We've built this Year 3 reading comprehension unit around the text The King and the Spider by children’s poet Joshua Seigal.
The poem explores perseverance through a simple but powerful story inspired by the legend of Robert the Bruce. As the King watches a spider struggle to spin its web, he finds the strength to keep going himself.
This text provides rich opportunities for building comprehension, exploring vocabulary and developing personal responses.
You can teach this unit as a standalone poetry sequence or combine it with the fiction and non-fiction units in our Real Comprehension programme for Year 3, all of which explore the theme of perseverance.
This programme provides high-quality texts and structured teaching resources from Year 1 to Year 6. It's designed to deepen understanding and improve reading skills.
Two-part sequence
The teaching sequence comprises two parts. Each one takes pupils through layered reading strategies including model, choral and paired reads, alongside structured opportunities for drama, discussion and visualisation.
The teacher’s annotated version of the poem supports close reading and identifies key moments for exploring meaning and emotion in the text.
Two vocabulary focus sessions help pupils explore and understand the words observes and dwindled. Each focus is supported by a PowerPoint, and pupils complete tasks to define the word, see it in context and use it in their own sentences.
Additional resources include comprehension worksheets that explore the King’s changing emotions and his reflections on what he sees.
Pupils will also complete a role on the wall activity and write a diary entry. Big Questions and visualisation tasks help deepen their understanding and link the message of the poem to their own experiences.
This Year 3 poetry comprehension pack includes:
- The King and the Spider by Joshua Seigal – PDF (plain, illustrated, annotated) and PowerPoint versions
- Annotated teacher’s text with close reading notes
- Resourced teaching sequences with vocabulary focus
- Big Questions PowerPoints and worksheets
- Full teaching notes