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English lesson plan · 3rd grade (Year 4 in England) · 60 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 · 6 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? Dad was furious when the window was smashed; his face went red and he shouted. (furious) (very proud / very sad / very calm / very angry) → very angryPrompt: 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 ruins were the vestiges of an ancient city. (vestiges) (rulers / new buildings / maps / remaining traces) → remaining tracesPrompt: 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? The fragile vase broke when it fell over. (fragile) (very expensive / very heavy / easily broken / brightly painted) → easily brokenPrompt: Look at the other words in the sentence. What do they tell you?

Hook · 6 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 · 12 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 · 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. After the race, Ali was so parched that he drank three glasses of water. What does "parched" mean? (very tired / very thirsty / very hot / very happy) → very thirstyPrompt: 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? (having lost / having won / tired / late) → having wonPrompt: Find the word in the text and read the whole sentence around it.

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. Our team was victorious. We won the final by three goals! What does "victorious" mean? (tired / having lost / late / having won) → having wonPrompt: 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/ 8

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 1

    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. swam
    • D. flew quickly

The Fennec Fox

The fennec fox is the smallest fox in the world. It weighs about as much as a bag of sugar. It lives in the Sahara Desert in North Africa, one of the hottest places on Earth. The first thing most people notice about the fennec fox is its enormous ears. They can be as long as 15 centimetres, which is huge for such a small animal. The ears do two important jobs. First, they let heat escape from the fox's body, helping it to stay cool. Second, they are so sensitive that the fox can hear insects moving under the sand. The fennec fox has other ways to survive in the desert, too. Thick fur on the bottoms of its feet protects it from the burning sand. During the hottest part of the day, it rests in a cool burrow underground. It comes out to hunt at night, when the air is cooler. Water is hard to find in the desert, but the fennec fox can go a long time without drinking. It gets most of the water it needs from the food it eats, such as insects, plants and small animals.

  1. Question 2

    Read "The Fennec Fox". In paragraph 2, what does "sensitive" mean?

    • A. able to notice very small things
    • B. very large
    • C. very soft
    • D. easily upset

The Kite Festival

Amara had spent three weeks building her kite. She had bent the bamboo sticks, stretched the paper tight and painted a fierce golden dragon across the front. It was going to win the prize for best design at the town's kite festival. She was sure of it. On the morning of the festival, the field was crowded with families. Kites shaped like fish, birds and boats bobbed in the breeze. Amara's little brother, Kofi, trailed behind her, clutching a small diamond kite he had made from a plastic bag and two straws. "Mine's not very good," Kofi mumbled. Amara ran, and her dragon rose beautifully – until a sudden gust snapped one of the bamboo sticks. The kite twisted, spun and crashed into the grass. The paper ripped right through the dragon's face. Amara's eyes stung. Three weeks of work, ruined in three seconds. Kofi tugged her sleeve. "You can fly mine with me," he offered. At first Amara shook her head. Then she looked at Kofi's hopeful face and took the string. Together they ran, and the little plastic kite shot up higher than any other kite in the sky. People pointed and cheered. That afternoon, the judges gave Kofi a ribbon for "Highest Flyer". Amara clapped louder than anyone. She realised she was smiling more than she would have if she had won the prize herself.

  1. Question 3

    Read "The Kite Festival". In paragraph 3, Kofi "mumbled". What does this suggest?

    • A. He shouted proudly.
    • B. He was laughing.
    • C. He spoke quietly because he felt unsure.
    • D. He sang a song.

How Bees Make Honey

Honey bees are busy insects. They live together in a home called a hive. One hive can hold thousands of bees. Worker bees fly from flower to flower. They suck up a sweet juice called nectar with their long tongues. They carry the nectar back to the hive in a special part of their body called a honey stomach. Back at the hive, the bees pass the nectar to other bees. These bees put it into tiny six-sided rooms made of wax. The nectar is still runny, so the bees fan it with their wings. This dries it out and turns it thick and sticky. Now it is honey! Last, the bees cover each room with a wax lid. The honey is saved for the winter, when there are no flowers.

  1. Question 4

    Read "How Bees Make Honey". What is nectar?

    • A. a bee's home
    • B. a type of insect
    • C. a kind of wax
    • D. a sweet juice from flowers

The Vault at the Top of the World

On a frozen island in the Arctic Ocean, between Norway and the North Pole, a narrow concrete doorway sticks out of the side of a mountain. Behind it, a tunnel leads deep into the rock. This is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, and it holds more than a million packets of seeds from almost every country on Earth. Why keep seeds in a mountain? Farmers all over the world depend on many different varieties of crops, such as types of rice that survive floods or kinds of wheat that resist disease. If a variety disappears because of war, natural disaster or simple accident, it may be lost for ever. The vault is a back-up copy, like saving a precious file in two places. The location was chosen with care. The vault is high enough above sea level to stay dry even if ice caps melt. Inside, the seeds are kept at about minus 18 degrees Celsius, cold enough to keep many of them alive for decades or even centuries. The surrounding rock is permanently frozen, so even if the power failed, the seeds would stay cold. The vault opened in 2008. In 2015, it was used for the first time: scientists who had lost access to their own seed bank during a war in Syria withdrew samples, grew new plants and later sent fresh seeds back to the vault. The back-up had worked. No one hopes the vault will be needed often. But like a fire extinguisher in a school corridor, it is reassuring to know it is there.

  1. Question 5

    Read "The Vault at the Top of the World". The text calls the vault a "back-up copy". What does back-up mean here?

    • A. an extra copy kept safe in case the original is lost
    • B. a computer game
    • C. a seed that grows backwards
    • D. a copy that is worse than the original

The Four-Day Week: Promise and Pitfalls

In recent years, a growing number of companies have experimented with a four-day working week, in which employees work about 80 per cent of their usual hours for 100 per cent of their pay, on the condition that they maintain their output. Supporters argue that the model could transform working life. Critics warn that its benefits may be exaggerated. The most widely reported trials have produced striking results. In one large study involving several dozen organisations, most companies chose to continue the four-day week after the trial ended. Employees reported less stress, better sleep and fewer days off sick, while company revenue remained broadly stable. For businesses struggling to recruit, the promise of an extra day off can be a powerful attraction. Yet these findings come with important caveats. Companies that volunteer for such trials may already be enthusiastic about flexible working and well suited to it. Their success may not be representative of all workplaces. Moreover, many of the participating organisations were offices or creative businesses, where output is relatively easy to reorganise. In hospitals, schools or factories, where staff must be present to deliver a service, reducing hours without hiring more people may simply be impossible. There are also questions about what happens in the long term. Early enthusiasm can fade, and the pressure to fit five days of work into four may eventually lead to longer, more intense working days, cancelling out the benefits to wellbeing. None of this means the idea should be dismissed. It does suggest that the four-day week is less a universal solution than a tool that may suit some sectors far better than others. The challenge for policymakers is to learn from the trials without assuming that what worked for a marketing agency will work for an emergency ward.

  1. Question 6

    Read "The Four-Day Week: Promise and Pitfalls". As used in paragraph 3, "caveats" most nearly means…

    • A. rewards
    • B. agreements
    • C. warnings or limitations
    • D. statistics

Where Does a Can Go?

You finish a fizzy drink and drop the empty can into the recycling bin. That is not the end of the can's story. It is the start of a new one. First, a truck collects the recycling and takes it to a sorting centre. There, machines separate the materials. A giant magnet pulls out steel cans. Aluminium cans (aluminum in the US) are not magnetic, so a different machine pushes them aside. Next, the aluminium cans are squashed into huge blocks and taken to a factory. The cans are shredded into small pieces, cleaned, and melted in a furnace. The hot liquid metal is poured into moulds and cooled into long bars. Then the bars are rolled out into thin sheets, like dough under a rolling pin. The sheets are cut and shaped into brand-new cans, filled with drinks, and sent to the shops. A recycled can can be back on a shelf in about sixty days. Recycling aluminium is a big help to our planet. Making a can from old cans uses about 95 percent less energy than making one from new metal dug out of the ground. Aluminium can be recycled again and again without getting worse, so the can in your hand might once have been part of hundreds of other cans.

  1. Question 7

    Read "Where Does a Can Go?". The text says the metal is melted in a "furnace". What is a furnace?

    • A. a type of truck
    • B. a giant fridge
    • C. a very hot oven
    • D. a recycling bin

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 8

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

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

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Answer key: Word meaning in a text

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

  2. 2. A. able to notice very small things

  3. 3. C. He spoke quietly because he felt unsure.

  4. 4. D. a sweet juice from flowers

  5. 5. A. an extra copy kept safe in case the original is lost

  6. 6. C. warnings or limitations

  7. 7. C. a very hot oven

  8. 8. A. a mistake in the code