Support your Year 6 pupils in preparing for the KS2 SATs reading test with this engaging mini practice pack. Each resource is centred on a carefully selected text and includes SATs-style questions that develop essential reading skills, including vocabulary, retrieval, inference, summarising and predicting, and comparing and explaining.
For more texts and practice materials, explore our full KS2 SATs reading collection.
About the text: The Trees and the Axe
This extract from Jon Mayhew’s The Trees and the Axe, a retelling of one of Aesop’s fables, follows a community of trees with very different experiences and perspectives.
As with all fiction extracts in our SATs practice range, this text comes from our Real Writing collection of high-quality texts by celebrated children’s authors, giving pupils access to rich vocabulary, layered narrative and meaningful dialogue.
The contrasting attitudes of the trees and the challenges faced by the young ash tree provide a rich opportunity to explore character perspectives, cause and effect and moral reasoning. Pupils can analyse dialogue, compare viewpoints and track sequences of events – all key skills assessed in the KS2 SATs reading test.
Why this text works well for SATs revision
- Inference-rich narrative: The trees’ differing opinions and the ash tree’s reflections offer strong material for drawing conclusions and reading between the lines.
- Tier 2 vocabulary in context: Words such as lofty, hissed and valley allow pupils to practise contextual vocabulary questions.
- Clear retrieval opportunities: Pupils can locate details about each tree, their environment and the sequence of events confidently.
- Short, focused extract: The concise, dramatic dialogue and descriptive passages make it easy for pupils to re-read and consolidate understanding.
- Links naturally to summarising and predicting: The narrative invites pupils to reflect on moral lessons and predict outcomes for characters, supporting comprehension skills required in SATs.
What’s included in this resource pack
- Quick Reading Questions PowerPoint
- PDF version of the fiction text The Trees and the Axe
- Vocabulary Questions worksheet
- Retrieval Questions worksheet
- Inference Questions worksheet
- Summarise and Predict Questions worksheet
- Compare and Explain Questions worksheet
- Teacher notes
How to use this pack
Use the PowerPoint for whole-class modelling or small-group intervention, focusing on test technique and question analysis. Each section contains a warm-up question followed by SATs-style questions linked to specific reading skills.
Pupils can then apply their understanding using the PDF worksheets, either in class or as homework, using the text to justify their answers.
For more Year 6 reading practice, visit our KS2 SATs resources collection.