3 whole class Greater Depth reading lessons based on Chapter 1 and the first letter in Chapter 2 of ‘Daddy Long-Legs’ by Jean Webster.

About the author and the book, vocabulary, whole class reading, paired reading

Reading Skills foci: imitating the writer’s style, summarise, retrieve, infer and clarify

37-page dyslexia-friendly PowerPoint, 1 x printable PDF activities.

Greater Depth reading year 6.

Extract included.

Suitable for ages 10+

Lesson 1

Introduce the children to the book ‘Daddy Long-Legs’ and the author Jean Webster who was a suffragist. As she was a social activist she strongly believed that orphanages and prisons needed to change for the better. Explore the opening chapter, focussing on the use of complex sentences to capture the feeling before, during and after a memorable event.

Lesson 2

This lesson provides further opportunities to explore the meaning of more complex vocabulary in context. Children then try to match the correct definition to the word. Finally, children respond to a key question using evidence from the text to support their viewpoint.

Lesson 3

Finally, children are encouraged to consider the likelihood of Jerusha succeeding despite the adversities she faces and considering what has happened so far in the story and the impact this would have had on her life.

For more greater depth reading lessons for year 6:

A Secret of Birds and Bone Comprehension

For more about Jean Webster, Daddy Long-legs and her life story:

https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/author-biography/jean-webster-author-of-daddy-long-legs/