Monday 30th March 2020 – Reading Comprehension Task

Good morning Year 4,

We hope you had a lovely weekend.

Read the poem below and answer the questions below in full sentences, where possible. Remember to use the text to support your answers. Happy Reading!

My Shadow by Robert Louis Stephenson

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

And what can be use of him is more than I can see,

He is very, very like me from heels up to the head,

And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

 

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow –

Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;

For sometimes he shoots up taller like an india – rubber ball,

And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.

 

He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play,

And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way,

He stays so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see;

I’d think shame to stick to nursie as the shadow sticks to me.

 

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,

I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;

But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,

Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

 

Questions in response to the text:

  1. Who is he in the poem?
  2. Find and copy two examples of similes in the poem?
  3. Use the text to explain what a coward is? How do you know?
  4. How does the narrator describe how the children grow?
  5. Does the language suggest the poem is modern or old? Give two examples to support your answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14 thoughts on “Monday 30th March 2020 – Reading Comprehension Task

  • 30th March 2020 at 10:47 am
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    1. Robert Louis Stephenson
    2. India-rubber ball and sleepy-head
    3. A coward is that you are scared of something or someone. Example: my brother was a coward at the funfair when he went on the first ride we saw when we got the.
    4. Always very slow
    5. I think it’s old because notion was made 4 years and that’s along time because I don’t even have that much eyes they have 4
    Another word for old is one morning and now they say, in the morning see so old

    Reply
    • 30th March 2020 at 11:03 am
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      Brilliant understanding Kristers. Hope you enjoy the Maths task today. Hope you had a good weekend

      Reply
  • 30th March 2020 at 11:25 am
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    1. My shadow.
    2.a For sometimes he shoots up taller like an india .
    b. But my lazy little shadow /like an arrant sleepy head .
    3. He stays so close beside me / he’s a coward you can see so coward means your scared to do some things .
    4. The narrator describes it as the funniest because maybe he grows unusual.
    5. I think the language in the poem suggests old because its got some old words in it.

    Reply
    • 30th March 2020 at 11:58 am
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      Thank you Maisie. I agree it it is an old poem but I’m intrigued what old words do you see in the poem? Hope you have a lovely day

      Reply
  • 30th March 2020 at 11:38 am
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    1] He in the poem is the shadow.
    2] ‘Like an India-rubber ball’ and ‘Like an arrant sleepy head’.
    3] A coward is a person very afraid. E.g. He was acting like a coward since he didn’t want to go into the dark.
    4] He describes that children grow slowly.
    5] As I believe this poem could be old as we do not use the word ought that often and we don’t use buttercups [I think].

    Reply
    • 30th March 2020 at 11:57 am
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      Great Franek thank you for writing in full sentences and you have really engaged with the poem. Hope you had a great weekend

      Reply
  • 30th March 2020 at 4:30 pm
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    1. Robert louis stephenson .
    2. Like an India-rubber ball and a very sleepy head.
    3. A coward is someone who is very scared.
    4. He describes that children grow very slowly the poem could be old as we don’t use the word ought today.

    Reply
    • 30th March 2020 at 7:10 pm
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      Great engagement with the text Owen. Lovely to see you blogging daily

      Reply
  • 30th March 2020 at 4:35 pm
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    5. Discribes that children grow slowly.

    Reply
  • 30th March 2020 at 7:41 pm
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    I really liked the poem, good idea to write about something so everyday like a shadow in a very humorous way.
    1. ‘He’ is the poem is referred to author’s shadow.
    2. ‘he shoots up taller like an india – rubber ball’
    ‘Like an arrant sleepy-head’
    3. ‘Coward’ is someone who is scared of everything, like the shadow in a poem hiding and staying close to the narrator.
    4. According to the author children normally grow always very slow.
    5. The language of the poem suggests it’s written in old language, using of words like ‘ought to’.
    I’ve done some research and it says that this poem was published in 1885 and the author lived between 1850-1894.

    Reply
  • 1st April 2020 at 3:45 pm
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    1)He is an author’s shadow.
    2) ‘For sometimes he shoots up taller like an india – rubber ball’
    ‘But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head’
    3)A coward is a person who is scared of everything.
    4)The author describes the children grow as a very slow.
    5)The poem is old because the author uses words that are not in use in modern days such as india or nursie.

    Reply
    • 1st April 2020 at 5:03 pm
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      Thank you for answering in full sentences. Great responses Damian

      Reply
  • 21st April 2020 at 9:49 am
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    1. Robert is a shadow in the poem
    2. this is 1 simile The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow – Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;number 2 is For sometimes he shoots up taller like an india – rubber ball,And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.
    3. The narrator described the children when they grow it is very slow
    4. The shadow makes a fool out of him so the narrator called him a coward.
    5. I think old because he talks about old things.

    Reply
    • 21st April 2020 at 10:25 am
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      Great understanding of the text. Hope you are ok Brooke

      Reply

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