Lesson length30 min 45 min 60 min

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Print the plan for yourself; the student sheet prints on its own page after it.

English lesson plan · 3rd grade (Year 4 in England) · 60 minutes

Finding and retrieving information

Reading Comprehension

CCSS RI.3.1CCSS RL.3.1England: Y3/4 Reading (retrieval)England: KS2 SATs Reading

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Finding and retrieving information.

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: Key details

Leads to: Fact and opinion; Citing textual evidence; Which sentence from the text best supports the answer?

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 (Key details). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

Penguins are birds, but they cannot fly. They use their wings to swim. What do penguins use their wings for? (to dig / to eat / to swim / to fly) → to swimPrompt: Find the part of the text that talks about this.
Ducks have webbed feet. The skin between their toes helps them paddle. What helps ducks paddle? (their feathers / the skin between their toes / their tails / their beaks) → the skin between their toesPrompt: Find the part of the text that talks about this.
A camel can walk for days in the hot desert. It stores fat in its hump. What does a camel store in its hump? (water / fat / food bags / sand) → fatPrompt: Find the part of the text that talks about this.

Hook · 6 min

Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
Share the objective: Finding and retrieving information. 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: Hedgehogs are covered in about 5,000 spines. When they are scared, they curl into a tight ball so that only the spines show. What do hedgehogs do when they are scared?
Step 1: The answer is stated directly in the text.
Step 2: So the answer is: curl into a ball
Answer: curl into a ball
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.

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. / It is closed all day. / 2 p.m. / 9 a.m.) → 2 p.m.Prompt: Find the part of the text that talks about this.
To make a paper boat, fold a sheet of paper in half. Fold the corners down to make a triangle. Then fold up the bottom edges and open out the middle. What shape do you make after folding the corners? (a circle / a square / a star / a triangle) → a trianglePrompt: Find the part of the text that talks about this.

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.

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: Key details.
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: Fact and opinion; Citing textual evidence; Which sentence from the text best supports the answer?.
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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Finding and retrieving information

Name

Date

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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.

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Question 1
Read "The Kite Festival". What made Amara's kite crash?
- A. Kofi pulled the string.
- B. The paint was too heavy.
- C. A gust of wind snapped a stick.
- D. It got caught in a tree.

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.

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Question 2
Read "The Vault at the Top of the World". When was the vault used for the first time?
- A. in 2008
- B. in 2015
- C. it has never been used
- D. in 1956

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.

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Question 3
Read "The Mapmaker's Apprentice". What jobs did Ines do in the shop for three years?
- A. She sold charts to merchants.
- B. She sailed with the fishermen.
- C. She drew maps of the coast.
- D. She prepared materials and cleaned up.

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.

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Question 4
Read "The Fennec Fox". What are the TWO jobs of the fox's ears?
- A. keeping it warm and smelling food
- B. keeping it cool and hearing prey
- C. scaring enemies and climbing
- D. digging and swimming

The Drone at the Marsh (a play)

CAST: NIA, a young volunteer · AMIR, her older cousin · MRS HOLT, the nature reserve warden SCENE: A wooden bird hide at the edge of a marsh. Early morning. (NIA peers through binoculars. AMIR carries a small drone and a controller.) AMIR: (cheerfully) Watch this, Nia. I'll fly it over the reeds and film the whole marsh. NIA: (lowering the binoculars) Wait! The terns are nesting out there. AMIR: It's only a little drone. They won't even notice. (MRS HOLT enters, holding a clipboard.) MRS HOLT: Morning, both. Is that a drone? AMIR: (proudly) It has a 4K camera. MRS HOLT: (gently) Birds may think a drone is a hawk. If the parents fly off their nests, the eggs can get cold. NIA: So filming them could hurt them. (AMIR looks at the drone, then at the marsh. A pause.) AMIR: (quietly) I didn't know that. Could I film the car park instead, and show people where the hide is? MRS HOLT: (smiling) That would be very helpful.

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Question 5
Read "The Drone at the Marsh (a play)". According to Mrs Holt, why can drones be a problem for nesting birds?
- A. Drones eat insects that birds need.
- B. Birds like to chase drones.
- C. Drones are too loud for the warden.
- D. Birds may think a drone is a hawk and leave their eggs.

The Kite Festival

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Question 6
Read "The Kite Festival". What was painted on Amara's kite?
- A. a fish
- B. a golden dragon
- C. a boat
- D. a diamond

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter

The storm had been building all afternoon. By the time the sun set, waves as tall as houses were hurling themselves against the rocks below Gull Point Lighthouse, and the wind screamed around the tower like a wild animal. Nell pressed her face to the window of the little cottage. Her father had rowed to the mainland that morning to fetch the doctor for Mrs Penrose, and the sea had turned before he could return. Now, for the first time in her twelve years, Nell was alone at the lighthouse. She knew what that meant. Every night at dusk, the great lamp at the top of the tower had to be lit. Without it, ships would have no warning of the rocks. Nell grabbed the lantern and her father's oilskin coat, which hung down past her knees, and pushed open the door. The wind nearly knocked her flat. Bent double, she stumbled across the yard and into the tower. There were one hundred and twelve steps to the top. Nell had climbed them hundreds of times, but never in the dark, never with the whole tower trembling. Halfway up, her lantern flickered and almost went out. She stopped, cupped her hand around the flame and whispered, "Not now. Please, not now." At the top, her fingers were numb with cold. She trimmed the wick the way her father had shown her, filled the oil and struck a match. Nothing. A second match. Nothing. With the third, a tiny flame caught, grew and then blazed, and the great lens began to turn, sweeping its beam across the furious sea. Far out in the darkness, a ship's horn sounded twice. Nell did not know whose ship it was. But she knew that, tonight, it would find its way home.

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Question 7
Read "The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter". Why was Nell alone at the lighthouse?
- A. Her father had gone fishing.
- B. Her father had gone to fetch a doctor and could not get back.
- C. She had run away from home.
- D. Her father was asleep.

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.

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Question 8
Read "The Camera in the Hedge". Where did the narrator put the camera?
- A. on the garden shed roof
- B. inside the kitchen
- C. in Mr Okafor's garden
- D. on a fence post at the bottom of the garden

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Answer key: Finding and retrieving information

1. C. A gust of wind snapped a stick.
2. B. in 2015
3. D. She prepared materials and cleaned up.
4. B. keeping it cool and hearing prey
5. D. Birds may think a drone is a hawk and leave their eggs.
6. B. a golden dragon
7. B. Her father had gone to fetch a doctor and could not get back.
8. D. on a fence post at the bottom of the garden