Story Comprehension Focus

Overview

This 30-minute lesson is designed for Year 1 students in Western Australia to develop reading comprehension skills through engagement with a short storybook. It is aligned with the Western Australian Curriculum English learning area, targeting the comprehension strategies of visualising, predicting, connecting, and questioning to build both literal and inferred meanings from a text. The lesson is tailored for a single student and accommodates diverse learning needs, including dyslexia-friendly materials.

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WALT (We Are Learning To)

• Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, and questioning to understand a short story.
• Identify and discuss key information and details from the story.
• Make connections between the story and personal experiences.

Success Criteria

• I can predict what might happen in the story by looking at the cover and pictures.
• I can find important details and answer questions about the story.
• I can explain my thoughts and feelings about the story.
• I can use pictures and my own ideas to help understand the story.

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Curriculum Links

Western Australian Curriculum: English - Year 1 Reading and Viewing

• AC9E1LY05: Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising and questioning when listening, viewing and reading to build literal and inferred meaning by drawing on vocabulary and growing knowledge of context and text structures.
• Elaborations include building topic knowledge and learning new vocabulary before and during reading, making predictions from front cover and illustrations, drawing inferences, and making personal connections to the text .

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Lesson Structure & Timing

1. Introduction & Vocabulary Building (5 minutes)

• Introduce the book title and show the cover illustration.
• Ask the student to predict what the story could be about based on the cover (engage curiosity and prediction skills).
• Introduce 3-5 key vocabulary words from the story using simple definitions and pictures.
• Use words the student might already know or encounter in the story to scaffold comprehension.

2. Guided Reading & Visualisation (15 minutes)

• Read the story aloud together, page by page.
• Pause regularly to:
  • Visualise: Encourage the student to create a mental image of the scene or characters.
  • Ask predictive questions: "What do you think will happen next?"
  • Connect: "Does this remind you of something you have seen or done?"
• Use dyslexia-friendly book versions if available:
  • Fonts such as OpenDyslexic
  • Larger text with clear spacing
  • Colour overlays or background colours to reduce visual stress
• Use graphic organisers such as story sequencing cards or picture storyboards to track events.

3. Comprehension Discussion & Questioning (7 minutes)

• Use simple literal and inferential questions about the story:
  • Who are the main characters?
  • What happened first, next and last?
  • How do you think the character felt? Why?
• Encourage the student to explain answers using clues from the pictures and text.
• Reinforce making connections to the student’s own experiences in relation to the story.

4. Wrap-up & Reflection (3 minutes)

• Recap the story's main events with the student, using a timeline or sequence cards.
• Invite the student to retell their favourite part or an alternative ending.
• Praise their efforts in prediction, visualisation, and comprehension.

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Differentiation Strategies

• For diverse learners, including English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D):
  • Pre-teach vocabulary explicitly.
  • Use visual aids generously.
  • Allow more time for processing/store knowledge.
• For students with learning difficulties such as dyslexia:
  • Use multi-sensory engagement (e.g., tracing key words, using tactile story props).
  • Provide audio versions of the story to support decoding difficulties.
  • Present text in dyslexia-friendly fonts and clear layouts.
• For extension:
  • Encourage the student to create an illustration or simple storyboard for their own continuation of the story.
  • Use questioning to deepen inferential thinking.

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Resources

• Short storybook suitable for Year 1 (print and/or dyslexia-friendly version)
• Picture cards or storyboard templates
• Vocabulary pictorial flashcards
• Graphic organiser sheets for sequencing

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Note: This plan is aligned to the Western Australian Curriculum’s focus on comprehension strategies for Year 1 as outlined in AC9E1LY05, ensuring the lesson is age-appropriate, interactive, and supportive of individual learning needs .

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Would you like me to provide a sample story script or a specific storybook recommendation that fits this lesson?