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English lesson plan · 10th grade (Year 11 in England) · 60 minutes

Why did the author include this detail?

Reading Comprehension

CCSS RI.9-10.5CCSS RL.9-10.5England: SAT Reading and Writing (Text Structure and Purpose)England: GCSE English Language Paper 1 Q3

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Why did the author include this detail?.

  • 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: Structural features in fiction (GCSE); Author's purpose

Leads to: Main idea of a short academic text (SAT)

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 · 6 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Structural features in fiction (GCSE); Author's purpose). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Which structural feature matches this description? The focus narrows from a wide view to a small detail. (shift in focus / zooming in / change in pace / one-sentence paragraph) → zooming inPrompt: Think about what the writer is doing with the WHOLE text, not individual words.
  2. The heart is a muscle about the size of your fist. It pumps blood around your body through tubes called blood vessels. What is the author's main purpose? (to describe a painting / to persuade readers to exercise / to entertain with a story / to inform readers about the heart) → to inform readers about the heartPrompt: Is the writer mainly trying to inform, persuade, entertain or explain?
  3. Which structural feature does this description of an extract show? After three paragraphs about the storm outside, the writer suddenly turns to the quiet kitchen where an old man is making tea. (cyclical structure / withholding information / zooming in / shift in focus) → shift in focusPrompt: Does the focus narrow, move elsewhere, return to the start, isolate a line, hold something back, or change speed?

Hook · 6 min

  • Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
  • Share the objective: Why did the author include this detail?. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Many people assume that deserts are lifeless. In fact, a single square metre of desert soil can contain thousands of tiny organisms. What is the function of the first sentence?
  • Step 1: Every detail has a job: to contrast, illustrate, emphasise, prove or set up what follows.
  • Step 2: 'In fact' signals that the writer is challenging the assumption.
  • Step 3: So the answer is: it presents a common belief that the writer then corrects
  • Answer: it presents a common belief that the writer then corrects
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 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. Is the proposed answer correct? Scientists studying the Arctic fox noticed something odd: one fox had walked more than 3,500 kilometres in 76 days, from Norway to Canada. What is the main purpose of the specific figures? → to show the scientists made errors (yes, it is correct / no, it is not correct) → no, it is not correctPrompt: Ask: what would be lost if this detail were removed?
  2. Mara's grandmother kept every letter she had ever received in a biscuit tin. When the tin was finally opened, it held sixty years of a friendship carried on across two continents. Why does the writer mention the biscuit tin? (to describe the kitchen / to show that something ordinary held something precious / to suggest the letters were unimportant / to explain what the grandmother ate) → to show that something ordinary held something preciousPrompt: Ask: what would be lost if this detail were removed?

You do: independent practice · 17 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 · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Many people assume that deserts are lifeless. In fact, a single square metre of desert soil can contain thousands of tiny organisms. What is the function of the first sentence? (it summarises the text / it presents a common belief that the writer then corrects / it gives the main evidence / it describes a specific desert) → it presents a common belief that the writer then correctsPrompt: Ask: what would be lost if this detail were removed?
  2. Is the proposed answer correct? Many people assume that deserts are lifeless. In fact, a single square metre of desert soil can contain thousands of tiny organisms. What is the function of the first sentence? → it summarises the text (yes, it is correct / no, it is not correct) → no, it is not correctPrompt: Ask: what would be lost if this detail were removed?

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: Structural features in fiction (GCSE).
  • 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

  • Move on to: Main idea of a short academic text (SAT).
  • 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-10.

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

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Why did the author include this detail?

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Is the proposed answer correct? Mara's grandmother kept every letter she had ever received in a biscuit tin. When the tin was finally opened, it held sixty years of a friendship carried on across two continents. Why does the writer mention the biscuit tin? → to explain what the grandmother ate

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

  2. Question 2

    Mara's grandmother kept every letter she had ever received in a biscuit tin. When the tin was finally opened, it held sixty years of a friendship carried on across two continents. Why does the writer mention the biscuit tin?

    • A. to suggest the letters were unimportant
    • B. to show that something ordinary held something precious
    • C. to explain what the grandmother ate
    • D. to describe the kitchen

Beavers Come Home

Four hundred years after they were hunted to extinction in Britain, beavers are back. Small populations now live wild in parts of Scotland and England, and several other European countries have reintroduced them too. Ecologists describe beavers as "ecosystem engineers". By building dams, they create ponds and wetlands that slow the flow of water, trap sediment and provide homes for insects, amphibians and birds. In one Devon study, the amount of water flowing downstream during heavy rain was noticeably lower below beaver dams than above them, suggesting that dams can help reduce flooding. Not everyone is delighted. Some farmers report flooded fields and felled trees, and they worry about the cost. Their concerns are real, and schemes in some areas now compensate landowners or move beavers whose dams cause serious damage. Supporters argue that the benefits outweigh the costs. Wetlands created by beavers can store water during droughts, improve water quality and attract visitors. Yet researchers caution that results vary from river to river, and long-term data are still limited. What is clear is that the return of beavers forces us to ask a broader question: how much room are we willing to make for wild animals in a crowded country?

  1. Question 3

    Read "Beavers Come Home". Why does the writer include the sentence 'Yet researchers caution that results vary from river to river'?

    • A. to praise the farmers
    • B. to introduce a new animal
    • C. to show that the evidence is not yet conclusive
    • D. to prove that beavers are harmful

  1. Question 4

    Is the proposed answer correct? Scientists studying the Arctic fox noticed something odd: one fox had walked more than 3,500 kilometres in 76 days, from Norway to Canada. What is the main purpose of the specific figures? → to make the fox's journey vivid and impressive

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

  2. Question 5

    Scientists studying the Arctic fox noticed something odd: one fox had walked more than 3,500 kilometres in 76 days, from Norway to Canada. What is the main purpose of the specific figures?

    • A. to make the fox's journey vivid and impressive
    • B. to show the scientists made errors
    • C. to explain why foxes migrate
    • D. to compare Norway and Canada

  3. Question 6

    Is the proposed answer correct? Many people assume that deserts are lifeless. In fact, a single square metre of desert soil can contain thousands of tiny organisms. What is the function of the first sentence? → it presents a common belief that the writer then corrects

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

  4. Question 7

    Is the proposed answer correct? The match was tied with ten seconds left. In the stands, an elderly man who had not missed a home game in fifty years stood up for the first time all season. Why does the writer include the detail about the elderly man? → to show how tense and important the moment was

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

  5. Question 8

    The match was tied with ten seconds left. In the stands, an elderly man who had not missed a home game in fifty years stood up for the first time all season. Why does the writer include the detail about the elderly man?

    • A. to show how tense and important the moment was
    • B. to explain the rules of the game
    • C. to describe the stadium's seating
    • D. to introduce the main character

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Answer key: Why did the author include this detail?

  1. 1. B. no, it is not correct

  2. 2. B. to show that something ordinary held something precious

  3. 3. C. to show that the evidence is not yet conclusive

  4. 4. A. yes, it is correct

  5. 5. A. to make the fox's journey vivid and impressive

  6. 6. A. yes, it is correct

  7. 7. A. yes, it is correct

  8. 8. A. to show how tense and important the moment was