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Year 4

Developing comprehension of 'A Christmas Carol'

I can answer a range of comprehension questions on ‘A Christmas Carol’.

New
New
Year 4

Developing comprehension of 'A Christmas Carol'

I can answer a range of comprehension questions on ‘A Christmas Carol’.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Retrieval involves identifying and extracting key information from the text.
  2. Searching for keywords or specific types of words can support readers in answering retrieval questions.
  3. When a reader infers, they use clues from the text and their own understanding to ‘read between the lines’.
  4. Inferring helps readers establish an impression of a character.

Keywords

  • Retrieval - Retrieval is finding key details or information in the text and extracting them.

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

  • Impression - An impression refers to initial feelings about a person, place or thing, gained from reading a text.

Common misconception

Children might confuse inference with prediction. While a good prediction relies on inference skills, inference does not always involve predicting.

Rehearse the definition of inference a number of times and accompany with as many relevant examples as necessary (like the example on slide 19).

There are many different versions of the text that you can choose to read with your pupils. You could provide time for the pupils to watch the animated retelling of the story by Disney, which is suitable for the age group.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the adjectives to the character in 'A Christmas Carol'.
Correct Answer:miserly, mean,Scrooge

Scrooge

Correct Answer:jolly, friendly,Fred

Fred

Correct Answer:timid, nervous,Bob Cratchit

Bob Cratchit

Q2.
Which of the following is an appropriate definition of 'to retrieve'?
to see something interesting
to accidentally break something
Correct answer: to go and get something
Q3.
Who is the author of 'A Christmas Carol'?
Correct Answer: Charles Dickens
Q4.
Order the following events from Chapter 1 of 'A Christmas Carol'.
1 - Scrooge and Bob sit in silence, counting.
2 - Bob asks for more coal for the fire, but Scrooge refuses.
3 - Fred enters and invites Scrooge for dinner.
4 - Scrooge refuses Fred's invitation and Fred leaves.
Q5.
True or False? Fred gets angry with Scrooge's rudeness.
Correct Answer: False
Q6.
Why does Bob tremble when he asks Scrooge for more coal?
He is unwell.
Correct answer: He is scared of Scrooge.
Correct answer: He is cold.

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keywords to their definitions.
Correct Answer:retrieval,finding key details or information in the text and extracting them

finding key details or information in the text and extracting them

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

to use clues from within the text to draw conclusions

Correct Answer:impression,initial feelings about a person, place or thing

initial feelings about a person, place or thing

Q2.
True or False? In Chapter 1 of 'A Christmas Carol' the streets are covered with snow.
Correct Answer: True
Q3.
What is the relationship between Bob and Scrooge?
Correct answer: Bob works for Scrooge. He is his employee.
Scrooge is Bob's father.
Bob and Scrooge only just met.
Q4.
Which of the following can be helpful strategies to use when being asked to retrieve information?
reading the entire text again
Correct answer: underlining keywords
Correct answer: read the sentence before or after the keyword
Correct answer: search for a type of word e.g. a proper noun
referring to connections that readers make from one text to another
Q5.
What is inference sometimes referred to as?
thinking carefully
Correct answer: reading between the lines
guessing
Q6.
True or False? The tingle Scrooge feels might suggest everything is about to change.
Correct Answer: True

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