KS2 English textbook

Chapter 11: Reading poetry and non-fiction, and comparing texts

Strand Reading
Level Year 6
Practice 80 questions with step-by-step solutions

National Curriculum for England, Key Stage 2 English, Year 6. Content: Learn a range of poems by heart, and plan how to perform one with intonation, volume and action (Y5-6 reading, written planning), Explain how figurative language, such as metaphor, simile, personification and alliteration, affects the reader (Y5-6 reading), Summarise the main ideas from more than one paragraph, identifying the key details (Y5-6 reading), Distinguish fact from opinion, and retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction (Y5-6 reading), Compare, contrast and discuss different texts, and justify a view with reasons (Y5-6 reading, speaking through written planning).

Open Year 6 chapter

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

Name a figurative device in a poem, and explain its effect on the reader
Count the stanzas and lines of a poem, and plan how to perform it
Summarise the main idea of a text in fewer words, keeping the key details
Sort sentences into fact and opinion, and explain the difference
Compare two texts of different types, and justify a view with a reason

You should already know

Figurative language, poems and stanzas (Year 4 Chapter 9 of this series)
Retrieving facts and using evidence from a text (Chapter 10 of this book)

Where this leads

Writing for purpose, including persuasive and discursive texts (Chapter 12 of this book)

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