Forest Character Match

Overview

Students revisit the BSLA shared book Down in the Forest to notice who is in the text, what the characters do, and how particular words help readers picture the setting and action. In pairs, they match picture, character, action, and vocabulary cards, explain their choices, and use the cards to retell one part of the story.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify characters and actions in a shared text.
• WALT notice and ask about new or unfamiliar words.
• WALT match words and pictures using clues from the text.
• WALT retell one part of a story in the correct order.

Success criteria

• I can name or point to a character from the story.
• I can match a character with an action or picture and explain my choice.
• I can ask about a new word and describe what it means in this story.
• I can retell one part using a sentence frame.

Curriculum links

• Comprehension — Text form, structure, style, and features: identifying words in a read-aloud text that create feelings or ideas about a character or event.
• Comprehension — Vocabulary: noticing and asking questions about unfamiliar words in texts read aloud.
• Comprehension — Vocabulary: asking questions about new words to build vocabulary and understanding.
• English — oral language: listening, speaking, explaining ideas, and retelling events in sequence.

Lesson structure (20 minutes)

1. 0–3 min · Reconnect with the story. Teacher displays the cover or a familiar page from Down in the Forest using the story hook and cover slide and asks, “Who can you see? What might they do in the forest?” Students turn and talk, then share a character, action, or remembered event.

2. 3–6 min · Notice characters and words. Teacher rereads one short section of the shared book, pausing at two or three less-common words from that section and thinking aloud: “I heard a word I want to understand. What could [word] mean here?” Teacher briefly clarifies meanings with gestures, the illustration, or a child-friendly explanation. Students repeat the words, act out an action where appropriate, and ask questions about any unfamiliar word.

3. 6–8 min · Model matching and explaining. Teacher shows one picture card, one character-name card, one action card, and one new-word card from the reread section in the matching model and sentence frames. Model thinking: “I matched these because the picture shows what the character did. The words in the story say…” Introduce the frames: “I matched ___ with ___ because ___.” and “The word ___ means ___ in this part.”

4. 8–14 min · Pair matching investigation. Teacher places learners in five pairs and one group of three, then distributes the cut-apart character, picture, action, and vocabulary matching cards. Teacher reminds groups to use the book illustrations and remembered words as evidence, circulating to prompt: “What makes you think that?” and “Where did you hear or see that?” Students match the cards, discuss disagreements, and practise explaining at least two matches.

5. 14–18 min · Retell with cards. Teacher asks each pair or trio to choose one matched part and arrange three or four cards in story order, referring to the retelling instructions and sentence-frame slide. Students retell to their partner or group using: “First…”, “Next…”, “Then…”, and “At the end…”. They include one target vocabulary word and explain its meaning or show it with an action. Invite two groups to share.

6. 18–20 min · Share and check understanding. Teacher revisits the final reflection prompts and asks, “Which word helped you understand the story better?” and “What evidence helped you match the cards?” Students each name or point to one character, action, or new word; teacher records words requiring further teaching.

Resources

• BSLA Down in the Forest shared book
• the complete 6-slide teaching deck
• the cut-apart character, picture, action, and vocabulary matching cards
• Board or chart paper and marker
• Pencils or crayons, if learners wish to annotate a card
• Visual timer
• Optional sticky tack for displaying agreed matches

Assessment

• During rereading, listen for learners who notice unfamiliar words or can suggest meanings from the illustration and context.
• During matching, check whether learners use story evidence rather than guessing, and note who can explain a match in a full sentence.
• During retelling, record whether each learner identifies a character, uses an action or vocabulary word, and sequences events with a suitable sentence frame.

Differentiation

• Support learners with cards that include clear illustrations, enlarged print, colour borders for each card type, repeated oral rehearsal, and gestures. Provide the frames “I see .”, “ did ___.” and “This word means ___.”
• For dyslexia-friendly access, use a clear sans-serif font, large lower-case labels where appropriate, strong contrast, minimal text, uncluttered cards, and oral or picture responses instead of requiring independent reading.
• Support EAL learners by pre-teaching the selected words with an image, gesture, and simple explanation. Accept pointing, acting, home-language discussion, or a mixed-language response before modelling the English sentence.
• Extend advanced learners by asking them to match a second possible action or feeling, justify it with exact words from the text, and retell the event from another character’s point of view.

Extension

• Invite advanced learners to create and orally share a new card for a character’s feeling, using a word from the story as evidence.
• Revisit the cards during the next shared reading and ask learners to place additional events in sequence.