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Reading and responding to 'The Magic Porridge Pot'

Lesson details

Learning outcome

I can listen to and discuss a traditional tale.

Key learning points

  1. Predictions can be made based on illustrations, what has already been read and the front cover
  2. One person's prediction may be different to another person's
  3. Traditional tales often start by introducing the characters, such as the little girl and setting the scene
  4. 'The Magic Porridge Pot' teaches us to be generous and helpful to others
  5. Traditional tales mostly end happily, such as having enough food and sharing with others

Keywords

  • Character - a person or an animal in a story

  • Setting - where the story takes place

  • Plot - what happens in the story

  • Prediction - making a guess using what we already know

Common misconception

Pupils may struggle to make a prediction if they know the story already.

Celebrate any stories the pupils know already. Play a game to imagine that the memory has gone from their heads and just get them to use the front cover as clues imagining they are detectives.

Teacher tip

Provide lots of opportunities to re-read the whole story to the class. Retell the story how you would like them to write it - past tense, using sequencing language, description and using 'and' to join two ideas. Look at lessons 7 and 8 for examples.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
(Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
What can we usually find on the front cover of a book?

video
Correct answer: title
Correct answer: author
numbers

Q2.
An illustrator is ...

where the story happens.
the person who has written the book.
a person or animal in the story.
Correct answer: the person who has drawn the pictures.

Q3.
The title of a book is ...

the main event in the story.
Correct answer: the name of the book.
where the story happens.
the person who has written the book.

Q4.
Put the parts of a story in the correct order.

1 - beginning
2 - middle
3 - end

Q5.
Match these words to the correct word class in the following sentence: 'The little girl skipped towards Jacob.'

Correct Answer:little,adjective

adjective

Correct Answer:girl,common noun

common noun

Correct Answer:Jacob,proper noun

proper noun

Q6.
__________ is a type of story that is made up or imagined.

An author
A poem
Correct answer: Fiction
Non-fiction

6 Questions

Q1.
What is a character?

Correct answer: a person or an animal in a story
where the story takes place
what happens in the story

Q2.
Which of these characters are in the story 'The Magic Porridge Pot'?

evil stepmother
Correct answer: Jin
Cinderella
Correct answer: old lady

Q3.
What is the setting of a story?

a person or an animal in a story
Correct answer: where the story takes place
what happens in the story

Q4.
Which of these are settings in the story 'The Magic Porridge Pot'?

grassy meadow
Correct answer: village in the mountains
busy city
Correct answer: bamboo forest

Q5.
When we look at the front cover of a book, what can help us make a prediction?

author
Correct answer: title
illustrator
Correct answer: pictures or illustrations

Q6.
What happens at the end of 'The Magic Porridge Pot'?

The old lady takes the magical porridge pot back.
Correct answer: Jin learns how to use the pot carefully to make porridge for everybody.
They have to move away to a new village.
Jin decides to stop making porridge for others and just use it for herself.

To help you plan your 1 English lesson on: Reading and responding to 'The Magic Porridge Pot', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...