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Primary English · Year 6Chapter 10 · Reading fiction and plays
Year 6 English · Reading fiction and plays · Lesson 10.1

Year 6 English: Checking the text makes sense, and unfamiliar words

Part of the Year 6 English reading fiction and plays chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

10.1

Checking the text makes sense, and unfamiliar words

Year 6
Check that the text makes sense, and explain unfamiliar words from their context (Y5-6 reading)
Story. A lighthouse keeper's daughter climbs to the lamp during a storm. Read the text, and check it makes sense as you read.

When you read fiction, check that the text makes sense. If a word is new, read the words around it. The context often shows what the word means, even if you do not know the word itself.

Marta, the lighthouse keeper's daughter, keeps the lamp lit during a storm.

Every evening, Marta climbed the one hundred and twelve steps of the lighthouse to trim the lamp. Her father had done the job for thirty years, but his hands had grown stiff, and now the task belonged to her. She had watched him climb those steps since she was small, and she knew every crack in the stone. Each step was a promise that she would keep the light burning for the boats.

On the night of the storm, the sea rose like a grey wall. Marta gripped the iron rail and counted each step, because counting kept her from thinking about the waves. When she reached the top, the lamp had gone out, and the dark was thick enough to touch.

She struck a match. The wind howled through the cracked window, and the flame flickered, nearly dying. Marta cupped her hands around it, as though it were a fragile bird. The flame was small and uncertain, and the smallest draught could take it away.

Below, a ship's horn sounded, thin and desperate. Somewhere out there, sailors could not see the rocks, and the rocks waited patiently for them. Marta felt her heart thud, and she told herself that her father had never once let the light fail, not even in the worst winter of his life.

She lit the wick at last, her fingers shaking. The beam swept out across the water, pale and steady, and the horn fell silent. Only then did she sit down on the cold floor and let her shoulders shake. Outside, the rain kept falling, but the sea no longer roared.

Key ideas

  • Read the text again if it does not make sense.
  • Use the context, the words before and after an unfamiliar word, to work out its meaning.
  • Check the meaning in a dictionary if you are still not sure.
Worked example 10.1.1
In the text, Marta feels her heart thud. What does the text tell you about her heart? Write the words from the text that show it.

Method. Find the words in the text that answer the question.

  1. Find the detail. The text says Marta felt her heart thud.
    felt her heart thud
  2. Check it is stated. The detail is stated, not guessed.
    felt her heart thud
  3. Write the answer.
    felt her heart thud

Check. The text states this detail. ✓

Worked example 10.1.2
What does fragile mean in this text: as though it were a fragile bird?

Method. Read the words around the word, then choose its meaning.

  1. Read the context. Marta cups her hands around the flame, so the flame must be delicate.
    cups her hands
  2. Choose the meaning. Fragile means easily broken, so a fragile bird is delicate.
    easily broken, delicate
  3. Write the answer.
    easily broken, delicate

Check. The meaning fits the context. ✓

Worked example 10.1.3
What does desperate mean in thin and desperate, describing the horn?

Method. Think about what the sailors need.

  1. Read the context. The sailors cannot see the rocks, so the horn is a call for help.
    a call for help
  2. Choose the meaning. Desperate means urgent and hopeless.
    urgent and hopeless
  3. Write the answer.
    urgent and hopeless

Check. The meaning fits the situation. ✓

Watch out

Watch out: do not guess from the first letters of a word. Use the whole sentence, and check that your meaning fits it.

Exam tip

Grown-up tip. Ask your child to read a paragraph aloud, pause at one new word, and to say what they think it means from the words around it.

Exercise 10A  Practice: checking the text and unfamiliar words

1
FHow many steps did Marta climb every evening? Copy the words from the text.
2
FHow long had her father done the job? Copy the words from the text.
3
FWhat did Marta grip as she climbed? Copy the words from the text.
4
FWhat had gone out when Marta reached the top? Copy the words from the text.
5
FWhat sounded below the lighthouse? Copy the words from the text.
6
PSExplain what flickered means in this text: the flame flickered, nearly dying. Write the meaning in your own words.
7
PSExplain what desperate means in this text: thin and desperate. Write the meaning in your own words.
8
PSExplain what ashamed means in this text: the stars were ashamed to appear beside her. Write the meaning in your own words.
9
RAsk a question about the text that would help a reader understand why Marta counts the steps.
10
FWhich word tells you that Marta is climbing many stairs? Copy the words from the text.
11
FExplain what stiff means in this text: his hands had grown stiff. Write the meaning in your own words.
12
RDoes this text make sense to you? Give one reason, in one sentence.
13
PSWrite a question you would ask to check your understanding of the storm, using a word from the text.
14
FExplain what cupped means in this text: cupped her hands around it. Write the meaning in your own words.

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