Polar Bear Facts and Vocabulary
Year 4 Reading Lesson Learning about Arctic Animals WALT: Retrieve facts and understand vocabulary
WALT and Success Criteria
WALT: Retrieve key facts about polar bears from texts WALT: Explain the meaning of subject vocabulary Success Criteria: I can find two facts on a page Success Criteria: I can explain the meaning of two new words Success Criteria: I can use sentence stems to support my answers
Warm-Up: What Do You Know?
Think-Pair-Share activity What do you already know about polar bears? Share one fact with your partner Be ready to share with the class
Key Vocabulary Preview
camouflage - helps animals hide Arctic - very cold region at the North Pole blubber - thick layer of fat for warmth prey - animals that are hunted for food habitat - the place where an animal lives
Teacher Modelling: Finding Facts
Watch me read this page about polar bears I'm looking for facts - things that are true Listen to my thinking out loud Notice how I use the sentence stem: 'On page __ it says that __'
Sentence Stems to Help You
{"left":"On page __ it says that __\nA fact I found is __ because the text says __","right":"I think '___' means __ because __\nThe word '___' shows that __"}
Paired Retrieval Task
Work with your partner Read the polar bear text extract Underline TWO facts Circle TWO words you don't know Use your sentence stems to explain your findings
VIPERS Questions
Retrieve: What two facts does the author give about where polar bears live? Vocabulary: What does the word 'camouflage' mean in this text? Retrieve: How many polar bears live in a family group? Vocabulary: Which word shows that polar bear fur helps with warmth?
Vocabulary Matching Activity
Match the words to their meanings camouflage → helps animals hide Arctic → cold region at North Pole blubber → thick fat layer habitat → animal's home Use pictures if words are tricky!
Plenary: Share and Celebrate
Share the facts you found with the class Explain what the new vocabulary words mean Use your sentence stems to help you Celebrate your learning success! Next lesson: We'll explore more about polar bear behavior