Year 1 Reading Comprehension (spring): Small, but Strong!

This Year 1 reading comprehension unit is based on Small but Strong, an original non-fiction text by children’s author Lucy Strange. (You can also use the text as a WAGOLL for supporting KS1 writing development.)

We've included illustrated and plain versions of the text for display and shared reading, alongside PowerPoint versions (with or without highlights). A fully annotated version helps guide close reading, highlighting opportunities for clarification, discussion, drama and visualisation.

Carefully structured sequence

The text, which explores how some of the smallest creatures on the planet are also the strongest, is pitched above the level most Year 1 pupils could access independently. For this reason, we've carefully structured the teaching sequence to support understanding through a range of interactive strategies.

Three resourced lessons build vocabulary and reading comprehension, focusing on the words strongest, smallest, lift, mighty and minute. Pupils engage with word meanings, suffixes, comparisons and sentence work using visual supports and hands-on activities.

The unit also develops the key reading skills of retrieval, sequencing, prediction and inference. Activities include:

• Comparing animals using image cards and sentence stems
• Using real objects to explore the concept of lifting
• Visualising and drawing insects from the text
• Responding to Big Questions and true/false prompts
• Asking their own follow-up questions

Variety of reading approaches

There are a variety of reading approaches you can use – such as model, choral and jump-in reading – depending on pupil needs. The unit includes opportunities for reader-led visualisation and empathy-building tasks, such as imagining what it would feel like to lift many times your own body weight.

This Year 1 non-fiction comprehension pack includes:

• Original text PDFs – plain (ink-saver), illustrated, annotated
• PowerPoint versions of the text – with and without highlights
• Resourced teaching sequences – Parts 1, 2 and 3, with matching vocabulary PPTs
• Image and word cards (e.g. animals, beetles, lifting actions)
• Big Questions slides and worksheets
• ‘Difficult easy’ comprehension worksheet
• Full teaching notes and guided lesson structure

You can teach this unit on its own or as part of a wider thematic sequence alongside fiction and poetry for Year 1. It’s part of the Real Comprehension whole-school programme, which builds deep reading skills through themed fiction, non-fiction and poetry units from Year 1 to Year 6.