Understanding Reading Comprehension

Hello Year 4! Today, we are going to learn about reading comprehension. Reading comprehension is all about understanding what you read. It helps you make sense of stories, facts, and information.

What is Reading Comprehension?

When you read a book or a story, you want to understand it. This means knowing what happens, who the characters are, and what the main idea is. It’s like putting together a puzzle! Each piece of information helps you see the whole picture.

Key Rules for Reading Comprehension

  1. Read Carefully: Take your time to read the text. Don’t rush!
  2. Look for Clues: Authors give hints about the story in the words they use. Pay attention!
  3. Ask Questions: If something is unclear, ask yourself questions. What is happening? Who is involved?
  4. Summarise: After reading, try to tell someone what it was about in your own words.

Tips and Tricks

  • Visualise: Imagine the story in your mind. What do the characters look like? What is happening around them?
  • Make Connections: Relate the story to your own experiences. Have you ever felt like the character?
  • Reread: If you don’t understand something, read it again. Sometimes, a second look helps!

A Short Story: The Magic Garden

Once upon a time, in a small village, there was a girl named Lily. Lily loved to explore. One sunny day, she found a hidden path behind her house. Curious, she followed it.

The path led her to a magical garden filled with colourful flowers, sparkling butterflies, and singing birds. “Wow!” Lily exclaimed. She had never seen anything like it.

In the middle of the garden stood a tall tree with golden apples hanging from its branches. Lily felt a strong urge to taste one. She reached up, plucked a shiny apple, and took a bite. Suddenly, she heard a voice.

“Thank you for freeing me!” it said. A tiny fairy appeared from the apple! “I was trapped for many years. Because you were kind, I will grant you one wish.”

Lily thought hard. She loved the garden and wanted to keep it safe. “I wish for this garden to be protected forever,” she said. The fairy smiled and waved her wand.

“Your wish is granted!” she said. “Visit me anytime, and the magic will always be here.” With that, the fairy disappeared into a shower of glitter.

From that day on, Lily visited the magic garden every week. She told her friends about it, and they all came to play. The garden became a special place for everyone, where they laughed and had fun.

And so, the magic garden stayed safe, full of joy and laughter, thanks to Lily’s kind heart.

Questions to Check Understanding

  1. Who is the main character in the story?
  2. What does Lily find behind her house?
  3. What kind of garden does Lily discover?
  4. What does the tree in the garden have?
  5. What happens when Lily bites the golden apple?
  6. What does the fairy offer Lily?
  7. What is Lily’s wish?
  8. How does the fairy respond to Lily’s wish?
  9. How often does Lily visit the garden after her wish?
  10. Why is the garden special for Lily and her friends?

Questions to Check Vocabulary

  1. What does “explore” mean?
  2. What is a “magical” garden?
  3. Explain the word “curious.”
  4. What does “exclaimed” mean?
  5. What does “sparkling” describe in the story?
  6. What does it mean when the fairy says she was “trapped”?
  7. What does “grant” mean in the context of the story?
  8. What is a “wish”?
  9. What does “kind” mean?
  10. Explain the word “joy.”

Questions to Check Grammar

  1. Identify the subject in this sentence: “Lily loved to explore.”
  2. Change the verb in this sentence to past tense: “Lily finds a hidden path.”
  3. What is the correct form of “to be” in the sentence: “The garden ____ magical”?
  4. What type of sentence is this: “What a wonderful garden!”?
  5. Combine these two sentences: “Lily saw the butterfly. It was beautiful.”
  6. Add a comma where needed: “Lily, the brave girl, found a path.”
  7. Change “The tree has apples” to a question.
  8. What is the plural form of “flower”?
  9. Make this sentence negative: “Lily visits the garden.”
  10. What is the possessive form of “Lily”?

Questions to Check Punctuation

  1. Where should the full stop go in this sentence: “Lily loved to explore the garden”?
  2. Add a question mark: “What a beautiful garden”
  3. Where should the comma go in this sentence: “Lily the explorer walked through the garden”?
  4. Where does the exclamation mark belong: “Wow this garden is amazing”?
  5. Rewrite the sentence with correct punctuation: “I wish I could stay here forever”
  6. Identify the quotation marks in this sentence: Lily said “I found a magic garden”
  7. Where should the apostrophe go in this sentence: “The fairys magic is strong”?
  8. Put a full stop at the end of this: “The garden is magical”
  9. Add a comma to this list: “Lily saw butterflies flowers and trees”
  10. What punctuation mark is used to show excitement?

Answers and Explanations

Understanding Questions Answers:

  1. Lily
  2. A hidden path
  3. A magical garden
  4. Golden apples
  5. A fairy appears
  6. One wish
  7. To protect the garden
  8. She grants it
  9. Every week
  10. Because of Lily’s wish

Vocabulary Questions Answers:

  1. To look around and discover
  2. A garden with magical properties
  3. Wanting to know more
  4. Shouted with excitement
  5. Shining and bright
  6. Kept in one place and unable to escape
  7. To make a wish come true
  8. A hope for something
  9. Nice and helpful
  10. Happiness or delight

Grammar Questions Answers:

  1. Lily
  2. Lily found a hidden path
  3. is
  4. Exclamatory sentence
  5. Lily saw the butterfly; it was beautiful.
  6. Lily, the brave girl, found a path.
  7. Did Lily visit the garden?
  8. Flowers
  9. Lily does not visit the garden.
  10. Lily’s

Punctuation Questions Answers:

  1. After “garden”
  2. ?
  3. After “Lily”
  4. !
  5. “I wish I could stay here forever.”
  6. “I found a magic garden.”
  7. Fairy’s
  8. “The garden is magical.”
  9. “Lily saw butterflies, flowers, and trees.”
  10. Exclamation mark