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English lesson plan · 3rd grade (Year 4 in England) · 30 minutes

Word meaning in a text

Reading Comprehension

CCSS RL.3.4CCSS RI.3.4England: Y3/4 Reading (vocabulary)England: KS2 SATs ReadingEngland: 11+ English

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Word meaning in a text.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Using context clues

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: A short text or extract (one copy each), Highlighters, Question cards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Using context clues). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Use the clues in the sentence. What does the word in brackets mean? The water was so murky that we couldn't see the fish. (murky) (freezing cold / crystal clear / very deep / cloudy and dark) → cloudy and darkPrompt: Look at the other words in the sentence. What do they tell you?
  2. Use context clues. What does the word in brackets most likely mean? The scientist's hypothesis was corroborated when three other labs got the same result. (corroborated) (confirmed / disproved / delayed / ignored) → confirmedPrompt: Look for signal words: unlike, despite, so…that, a colon or dash that explains.
  3. Use the clues in the sentence. What does the word in brackets mean? Grandpa is very frugal; he never wastes money and always looks for bargains. (frugal) (very generous / careful with money / very rich / forgetful) → careful with moneyPrompt: Look at the other words in the sentence. What do they tell you?

Hook · 3 min

  • Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
  • Share the objective: Word meaning in a text. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: The giant tortoise is ancient. Some live for more than 150 years. What does "ancient" mean here?
  • Step 1: The words around an unfamiliar word help show its meaning.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: very old
  • Answer: very old
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. The baby rabbit was so timid that it hid whenever anyone came near. What does "timid" mean? (brave / hungry / shy and easily frightened / fast) → shy and easily frightenedPrompt: Find the word in the text and read the whole sentence around it.
  2. Our team was victorious. We won the final by three goals! What does "victorious" mean? (late / having won / tired / having lost) → having wonPrompt: Find the word in the text and read the whole sentence around it.

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. The path was slippery after the rain, so we walked cautiously, holding the rail. What does "cautiously" mean? (quickly / happily / carefully / loudly) → carefullyPrompt: Find the word in the text and read the whole sentence around it.

Watch out for

  • Answering from memory or opinion instead of evidence in the text.
  • Copying a long quote without explaining what it shows.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Using context clues.
  • Use concrete materials: a short text or extract (one copy each).
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-3.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Word meaning in a text

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Our team was victorious. We won the final by three goals! What does "victorious" mean?

    • A. having won
    • B. late
    • C. tired
    • D. having lost

From Egg to Frog

A frog starts life as a tiny egg in a pond. The eggs stick together in a soft, wobbly clump. A small tadpole hatches from each egg. A tadpole has a long tail. It swims in the water and breathes with gills, just like a fish. The tadpole eats and grows. Soon it grows back legs. Then it grows front legs. Its tail gets shorter and shorter. At last, the tail is gone. Now it is a frog! The frog can hop on land and swim in the pond. It breathes air with its lungs. It catches flies with its long, sticky tongue. One day, the frog may lay eggs of its own. Then the life cycle starts all over again.

  1. Question 2

    Read "From Egg to Frog". The text says the eggs are "wobbly". What does wobbly mean?

    • A. very hot
    • B. shaky and not firm
    • C. hard and still
    • D. very loud

Should Primary Schools Ban Homework?

Every evening, in homes across the country, the same battle takes place: tired children, frustrated parents and a worksheet that nobody wants to finish. It is time for primary schools to ban homework. The most important reason is that, for young children, the evidence for homework is weak. Several large reviews of research have found that homework has little measurable effect on the test results of pupils under eleven. Older students may benefit, but for younger children, the hours spent on worksheets do not seem to pay off. Second, children need time to play, rest and be with their families. Play is not a waste of time; it builds creativity, problem-solving and friendships. A child who has spent six hours concentrating at school deserves an evening to explore, read for pleasure or simply be bored – which is when imagination often kicks in. Some people argue that homework teaches responsibility. This is a fair point. However, children can learn responsibility in many other ways: feeding a pet, helping to cook dinner or practising an instrument they have chosen themselves. Finally, homework can be unfair. Some children have parents who can help them every night and a quiet desk to work at. Others share a small space with siblings or have parents who work late. Homework can widen the gap between these children instead of closing it. Schools should replace homework with something simple: read every day, for fun. That is one habit worth taking home.

  1. Question 3

    Read "Should Primary Schools Ban Homework?". In paragraph 5, what does "widen the gap" mean?

    • A. open the school gates
    • B. make classrooms larger
    • C. make the difference between groups bigger
    • D. make homework longer

The Camera in the Hedge

For my birthday, Aunt Jo gave me a wildlife camera. It is small and green, and it takes a photo whenever something moves in front of it. I strapped it to the fence post at the bottom of our garden, pointing at a gap in the hedge. The first morning, I ran outside in my pyjamas to check it. There were forty-two photos! Most of them were of leaves blowing in the wind. One was of our cat, Biscuit, looking very surprised. But on the second night, something different appeared. At 11:14 p.m., a hedgehog shuffled out of the hedge. At 11:16 p.m., it was sniffing at the flower bed. At 11:20 p.m., it was gone. I wanted to know where it went, so I read about hedgehogs in a library book. I learned that a hedgehog can walk more than a kilometre in one night, looking for beetles and worms. Walls and fences with no gaps can stop it from finding enough food. Dad and I cut a small hole, about the size of a CD case, at the bottom of our fence. Our neighbour, Mr Okafor, made one in his fence too. Now the hedgehog can travel from garden to garden. Last night, the camera caught the hedgehog again. This time, it was squeezing through our new hole, heading for Mr Okafor's garden. I think it was saying thank you.

  1. Question 4

    Read "The Camera in the Hedge". The hedgehog "shuffled" out of the hedge. What does shuffled mean?

    • A. walked slowly, dragging its feet a little
    • B. jumped high
    • C. flew quickly
    • D. swam

Bugs in the Code

Theo had been looking forward to Coding Club all week. Ms Rivera had promised they would make their own animated story on the classroom tablets. Theo chose a cartoon cat and wrote the code: when the green flag is clicked, move ten steps, then turn and wave. He clicked the flag. The cat spun round and round like a washing machine and never stopped. "It's broken!" Theo groaned, and he pushed the tablet away. Ms Rivera sat down beside him. "It's not broken," she said. "It's got a bug. Every coder gets bugs. The trick is to be a detective." Together they read the code one block at a time. Theo had put the turn block inside a forever loop by mistake, so the cat kept turning for ever. Theo dragged the block out of the loop and clicked the flag again. The cat walked ten steps, turned and waved. Theo cheered so loudly that the whole club looked up. The next week, a younger girl called Ivy was close to tears because her rocket would not take off. Theo pulled up a chair. "It's not broken," he told her. "It's got a bug. Let's be detectives."

  1. Question 5

    Read "Bugs in the Code". In this story, what is a "bug"?

    • A. an insect in the classroom
    • B. a mistake in the code
    • C. a broken tablet
    • D. a kind of cartoon

The Mapmaker's Apprentice

Ines had worked in Master Corvo's shop for three years, and in all that time he had never let her draw a single line on a real map. She ground his inks, stretched his parchment and swept up the shavings from his quills. When she asked why she could not draw, he only said, "A mapmaker must first learn to see." So Ines watched. She watched sailors come in, sunburnt and impatient, to buy charts of the southern coast. She watched merchants argue over which mountain pass was fastest. Most of all, she watched Master Corvo, who spent far longer listening to travellers than he did holding his pen. One winter morning, a fisherman stumbled into the shop, soaked and shaking. A storm had pushed his boat far north, past the edge of every chart in the city. He had found a narrow channel between two islands that no map showed, and it had saved his life. Master Corvo was in bed with a fever. The fisherman was leaving on the evening tide. Ines hesitated only for a moment. Then she sat the fisherman by the fire and asked him questions — not just where the channel was, but how the water changed colour near the rocks, where the gulls gathered, how long it took to row from one island to the other. She wrote down every answer. Only when she had heard everything did she pick up a pen. When Master Corvo recovered, she laid the new chart in front of him. He studied it for a long time without speaking. Then he took his own pen, signed his name in the corner, and beneath it, for the first time, he wrote hers.

  1. Question 6

    Read "The Mapmaker's Apprentice". What does Master Corvo mean by "A mapmaker must first learn to see"?

    • A. A mapmaker should travel to every place.
    • B. A mapmaker needs very good eyesight.
    • C. A mapmaker must learn to observe and gather information carefully.
    • D. Ines needs glasses.

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Answer key: Word meaning in a text

  1. 1. A. having won

  2. 2. B. shaky and not firm

  3. 3. C. make the difference between groups bigger

  4. 4. A. walked slowly, dragging its feet a little

  5. 5. B. a mistake in the code

  6. 6. C. A mapmaker must learn to observe and gather information carefully.