Building Reading Foundations

Overview

In this second lesson of “Exploring Texts and Contexts”, students build core reading strategies needed for literary analysis. They will practise pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading to identify ideas, points of view, and how characters, settings, and events create meaning.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• apply pre-reading strategies to predict the text’s ideas and viewpoints
• use during-reading strategies to visualise, question, and infer key information
• summarise and monitor understanding in short sections of a literary text
• connect details about characters, settings, and events to the meaning of the narrative

Success criteria

Students can:

• complete a prediction “before I read” task using title/blurb cues
• annotate or mark key evidence while reading (connections, questions, inferences)
• produce a brief post-reading summary (who/what/where/why it matters)
• explain how character, setting, and events link to meaning using one sentence frame

Curriculum links

• Literature: identify and explore ideas, points of view, characters, events and/or issues in literary texts, drawn from historical, social and/or cultural contexts
• Literature: identify and explain the ways that characters, settings and events combine to create meaning in narratives
• Literacy: use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring
• Literature: form an opinion about characters, settings and events and justify responses with evidence
• Language: recognise language used to evaluate texts and substantiate evaluations by reference to the text

Lesson structure (70 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook + goals Teacher displays three reading strategy icons (Predict, Question, Summarise) and reads the lesson WALT. Students chorally repeat WALT and choose one strategy they want to improve.

2. 5–15 min · Mini-lesson: the three reading phases Teacher models a short example using a two-paragraph excerpt on an adapted page (visible think-aloud: “What do I predict? What do I notice? What do I infer?”). Students complete a 3-bullet “Before I read” plan for today’s text (prediction, question, possible meaning).

3. 15–45 min · Guided reading with chunking (during-reading) Teacher distributes chunked passages (approx. 120–180 words per chunk) with guided annotation prompts:

• Visualise (What do you see?)
• Connect (How is this like/ unlike other texts or life?)
• Question (What’s unclear or surprising?)
• Infer (What does the author want you to understand?) Students read Chunk 1 and do the prompts, then read Chunk 2 and repeat. Teacher circulates to support and checks monitoring (students use a simple thumbs scale: clear / a bit confused / lost).

4. 45–55 min · Vocabulary and meaning check Teacher introduces 6–8 targeted words from the text using student-friendly definitions and quick examples (e.g. “reluctant”, “whispered”, “relief”, “tension”, “observe”, “suspicion”). Students match words to meanings, then find one word in the passage and write one short sentence about character actions or setting.

5. 55–65 min · Post-reading summary + meaning link Teacher provides a summary frame:

• “In this part, ___ (character) ___ (event) in/at ___ (setting). This matters because ___.” Students complete the frame using evidence they marked. Then they add one sentence answering: “How do character + setting + event combine to create meaning here?”

6. 65–70 min · Exit ticket (quick assessment) Students submit an exit ticket with:

• one prediction they made earlier (was it right?)
• one inference they can justify with a quoted phrase (or paraphrase if needed)

Resources

• Printed chunked passage(s) (2–3 chunks) from a suitable literary text or teacher-created excerpt
• Visual strategy icons (Predict/Question/Visualise/Summarise)
• Annotation prompt sheet (connect, question, infer, visualise)
• Vocabulary cards with student-friendly definitions
• Summary sentence frames (one per student) and a model example
• Coloured highlighters or sticky notes for marking evidence
• Audio version (teacher-read or recorded) of the passage for support
• Dyslexia-friendly reading option: coloured overlays or font-friendly print (e.g. larger font), plus reduced-line-length copies
• Exit ticket slips

Assessment

• Formative during reading: teacher observation of monitoring thumbs and completion of chunk prompts
• Targeted check: vocabulary word-in-context sentence and whether students use evidence from the text
• Exit ticket: prediction accuracy and a justified inference using a phrase from the passage

Differentiation

• Audio support: students may listen to the passage (or teacher reads) while following along; they can complete prompts after each chunk
• Dyslexia-friendly options: offer reduced text-length per page, larger font, increased spacing, and coloured overlays; allow tracking with a finger or ruler
• Sentence starters: provide frames for annotations (e.g. “I visualise…”, “I wonder…”, “I infer… because…”)
• Flexible output: students may underline evidence, then answer orally with teacher scribing or use a short written paraphrase for the exit ticket
• Extension: students add a second inference that links to a social/cultural context hinted by the text (without needing external research)