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Year 10
AQA

Fiction reading skills

I can apply effective reading skills to an unseen fiction text.

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New
New
Year 10
AQA

Fiction reading skills

I can apply effective reading skills to an unseen fiction text.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. We can use context to help us make predictions about the text.
  2. We can use other words in the sentence to help us clarify meaning of words or sentences you do not understand.
  3. Considering the questions that arise as we read and looking for hints at the answers, deepens our understanding.
  4. To demonstrate our comprehension, we need to be able to summarise what we have read.
  5. Picking out relevant quotes can demonstrate our comprehension of a text.

Common misconception

When we read something for the first time, we are able to take in all of the important information.

We may need to read something over and over again to fully comprehend it. Using active reading strategies can also help us to fully engage with a new text.

Keywords

  • Comprehend - to understand something completely

  • Decode - to discover the meaning of

  • Context - background information that helps something to be fully understood

  • Perspective - a point of view

  • Genre - a style or category of art, music or literature

In LC1, model the type of questions you would ask yourself as you read a text.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need a copy of the beginning of Chapter 1 of 'After Dark' by Haruki Murakami for this lesson.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of upsetting content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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).

Video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is context?
Correct answer: the background information about a text
the opening chapter to a novel
the last page of the book which summarises it
Q2.
Match each word to its definition.
Correct Answer:predict,to declare what you think will happen based on available evidence

to declare what you think will happen based on available evidence

Correct Answer:clarify,to make more clear and comprehensible

to make more clear and comprehensible

Correct Answer:summarise,to provide the key ideas about something

to provide the key ideas about something

Q3.
Match each sentence to the perspective being used.
Correct Answer:Meticulously, I scoured the box.,first person

first person

Correct Answer:Ensure you consider your safety.,second person

second person

Correct Answer:Her dreams necessitated sacrifice.,third person

third person

Q4.
What is important to include in a summary?
Correct answer: the who, what, where, when of an event or story
a repetition of the methods used
an analysis of language methods
Q5.
What is a utopia?
the worst possible place to live
a place of the past
Correct answer: a perfect society
Q6.
What does 'ominous' mean?
suggesting that something wonderful might happen
Correct answer: suggesting that something unpleasant might happen
suggesting that a place is safe

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
How can the title of a piece of writing help you in your comprehension of it?
Correct answer: It may give clues to a mood or theme within the text.
It will tell you about the author's life.
It explains exactly what the text will be about.
Q2.
How can the date that a text was published help you make predictions about the text?
Correct answer: It may help you to predict some of the themes.
Correct answer: It may help you to visualise possible settings for the text.
It will help you know how the author was feeling when they wrote the text.
Q3.
When reading an unfamiliar text, what is the most productive method to support your comprehension?
Writing an analysis paragraph.
Correct answer: Noting down questions that come to your head as you read.
Looking up definitions for all of the words you do not know the meaning of.
Q4.
Active reading is about ...
skimming a text.
analysing all the words in a text.
Correct answer: being fully engaged as you read a text.
Q5.
'After Dark' by Haruki Murakami is written from which perspective?
first person
second person
Correct answer: third person
Q6.
Match each word to the impression it creates of the city in Murakami's 'After Dark'.
Correct Answer:squirm,The city is dangerous.

The city is dangerous.

Correct Answer:pulsing,The city is busy.

The city is busy.

Correct Answer:elusive,The city is ominous.

The city is ominous.