Ready Steady Read Together
How to Train Your Dragon: Fiction Lesson 4
What do you think you know?
What?
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
When?
Book Talk: Let's explore this illustration.
Explore
What do you know and think?
Imagine an animal about twenty times as large as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. More like a mountain than a living creature – a great, glistening, evil mountain.
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) How does the author show that the storm was violent and dangerous?
B) How do the Sea Dragons differ from Toothless and the other dragons in the story?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Explore
The storm raged through the whole of that night. Hiccup lay unable to sleep as the wind hurled about the walls like fifty dragons trying to get in.
“Let us in, let us in,” shrieked the wind. “We’re very, very hungry.”
Out in the blackness and way out to sea the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons indeed.
The first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff.
The second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast.
The great Beast had been sleeping off his Roman picnic for the past six centuries or so, but had had recently been drifting into a lighter sleep.
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
The great storm lifted both Dragons gently from the seabed like a couple of sleeping babies, and washed them on the swell of one indescribably enormous wave on to The Long Beach, outside Hiccup’s village. And there they stayed, sleeping peacefully, while the wind shrieked horribly all around them like wild Viking ghosts having a loud party in Valhalla, until the storm blew itself out and the sun came up on a beach full of Dragon and very little else.
The first Dragon was enough to give you nightmares.
The second Dragon was enough to give your nightmares nightmares.
Imagine an animal about twenty times as large as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. More like a mountain than a living creature – a great, glistening, evil mountain. He was so encrusted with barnacles he looked like he was wearing a kind of jewelled armour but, where the little crustaceans and the coral couldn’t get a grip, in the joints and crannies of him, you could see his true colour. A glorious, dark green, it was the colour of the ocean itself.
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
hurled
seabed
gobsmackingly vast
encrusted with barnacles
armour
joints and crannies
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. 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
hurled
Explore
Find Read Talk
The storm raged through the whole of that night. Hiccup lay unable to sleep as the wind hurled about the walls like fifty dragons trying to get in.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Your turn
hurled
gobsmackingly vast
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
seabed
encrusted with barnacles
armour
joints and crannies
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
Reveal Vocabulary
The storm raged through the whole of that night. Hiccup lay unable to sleep as the wind hurled about the walls like fifty dragons trying to get in.
“Let us in, let us in,” shrieked the wind. “We’re very, very hungry.”
Out in the blackness and way out to sea the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons indeed.
The first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff.
The second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast.
The great Beast had been sleeping off his Roman picnic for the past six centuries or so, but had had recently been drifting into a lighter sleep.
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Reveal Vocabulary
The great storm lifted both Dragons gently from the seabed like a couple of sleeping babies, and washed them on the swell of one indescribably enormous wave on to The Long Beach, outside Hiccup’s village. And there they stayed, sleeping peacefully, while the wind shrieked horribly all around them like wild Viking ghosts having a loud party in Valhalla, until the storm blew itself out and the sun came up on a beach full of Dragon and very little else.
The first Dragon was enough to give you nightmares.
The second Dragon was enough to give your nightmares nightmares.
Imagine an animal about twenty times as large as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. More like a mountain than a living creature – a great, glistening, evil mountain. He was so encrusted with barnacles he looked like he was wearing a kind of jewelled armour but, where the little crustaceans and the coral couldn’t get a grip, in the joints and crannies of him, you could see his true colour. A glorious, dark green, it was the colour of the ocean itself.
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
Out in the blackness and way out to sea the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons indeed. The first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff. The second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast.
What did you notice?
Volume
Pace
Smoothness
Phrasing
Expression
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
Out in the blackness and way out to sea
the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic
that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons indeed.
The first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff.
The second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast.
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
Out in the blackness and way out to sea the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons indeed. The first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff. The second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast.
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Read Between the Lines
A) How does the author show that the storm was violent and dangerous?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
The storm raged through the whole of that night. Hiccup lay unable to sleep as the wind hurled about the walls like fifty dragons trying to get in.
A) How does the author show that the storm was violent and dangerous?
Reveal Explainer
The word ‘raged’ suggests that the storm was angry, out-of-control and very powerful. This makes it sound violent rather than calm. The phrase ‘through the whole of the night’ shows that the storm lasted a long time, making it feel dangerous as there was no break or chance to escape it.
Teach
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. 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) How does the author show that the storm was violent and dangerous?
B) How do the Sea Dragons differ from Toothless and the other dragons in the story?
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - the storm raged through the whole of the night - we’re very, very hungry
describes the storm as angry or aggressive
Text Mark Evidence Hiccup lay unable to sleep as the wind hurled about the walls
its impact on characters
Text Mark Evidence - the wind hurled - shrieked the wind
use of forceful verbs
A) How does the author show that the storm was violent and dangerous?
Text Mark Evidence the wind hurled about the walls like fifty dragons trying to get in
comparisons to powerful, dangerous creatures
Text Mark Evidence - let us in, let us in…shrieked the wind…we’re very, very hungry - the wind shrieked horribly
describes the storm as loud and hungry
Text Mark Evidence - the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons
its powerful impact on the sea and its creatures
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence the wind shrieked horribly all around them like wild Viking ghosts having a loud party in Valhalla
comparisons to wild, out-of-control celebrations
Text Mark Evidence a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons
older age
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - the first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff - the second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast - imagine an animal about twenty times as large as a Tyrannosaurus Rex
larger in size
B) How do the Sea Dragons differ from Toothless and the other dragons in the story?
Text Mark Evidence - the great Beast had been sleeping… for the past six centuries or so - they (dragons) stayed, sleeping peacefully, while the wind shrieked horribly all around them
deeper and longer hibernation
Text Mark Evidence - the first Dragon was enough to give you nightmares - the second Dragon was enough to give your nightmares nightmares - a great, glistening, evil mountain
more terrifying and monstrous
Text Mark Evidence - he (dragon) was so encrusted with barnacles he looked like he was wearing a kind of jewelled armour - where the little crustaceans and the coral couldn’t get a grip, in the joints and crannies of him, you could see his true colour
different appearance
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘seabed’?
Which One's Right?
He was so encrusted with barnacles he looked like he was wearing a kind of jewelled armour…
Which word is closest in meaning to ‘encrusted’?
B) empty
A) hidden
D) filled
C) decorated
Link Me
Link each word to its correct definition:
A) to throw or push with great force
1) hurl
B) protective covering
2) gobsmacking
C) amazing or shocking
Check
3) vast
Click if correct
D) immense or broad
4) armour
Sequence Me
Put the following events in the correct order:
A) The wind from the storm created gigantic waves.
B) The storm blue itself out and the sun rose.
C) The storm lifted the dragons from the seabed onto the beach.
D) The waves disturbed the sleep of the Sea Dragons.
Click if correct
Check
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
discover new worlds.
Reveal
Immerse yourself in imaginative settings and ideas.
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: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.
RSRT Y3 L4 How to Train Your Dragon
Literacy Counts
Created on February 7, 2026
Start designing with a free template
Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:
View
Essential Business Proposal
View
Project Roadmap Timeline
View
Step-by-Step Timeline: How to Develop an Idea
View
Artificial Intelligence History Timeline
View
Mind Map: The 4 Pillars of Success
View
Big Data: The Data That Drives the World
View
Momentum: Onboarding Presentation
Explore all templates
Transcript
Ready Steady Read Together
How to Train Your Dragon: Fiction Lesson 4
What do you think you know?
What?
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
When?
Book Talk: Let's explore this illustration.
Explore
What do you know and think?
Imagine an animal about twenty times as large as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. More like a mountain than a living creature – a great, glistening, evil mountain.
How might this extract link to the illustration?
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Today's Question(s)
A) How does the author show that the storm was violent and dangerous?
B) How do the Sea Dragons differ from Toothless and the other dragons in the story?
Explore
Let me read today's text
Explore
The storm raged through the whole of that night. Hiccup lay unable to sleep as the wind hurled about the walls like fifty dragons trying to get in. “Let us in, let us in,” shrieked the wind. “We’re very, very hungry.” Out in the blackness and way out to sea the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons indeed. The first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff. The second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast. The great Beast had been sleeping off his Roman picnic for the past six centuries or so, but had had recently been drifting into a lighter sleep.
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
The great storm lifted both Dragons gently from the seabed like a couple of sleeping babies, and washed them on the swell of one indescribably enormous wave on to The Long Beach, outside Hiccup’s village. And there they stayed, sleeping peacefully, while the wind shrieked horribly all around them like wild Viking ghosts having a loud party in Valhalla, until the storm blew itself out and the sun came up on a beach full of Dragon and very little else. The first Dragon was enough to give you nightmares. The second Dragon was enough to give your nightmares nightmares. Imagine an animal about twenty times as large as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. More like a mountain than a living creature – a great, glistening, evil mountain. He was so encrusted with barnacles he looked like he was wearing a kind of jewelled armour but, where the little crustaceans and the coral couldn’t get a grip, in the joints and crannies of him, you could see his true colour. A glorious, dark green, it was the colour of the ocean itself.
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Vocabulary
Explore
Hover for definitions!
hurled
seabed
gobsmackingly vast
encrusted with barnacles
armour
joints and crannies
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. 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
hurled
Explore
Find Read Talk
The storm raged through the whole of that night. Hiccup lay unable to sleep as the wind hurled about the walls like fifty dragons trying to get in.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Your turn
hurled
gobsmackingly vast
Find the word or phrase Read the sentence Talk about it to a partner
seabed
encrusted with barnacles
armour
joints and crannies
Use your text
Explore
Vocabulary Check & Re-read
Explore
Reveal Vocabulary
The storm raged through the whole of that night. Hiccup lay unable to sleep as the wind hurled about the walls like fifty dragons trying to get in. “Let us in, let us in,” shrieked the wind. “We’re very, very hungry.” Out in the blackness and way out to sea the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons indeed. The first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff. The second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast. The great Beast had been sleeping off his Roman picnic for the past six centuries or so, but had had recently been drifting into a lighter sleep.
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Reveal Vocabulary
The great storm lifted both Dragons gently from the seabed like a couple of sleeping babies, and washed them on the swell of one indescribably enormous wave on to The Long Beach, outside Hiccup’s village. And there they stayed, sleeping peacefully, while the wind shrieked horribly all around them like wild Viking ghosts having a loud party in Valhalla, until the storm blew itself out and the sun came up on a beach full of Dragon and very little else. The first Dragon was enough to give you nightmares. The second Dragon was enough to give your nightmares nightmares. Imagine an animal about twenty times as large as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. More like a mountain than a living creature – a great, glistening, evil mountain. He was so encrusted with barnacles he looked like he was wearing a kind of jewelled armour but, where the little crustaceans and the coral couldn’t get a grip, in the joints and crannies of him, you could see his true colour. A glorious, dark green, it was the colour of the ocean itself.
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Fluency
Explore
Let me use my reader's voice...
Out in the blackness and way out to sea the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons indeed. The first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff. The second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast.
What did you notice?
Volume
Pace
Smoothness
Phrasing
Expression
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
My Turn
Your Turn
Echo Read
Out in the blackness and way out to sea
the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic
that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons indeed.
The first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff.
The second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast.
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Sound like a reader!
Stand up!
Choral Read
Out in the blackness and way out to sea the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons indeed. The first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff. The second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast.
Explore
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Focus
Explore
Strategy: Read Between the Lines
A) How does the author show that the storm was violent and dangerous?
Be a detective and look for clues!
Teach
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
The storm raged through the whole of that night. Hiccup lay unable to sleep as the wind hurled about the walls like fifty dragons trying to get in.
A) How does the author show that the storm was violent and dangerous?
Reveal Explainer
The word ‘raged’ suggests that the storm was angry, out-of-control and very powerful. This makes it sound violent rather than calm. The phrase ‘through the whole of the night’ shows that the storm lasted a long time, making it feel dangerous as there was no break or chance to escape it.
Teach
From: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003. 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) How does the author show that the storm was violent and dangerous?
B) How do the Sea Dragons differ from Toothless and the other dragons in the story?
Find the answers
Text mark
Explore
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - the storm raged through the whole of the night - we’re very, very hungry
describes the storm as angry or aggressive
Text Mark Evidence Hiccup lay unable to sleep as the wind hurled about the walls
its impact on characters
Text Mark Evidence - the wind hurled - shrieked the wind
use of forceful verbs
A) How does the author show that the storm was violent and dangerous?
Text Mark Evidence the wind hurled about the walls like fifty dragons trying to get in
comparisons to powerful, dangerous creatures
Text Mark Evidence - let us in, let us in…shrieked the wind…we’re very, very hungry - the wind shrieked horribly
describes the storm as loud and hungry
Text Mark Evidence - the storm was so wild and the waves so gigantic that they disturbed the sleep of a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons
its powerful impact on the sea and its creatures
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Text Mark Evidence the wind shrieked horribly all around them like wild Viking ghosts having a loud party in Valhalla
comparisons to wild, out-of-control celebrations
Text Mark Evidence a couple of very ancient Sea Dragons
older age
Acceptable Answers
Text Mark Evidence - the first Dragon was averagely enormous, about the size of a largeish cliff - the second Dragon was gobsmackingly vast - imagine an animal about twenty times as large as a Tyrannosaurus Rex
larger in size
B) How do the Sea Dragons differ from Toothless and the other dragons in the story?
Text Mark Evidence - the great Beast had been sleeping… for the past six centuries or so - they (dragons) stayed, sleeping peacefully, while the wind shrieked horribly all around them
deeper and longer hibernation
Text Mark Evidence - the first Dragon was enough to give you nightmares - the second Dragon was enough to give your nightmares nightmares - a great, glistening, evil mountain
more terrifying and monstrous
Text Mark Evidence - he (dragon) was so encrusted with barnacles he looked like he was wearing a kind of jewelled armour - where the little crustaceans and the coral couldn’t get a grip, in the joints and crannies of him, you could see his true colour
different appearance
Click on the evidence to reveal acceptable answers
Quiz Time
Start
Picture Me
Which image is the best match for ‘seabed’?
Which One's Right?
He was so encrusted with barnacles he looked like he was wearing a kind of jewelled armour… Which word is closest in meaning to ‘encrusted’?
B) empty
A) hidden
D) filled
C) decorated
Link Me
Link each word to its correct definition:
A) to throw or push with great force
1) hurl
B) protective covering
2) gobsmacking
C) amazing or shocking
Check
3) vast
Click if correct
D) immense or broad
4) armour
Sequence Me
Put the following events in the correct order:
A) The wind from the storm created gigantic waves.
B) The storm blue itself out and the sun rose.
C) The storm lifted the dragons from the seabed onto the beach.
D) The waves disturbed the sleep of the Sea Dragons.
Click if correct
Check
Feedback: Who did what well?
FindRead Talk
EchoRead
ChoralRead
ReadingStrategy
Answers & Text Marks
Other...
To be a book lover, you could...
discover new worlds.
Reveal
Immerse yourself in imaginative settings and ideas.
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: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell © 2003 Schools must purchase the original text for full content.