All You Need To Teach Comprehension 10+

Lesson Bank
The Greatest Eruption of All Time
50
Comprehension focus
@ Infer
@ Visualise
@ Synthesise
Mini-lesson 1: Advanced
KWL
Before reading, activate prior knowledge by asking
students what they know about volcanoes. Prompt
for vocabulary that will assist when reading the text.
Distribute BLM 44 and explain the KWLSE. Ask
students to record responses in the K and W sections
of the table.
Distribute BLM 29 and ask students to read the
interesting facts to gather more topic knowledge
before reading the body of the text. Discuss the facts
and invite comments. Have students read the text.
After reading, invite students to share what they
have learned from the text and probe for higher level
thinking. Remind students to revisit the text to check.
Guide students to connect with the text by using
multi-sensory information to imagine the event.
Prompt guide
How long ago did Mt Vesuvius erupt?
What happened as a result of the eruption?
The locals had lived their whole lives near the
volcano. Why were they unprepared for the
eruption?
Describe the scene before Mt Vesuvius erupted
Describe the scene during the eruption.
Re-read paragraph 4. How could the author know
this occurred? How does this description help you
to understand and relate to what happened?
Can you imagine what the eruption looked like?
Imagine the smell. What do you expect it would
be like? How do you think you would feel? What
would you be thinking? How important do you
think it would be to you to locate your loved ones?
Have students return to the KWLSE and complete
the remaining sections. Invite students to share their
responses with a peer and then come together as a
large group to discuss the key ideas in this text.
Mini-lesson 2: Cause and
Effect
Discuss the terms ‘cause’ and ‘effect’. Explain that
one thing can cause another thing to happen. Show
some examples of cause and effect on a board or
chart. The table below may help.
Cause
heavy rain
strong winds
lightning strikes
Have students re-read the text and look for examples
of cause and effect. Tell them to discuss their findings
with a friend. Distribute BLM 45 and have students
record as many examples as they can find. When
finished, ask students to use a different coloured pen
to record cause and effect examples that they can
infer from their reading. Explain to students that they
will need to use the information stated in the text
and think more about it. The table below offers a few
examples.
Cause
ash raining down
sounds of the
eruption
blast of ash and gas
Effect
flooding
Invite students to share their inferences and prompt
them to give reasons to support their thinking.
Follow Up
damage to trees and
property
fallen trees, damage to
property
Effect
animals died
birds were frightened
and flew away
bodies burned, skin
melting
Investigating
Use Task Card 15 to extend students’ knowledge
of this topic. Remind them to gather information
from more than one source to verify its accuracy.
You may opt to have students focus on a particular
comprehension task, for example compare/
contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, KWL.
Evaluative thinking
Tell students that when reading or viewing, we
form opinions about a text. Use Task Card 16 to
build understandings of different points of view
and opinions of this text.