reading unit: block

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Year 1 Reading Unit: Block 6/18

• This is a two-week unit. • The unit is set in the context of the core text Usborne Illustrated Stories from Aesop, The Boy who

Cried Wolf. • Additional texts supplied are: a recount and a narrative extract.• The outline and structure of the unit is as follows:

This is an anthology of the retelling of thirty ofAesop’s fables. The stories are all accompanied withillustrations. The fables are organised around thethemes of pride, greed, friendship, retorts,comeuppance, cunning, trickery and quarrels. Each ofthe fables conveys a moral with a message about howto behave towards others. The Boy who Cried Wolffocuses on the lesson that no one will believesomeone who lies a lot, even when they are tellingthe truth.

Week 1 Week 2

Focus on the core text for prediction

and retrieval

Focus on the narrative extract for

sequencing

Focus on the recount for inference and the

core text for a personal response

At the end of this unit, pupils will …

Know: Be able to:

Predictions can be made about a character’s next

action based on their past actions

Stories can teach the reader a lesson

Predict a character’s action

Can infer actions

Week: 1/2 Focus: Prediction, retrieval and sequencing

Vocabularyto teach

Fluency exercise Taught content What successlooks like

1. herdedflockgrazinghustle and bustle

Idiom focus: hustle and bustle – busy activity, usually in a noisy place

Read along p254 – 257 (from The boy herded the flock … to … broke off to laugh some more.).

Before reading, explain to pupils that a fable is a short story, usually with animal characters, that concludes with a moral (lesson).

Focus on changing pace and volume to reflect the initial boredom of Peter to the chaos of the villagers charging up the hill.

Predict: Ensure pupils understand what a shepherd’s role is. Ask pupils if they can predict something the Headteacher will do in an assembly. Discuss what they based their prediction on. Agree that they based the prediction on things that the Headteacher has done in previous assemblies. Explain that just as we can predict the actions (things that are done) of the Headteacher, we can also predict the next action of a character based on their past actions. Use Q1 to model making a prediction about what Peter will do next. Use Thinking Talk to explain the reasons that support the prediction, e.g. I think Peter will shout that there is a wolf again. I think this because he is bored and he was not sorry for lying. Instead, he just laughed at the villagers. In pairs, pupils complete Q2. Discuss what might cause us to change an action, e.g. the action didn’t produce the desired outcome, we were told it was wrong, it caused upset or it achieved what we wanted. In small groups, pupils decide whether Peter and the villagers will keep repeating their actions and then predict what might need to happen for either party to change their action. Share responses. Continue to read the story to p259, up to But the boy was too busy congratulating himself to listen. Ask pupils if they would adjust any of their predictions as a result of the new information that we have been given.

Can make predictions about a character’s actions

2. stealthyhoarsedevouredslunk

Definition focus: stealthy – in a slow and secret way

Echo read p259 – end (from He had just settled back against a tree …).

Focus on the dialogue and adding gestures to add further meaning.

Retrieve: Explain that sometimes questions are asked about the text and there are different options given for the answer. For these questions, it is important to be accurate (exact) when we check the information from the text. Teach the steps to approaching this question type: a. Read the question and possible choices carefully; b. Cross out the choice that is completely wrong; c. Check your answer in the text – is the choice accurate? Use the Example question to model this approach. Pupils complete the Attempt and Apply tasks in pairs, after talking through each step with each other. Support pupils with reading the question and options if needed.

Can retrieve items from a text

Learning Sequence:Y1 The Boy who Cried Wolf

Week: 1/2 Focus: Prediction, retrieval and sequencing

Vocabularyto teach


3. shieldedhuntingcircling

Etymology focus: circ (Latin meaning ring or round)

Paired read the opening of Extract 1 (The Eagle). Read the first paragraph (fromOne day, I was … to … I wondered what it was doing.).

Model read the remainder of the story.

Focus on following the agreed error-correction procedure to support their partners’ reading rather than doing it for them.

Sequence:Remind pupils that sequencing is placing events (things that have happened in the story) in the order that they happened. One way to order events is to use numbering. Teach pupils how numbers are used to order events, e.g. number one will be the event that happens first, two will be the event that happens after that, and so on. Using Q1, model identifying the event that has been given, underlining it and writing number 2 above it. Explain that they now know that event number one must have happened before this, so they just need to read the text above it to retrieve the answer. Underline the event when it is found and write number 1 above it. Then, to find event number 3, look at the text after event number 2, underline it and write number 3 above it. Check that numbers 1, 2 and 3 follow consecutively on the text. Finally, write the number next to the corresponding statement in the question. Direct pupils to the relevant section of the text (paragraph 6) and have them follow the same steps to answer Q2. For the Apply task, provide pupils with three sticky notes and have them draw / sketch three of their favourite events from the story. They will then challenge their partner to order the sticky notes into the order that they happened and number them appropriately.

Can use numbering to sequence events in the order they happened




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Week: 2/2 Focus: Inference and personal response

Vocabularyto teach


1. bulgingtinklingfault

Word class focus: which of the words above are adjectives?

Read along Extract 2 (The Mug).

Focus on the emphasis placed on adjectives when reading.

Infer:Role play an action, without words, and ask the pupils to guess what the action is. Confirm they used your gestures as clues to work out what the action was. Explain that writers do not always say what a character is doing but give us enough clues to be able to infer their action. Use Q1 to model highlighting the clues that suggest Mum is working on a computer. Pupils independently answer Q2. Read Q3 and the possible actions and have pupils attempt to answer independently. Then, share their responses and ask them to indicate which clue helped them come to that conclusion. Ask pupils if those are the only two possible things Liv could be doing. Conclude with drawing three different smileys to reflect Oscar’s changing emotions in this story, e.g. scared, shocked and relieved.

Can infer actions

2. repliedscoldedcried

Connection focus: explain that these are all ‘said’ words and challenge pupils to create their own list of different ‘said’ words

Performance read p255 –259 (from “Wolf! Help!” … to “We’ll not believe you a third time,” …).

Provide pupils with just the dialogue from this extract. In small groups, pupils decide who will be Peter and who will be the villagers and perform this extract.

Focus on conveying the emotions through the dialogue. Discuss the difference between shouting and reading something loudly.

Personal Response: Recap the story read yesterday, specifically Liv telling the lie that she broke Dad’s mug. Ask pupils why they think Liv did this. Then, ask them why Peter told his lie about there being a wolf. Discuss the difference between the two lies. Explain the phrase ‘white lie’ as a way of describing a harmless or trivial lie. In small groups, have pupils discuss whether it is ever okay to lie. Share their thoughts. Ask pupils to write a lie and a truth relating to the picture of Mum’s vase being broken. Then, pupils draw an emoji to reflect the emotion that each child may be feeling as a result of what they have said. Conclude with a discussion about the importance of honesty.

Can use a text to reflect on my own values


reading unit: block

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