in the text "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover." They usually are identified by having a line from the image or information going out.

Referring to the text "Exploring Mars: The Curiosity Rover Mission," I'd like you to answer the following question.

Under which of the subheadings would you expect to find information on how the Curiosity rover detects what Mars's atmosphere is like? Have a quick glance back over the different headings and subheadings.

Which one best fits with the information that we're after? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

Alex says, "I'd expect to find information about the atmosphere under the subheading 'Studying Martian environment.

' The atmosphere is very different to the geology, which is a study of rocks and minerals." Well done if you answered similarly.

Readers can also scan for keywords such as "atmosphere" in the text as an alternative strategy.

We can use our reading strategies and our understanding of layout to help us when we're answering questions.

Let's have a look in an example.

The question is, which samples does the Curiosity rover analyse to find out if Mars was ever suitable for hosting life? Our first step is to identify the keywords.

In this case, it's asking us for which samples does the Curiosity rover analyse? So the two keywords I'm gonna look for are "samples" and "analyse." We can locate the keywords using both visual and textual cues, so that means we can use skimming and scanning and we can use the images to help us as well.

The information here is located in this sentence.

It says the rover does this by analysing samples of soil, rocks and the atmosphere.

So we've been able to retrieve the information we require.

We know that the rover is analysing samples of soil, rocks, and atmosphere.

Finally, it's really useful to check that our answer answers the question.

You might want to rephrase the question in your answer to help.

An example might be, "The Curiosity rover collects samples of soil, rocks and the atmosphere to find out if Mars was ever able to host life." I'm now go to answer the following question.

What equipment does curiosity use to analyse rocks? I can start by identifying the keywords, that's "analyse" and "rocks." I can then look in the text to see if I can find those words.

They're located here.

It mentions that cameras and spectrometers are used to analyse rock formations, identifying minerals and geological features that provide clues about the planet's past.

I've retrieved the information I need, now I need to check that it answers the question.

What equipment does Curiosity use to analyse rocks? It uses cameras and spectrometers.

An answer might be, "Curiosity uses cameras and spectrometers to analyse rock formations." Now it's over to you.

Can you answer the following question? How does Curiosity understand the history of the Martian landscape? You can follow a similar reading strategy to the one I've just used.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question with your partner.

Perhaps you've picked out the keywords of "history" and "landscape." When you're skimming and scanning through the text for these, you'll find them at the bottom part of the paragraph.

It says, "By examining layers of sediment and rock, Curiosity help scientists reconstruct the geological history of Mars and understand the processes that shaped its surface over time." So we found the keyword "history." It doesn't mention the keyword "landscape," but it does mention about how the planet is formed and how the rover is able to understand it.

An answer might be, "Curiosity examines the layers of sediment and rock to allow scientists to understand how the planet has changed." Well done if you've got a similar answer.

In our first task, I'd like you to refer to "Exploring Mars: The Curiosity Rover Mission" from the additional materials.

Using the strategies we've just practised, I'd like you to answer the following questions.

How much did Curiosity weigh? What allowed scientists to study Martian geology in unprecedented detail? And what material are the rover's wheels made out of? You can use both layout features to navigate the text as well as the reading strategies we've just practised to help you answer the questions.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the questions with your talk partner and complete the task.

Well done.

I hope you're able to use lots of the skills we've practised together.

For the first question, how much did Curiosity weigh? You should have found that the Curiosity weighed about one tonne.

For the second question, you might have said that the rover's ability to drill into rocks allowed scientists to study the geology in great detail.

And for the final question, you should have discovered that the rover's wheels were made out of aluminium, which is designed to cope with the rough terrain of Mars.

Well done if you answered all of these correctly.

We're now going to look at comparing and contrasting two non-fiction texts.

When we compare and contrast, we're focusing on similarities and differences.

Similarities are things that are alike or the same in two or more things.

Differences are things that are not the same.

By comparing, we can find out how things are alike, which helps us see patterns and connections.

When we contrast, we notice differences, and this helps us see unique details or aspects that make each thing special.

Here's a quick check for understanding based on what we've just learned.

Can you match the following keywords to their definitions? You've got compare and contrast and the definitions on the right hand side.

Pause the video now whilst you read and match them up.

Well done.

I can see the definitions include the word similarities whilst the other includes differences.

Therefore, I know that contrasting is all about differences, which means comparing must be about involving similarities.

Well done if you matched them both correctly.

In our final task, we're going to compare and contrast the two texts, "Exploring Mars: The Curiosity Rover Mission" and the picture book, "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover." I'd like you first to explore what non-fiction features can you find in both texts.

Do they have a similar or different layout to each other? Then I'd like you to compare and contrast the text by filling in notes in the corresponding boxes.

You can, of course, refer to both texts whilst you are completing the task.

The two boxes will look like this.

One is for similarities between the texts, whilst the other is for differences that you notice.

To help start you off, here's one similarity, they both contain factual information, and one difference, that "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover" has labels to annotate its images.

Now it's over to you to add in more details to each of these boxes by comparing and contrasting the two texts.

Pause the video now whilst you complete the task with your partner.

Well done.

If you're anything like me, you'll have had both texts next to each other so that you can compare and contrast them quickly.

Let's now have a look through at some of our similarities.

Both texts, as we know, contain factual information.

They both have formal language and both texts include a glossary to define subject-specific vocabulary.

The differences between the texts are that "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover" has labels to annotate its images.

"Exploring Mars" has photographic images from the rover and "Exploring Mars" has subheadings to divide the text into smaller sections.

I wonder if you compared and contrasted and found similar features.

Remember, both of these texts are in the genre of non-fiction, they're just presented in different ways and include different features.

In today's lesson, we've been reading around the text "Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover." We've learned that when reading non-fiction texts, readers can use the layout features to help navigate the text.

We've practised skimming and scanning and understood that these are crucial skills when it comes to quickly retrieving information from texts.

The structure and features of a text can help identify keywords and key information.

We know that non-fiction texts use a range of different layout features to help organise information, making it easier for readers to locate and extract the information they need quickly.

Finally, readers can compare and contrast within and across different texts.

I hope you've enjoyed finding out more about Mars and the fascinating Rover mission.

Well done for all your hard work.

I'm looking forward to working with you again soon.