KS2 English textbook

Chapter 9: Reading non-fiction

Strand Reading
Level Year 3
Practice 91 questions with step-by-step solutions

National Curriculum for England, Key Stage 2 English, Year 3. Content: Read non-fiction texts with different structures for different purposes, and recognise their purpose and audience, Use a contents page, headings, sub-headings, an index and a glossary to find information, Retrieve and record information from information texts, using captions, labelled diagrams, bullet points and tables, Use a dictionary to check the meaning and the spelling of words, using the first two or three letters, Identify the main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarise them, Tell fact from opinion, and take part in discussion by taking turns and giving reasons.

Open Year 3 chapter

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

Say what a non-fiction text is for, and who it is written for
Use a contents page, headings and sub-headings to find the right part of a book
Find facts in captions, labelled diagrams, bullet points and tables
Use an index, a glossary and a dictionary, and put words in alphabetical order
Tell a fact from an opinion, and give the clue words that show which is which
Summarise the main points of a section in one sentence

You should already know

Retelling and discussing texts, and finding evidence in the text (Chapter 7)
The parts of a poem and a play script (Chapter 8)
Word classes, paragraphs and headings (Chapters 3 and 6)

Where this leads

Writing stories with settings, characters and plot (Chapter 10)
Writing letters, instructions, reports and explanations (Chapter 11)
Reading longer non-fiction texts in Year 4

Lessons in this chapter

Read the whole chapter on one page (good for printing).

Practise with real exam questions

The DfE publishes every past KS2 test, with mark schemes, for free.

KS2 English past papers