The Magic Finger: Reading Comprehension
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What You Get
What You Get
This pack includes a complete set of ready-to-teach lessons that together form a coherent scheme of work, written and created by experienced primary teachers.
Each of the lessons within the pack contains:
- An easy-to-follow lesson plan (including plenary and assessment questions)
- An engaging slideshow for the teaching input
- A main activity with three-way differentiation to support adaptive teaching
- An alternative activity for flexibility and choice
- An overview (medium-term plan) showing the scheme contents at a glance
- An assessment grid to track learning and progress
Curriculum Coverage
Curriculum Coverage
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Teacher Benefits
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Activities are designed to spark curiosity, encourage discussion and make learning memorable.
This set of The Magic Finger Lesson Plans, based on the wonderful book by Roald Dahl, is sure to engage your Year 4 class whilst developing their comprehension skills!
During the five The Magic Finger Lesson Plans, you will read the book together as a class. Particular emphasis is placed on exploring and understanding the different characters' viewpoints through asking and answering questions, role-play, debate, and even hosting a talk show!
Including everything you need for a successful week of English teaching, The Magic Finger Lesson Plans pack contains: detailed yet easy-to-follow plans, slide shows for the teaching inputs, as well as differentiated worksheets and activity ideas.
Please be aware that, for copyright purposes, we are unable to provide the full text for this scheme of work. Extracts are provided where appropriate.
Answering Comprehension Questions
Use this Answering Comprehension Questions KS2 lesson to introduce your class to Roald Dahl's The Magic Finger.
In this first lesson, you and your Year 4 class will begin to read the book together, discussing the events that have happened so far. Children will then use extracts from the text to answer a range of comprehension questions. In the alternative activity provided, they can use The Magic Finger Spinner to select and then answer questions about the book in small groups.
This Answering Comprehension Questions KS2 lesson pack contains a detailed plan, an engaging slide show for the teaching input, and differentiated worksheets and activities to suit the needs of the majority of learners.
What's included:
- Slides
- Worksheet 1A/1B/1C
- Extract Sheet 1A/1B
- The Magic Finger Spinner
- Question Cards
Exploring Characters' Feelings
This Exploring Characters' Feelings KS2 lesson pack, based on The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl, encourages your Year 4 class to put themselves in the shoes of some of the main characters.
Children will first recap on what has happened in the story so far, before reading another section of the text together. They are encouraged to think about how each of the Greggs might be feeling at different points, and why. In their independent activities, they will explore and record the thoughts and feelings of the characters in more detail, using prompt questions, thought bubbles, and in the alternative activity provided, role-play.
Develop your Year 4 class's inference skills with this Exploring Character's Feelings KS2 lesson pack. An easy-to-follow, differentiated lesson plan is included, as well as an engaging slide show and a range of worksheets and activity ideas.
What's included:
- Slides
- Question Cards
- Worksheet 2A/2B
- Extract Sheet 2A
- Challenge Card
- Character Name Tags
Different Viewpoints
In this Different Viewpoints KS2 English lesson, your Year 4 class will explore the situation from both the perspective of the Gregg family and the ducks.
Children will begin by reading a short extract of the next part of The Magic Finger themselves. After discussing some questions as a class about what they have just read, they will then explore the opposing viewpoints of the Gregg family and the ducks, in preparation for small-group debates. In the alternative activity, children are challenged to step into the shoes of Mr Gregg and write a plea to the ducks to spare his family.
Including a detailed plan, a set of slides for the teaching input, and differentiated worksheets, this Different Viewpoints KS2 English lesson pack contains everything you need for a successful lesson!
What's included:
- Slides
- Extract Sheet 3A
- The Greggs vs The Ducks Sheet 3A/3B/3C/3D
- Mr Gregg's Plea Sheet
Answer Questions in Character
In this Answering Questions in Character KS2 lesson, your Year 4 children will be given the opportunity to further demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of Roald Dahl's The Magic Finger.
Children will first discuss the 'cliffhanger' that the section of the story from the previous lesson ended on. As a class, they will then read to the end of the book, and answer some questions together. In their independent activities, children are tasked to generate questions to ask some of the characters from 'The Magic Finger', then use role-play to ask and answer them. In the alternative activity provided, children are challenged to conduct a talk show titled 'The Greggs who became the Eggs'.
This Answering Questions in Character KS2 lesson pack includes an easy-to-follow plan, a set of slide shows for the teaching input, as well as differentiated worksheets and activity ideas.
What's included:
- Slides
- Worksheet 4A/4B
- Talk Show Challenge Card
- Name Tags
Summarising a Text
This Summarising a Text KS2 lesson helps you to teach your Year 4 class what a summary is, and what to include in one.
In this final lesson based on Roald Dahl's The Magic Finger, children will first discuss their opinions of the story, before exploring what a summary is, and what it should include. In their independent activities, they will write their own summaries of the book. In the alternative activity provided, children are challenged to write a letter to the Cooper family from the Egg family, summarising what happened to them as a warning to the Coopers.
Included in this Summarising a Text KS2 pack are a detailed lesson plan, an engaging slide show, and a range of differentiated worksheets and resources.
What's included:
- Slides
- Group Notes Sheet
- Summary Notes Tables
- Worksheet 5A/5B/5C
- Summary Checklist Cards
- Challenge Cards
- Letter Template
Medium-Term Plan
Download a free overview to show the full content of this scheme of work.
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