Collins Year 6 Reading Comprehension Targeted Practice Workbook

Year 6

Year 6 Reading Comprehension SATs Targeted Practice Workbook

Reading Comprehension

Improve comprehensive skills through engaging activities Introduce children to relevant and diverse texts Practice really does make perfect!

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SATs Question Book

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How to Use this Book Matched to the National Curriculum, this Collins Year 6 Reading Comprehension workbook is designed to improve comprehension skills.

Diverse and engaging texts including fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

Jabberwocky

Challenge 1 1

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

‘’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe…’

What do the words ‘gyre and gimble’ refer to? Tick one.

The brillig The actions of the slithy toves The actions of the wabe

‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!’

1 mark

2

Reread verse 2. What does the father warn his son that he needs to ‘shun’? Tick one.

The Jabberwock The Jubjub bird

He took his vorpal sword in hand; Long time the manxome foe he sought – So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought.

The Bandersnatch 3

of weapon the son has.

And, as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came!

Tests increase in difficulty as you work through the book.

Reread verse 3. Find and copy the two words in the verse that tell you what kind

1 mark

Challenge 2

One, two! One, two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back.

1

What is the son doing when the Jabberwock appears?

2

To whom did the son take the head of the Jabberwock?

3

Using information from the poem, tick one box in each row to show whether each statement is true or false.

1 mark

True

‘And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’

He chortled in his joy.

a) b) c) d)

False

1 mark

Total:

By Lewis Carroll

Had a go

Getting there

/ 6 marks

Got it!

26

Starter Test Street Child by Berlie Doherty At last he came to his home, in a house so full of families that he sometimes wondered how the floors and walls didn’t come tumbling down with the weight and the noise of them all.

He ran up the stairs and burst into the room his own family lived in. He was panting with triumph and excitement.

“I’ve got the pie! I’ve got the pie!” he sang out.

“Ssssh!” His sister Emily was kneeling on the floor, and she turned round to him sharply.

“Ma’s asleep, Jim.” Lizzie jumped up and ran to him, pulling him over towards the fire so they could spread out the pudding cloth on the hearth. They broke off chunks of pastry and dipped them into the brimming gravy.

“What about Ma?” asked Lizzie.

“She won’t want it,” Emily said. “She never eats.”

Lizzie pulled Jim’s hand back as he was reaching out for another chunk. “But the gravy might do her good,” she suggested. “Just a little taste. Stop shovelling it down so fast, Jim. Let Ma have a bit.”

She turned round to her mother’s pile of bedding and pulled back the ragged cover.

“Ma,” she whispered. “Try a bit. It’s lovely!”

She held a piece of gravy-soaked piecrust to her lips, but her mother shook her head and turned over, huddling her rug round her.

1 mark

The Jabberwock approached through the tulgey wood.

The son gave advice to his father.

The Jabberwock was silent.

The joyful father hugged his son.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

Starter test recaps skills covered in Year 5.

1 mark

Questions split into three levels of difficulty – Challenge 1, Challenge 2 and Challenge 3 – to help progression.

27

Total marks boxes for recording progress and ‘How am I doing’ checks for self-evaluation.

Three Progress tests included throughout the book for ongoing assessment and monitoring progress.

Progress Test 3 Philippe Petit: Twin Towers Tightrope Walk by Erica Buist Philippe Petit walked a tightrope between Manhattan’s Twin Towers on 7 August 1974.

I started wire-walking when I was 16. My friends were happy I was pursuing this unusual way of life. My family was more reserved and didn’t directly support me or, seemingly, understand me.

I read about the construction of the World Trade Center in a magazine in a dentist’s office. At that moment I decided I was going to walk between the towers. I remember every moment of that long quest, and every moment of the walk. Even 41 years later I have this strange ability to relive it almost instantly.

At the time, I didn’t think about the walk itself; in the eight months before it, I practised once, on a poorly rigged wire. My main focus was how to install a cable without permission. It was my dream and the closer I got to it the more I was compelled to do it, rather than feeling doubts.

I arrived the afternoon of the day before, planning to go to the roof as it got dark and rig all night. But we were delayed, I in my tower and my friend in the other, for hours because we were hiding from guards. I was terrified of getting caught, and felt like the policeman was a foot away, waiting to pounce. We arrived on the roof three hours later than planned, and only had half the night to rig.

When I took that first step on the wire, I tried not to make it vibrate because I hadn’t been able to check the anchor point in the other tower. After a few steps I realised it wasn’t well rigged but thought, ‘It’s safe enough.’ Even though the crowd was a quarter of a mile below, I could hear the clamour, joyful clapping and yelling. My almost invisible audience was part of the performance for me.

“I’ll have it!” said Jim, but Lizzie put it on the corner of her mother’s bed-rags.

“She might feel like it later,” she said. “The smell might tempt her.”

“I told you,” said Emily. “She don’t want food no more. That’s what she said.”

Jim paused for a moment in his eating, his hand resting over his portion of pie in case his sisters snatched it away from him. “What’s the matter with Ma?” he asked.

“Nothing’s the matter,” said Emily. She chucked a log on the fire, watching how the flames curled themselves round it.

“She’s tired, is all,” Lizzie prompted her. “She just wants to sleep, don’t she?”

“But she’s been asleep all day,” Jim said. “And yesterday. And the day before.”

“Just eat your pie,” said Emily. “You heard what she said. There’s no more shillings in that purse, so don’t expect no more pies after this one.”

“She’ll get better soon,” Lizzie said. “And then she’ll be able to go back to work. There’s lots of jobs for cooks. We’ll soon be out of this place. That’s what she told me, Jim.”

6

There were several photographers – this is from the one I call ‘the traitor’ because he swore he wouldn’t bring a camera to the roof. It was taken at a moment when I wasn’t in a great position on the wire. Usually I walk like a dancer, looking at the horizon and gliding, so it’s not my favourite picture.

I didn’t plan to cross eight times. After that first crossing, I rested on the wire against the face of the north tower, daydreaming and savouring the moment, and something made me stand

86

Answers provided for all the questions.

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Contents How to Use this Book

1

Reading Comprehension at Home

4

Starter Test

6

Night Mail

Poetry

14

Fiction

16

Non-fiction

18

Poetry

20

Heroes and Monsters

Non-fiction

22

Advertisement for Cream-O-Whip

Non-fiction

24

Jabberwocky

Poetry

26

Fiction

28

Poetry

30

by WH Auden

Friend or Foe

by Michael Morpurgo

Thomas Telford This Might Not Sound Serious

by Joan Poulson

by Lewis Carroll

The Secret Garden

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Granny Is

by Valerie Bloom

Progress Test 1 The Day of Ahmed’s Secret

32 Fiction

36

Letter to Parents

Non-fiction

39

The Way Through the Woods

Poetry

42

Fiction

45

Film Review Website

Non-fiction

48

Cosmic Disco

Poetry

51

by Florence Parry Heide

by Rudyard Kipling

Anne of Green Gables

by LM Montgomery

by Grace Nichols

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Progress Test 2

54

Pilling a Cat

Non-fiction

58

How to Play Minecraft (Beginner’s Guide)

Non-fiction

62

Fiction

66

Non-fiction

70

Poetry

74

Fiction

78

Non-fiction

82

by Jesse Stay, Thomas Stay, Jacob Cordeiro

Grendel

by Rosemary Sutcliff

Alcock and Brown and the First Non-Stop Transatlantic Flight All the World’s a Stage

by William Shakespeare

Tom Sawyer

by Mark Twain

Your Beating Heart Progress Test 3

86

Answers

90

Acknowledgments The author and publisher are grateful to the copyright holders for permission to use quoted materials and images.

“Night Mail,” copyright 1938, © renewed 1966 by W. H. Auden; from COLLECTED POEMS by W. H. Auden, edited by Edward Mendelson.

Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved; Skellig by David Almond reproduced by permission of Hodder Children’s Books, an imprint of Hachette Children’s Books, Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DZ; Mermaid’s Lament by Rachel Rooney used by permission of David Higham; Friend or Foe reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd © 2017 Michael Morpurgo; How to Safely Approach a Dog © Dogs Trust Ireland 2017; Philippe Petit walks a tightrope between Manhattan’s Twin Towers, 7 August 1974. Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd 2021; Street Child

by Berlie Doherty used by permission of David Higham; Cosmic Disco, written by Grace Nichols and illustrated by Alice Wright, published

by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, an imprint of The Quarto Group, copyright © 2013. Reproduced by permission of Quarto Publishing Plc; Amelia Earhart by Mandy Coe is used with permission; This Might Not Sound Serious by Joan Poulson is used by permission; Granny Is

by Valerie Bloom © 2000, Valerie Bloom. Reprinted by permission of Eddison Pearson Ltd on behalf of Valerie Bloom; The Day of Ahmed’s Secret by Florence Parry Heide, published by Puffin, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC; How to Play Minecraft (Beginner’s Guide) was taken from: Minecraft for Dummies published

by HarperCollins; Beowulf: Dragonslayer by Rosemary Sutcliff © Rosemary Sutcliff, 1961. Published by Puffin, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC; Pilling a Cat was taken from: Bob Story for the Laguna Beach Coastline News https://www.pawsperouspets.com/humor/catpill.shtml All illustrations and images are ©Shutterstock.com and ©HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

Published by Collins An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF HarperCollinsPublishers 1st Floor, Watermarque Building, Ringsend Road, Dublin 4, Ireland © HarperCollinsPublishers Limited 2021 ISBN 978-0-00-846760-9 First published 2021 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Collins.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A CIP record of this book is available from the British Library.

Publisher: Fiona McGlade Author: Rachel Grant Copyeditor: Fiona Watson Project Management: Shelley Teasdale Cover Design: Sarah Duxbury Inside Concept Design and Page Layout: Ian Wrigley Production: Karen Nulty Printed in the United Kingdom

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Reading Comprehension at Home These activities can be easily carried out at home when reading for pleasure with your child, or when your child is reading for pleasure on their own.

They will help build your child’s comprehension skills and are fun to do.

Open questions Help your child to develop an understanding of ideas in the texts they read. Use open questions like, ‘Why did the character say that?’, ‘Why did the writer choose that word?’ or ‘What makes you think that?’. This will develop higher-order reading skills of inference and deduction and encourage children to move beyond simply decoding words.

What happens next?

When you are reading a story or narrative poem with your child, stop at a suitable point in the story and ask them to predict what will happen next, and to explain why they think that. Encourage them to think about how their understanding of the characters and the events so far helped them with their prediction.

Word families When you are reading with your child, take the time to explore the meaning of unfamiliar words to ensure they understand what they have read. Encourage them to use the context to help them work out what new words mean, and to use a dictionary to double-check the meaning. Make a note of familiar words that have similar meanings to develop their understanding.

Picture perfect When you are reading non-fiction with your child, consider the pictures, diagrams and charts that have been included, as well as the words. Discuss why you think those particular pictures, diagrams and charts were chosen, and how they help the reader to understand the text. Ask them to suggest other artwork they would like to see included on the page.

Reading with older children As your child gets older, he or she may prefer silent reading on their own rather than being read to. At this point it is important to create an environment that values reading as an experience and that also fosters discussing ideas and opinions about the books you and your child are reading.

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Starter Test Street Child by Berlie Doherty At last he came to his home, in a house so full of families that he sometimes wondered how the floors and walls didn’t come tumbling down with the weight and the noise of them all.

He ran up the stairs and burst into the room his own family lived in. He was panting with triumph and excitement.

“I’ve got the pie! I’ve got the pie!” he sang out.

“Ssssh!” His sister Emily was kneeling on the floor, and she turned round to him sharply.

“Ma’s asleep, Jim.” Lizzie jumped up and ran to him, pulling him over towards the fire so they could spread out the pudding cloth on the hearth. They broke off chunks of pastry and dipped them into the brimming gravy.

“What about Ma?” asked Lizzie.

“She won’t want it,” Emily said. “She never eats.”

Lizzie pulled Jim’s hand back as he was reaching out for another chunk. “But the gravy might do her good,” she suggested. “Just a little taste. Stop shovelling it down so fast, Jim. Let Ma have a bit.”

She turned round to her mother’s pile of bedding and pulled back the ragged cover.

“Ma,” she whispered. “Try a bit. It’s lovely!”

She held a piece of gravy-soaked piecrust to her lips, but her mother shook her head and turned over, huddling her rug round her.

“I’ll have it!” said Jim, but Lizzie put it on the corner of her mother’s bed-rags.

“She might feel like it later,” she said. “The smell might tempt her.”

“I told you,” said Emily. “She don’t want food no more. That’s what she said.”

Jim paused for a moment in his eating, his hand resting over his portion of pie in case his sisters snatched it away from him. “What’s the matter with Ma?” he asked.

“Nothing’s the matter,” said Emily. She chucked a log on the fire, watching how the flames curled themselves round it.

“She’s tired, is all,” Lizzie prompted her. “She just wants to sleep, don’t she?”

“But she’s been asleep all day,” Jim said. “And yesterday. And the day before.”

“Just eat your pie,” said Emily. “You heard what she said. There’s no more shillings in that purse, so don’t expect no more pies after this one.”

“She’ll get better soon,” Lizzie said. “And then she’ll be able to go back to work. There’s lots of jobs for cooks. We’ll soon be out of this place. That’s what she told me, Jim.”

6

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1. ‘“I’ve got the pie!” he sang out.’ What do the words ‘sang out’ suggest about

the way Jim spoke?

1 mark

2. What was Emily doing as Jim entered the room?

1 mark

3. ‘…she turned round to him sharply.’ What does ‘sharply’ mean in this sentence?

Tick one.

Quietly

Abruptly

Gently

1 mark

4. What was Ma’s job before she got ill?

1 mark

5. ‘ She never eats.’ Find and copy another place in the text that refers to the fact that Ma has stopped eating.

1 mark

6. ‘ Stop shovelling it down…’ What does the word ‘shovelling’ suggest about how Jim ate the pie? Tick one.

He ate it slowly, in small pieces.

He ate it carefully, chewing each piece.

He ate it quickly, in large pieces.

1 mark

7

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Night Mail This is the night mail crossing the Border, Bringing the cheque and the postal order, Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, The shop at the corner, the girl next door.

Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb: The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time.

Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder Shovelling white steam over her shoulder, Snorting noisily as she passes Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.

Birds turn their heads as she approaches, Stare from bushes at her blank-faced coaches.

Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course; They slumber on with paws across.

In the farm she passes no one wakes, But a jug in a bedroom gently shakes.

By WH Auden

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Challenge 1 1

What type of transport is the night mail? Tick one.

A train A lorry A bus

1 mark

2

Write one thing that the night mail carries.

3

What does each of these do when the night mail passes? Draw lines to match the actions.

Birds

trembles slightly

Sheep-dogs

turn to look

A jug in a bedroom

stay asleep

1 mark

1 mark

Challenge 2 1

‘The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time.’ What does the word ‘gradient’ mean in this sentence? Tick one.

Weather Slope Boundary

1 mark

2

Find and copy a group of words that tells you what energy is used to power the night mail.

3

How do we know that the night mail crosses from one country to another?

1 mark

1 mark

Total:

Had a go

Getting there

/ 6 marks

Got it!

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Progress Test 1 Mermaid’s Lament by Rachel Rooney

I’ve had enough of perching on rocks stinking of fish, waiting for sailors to pass by and fall in love.

I want to swim away to shore, stand up on my own two feet and walk tall across dry land.

I want to go disco dancing with mates, look great in my high-heeled stilettos and tight blue jeans.

I want to pedal hard up a steep hill, then legs outstretched, freewheel down just for the fun of it.

I want to be a striker, take a penalty and score the golden goal, perform cartwheels to a roaring crowd.

Or simply lounge on the beach in a twin-set bikini, paint my toenails, and watch the fishermen emptying out their nets.

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1.

In the poem, who or what is ‘I’?

2.

Where does the mermaid live?

1 mark

1 mark

3.

Find and copy a group of words that shows the mermaid feels frustrated by the current situation.

4.

1 mark

Why can the mermaid not stand up or walk?

1 mark

5.

Which of these lines from the poem suggests that the mermaid feels lonely? Tick one.

I want to be a striker, take a penalty I want to pedal hard up a steep hill I want to go disco dancing with mates

6.

1 mark

‘I want to be a striker, take a penalty and score the golden goal, perform cartwheels to a roaring crowd.’

From this sentence, what impression do you get of the mermaid?

1 mark

7.

Look at the sentence beginning, ‘I want to pedal hard up a steep hill…’ Find and copy a word that means the same as ‘travel without using pedals’.

1 mark

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Film Review Website FAMILY-FRIENDLY FILMS

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THE RETURN OF DRAGONLORD PG

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/ 2020 / 115 minutes Family-Friendly Films says: A thrilling, fast-moving fantasy adventure story.

Suitable for Age 9+

WHAT’S THE STORY? Set in a far-off time when dragons and giants walk the Earth, Dragonlord and King Giant become locked in a battle for ultimate power. Which of these mighty creatures will win?

Continue reading ∨

Parents say Suitable for Age 10+

Children say Suitable for Age 9+

Based on 71 reviews

Based on 151 reviews

EXPERT REVIEW This is a spectacular, all-action tale

of heroism and courage. Fantasy fans will love the special effects.

Continue reading ∨

PARENTS’ GUIDE Parents need to know that The Return of Dragonlord has strong elements of fantasy and some violence, though few characters are hurt. Younger children may find the main characters frightening. Some weapons are used, including swords, clubs and smoke bombs.

Continue reading ∨

WHAT VIEWERS ARE SAYING

Add your rating and review

Read more reviews ∨

PARENTS’ REVIEWS Age 8+

CHILDREN’S REVIEWS Age 8+ I think this is a really good film. Kids will not get bored.

A great film for everyone!

Age 10+

It’s an exciting film, but definitely not for young kids. There is too much violence in it for kids aged under 10.

Age 7+ I did not like the monsters or the battles. It was too scary for me and I did not finish the film.

TALK WITH YOUR CHILD ABOUT

MOVIE FACTS

• Talk about Dragonlord and King Giant. Why are they fighting? What do they want to win?

Cinema release: September 11th

• Talk about the ending – is it sad or happy? Does anyone really win the battle, or not?

• Talk about the human characters Chesney and Matilda. What are they like? Are they brave? Are they funny? Do they help each other?

Continue reading ∨

You may also enjoy: Monster Universe Age 6+

Godzilla Returns Age 8+

Streaming date: December 16th Genre: fantasy, action, adventure Director: Loulou Nawab Studio: Fabulous Entertainment

King Giant Takes Charge Age 9+

About us / Contact / Our team / Join us / Why you can trust us

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Challenge 1 1 What is the website called?

1 mark

2 What are the names of the two main characters in the film featured on the website?

2 marks

3 A ccording to the text, Family-Friendly Films thinks The Return of Dragonlord is suitable for children aged… Tick one.

8+

9+

7+

1 mark

4 How many stars (out of 5) does Family-Friendly Films give The Return of Dragonlord?

1 mark

5 Based on all reviews, which group rates the film more highly? Tick one.

Family-Friendly Films

Parents

Children

1 mark

Challenge 2 1 How long is The Return of Dragonlord?

1 mark

2 ‘There is too much violence in it for kids aged under 10.’ Find three more pieces of evidence that tell us the film contains violence.

3 marks

3 We are told the film’s genres are fantasy, action, adventure. Write another word

that is similar in meaning to ‘genre’.

1 mark

4 Using information from the text, tick one box in each row to show whether each statement is a fact or an opinion.

Fact

a) The film was released on 11th September. b) Kids will not get bored. c) Fantasy fans will love the special effects.

Opinion

1 mark

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