This Year 1 reading comprehension unit is based on Sofa-Cat! An Amazing True Story, a non-fiction text by children’s author James Nichol.
The engaging true story tells how a curious cat, Crockett, accidentally got trapped inside a dismantled sofa during a house move. The new owners of the sofa discovered him days later when they heard miaowing from their furniture.
The text is ideal for developing children’s inference, sequencing and retrieval skills, as well as their ability to visualise events.
We've included illustrated and plain versions of the text for sharing and display. This is alongside a PowerPoint version (with or without highlights). A teacher-annotated copy supports close reading and shows where to prompt discussion, drama or visualisation to aid understanding.
This fully resourced unit contains two vocabulary-focused lessons exploring the words dismantled and release. Each lesson includes a Vocabulary Focus PowerPoint, Big Questions PowerPoint and supporting worksheets.
Additional comprehension resources support prediction, sequencing, personal response and emotional insight, with activities such as speech bubble writing, freeze frames, and emoji-style emotions charts.
You can teach the unit on its own, or as part of a wider Year 1 sequence on the theme of ‘Lost and Found’, alongside fiction and poetry texts.
It forms part of the Real Comprehension whole-school programme, which offers thematic fiction, non-fiction and poetry units to teach reading comprehension from Year 1 to Year 6.
This Year 1 reading comprehension resource pack includes:
- Original text PDFs – plain (ink-saver), illustrated, and annotated
- Original text PPTs – with and without highlights
- Resourced teaching sequence – part 1, with vocab PPT
- Resourced teaching sequence – part 2, with vocab PPT
- Revisit the text resources
- Full teaching notes