2 Rea d ing Compre h ension
Hi, my name’s Zack and I live with my parents and younger sister Jess. (We get on quite well, although sometimes she’s a bit annoying.)
I have a dog called Rags. He got his name because when he was a puppy he kept chewing socks, T-shirts and any other clothes he could find.
I go to Manor Park School and I’m in Cedar class. All the classes are named after trees. My teacher is Mrs Longley.
Zack’s Blog
My best friend is Mark and we both belong to Southold Town Football club. Mark’s dad is one of our coaches. Last season we won the local league’s U12s shield and so far, this year we’ve won all our games except one! We train on Thursday evenings and play our matches on Saturday afternoons.
Our last match was against Bentley U12s, and it was very competitive. At half-time the score was 2-1 to us. In the second half, we scored another goal and Bentley scored twice. That meant at the final whistle it was a 3-3 draw, so it went to penalties. I scored the winning penalty! Hooray!
I am going to be writing and posting more about Southold U12s as the season continues. I hope you’ll follow my posts and enjoy reading about us. More soon!
Colour the box with the correct answer.
Zack plays:
Zack’s sister is called:
rugby football cricket hockey Anna Beth Hinda Jess
On what day do Southold U12s play their matches?
In which league does Zack play?
What team does Zack play for? ......................................................................................
During their last match, what was the score at half-time?
Why did the match against Bentley U12s go to penalties?
Discussion
How do you think Zack felt when he scored the winning penalty?
A Trip to the Seashore
Dear Gran,
How are you? Sam and I had a great day out with Dad last Saturday. He arrived and said that he was taking us on an adventure. We were going to explore and do some beachcombing on the shore at Sandy Bay. I wore the Wellington boots you gave me for my birthday. Thank you, I really love them. Sam was really excited because he loves to explore.
When we arrived, we ran down to the shoreline. Dad told us to keep our eyes open and look for interesting things.
17 Bookstore Road, Snoreham, Coreshire
Sam found some seaweed. He thought it was bladderwrack, because it had bubbles in it. I found some more shells for my collection, and a strange white disc thing. Dad said it was the middle of a cuttlefish. I didn’t know what that was, so we found a picture of one in Dad’s guide book. They are really weird!
A bit further along the beach Sam found a blob of jelly. It was a jellyfish that had got stranded on the shore when the tide went out. It had black circles in the middle and what was left of its tentacles underneath. Yuck!
Then I found something that looked like an oblong black bubble with some curly strings on each corner. As it turns out, it was an egg case from a shark or a ray. The embryo grows in there, and then when it has hatched out the case often gets washed up on the shore. Dad told us that, according to folklore, they are mermaid’s purses. Well that’s what sailors used to say anyway. Dad said I should check that a mermaid hadn’t left anything in it. I said I thought mermaids would have prettier purses.
Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks
Lots of love, Cami
Colour the box with the correct answer.
Where did Cami and her family go to explore?
The white disc that Cami found came from a:
What does the word stranded mean?
What is a mermaid’s purse really?
Shoreham Bay Sunny Bay Stoney Bay Sandy Bay shark ray jellyfish cuttlefish a boat left behind on a shore caught up an egg case a jelly a shell a cuttlefish
What do you do if you are beachcombing? ...................................................................
What things did the children find on the beach?
What sort of fish might hatch out of a mermaid’s purse?
Why might a mermaid keep in her purse or handbag?
Reading Comprehension & Writing Skills is a programme that gives young children the skills they need to become confident listeners, speakers, readers and writers. It can be used independently, but also works well with Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation, and has the same multisensory, active and fun approach. The systematic and cumulative syllabus enables children to read a variety of different texts and genres with deeper understanding and enthusiasm, to expand their vocabulary and to write confidently, using their own experiences and imagination.
The engaging, weekly Reading Comprehension lessons:
• provide children with a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts to listen to, read, discuss and analyse.
• encourage participation with vibrant illustrations, attractive artwork and colourful photographs in this write-in Pupil Book.
• offer purposeful activities for a deeper level of understanding.
• incorporate suggestions for further reading around the topic, as well as extension activities.
• come with step-by-step lesson plans, as well as fully structured support, provided in the Reading Comprehension & Writing Skills Teacher’s Book.
To see the full range of Jolly Literacy products, visit our website at jollylearning.com
Printed in the United Kingdom. All rights reserved jollylearning.com info@jollylearning.com © Sara Wernham 2026 (text) © Jolly Learning 2026 (illustrations) Illustrated by Yoana Gurriz Muñoz
ISBN 978-1-83582-381-1
LEGO® spill photograph, p. 64, © Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition Other images by: commons.wikimedia.org, pixabay.com and vecteezy.com
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Reference: JL3811 British English Edition
26/13