English Reading · Key Stage 3 Year 7
Year 7 Reading: Fiction and Non-Fiction
Read whole texts closely, make inferences you can prove, and write a clear point supported by evidence.
About this topic
This course teaches you to read a text closely and to write about it in a way that convinces a reader. It covers fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and it treats all three as things that were built on purpose. The order matters. You begin with plot, structure and character, because those are the parts of a story you already notice. You then move outwards to setting and theme, which are harder to see and need evidence to support. The middle of the course teaches inference, the skill of reaching a conclusion the text has not stated, and the discipline of proving it with the right quotation. From there you look at how single words, sentence length and delay change the way a scene feels. Two lessons take you outside fiction, into non-fiction and into poetry, so that the same reading skills are tested on very different kinds of writing. Along the way you work through short worked examples, a quiz after every lesson and one longer piece of written work. The final lesson gathers everything into a single paragraph structure you can use in any English lesson, in any subject that asks you to prove a claim, and in the assignment that closes the course.
What you will learn
- Explain how plot and structure shape a story.
- Describe a character using evidence from the text.
- Describe a setting and explain what it makes possible and impossible.
- Identify a theme and trace where it appears across a text.
- Make an inference and support it with a quotation.
- Explain the effect of a writer's word choices.
- Explain how sentence length and delay build tension.
- Distinguish fact from opinion in a non-fiction text.
- Identify bias by examining what a text includes and leaves out.
- Identify the features that make a poem different from prose.
- Explain an image in a poem and what the comparison brings with it.
- Write a clear point about a text supported by well chosen evidence.
Vocabulary
Words to know
You will meet these words in this topic. Press the speaker to hear one. Inside a lesson you can tap any word to hear it and see what it means.
Words this topic teaches
- cause
To bring about something or make it happen.
- event
An occurrence at a particular time
- crisis
A difficult or dangerous moment for characters.
- flashback
A scene that shows something that happened in the past.
- cliffhanger
An ending that leaves part of the story unresolved to keep you interested.
- narrator
The voice or person who tells the story.
- background
The details about what happened earlier or information about the past.
- window
A way to understand more about a character.
- set
Start to move or begin.
- conclusion
A final thought or answer you reach after looking at all the facts.
- theme
The important subject or message in a story.
- repetition
The action of repeating something again and again.
- summary
A short version showing only the most important information.
- count
Say each number in order, either up or down.
- topic
What something is about or the subject matter.
- precision
Being exact and accurate in detail.
- overclaim
Say something is true, but go further than the evidence shows.
- connotation
Feeling or idea a word suggests in addition to its main meaning.
- associations
Ideas or feelings we connect with a word.
- synonym
A word with almost the same meaning as another.
- withheld
Kept back or not revealed to someone.
- isolation
Separate from everything else.
- technique
A method or way of doing something.
- pattern
A set of things that repeat in an order.
- analysis
Detailed study to understand how something works or what it means.
- vague
Unclear, not specific or precise.
- guide
Something that helps you decide where to put something.
- review
A written or spoken opinion about a book, usually saying what happens and what the writer thinks.
- critic
A person who judges the quality of something, often by pointing out problems.
- impression
An idea or feeling you get about someone or something, not based on facts.
- headline
The main title of a story in a newspaper or report.
- load
Language chosen to make the reader feel a certain way.
- pace
The speed at which something, like a story or poem, moves.
- friction
A feeling or effect when two things push against each other, making it less smooth.
- compression
The act of making something shorter or more compact in poetry.
- rhyme
A group of words with a matching ending sound.
- scheme
An organised pattern or structure, like the way rhymes are arranged.
- paragraph
A section of writing with related sentences.
- effect
The result caused by something.
- embed
Place something inside another thing, like a quote in your sentence.
Other words in these lessons
- hunch
An idea or feeling about something, often without proof.
- routine
A usual set of actions taken in the same order each time.
- quotation
A group of words copied from text.
- explain
Make something clear by giving details or reasons.
- retell
Say a story you know, using your own words.
- reveal
Make something known that was hidden or not noticed.
- detail
A part of something that gives extra or more exact information.
- neutral
Not showing support for one side or another.
- neglected
Not given enough care or attention.
- curfew
A time or rule saying people must be inside.
- impossible
It cannot happen or be done.
- convince
Make someone accept your idea or side.
- threatening
Making you feel scared or in danger.
- permission
Allowance or approval to do something.
- deliberate
Done intentionally, not by chance or accident.
- explore
Look into or talk about something deeply.
- weight
The importance or power something has.
- claim
To say that something is correct, especially if it might not be.
- abandoned
Left behind or given up by its owners or people.
- select
Choose one thing from several options.
- refusal
Not doing something, even when asked.
- carelessness
Not paying enough attention when you do something.
- advance
Happening earlier than something else.
- urgent
Needing quick action.
- celebration
An event for happiness, or to mark something special.
- incident
An event, especially an unexpected one.
- force
Make something happen so you do not have a choice.
- frequent
Happening many times or often.
- accident
An event where something bad happens without meaning to.
- interpret
Explain or decide what something means.
- resident
A person who lives somewhere, especially in a particular place or area.
- verify
To confirm something is true or correct by checking.
- process
A planned series of actions or steps to achieve a result.
- defensible
Able to be supported with good reasons or evidence.
- automatically
Happens without needing effort or decision.
- harbour
An area where ships or boats are kept near the shore.
- margin
The area around the edge of a page where printing usually does not go.
- isolate
To separate something so that it is on its own.
- violence
Physical force or action meant to hurt, damage, or destroy, sometimes used to describe strong actions in poems.
- contain
To have something present inside.
- competent
Having the necessary skill to do something well.
- particular
A chosen or exact one, not just any.
- confrontation
A situation where people face each other, often in conflict.
- mark
Draw a sign or spot to show something.
- unsupported
Not given evidence or help.
Lessons
- 1What Makes a Story Work, and How Do We Get to Know a Character?Free to try
- 2Where Is the Story Set, and What Is the Writer Really Saying? Locked
- 3How Do We Read Between the Lines and Find Evidence for Our Ideas? Locked
- 4What Words Has the Writer Chosen, and How Do They Build Tension? Locked
- 5What Can Non-Fiction Tell Us, and How Do We Compare Fact and Opinion? Locked
- 6What Makes a Poem Different, and How Do We Talk About Poetic Techniques? Locked
- 7How Do We Write a Clear Point and Support It with Quotations? Locked