Reading Comprehension Practice

Name:

Date:

📚 Part 1: Read the Passage & Multiple Choice

WALT: retrieve information from a short text and understand vocabulary in context.

Success criteria: I can find specific facts in the passage and choose the best meaning for a vocabulary word.

Read the passage below carefully.

Lucy helps at the local community garden every week. The garden is a bustling place where neighbours meet to grow vegetables and flowers. Lucy visits twice a week and usually plants carrots and tomatoes. Last Saturday it was 18°C and sunny, so she watered the new seedlings and swept the path that is about 30 metres long. A friendly dog called Max often wanders in and the volunteers share cups of tea afterwards.

1. Where does Lucy help?

the community centre

the community garden

the local library

2. How many times a week does Lucy visit the garden?

Once

Twice

Three times

3. What does the word bustling most closely mean here?

quiet and empty

busy and lively

far away

4. What did Lucy plant?

carrots and tomatoes

roses and lilies

potatoes and onions

✏️ Part 2: Short Answer Responses

WALT: answer questions in full sentences and explain meaning using evidence from the text.

Success criteria: I write complete sentences, include a detail from the passage, and use new vocabulary correctly.

5. In one full sentence, explain why Lucy enjoys working in the garden.

6. Copy one phrase from the passage that tells you about the weather.

7. How does the garden help the community? Write two sentences.

8. Use the word bustling in your own sentence about a place you know.

📝 Teacher Notes: Differentiation & Extension

Differentiation strategies:

- Support: provide sentence starters (e.g. "Lucy likes the garden because...") or allow short verbal answers recorded by an adult.

- Scaffold: highlight key words in the passage; ask pupils to underline the sentence that answers the question.

- Challenge: ask higher-attaining pupils to write a brief paragraph comparing this garden to another community space.

Extension activity: Research a local community garden or green space. Write three sentences describing how it benefits people and the environment.

Dyslexia-friendly reading options: offer a coloured overlay, provide a larger-print copy, use audiorecording of the passage, and allow extra time. Break tasks into short steps and give one instruction at a time.

Assessment reminder: mark answers for accurate retrieval, correct sentence structure, and correct use of vocabulary in context.