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Year 3

Building comprehension of 'Mulan' through rich discussions

I can have rich discussions to infer meaning from 'Mulan'.

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Year 3

Building comprehension of 'Mulan' through rich discussions

I can have rich discussions to infer meaning from 'Mulan'.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. ‘Mulan’ tells the story of a young girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to fight in the army.
  2. Asking questions and having rich discussions builds our understanding and allows us to hear different perspectives.
  3. Searching for clues within a text can help us infer greater meaning.
  4. We can retrieve evidence from the text to help us justify our inferences.
  5. A character’s actions, experiences and words can be analysed to infer greater meaning.

Keywords

  • Inference - to draw conclusions from clues within the text

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

  • Retrieve - to find information within the text

Common misconception

Children may develop simple questions where the answer can be retrieved from the text rather than involving inference to uncover.

Model the difference between a retrieval and an inference question. E.g. For page 15, a retrieval question would be 'What did Mulan's younger brother say when she left?' whereas an inference question could be 'Did Mulan's brother believe in her?'


To help you plan your year 3 english lesson on: Building comprehension of 'Mulan' through rich discussions, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Model searching for clues within the relevant pages to answer the questions in cycle 2, task B. Ensure children have access to a copy of the relevant pages for the task.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

You need a copy of the 2014 Oxford University Press edition of ‘Mulan' written by Michaela Morgan 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 building comprehension of a text mean?
pulling out the key parts from a story
discussing a story
Correct answer: building our understanding of a story
Q2.
What does retrieving key information mean?
drawing meaning from what is written in the text
Correct answer: finding words written in the text
sequencing the events in the story
Q3.
What does inference mean?
predicting what may happen next
summarising the plot
Correct answer: drawing conclusions from clues within the text
Q4.
True or false? Discussing a story with others can help build comprehension of a text.
Correct Answer: True
Q5.
What are the intentions behind Mulan's decision to become a soldier in the war?
She wants to be a famous warrior.
Correct answer: She wants to protect her family.
She enjoys fighting others.
Q6.
True or false? Everyone supports Mulan in her decision to go to war.
Correct Answer: False, false

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
How does asking questions about a text support comprehension?
It helps develop our fluency.
Correct answer: It helps us clarify things.
Correct answer: It helps us uncover deeper meaning.
Q2.
Match the comprehension strategy to how we use it.
Correct Answer:retrieving key information,skimming and scanning to find information from the text
tick

skimming and scanning to find information from the text

Correct Answer:rich discussion,talking to others about the meaning of what we have read
tick

talking to others about the meaning of what we have read

Correct Answer:inference,using clues from the text to draw further conclusions
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using clues from the text to draw further conclusions

Q3.
How can we infer a character's emotions or intentions?
through the clothes they wear
Correct answer: through their words
Correct answer: through their actions
Correct answer: through their experiences
through their name
Q4.
How does Mulan show that she is feeling difficult emotions such as worry or fear at the beginning of the story?
Correct answer: She sighs a lot.
She weaves fabric.
Correct answer: Through facial expressions in the illustrations.
Correct answer: She communicates her worry to her parents.
She laughs loads.
Q5.
True or false? There are clues within the story that let you know the different feelings her family have on her plan to fight in the war.
Correct Answer: True, true
Q6.
What can we infer from the end of the story about how Mulan felt once she was home and revealed her true identity?
Correct answer: She felt proud.
Correct answer: She felt relieved.
She felt sad.
She felt worried.
Correct answer: She felt comforted.