Understanding the context of 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover'
I can understand the context of 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover'.
Understanding the context of 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover'
I can understand the context of 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover'.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The Mars rover marked a significant development in space exploration.
- ‘Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover’ is a narrative non-fiction book.
- The text is told from the perspective of NASA’s Mars rover, ‘Curiosity’.
- Exploring the context of Mars and the rover mission helps us understand the text better.
- The rover set out to study Martian climate, geology and potential for life.
Keywords
Non-fiction - a genre of text which presents real events, information, or knowledge
Context - the surrounding details that help you understand what you're reading
NASA - stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; it oversees the Mars rover missions, advancing space exploration and scientific research
Mars - the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system, often referred to as the ‘Red Planet’ due to its appearance
Afterword - a concluding section providing additional insights or reflections after the main content
Common misconception
Pupils may not recognise non-fiction texts in picturebook form.
Non-fiction can take many different forms. If possible, have a range of non-fiction texts accessible in the book area or school library for children to explore and compare.
To help you plan your year 5 english lesson on: Understanding the context of 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 5 english lesson on: Understanding the context of 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 english lessons from the 'Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover': reading unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need a copy of the 2023 Walker Studio edition of ‘Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover’ written and illustrated by Markus Motum, for this lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
a brief description accompanying an image
graphs, charts, images, or diagrams which enhance understanding
annotates a particular element in an image
a title that is used to indicate the main subject of the text
Exit quiz
6 Questions
a genre of text which presents real events, information, or knowledge
the surrounding details that help you understand what you're reading
a concluding section providing additional information after the text