Ready Steady Read Together
The Last Bear: Fiction Lesson 1
What do you think you know?
What?
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
When?
Book Talk: Let's explore this illustration.
Explore
Soundscape: melancholy music?
What do you know and think?
There was a thin layer of dust coating everything, and a horrible feeling of something missing...
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
B) Name three reasons why April thinks the girls at school don’t like her.
Explore
Let me read today's text
Explore
There had been a normality to April’s everyday life, although she was the first to admit it was a rather odd kind of normality. Her father worked as a scientist in a nearby university, where he spent his days researching weather patterns. Like the weather, he came and left the house at the most unpredictable of times – sometimes he’d get home at eleven p.m., or he would leave just when she got home from school. He worked random weekends but would then have three days off in the week. Even then he would shut himself in his study and bury his face in dusty, old books with writing so tiny it made your eyes hurt just to read them. When April brought him a pot of tea or his dinner, he would shake his head, take off his glasses and look at her curiously as if he had completely forgotten he had a daughter. “Oh,” he would say. “Thank you…April.” Then he would put his head back down, chew the top of his pen and she would gently close the study door behind her.
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
April was only four when her mother died and whenever she thought of her, it was like thinking of a lovely summer holiday she’d once been on. Her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house. It was tall and thin and looked ever so slightly unhappy around the edges, and inside it always felt cold. There was a thin layer of dust coating everything, and a horrible feeling of something missing – a feeling that April never quite knew how to put into words. And so she spent most of her time in the back garden, where, in the wild, unkempt bramble bush, a family of urban foxes lived. She was fascinated by one in particular, who she called Braveheart, because he seemed bolder than the others and because he’d almost allowed her to feed him some strawberries from her hand. Time spent in the garden whizzed by and was interrupted by school. April didn’t like school, or the girls at school didn’t like her. She didn’t know whether it was because she smelled of fox or the fact that she was the smallest girl in her class or even that she cut her own hair with a pair of garden scissors. Either way, April didn’t mind too much because she preferred animals to humans anyway. They were just kinder.
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
normality
unpredictable
researching
unkempt
urban
bolder
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
I will model the first.
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
normality
Explore
Find Read Talk
There had been a normality to April’s everyday life, although she was the first to admit it was a rather odd kind of normality. Her father worked as a scientist in a nearby university, where he spent his days researching weather patterns.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
normality
Your turn
researching
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
unpredictable
unkempt
urban
bolder
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
Chapter One
Reveal Vocabulary
The Letter
There had been a normality to April’s everyday life, although she was the first to admit it was a rather odd kind of normality. Her father worked as a scientist in a nearby university, where he spent his days researching weather patterns. Like the weather, he came and left the house at the most unpredictable of times – sometimes he’d get home at eleven p.m., or he would leave just when she got home from school. He worked random weekends but would then have three days off in the week. Even then he would shut himself in his study and bury his face in dusty, old books with writing so tiny it made your eyes hurt just to read them. When April brought him a pot of tea or his dinner, he would shake his head, take off his glasses and look at her curiously as if he had completely forgotten he had a daughter. “Oh,” he would say. “Thank you…April.” Then he would put his head back down, chew the top of his pen and she would gently close the study door behind her.
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Reveal Vocabulary
April was only four when her mother died and whenever she thought of her, it was like thinking of a lovely summer holiday she’d once been on. Her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house. It was tall and thin and looked ever so slightly unhappy around the edges, and inside it always felt cold. There was a thin layer of dust coating everything, and a horrible feeling of something missing – a feeling that April never quite knew how to put into words. And so she spent most of her time in the back garden, where, in the wild, unkempt bramble bush, a family of urban foxes lived. She was fascinated by one in particular, who she called Braveheart, because he seemed bolder than the others and because he’d almost allowed her to feed him some strawberries from her hand. Time spent in the garden whizzed by and was interrupted by school. April didn’t like school, or the girls at school didn’t like her. She didn’t know whether it was because she smelled of fox or the fact that she was the smallest girl in her class or even that she cut her own hair with a pair of garden scissors. Either way, April didn’t mind too much because she preferred animals to humans anyway. They were just kinder.
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
Her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house. It was tall and thin and looked ever so slightly unhappy around the edges, and inside it always felt cold. There was a thin layer of dust coating everything, and a horrible feeling of something missing – a feeling that April never quite knew how to put into words.
What did you notice?
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
Her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house.
It was tall and thin and looked ever so slightly unhappy around the edges,
and inside it always felt cold.
There was a thin layer of dust coating everything,
and a horrible feeling of something missing –
a feeling that April never quite knew how to put into words.
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
Her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house. It was tall and thin and looked ever so slightly unhappy around the edges, and inside it always felt cold. There was a thin layer of dust coating everything, and a horrible feeling of something missing – a feeling that April never quite knew how to put into words.
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Read Between the Lines
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
There had been a normality to April’s everyday life, although she was the first to admit it was a rather odd kind of normality. Her father worked as a scientist in a nearby university, where he spent his days researching weather patterns. Like the weather, he came and left the house at the most unpredictable of times – sometimes he’d get home at eleven p.m., or he would leave just when she got home from school.
Reveal Explainer
This suggests that one thing that was constant about April’s life was that it was always changing. Her father’s unpredictable routine means that she is often alone with no one to rely upon and regularly has to fend for herself.
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
Teach
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Stop
What else could you use to answer today's question(s)?
Teach
Your Turn
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
B) Name three reasons why April thinks the girls at school don’t like her.
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Explore
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - there was…a horrible feeling of something missing - the girls at school didn’t like her
often alone / loneliness
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
Text Mark Evidence - when April brought him (her father) a pot of tea or his dinner - she cut her own hair with a pair of garden scissors
responsible for adult jobs
Go to the next slide for more....
Text Mark Evidence - he (her father) would shut himself in his study and bury his face in dusty, old books - he (her father) would…look at her curiously as if he had completely forgotten he had a daughter
got little attention from her father
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Practise & Apply
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house - it (the house) was tall and thin and looked every so slightly unhappy around the edges - inside it (the house) was always cold - there was a thin layer of dust coating everything
house was neglected
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
Text Mark Evidence she spent most of her time in the back garden
spent most of her time outdoors
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence she preferred animals to humans anyway
likes animals more than people
Practise & Apply
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence she smelled of fox
B) Name three reasons why April thinks the girls at school don’t like her.
Text Mark Evidence she was the smallest girl in her class
Text Mark Evidence she cut her own hair with a pair of garden scissors
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Practise & Apply
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘urban’?
Tick Me
What does April’s father study as a scientist?
Tick one:
A The behaviour of urban foxes
B The fine print in old books
Check
C The changes in the weather over time
Click if correct
D Wild plants called brambles
Which One's Right?
And so she spent most of her time in the back garden, where, in the wild, unkempt bramble bush, a family of urban foxes lived.
Which word is closest in meaning to ‘unkempt’?
A thorny
B scruffy
C orderly
D prickly
Link Me
Link each word with its correct definition:
A more daring
1 normality
B uncertain or random
2 unpredictable
C usual routine
Check
3 researching
Click if correct
D studying or examining
4 bolder
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
connect with characters.
Reveal
Consider how the characters feel and what you'd do in their situation.
Copyright Notice
This document has been supplied under a CLA Licence with specific terms of use. It is protected by copyright and, save as may be permitted by law, it may not be further copied, stored, re-copied electronically or otherwise shared, even for internal purposes, without the prior further permission of the Rightsholder. Extracts sourced from: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.
RSRT Y4 L1 The Last Bear
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Transcript
Ready Steady Read Together
The Last Bear: Fiction Lesson 1
What do you think you know?
What?
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
When?
Book Talk: Let's explore this illustration.
Explore
Soundscape: melancholy music?
What do you know and think?
There was a thin layer of dust coating everything, and a horrible feeling of something missing...
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
B) Name three reasons why April thinks the girls at school don’t like her.
Explore
Let me read today's text
Explore
There had been a normality to April’s everyday life, although she was the first to admit it was a rather odd kind of normality. Her father worked as a scientist in a nearby university, where he spent his days researching weather patterns. Like the weather, he came and left the house at the most unpredictable of times – sometimes he’d get home at eleven p.m., or he would leave just when she got home from school. He worked random weekends but would then have three days off in the week. Even then he would shut himself in his study and bury his face in dusty, old books with writing so tiny it made your eyes hurt just to read them. When April brought him a pot of tea or his dinner, he would shake his head, take off his glasses and look at her curiously as if he had completely forgotten he had a daughter. “Oh,” he would say. “Thank you…April.” Then he would put his head back down, chew the top of his pen and she would gently close the study door behind her.
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
April was only four when her mother died and whenever she thought of her, it was like thinking of a lovely summer holiday she’d once been on. Her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house. It was tall and thin and looked ever so slightly unhappy around the edges, and inside it always felt cold. There was a thin layer of dust coating everything, and a horrible feeling of something missing – a feeling that April never quite knew how to put into words. And so she spent most of her time in the back garden, where, in the wild, unkempt bramble bush, a family of urban foxes lived. She was fascinated by one in particular, who she called Braveheart, because he seemed bolder than the others and because he’d almost allowed her to feed him some strawberries from her hand. Time spent in the garden whizzed by and was interrupted by school. April didn’t like school, or the girls at school didn’t like her. She didn’t know whether it was because she smelled of fox or the fact that she was the smallest girl in her class or even that she cut her own hair with a pair of garden scissors. Either way, April didn’t mind too much because she preferred animals to humans anyway. They were just kinder.
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
normality
unpredictable
researching
unkempt
urban
bolder
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
I will model the first.
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
normality
Explore
Find Read Talk
There had been a normality to April’s everyday life, although she was the first to admit it was a rather odd kind of normality. Her father worked as a scientist in a nearby university, where he spent his days researching weather patterns.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
normality
Your turn
researching
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
unpredictable
unkempt
urban
bolder
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
Chapter One
Reveal Vocabulary
The Letter
There had been a normality to April’s everyday life, although she was the first to admit it was a rather odd kind of normality. Her father worked as a scientist in a nearby university, where he spent his days researching weather patterns. Like the weather, he came and left the house at the most unpredictable of times – sometimes he’d get home at eleven p.m., or he would leave just when she got home from school. He worked random weekends but would then have three days off in the week. Even then he would shut himself in his study and bury his face in dusty, old books with writing so tiny it made your eyes hurt just to read them. When April brought him a pot of tea or his dinner, he would shake his head, take off his glasses and look at her curiously as if he had completely forgotten he had a daughter. “Oh,” he would say. “Thank you…April.” Then he would put his head back down, chew the top of his pen and she would gently close the study door behind her.
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Reveal Vocabulary
April was only four when her mother died and whenever she thought of her, it was like thinking of a lovely summer holiday she’d once been on. Her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house. It was tall and thin and looked ever so slightly unhappy around the edges, and inside it always felt cold. There was a thin layer of dust coating everything, and a horrible feeling of something missing – a feeling that April never quite knew how to put into words. And so she spent most of her time in the back garden, where, in the wild, unkempt bramble bush, a family of urban foxes lived. She was fascinated by one in particular, who she called Braveheart, because he seemed bolder than the others and because he’d almost allowed her to feed him some strawberries from her hand. Time spent in the garden whizzed by and was interrupted by school. April didn’t like school, or the girls at school didn’t like her. She didn’t know whether it was because she smelled of fox or the fact that she was the smallest girl in her class or even that she cut her own hair with a pair of garden scissors. Either way, April didn’t mind too much because she preferred animals to humans anyway. They were just kinder.
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
Her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house. It was tall and thin and looked ever so slightly unhappy around the edges, and inside it always felt cold. There was a thin layer of dust coating everything, and a horrible feeling of something missing – a feeling that April never quite knew how to put into words.
What did you notice?
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
Her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house.
It was tall and thin and looked ever so slightly unhappy around the edges,
and inside it always felt cold.
There was a thin layer of dust coating everything,
and a horrible feeling of something missing –
a feeling that April never quite knew how to put into words.
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
Her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house. It was tall and thin and looked ever so slightly unhappy around the edges, and inside it always felt cold. There was a thin layer of dust coating everything, and a horrible feeling of something missing – a feeling that April never quite knew how to put into words.
Explore
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Read Between the Lines
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
There had been a normality to April’s everyday life, although she was the first to admit it was a rather odd kind of normality. Her father worked as a scientist in a nearby university, where he spent his days researching weather patterns. Like the weather, he came and left the house at the most unpredictable of times – sometimes he’d get home at eleven p.m., or he would leave just when she got home from school.
Reveal Explainer
This suggests that one thing that was constant about April’s life was that it was always changing. Her father’s unpredictable routine means that she is often alone with no one to rely upon and regularly has to fend for herself.
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
Teach
From: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Stop
What else could you use to answer today's question(s)?
Teach
Your Turn
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
B) Name three reasons why April thinks the girls at school don’t like her.
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Explore
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - there was…a horrible feeling of something missing - the girls at school didn’t like her
often alone / loneliness
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
Text Mark Evidence - when April brought him (her father) a pot of tea or his dinner - she cut her own hair with a pair of garden scissors
responsible for adult jobs
Go to the next slide for more....
Text Mark Evidence - he (her father) would shut himself in his study and bury his face in dusty, old books - he (her father) would…look at her curiously as if he had completely forgotten he had a daughter
got little attention from her father
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Practise & Apply
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - her father hadn’t remarried and it showed in the house - it (the house) was tall and thin and looked every so slightly unhappy around the edges - inside it (the house) was always cold - there was a thin layer of dust coating everything
house was neglected
A) What is April’s life like now, after the loss of her mother?
Text Mark Evidence she spent most of her time in the back garden
spent most of her time outdoors
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence she preferred animals to humans anyway
likes animals more than people
Practise & Apply
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence she smelled of fox
B) Name three reasons why April thinks the girls at school don’t like her.
Text Mark Evidence she was the smallest girl in her class
Text Mark Evidence she cut her own hair with a pair of garden scissors
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Practise & Apply
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘urban’?
Tick Me
What does April’s father study as a scientist?
Tick one:
A The behaviour of urban foxes
B The fine print in old books
Check
C The changes in the weather over time
Click if correct
D Wild plants called brambles
Which One's Right?
And so she spent most of her time in the back garden, where, in the wild, unkempt bramble bush, a family of urban foxes lived.
Which word is closest in meaning to ‘unkempt’?
A thorny
B scruffy
C orderly
D prickly
Link Me
Link each word with its correct definition:
A more daring
1 normality
B uncertain or random
2 unpredictable
C usual routine
Check
3 researching
Click if correct
D studying or examining
4 bolder
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
connect with characters.
Reveal
Consider how the characters feel and what you'd do in their situation.
Copyright Notice
This document has been supplied under a CLA Licence with specific terms of use. It is protected by copyright and, save as may be permitted by law, it may not be further copied, stored, re-copied electronically or otherwise shared, even for internal purposes, without the prior further permission of the Rightsholder. Extracts sourced from: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold © 2021 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.