Inferring Feelings and Motives

Overview

This 50-minute lesson is designed for Year 3 students and forms part of a 15-lesson unit titled “Exploring Roman Myths”. This is Lesson 5, focusing specifically on developing skills in inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts, and motives using evidence from the text. Students will interact with Roman myths to deepen their comprehension and critical thinking skills.

The lesson aligns with the National Curriculum for England (2014) – Key Stage 2 English objectives, particularly those related to reading comprehension and understanding language structure and meaning.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

Retrieve and infer information from texts (National Curriculum Reading: Word Reading and Comprehension, Y3)
Explain and discuss their understanding of texts, including characters’ feelings and motives (National Curriculum - Comprehension)
Use evidence from the text to support their inferences (National Curriculum Spoken Language: Participating in discussions)

Specific Curriculum references:

EN3/1.1b: Apply knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes to read aloud and understand new words.
EN3/2.1: Develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by listening to and discussing a wide range of genres, including myths.
EN3/2.2: Understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by asking questions to improve understanding.
EN3/2.4: Draw inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence.
EN3/1.3: Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play/improvisations and debates.

Resources

Printed extracts from a chosen Roman myth (e.g., the story of Romulus and Remus or Arachne and Minerva), simplified for Year 3 reading levels
Whiteboard and markers
Sticky notes or speech bubble cut-outs for role-play activity
Feelings emojis flashcards or printed faces showing different emotions
‘Inference Detective’ worksheets
Pens and coloured pencils

Lesson Structure

1. Starter (10 minutes) – Engaging Curiosity and Prior Knowledge

Begin by showing the class an expressive image from a Roman myth or a character illustration.
Use Feelings emojis flashcards: Ask students to suggest what feelings this character might have and why. Write their ideas on the whiteboard.
Briefly recap what a myth is, focusing on Roman myths introduced in previous lessons.
Explain that today we will be detectives, trying to infer feelings and motives of characters when it’s not said outright.

2. Introduction and Modelling (10 minutes) – Teacher-Led Guided Reading

Read aloud a short passage from the chosen Roman myth. Model thinking aloud how you figure out what the character might be feeling or thinking based on the text.
For example, “The text says ‘he clenched his fists and looked away,’ which suggests he might be angry or upset because he doesn’t want to talk.”
Highlight relevant words and phrases and demonstrate writing down the inference and evidence side-by-side.

3. Group Activity (15 minutes) – Collaborative Text Exploration

Split the class into 3 groups of 3 students. Each group receives a different extract from the myth.
Ask groups to read their extract together and complete the ‘Inference Detective’ worksheet:
- Write down what they think the character is feeling or thinking.
- Find at least two pieces of evidence from the text that support their inference.
Encourage use of the Feelings emoji cards to match with their inference.
Circulate between groups to prompt deeper thinking with questions like, “Why do you think that?”, “What made you feel that way about the character?”

4. Role-Play and Class Discussion (10 minutes) – Speaking and Listening

Each group picks one character from their extract and presents their inferred feelings/motives to the class by acting it out briefly, using speech bubble cut-outs to show what the character might say in that situation.
Other students listen and suggest if they agree or have other ideas, justifying with evidence from the text.
Teacher facilitates discussion and reinforces explaining reasoning early in their talk.

5. Plenary (5 minutes) – Reflect and Assess

Recap how inferring helps us understand stories better, especially myths where authors often imply feelings rather than state them.
Quick whole-class quiz: Teacher reads aloud scenarios from the text and students hold up emoji cards showing how a character might feel.
Exit ticket: Students write one sentence explaining how they know a character’s feeling or motive in today’s myth, citing one piece of evidence.

Differentiation

Support: Provide simplified text versions and sentence starters for inferring feelings (e.g., “I think [character] feels ____ because…”)
Challenge: Ask higher-achieving students to explain multiple motives or to consider how different characters might feel differently about the same event.

Assessment

Formative assessment through observation of group discussions and participation in role play.
Review of completed ‘Inference Detective’ worksheets and exit tickets to check understanding and ability to support inferences with text evidence.
Use responses to guide planning of future lessons, especially on inference and comprehension.

Extension Idea (Optional Homework)

Ask students to bring in or draw a picture of a different character from a story or myth they like and write two sentences inferring that character’s feelings using clues from the story.

Teacher’s Notes

Use plenty of visual and kinaesthetic prompts—Year 3 learners benefit from multi-sensory input.
Reinforce using text evidence as a “clue” to encourage critical thinking beyond obvious answers.
Remind students that feelings can be complex and characters might have more than one motive; encourage open-mindedness in discussion.

This detailed lesson plan will support teachers in delivering a focused, engaging, and curriculum-aligned session that builds key English skills in Year 3, helping students become confident readers and thoughtful interpreters of texts.

Teaching Instructions