This Year 4 reading comprehension unit is based on The Ballad of Cinder-Sooty-Nose, a lively original poem by children’s author Sue Hardy-Dawson.
This humorous retelling of Cinderella offers pupils a fresh take on a traditional tale, while building key reading comprehension skills and vocabulary knowledge.
The pack includes plain, illustrated and annotated versions of the text, along with PowerPoint formats for flexible teaching. The poem itself can also be used as a WAGOLL to support creative writing across KS2.
Fully resourced teaching sequence
A fully resourced teaching sequence is provided in two parts, each including a close reading focus and a vocabulary lesson. These help pupils explore the words pondering and wondered in detail – through definitions, contextual examples, synonyms, antonyms and sentence work.
Teacher notes guide you through model, choral, paired and jump-in reading approaches, while annotated text highlights where you can prompt discussion, drama and visualisation to deepen understanding.
The unit also includes Big Questions for each part of the poem, helping pupils think more deeply about characters, structure and themes. Extension activities support skills such as sequencing, retrieval and inference.
Pupils are encouraged to visualise scenes from the poem, freeze-frame key moments and compare this version of Cinderella with traditional ones.
You can teach this unit on its own or use it as part of our Real Comprehension programme – a whole-school resource that offers thematic reading comprehension units across Years 1-6, covering fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Included resources:
- The Ballad of Cinder-Sooty-Nose (plain, illustrated and annotated PDFs)
- PowerPoint versions of the text (with and without highlights)
- Teaching sequences
- Vocabulary Focus PowerPoints
- Big Questions PowerPoints and worksheets
- Visualisation and freeze-frame prompts
- Revisit the text worksheets: Difficult/Easy Questions, Personal Response
- Full teacher notes with prior knowledge guidance and close reading support