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KS2 English textbook

Chapter 8: Reading fiction: summarising and comparing

  • Strand Reading
  • Level Year 5
  • Practice 82 questions with step-by-step solutions

National Curriculum for England, Key Stage 2 English, Year 5. Content: Read a wide range of fiction, including myths, legends and traditional stories, and recommend books (RC-Y5a, RC1d), Identify and discuss themes and conventions (RC-Y5b, RC1e), Compare characters, settings and plots within and across texts (RC-Y5c), Infer from action, dialogue and description, with evidence (RC-Y5e, RC2c), Predict from details stated and implied, and summarise main ideas with key details (RC-Y5f, RC-Y5d, RC2d), Check that the text makes sense, explain word meanings in context, and ask questions (RC2a, RC2b, RC4, SL1).

Open Year 5 chapter

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

  • Name the features of a legend and a fable
  • Find the themes in a story and say what they teach
  • Compare two stories: characters, settings and plots
  • Use evidence from the text to infer how a character feels
  • Predict what happens next, using clues from the text
  • Summarise a story in a few sentences, with the key details

You should already know

  • Stories, retelling and characters (Year 4, Chapter 8)
  • Finding evidence and inference (Year 4, Chapter 8)

Where this leads

  • Reading poetry and plays (Chapter 9 of this book)

Lessons in this chapter

  1. 8.1 Legend-style stories and recommending a book
  2. 8.2 Themes and conventions: what a story teaches
  3. 8.3 Comparing characters, settings and plots
  4. 8.4 Inference: how a character feels, with evidence
  5. 8.5 Predicting and summarising a story
  6. Summary and key words
  7. Check-up and practice test questions

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