English lesson plan · 5th grade (Year 6 in England) · 45 minutes
Which sentence from the text best supports the answer?
Reading Comprehension
CCSS RL.5.1CCSS RI.5.1England: Y5/6 Reading (justifying with evidence)England: KS2 SATs Reading
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Which sentence from the text best supports the answer?.
- 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: Choose the best summary of a short text; Finding and retrieving information
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 · 5 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Choose the best summary of a short text; Finding and retrieving information). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- In 2021, a small town opened a 'repair café'. Once a month, volunteers fix broken toasters, toys and bikes for free. In its first year, the café saved over two tonnes of items from being thrown away. Which is the best summary? (The café opened in Wales. / Volunteers fix toasters. / A town's monthly repair café fixes broken items for free and has kept tonnes of things out of the rubbish. / Repair cafés are better than shops.) → A town's monthly repair café fixes broken items for free and has kept tonnes of things out of the rubbish.Prompt: A summary is short and covers the WHOLE text, not just one part.
- The school fair raised $460. The money will buy new books for the library and a bench for the playground. What will the money buy? (books and a bench / a new school bus / football kits / computers) → books and a benchPrompt: Find the part of the text that talks about this.
- The town library is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. It is closed on Sundays. When does the library close on Saturdays? (5 p.m. / 2 p.m. / It is closed all day. / 9 a.m.) → 2 p.m.Prompt: Find the part of the text that talks about this.
Hook · 5 min
- Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
- Share the objective: Which sentence from the text best supports the answer?. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 10 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Mira's robot kept bumping into walls. She rewrote the code three times, tested it every evening and asked her brother for ideas. On Friday, it rolled smoothly round the whole room. Which sentence best shows that Mira does not give up?
- Step 1: The best evidence directly proves the point. Other sentences may be true but do not support the claim as well.
- Step 2: So the answer is: She rewrote the code three times, tested it every evening and asked her brother for ideas.
- Answer: She rewrote the code three times, tested it every evening and asked her brother for ideas.
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 10 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Mira's robot kept bumping into walls. She rewrote the code three times, tested it every evening and asked her brother for ideas. On Friday, it rolled smoothly round the whole room. Which sentence best shows that Mira does not give up? (Mira has a brother. / She rewrote the code three times, tested it every evening and asked her brother for ideas. / On Friday, it rolled smoothly round the whole room. / Mira's robot kept bumping into walls.) → She rewrote the code three times, tested it every evening and asked her brother for ideas.Prompt: Read the claim in the question first.
- Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor. Yet about a quarter of all ocean species depend on them for food or shelter. Reefs are built by tiny animals called coral polyps. Which sentence best supports the idea that coral reefs are very important to sea life? (Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor. / Yet about a quarter of all ocean species depend on them for food or shelter. / Reefs are built by tiny animals called coral polyps. / Coral can be many colours.) → Yet about a quarter of all ocean species depend on them for food or shelter.Prompt: Read the claim in the question first.
You do: independent practice · 10 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 5 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor. Yet about a quarter of all ocean species depend on them for food or shelter. Reefs are built by tiny animals called coral polyps. Which sentence best supports the idea that coral reefs are very important to sea life? (Yet about a quarter of all ocean species depend on them for food or shelter. / Reefs are built by tiny animals called coral polyps. / Coral can be many colours. / Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor.) → Yet about a quarter of all ocean species depend on them for food or shelter.Prompt: Read the claim in the question first.
- Honey can last for a very long time. Archaeologists have found pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that had still not gone bad. Bees make honey from flower nectar. Which sentence best supports the idea that honey does not spoil easily? (Honey is sweet and sticky. / Archaeologists have found pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that had still not gone bad. / Bees make honey from flower nectar. / Bees live in hives.) → Archaeologists have found pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that had still not gone bad.Prompt: Read the claim in the question first.
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: Choose the best summary of a short text.
- 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-5.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder