Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
icon-background-square
New
New
Year 2

Building comprehension of 'The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark'

I can discuss the plot of 'The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark'.

Download all resources
arrow-right
Share activities with pupils
arrow-right
icon-background-square
New
New
Year 2

Building comprehension of 'The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark'

I can discuss the plot of 'The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark'.

Download all resources
arrow-right
Share activities with pupils
arrow-right
warning

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
View new resources
arrow-right

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Using a range of strategies helps to build our understanding of a text.
  2. Retrieving means finding information directly from the text.
  3. Searching for clues within the text helps us to infer greater meaning and draw conclusions.
  4. Having rich discussions improves our understanding and offers opportunities for hearing different ideas.
  5. Plop met a Scout who told him about why he thinks night time is ‘fun’.

Keywords

  • Comprehension - Reading comprehension refers to our understanding of the text.

  • Retrieve - In reading, retrieve means to find information within the text.

  • Inference - Using inference means to draw conclusions from clues within the text.

Common misconception

Pupils may think that they should always have the same answer as their partner.

Teach the pupils that when retrieving information, there is likely only one answer. However, discussion questions, like in Task B 4, the children's answers may be different and that is what makes the reading experience unique.


To help you plan your year 2 english lesson on: Building comprehension of 'The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

When asking children questions during reading lessons, always encourage them to answer in full sentences. Giving them sentence starters will help with this.
speech-bubble
Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

You need a copy of the 2014 Farshore edition of ‘The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark’ by Jill Tomlinson for this lesson.

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Skip lesson video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keywords to their definitions.
Correct Answer:plot,what happens in a story
tick

what happens in a story

Correct Answer:character,a person or animal in a story
tick

a person or animal in a story

Correct Answer:setting,where the story takes place
tick

where the story takes place

Q2.
Match the keyword to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:narrative,writing that tells a story
tick

writing that tells a story

Correct Answer:fiction,a story which is made up or imagined
tick

a story which is made up or imagined

Correct Answer:non-fiction,a text that contains facts and true information
tick

a text that contains facts and true information

Q3.
Order the following events from Chapter One.
1 - Plop and his mother are discussing the dark and how it makes Plop scared.
2 - Plop’s mother tries to encourage Plop to stay positive about the dark.
3 - Plop meets a young boy who teaches him all about fireworks.
4 - Plop and his parents watch the fireworks that night from their tree branch.
Q4.
Order the following events from Chapter Two.
1 - Mr Barn Owl asked Plop if he wanted to go ‘hunting’ with him but Plop said no.
2 - Plop’s mother encouraged him to go down from their tree to learn about the dark.
3 - Plop met an old woman who told Plop that night time is ‘kind’.
4 - Plop had a conversation with the old woman and then returned to his branch.
Q5.
True or false? Plop says that he loves the dark after meeting the old woman.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q6.
The old woman in Chapter Two liked the dark because…
she was afraid.
Correct answer: she could remember.
she could hunt.

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keyword to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:comprehension,our understanding of the text
tick

our understanding of the text

Correct Answer:retrieval,to find information within the text
tick

to find information within the text

Correct Answer:inference,to draw conclusions from clues within the text
tick

to draw conclusions from clues within the text

Q2.
What was Plop trying to do at the beginning of Chapter Three?
hunting
making fireworks
Correct answer: remembering
Q3.
Match the character Plop has met so far, to the word they used to describe the dark.
Correct Answer:young boy,exciting
tick

exciting

Correct Answer:old woman,kind
tick

kind

Correct Answer:Scout,fun
tick

fun

Q4.
Order the following events from Chapter Three.
1 - Mr and Mrs Barn Owl went out hunting but Plop decided not to go with them.
2 - Plop heard noises from down below so he decided to be brave and go down.
3 - Plop met a Scout who was guarding a fire and told Plop why the dark was ‘fun’.
4 - Plop joined the Scouts for singing round the fire & then went back to his tree.
Q5.
Why might we discuss a text with others?
Correct answer: It helps us clarify and understand things.
It is good to read aloud in pairs.
We should always have the same answers.
Correct answer: It offers opportunities for hearing different perspectives.
Q6.
True or false? Plop enjoyed his time in the dark when he was with the Scouts round their fire.
Correct Answer: True, true