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Year 3

Building comprehension of 'Anansi and the Antelope Baby'

I can answer a range of comprehension questions on 'Anansi and the Antelope Baby'.

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New
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Year 3

Building comprehension of 'Anansi and the Antelope Baby'

I can answer a range of comprehension questions on 'Anansi and the Antelope Baby'.

Download all resources
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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. 'Anansi and the Antelope Baby' tells the story of how Anansi and Antelope help and protect one another.
  2. Anansi demonstrates admirable character traits such as kindness, loyalty and integrity towards Antelope.
  3. We use a range of strategies to build comprehension of a text.
  4. Skimming and scanning can help us to retrieve key information.
  5. We can use inference to draw conclusions about the text by searching for clues.

Keywords

  • Comprehension - our understanding of the text

  • Retrieve - to find information within the text

  • Inference - to draw conclusions from clues within the text

  • Discussion - the process of talking about something to exchange ideas

Common misconception

Children may find it hard to retrieve an answer if it is not in the sentence that the keyword is in.

Model checking the sentence before and after. E.g. For Task B 1. b), the answer to the question is in the sentences that follows the one with the keywords.


To help you plan your year 3 english lesson on: Building comprehension of 'Anansi and the Antelope Baby', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Model skimming and scanning for keywords from a question in an extract from the text to support children in using this skill. Replace answers to retrieval question with exact words from the text to model accuracy.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

You need a copy of the ‘Anansi and the Antelope Baby’ from 2016 Oxford University Press edition of ‘Mischief Makers’ retold by Tony Bradman for this lesson.

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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

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What does it mean to summarise?
to retell the story in detail
to read the story again
Correct answer: to pull out the key events and ideas from the story
Q2.
What is the best summary of Anansi's character?
He is very intelligent.
Correct answer: He is a smart but mischievous trickster.
He is unkind.
Q3.
Starting with the first, order these events from the beginning of the story.
1 - Anansi faces danger when a forest fire heads towards him.
2 - Most of the animals don't help Anansi.
3 - An Antelope stops and rescues Anansi.
4 - Anansi says he will repay the kindness if Antelope ever needs help.
Q4.
Starting with the first, order these events from the rest of the story.
1 - Antelope leaves her baby by a bush while she goes to get food.
2 - Hunters spot Antelope and Baby and want to catch them.
3 - The hunters go after Antelope and Anansi decides to spin a web to protect Baby.
4 - The hunters come back for Baby but Anansi manages to hide her in time.
5 - Antelope returns and is grateful to Anansi.
Q5.
What does reading comprehension mean?
pulling out the key parts from a story
Correct answer: building our understanding of a story
discussing a story
Q6.
Which key feature of a folktale is it important to understand?
the setting
Correct answer: the moral of the story
the character's secrets

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is the best summary of 'Anansi and the Antelope Baby'?
Anansi escapes danger with the help of Antelope.
Correct answer: Anansi and Antelope offer help and protection to one another.
Anansi tricks the hunters.
Q2.
True or false? Anansi is always portrayed as an unkind trickster.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q3.
Which admirable qualities does Anansi demonstrate towards Antelope in the story?
Correct answer: kindness
Correct answer: loyalty
betrayal
Correct answer: integrity
Q4.
Order the process for retrieving key information from the text.
1 - Identify the keywords in the question.
2 - Skim and scan the appropriate page for the keywords.
3 - Read the sentence containing the keywords.
4 - Check the sentence before or after the one containing the keywords.
5 - Retrieve your answer accurately.
Q5.
How do you use inference skills when reading?
to summarise what you have read
to retrieve information from the text
Correct answer: to make your own conclusion from clues within the text
Q6.
What should you include when making inferences from a text?
just your opinion
Correct answer: evidence from the text to support your ideas
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