This Year 3 reading comprehension unit is based on Sophie Christiansen CBE – Born to Succeed?. This is an original non-fiction text by children’s author Jo Franklin.
It tells the inspiring true story of Paralympic equestrian Sophie Christiansen and explores how determination, talent and support helped her overcome significant challenges to achieve incredible things.
You can teach this unit as a standalone non-fiction sequence or use it alongside our linked fiction and poetry units for the same year group, all based on the theme of perseverance. It forms part of our Real Comprehension whole-school programme, which builds deeper understanding and strong reading skills from Year 1 to Year 6 through high-quality texts and engaging, structured activities.
The teaching sequence is split into three parts. Each one supports pupils as they build their comprehension skills through layered reading approaches. You’ll model fluent reading, guide choral and paired reads, and revisit key information through discussion and drama.
The teacher’s annotated version of the text provides close reading notes and highlights where you might prompt visualisation or class discussion to check understanding.
Vocabulary focus
Each lesson also features a vocabulary focus. Pupils will explore the words impact, temperament and stranded in context using interactive PowerPoints. Tasks guide them to understand word meanings, spot usage and compose their own sentences using new vocabulary.
Additional activities include fact recall, visualisation, hot-seating, and writing tasks such as designing a Paralympic poster and summarising the most relevant traits of Sophie’s horse. You’ll also find worksheets to support personal responses, emotion tracking, and deeper questioning using the Big Questions format.
This unit helps children connect ideas across texts, link them to their own lives and better understand real-world resilience. It also supports diversity in reading by spotlighting a successful disabled role model.
This Year 3 non-fiction comprehension pack includes:
- Sophie Christiansen CBE – Born to Succeed? – PDF (plain, illustrated, annotated) and PowerPoint versions
- Annotated teacher’s text with close reading notes
- Resourced teaching sequences with matching vocabulary PowerPoints
- Big Questions PowerPoints
- Worksheets
- Full teaching notes