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Year 3

Engaging with 'The Moon Dragons'

I can read and summarise the story of 'The Moon Dragons'.

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New
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Year 3

Engaging with 'The Moon Dragons'

I can read and summarise the story of 'The Moon Dragons'.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. ‘The Moon Dragons’ is a picture book and narrative fiction text that belongs to the genre of fantasy.
  2. The plot of the story is based around the search for mythical creatures called moon dragons.
  3. Summarising the key events in a story helps us to build our understanding of the text and the meaning behind it.
  4. The King offers a room filled with gold to anyone who can retrieve a moon dragon but nobody succeeds.
  5. Alina finds the moon dragons but keeps her discovery a secret in order to protect them.

Keywords

  • Fantasy - a genre of fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and inspired by mythology or folklore

  • Plot - what happens in a story

  • Summarising - to pull out the key events and ideas from the text

Common misconception

Children may have questions about the genre that the story belongs to and be unsure of what constitutes mythology. Children may also notice elements within the story that are similar to fairytales.

Explore examples of myths that the children have been previously exposed to and ask them to identify any commonalities within 'The Moon Dragons'. Explore which features of the story are reminiscent of fairy tales.

Use illustrations from the book as visual aids while telling the story and provide them as prompts for the children's task of retelling the story.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need a copy of the 2015 Andersen Press Ltd. edition of ‘The Moon Dragons’ written by Dyan Sheldon and illustrated by Gary Blythe for this lesson.

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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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What type of text is a fantasy text?
Correct answer: fiction
non-fiction
dictionary
Q2.
Match the following terms to their definitions.
Correct Answer:character,a person or animal in the story

a person or animal in the story

Correct Answer:setting,where the story takes place

where the story takes place

Correct Answer:plot,what happens in the story

what happens in the story

Q3.
What type of characters might you find in a fantasy story? Select three.
Correct answer: magical creatures
cartoon characters
famous people from history
Correct answer: monsters and beasts
Correct answer: Kings, Queens, princes and princesses
Q4.
Which of the following are examples of mythical creatures?
Correct answer: elves
Correct answer: dragons
whales
Correct answer: unicorns
tigers
Q5.
Why would somebody choose to read a fantasy story?
to learn true and real facts about the world
to learn about a famous person's life
Correct answer: because they enjoy fictional stories with magical elements
Q6.
From the front covers, which of the following are likely to be fantasy texts?
Correct answer: Hilda and the Troll
First News
Emmeline Pankhurst
Correct answer: How to Train your Dragon
Q6 image 1 Hilda, Luke Pearson, Flying Eye Books Q6 image 2 First News Newspaper, Copyright © 2023 First Group Enterprises Ltd Q6 image 3 Little People, BIG DREAMS: Emmeline Pankhurst, written by Lisbeth Kaiser and illustrated by Ana Sanfelippo, published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books, an imprint of The Quarto Group, copyright © 2017. Reproduced by permission of Quarto Publishing Plc. Q6 image 4 How to Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell, Hodder Children's Books

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keywords to the correct definitions.
Correct Answer:fantasy,a genre of fiction involving magical elements

a genre of fiction involving magical elements

Correct Answer:plot,what happens in a story

what happens in a story

Correct Answer:summarising,to pull out the key events and ideas from the text

to pull out the key events and ideas from the text

Q2.
Who is the author of 'The Moon Dragons'?
Gary Blythe
Correct answer: Dyan Sheldon
Alina
Q3.
What makes ‘The Moon Dragons’ a fantasy story?
The story contains lots of illustrations.
Correct answer: It is about the search for mythical creatures called moon dragons.
The main characters are a King and a young girl named Alina.
Q4.
Which two things were the moon dragons known for?
Correct answer: their singing
their dreams
their flying
Correct answer: their silver, shiny scales
Q5.
True or false? Alina felt a physical connection to the moon dragons when she found them.
Correct Answer: True, true
Q6.
Order the following events to show the chronology of the story.
1 - The King received news that the moon dragons still lived.
2 - The King instructed his men to find the dragons, but they failed.
3 - The King offered gold as a reward, but nobody succeeded.
4 - Alina said she would go on the quest and she found the moon dragons.
5 - Alina hid her discovery to protect the moon dragons from harm.