Year 3

English
Challenge
Pack
 Using the Year 3 English Challenge Pack
with your child
What does your child learn in Year 3?
Since 2014, the National Curriculum has grouped all the Year 3 and 4 spellings
together, so your child’s teacher will decide which groups of children should learn
which spellings. Spellings learnt in Year 3/4 include the following: words with the
prefixes mis-, dis-, in-, il-, im-, ir-, re-, sub-, inter-, super-, anti-, auto- and words
with the endings -ly, -sure, -ture, -sion, -tion, -cian, -ous. Children will also learn
homophones (words which sound the same but are spelled differently and have
different meanings) such as: grate / great and medal / meddle.
Children will read a wide range of poems, stories, play scripts and non-fiction texts.
They will be able to re-tell stories and identify themes in different works of fiction and
will prepare and perform poems and play scripts. They will learn to draw inferences
about characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives and justify their opinions with
evidence. They will also learn to identify how language, structure and presentation
contribute to meaning.
When children write, they will need to use a range of sentence structures. Children
will be taught how to write sentences containing two clauses, joined by a conjunction
(when, before, after, while, so, because). They will learn to organise paragraphs
around a theme. When writing a story, they will need to think about creating
characters, setting and plot. When writing non-fiction, they will need to use simple
organisational devices, such as headings and sub-headings. They will learn to edit
their work, reading over their writing and considering where changes need to be
made, including improving grammar and vocabulary.
Children will be reminded to continue to use the punctuation learnt in Year 2 (full
stops, apostrophes, commas for lists, exclamation marks and question marks). They
will also be encouraged to write dialogue between characters, including the use of
speech marks.

How can you help challenge your child in Year 3?

READING
Make sure your child has a range of books to read at home. Trips to the library can be
a great way to spend time exploring fiction and non-fiction and finding out more about
your child’s interests.
For stories: Encourage your child to read a range of different types of stories,
including fairy tales and myths and legends from previous eras and different countries.
Talk to your child about the characters, what they are doing and why. Ask your child
if they can sum up what they think about a particular character and encourage them
to give examples from the story that back up their opinion. When discussing a book,
you could ask your child if they think a story is trying to teach us a particular lesson
(for example, The Emperor’s New Clothes teaches us to use our own judgement of a
situation, rather than simply believing what we have been told).
For non-fiction: Ask them to look at a few pages of a non-fiction text and memorise
five facts. Close the book and ask them to recall the facts and explain them to you.
Challenge them by asking why certain things exist or occur; for example, why don’t

1
 mushrooms need sunlight to grow? Draw their attention to the paragraphs, headings and
sub-headings in non-fiction texts. Ask them why they think they are used. You may also
want to encourage your child to start using a dictionary to help them with their spelling
and understanding of words.
For poems: Encourage your child to read a range of poems and compare them. See
if they can recognise the rhyme scheme in each. Can they find any poems that don’t
rhyme? Can they tell you why a poem is effective? For example, if a poem is funny,
encourage them to talk about how the poet has made it funny.

WRITING
If your child is a very able writer, here are some ways to challenge them further:
● Teach them about adjectives, powerful verbs and adverbs, by writing a few of each
of these onto separate cards (for example: adjectives such as: spotty, crinkly, soft;
powerful verbs such as: hurried, peered, chomped; adverbs such as: silently, spitefully,
rapidly). Ask them to order the words into different groups, then choose one from each
group and put the words into their own sentence.
● Encourage their use of conjunctions by saying or writing sentence starters for them
to complete, for example:

The dog ran away quickly because...

I did the washing-up while...
My sister tidied up before...

● Ask them to think about two characters in their favourite story (it would help to
look at a picture while doing this task). Together, see if you can write a conversation
between these two characters, making sure to use speech marks for each character’s
speech. Encourage your child to use good powerful verbs instead of ‘said’ and
adverbs to explain how characters have said or done something.
● Set them tasks that combine punctuation skills, for example: Can you write a
sentence that contains a conjunction, a comma and an exclamation mark? Or a
sentence that contains an apostrophe, an adverb and a comma?
● Encourage them to write about a topic they know. Help them to make notes from a
non-fiction book and then ask them to write these notes into a paragraph. Look at any
short sentences they have written and encourage them to extend them by adding a
conjunction and a second part to the sentence. For example: Henry VIII tried to divorce
Catherine of Aragon. could be extended to: Henry VIII tried to divorce Catherine of
Aragon but the Catholic church would not allow it.
● Make sure that you keep an eye on your child’s spelling. Do not correct them
while they are writing, but keep a note of any wrong spellings and set aside
some time each day to help them learn them.
PARENTS’ NOTE
● Watch your child as they write to check that they are joining and There is no handwriting
forming letters correctly. You may find that you need to spend some practice in this book, as
we’ve assumed that your
time making sure their letters are formed correctly and neatly joined. child will be proficient
Don’t let them get into bad habits with their handwriting, as these in joining by the time
are hard to break! they reach Y3. For extra
practice download some
TheSchoolRun handwriting
sheets to complete
alongside this pack.

2
 Reading comprehension:
The Legend of Finn McCool, Part 1
Once upon a time there was a giant called Finn. He lived in Ireland with his
wife Oona, in a small house on the water’s edge. He had a farm and would
spend his days tending his sheep and crops. When autumn came, because
of his size, he was able to harvest whole fields of corn with one swipe of his
enormous scythe.
One thing was bothering him, though. Every day a very rude giant called Ben
who lived across the sea in Scotland would shout at him and taunt him.
“Look at you, little weakling, tending your sheep. Why don’t you get a
proper job like me?”
Ben worked as a builder. Every day he would carry large sacks of bricks from
the town to the beach. He would then mix cement in a huge bucket which he
carried under his arm. He had large flat hands, which he used as a trowel to
spread the cement on the bricks. Ben was a very successful builder: he could
build at least one house a day and the houses he built were in great demand
because people were so keen to live by the sea. Although he was good at his
job, he was one of those people who was likely to misbehave whenever he
was bored or unhappy.
In truth, Ben was jealous of Finn. It was hard work carrying the bricks and
smearing them with cement made his hands very sore. He
felt disappointed with his life. Finn seemed to live an
idyllic life. The sheep did not take much looking after
and cutting the corn looked like a doddle.
Finn did not realise that Ben was jealous and was
getting increasingly upset by the taunts. He would
shout back:
“I don’t want a job like yours, Ben. I’d hate to be
laying bricks all day! My goodness! I can’t think
of anything worse!”

3
 Day after day the shouting and insults continued, until one day Finn
snapped. He was fed up of disagreeing with Ben every day. Instead of
thinking up something rude to say, he hurled a great rock towards him.
It didn’t get as far as Ben’s beach, but then Finn threw another rock, and
another and another. Finn found that he could not stop himself. Before he
knew it, he had made a pathway that linked Scotland to Ireland and Ben
was using this pathway to run towards him! As Ben got closer, Finn realised
that he had made a terrible mistake. Ben was far larger than him and if they
had a fight, Finn was sure to lose.
He ran away in the opposite direction, back to his house. He arrived
panting, and quickly slammed the door shut behind him.
“What on earth is going on?” asked his wife, Oona.
“I’ve just upset a very large giant and he’s coming for me!” gasped Finn, who
was now trembling.
Oona was a clever woman and knew she had to think of a good plan to
mislead Ben the giant.
She had heard all about the feud between her
husband and the Scottish giant and, although
she disapproved of being dishonest, she realised
that bending the truth would be the only
way to sort the problem out.

4
 The Legend of Finn McCool, Part 1:
reading comprehension questions
1. What jobs did Ben and Finn have?
Ben was a

Finn was a

2. What do you think a scythe is?

3. Ben was a very successful builder: he could build at least one house
a day and the houses he built were in great demand because people
were so keen to live by the sea.
a) What does ‘successful’ mean?
b) What does it mean when something is ‘in great demand’?

4. How does Ben really feel about his own life and Finn’s life? Answer
as fully as you can, in your own words.

5. Look at the paragraph in which Finn is throwing rocks at Ben. Can you
find another word that means the same as ‘threw’?

6. When Finn arrives home, why do you think he quickly slams the door
shut behind him?

7. Describe in your own words how Oona decides to solve the problem.

Now re-tell Part 1 of the story to an adult.

He does not want Ben to catch him. 7. She realises she needs to lie to Ben to save Finn.
hard work. He wants Finn’s life which seems much more fun. 5. Hurled. 6. He is scared of Ben /
Lots of people want it 4. Example answer: Ben does not like being a builder because it is really
example: something you use to cut corn / a knife, etc. 3. a) When you are good at something b)
Answer: 1. Ben was a builder, Finn was a farmer 2. Child needs to give an educated guess, for

5
 Spelling: words with
the prefixes mis- and dis-
A prefix is a group of letters we add to the beginning of a word.
Prefixes change the word’s meaning; the prefixes dis and mis make
the word’s meaning negative.
Look at Part 1 of ‘The Legend of Finn McCool’. In the text, see
if you can find and underline the following:
- three words starting with dis - three words starting with mis
Put the words into the table below:

dis- mis-

Play this game with one other person to help you learn the spellings:

1) Look at the list of words without the other player seeing. Choose one
of the words and write the letters down in a jumbled order (you may
want to cross off each letter of the chosen word on the list as you do
this, so you can keep track!).

2)The other player needs to guess what the word is without looking at
the list. Once they have guessed, they need to write the correct spelling
of the word, again without looking at the list.

Answer: The six words are: disappointed, disagreeing, disapproved, mistake, mislead, misbehave

6
 Revising adjectives
The adjectives in the column on the left have been
taken from Part 1 of ‘The Legend of Finn McCool’.
Can you find three other words with the same
meaning and write them in the column on the
right? Use a thesaurus to help you!

Synonyms (words that mean

the same thing)

enormous huge, gigantic, massive

rude

unhappy

jealous

disappointed

idyllic

upset

dishonest

7
 Adding punctuation to a text
This passage is similar to Part 1 of ‘The Legend of Finn McCool’.
Can you read through it and add in the missing capital letters, full stops,
exclamation marks and question marks?

finn spent his days tending his farm and ben spent his days
building houses every day ben would tease finn and one
day finn decided he had had enough can you guess what he
decided to do he threw a huge rock into the sea towards ben

it fell in with an almighty splash it did not reach ben, so he

decided to throw another one he continued to do this until
a pathway had formed from one country to the other before
finn knew it, ben was making his way across the pathway
growling and shouting as if he were ready to kill finn

the pathway growling and shouting as if he were ready to kill Finn!

pathway had formed from one country to the other. Before Finn knew it, Ben was making his way across
almighty splash! It did not reach Ben, so he decided to throw another one. He continued to do this until a
Can you guess what he decided to do? He threw a huge rock into the sea towards Ben! It fell in with an
his days building houses. Every day, Ben would tease Finn and one day Finn decided he had had enough.
Answers will vary, but this is example punctuation: Finn spent his days tending his farm and Ben spent

8
 Writing in your own words
What do you think happens after Finn
gets home and tells his wife that Ben is You will need to:
coming after him? ✔ use joined handwritin
g
Write the next part of the story. ✔ use capitals and ful
l
stops in the right place
s
✔ see if you can includ
e an
exclamation mark and
a question mark
✔ choose interesting
adjectives

PARENTS’ TIP
Children often find it very
hard to think about handwriting,
punctuation and content all at
the same time when they are
writing. You will probably find
you will need to read through
their writing with them once
they have finished, and talk
about what they could
add or change.

9
 Reading comprehension:
The Legend of Finn McCool, Part 2
Oona was very scared but she knew she had to think quickly.
“Quick! Get in the bath!” she shouted to Finn.
He looked at her, puzzled.
“We don’t have a moment to lose! Get in the bath!”
Finn jumped into the bath and Oona grabbed all the bedclothes from their
bed. She threw their big woolly blanket over Finn and then got a frilly sheet
and tied it around his head.
“Just trust me,” she whispered to Finn. “I’ve got a good idea about how to
trick this giant.”
Very soon they heard a thundering knock on the door. “I’ll teach you to
throw rocks at me, Finn McCool!” shouted a very loud and angry voice from
the other side.
Oona straightened out her clothes and composed herself. She opened the
door. “Hello sir – and what can I do for you today?” she asked calmly.
“I need to see that rascal Finn!” raged Ben, panting and sweating.
“I’m afraid he’s out,” smiled Oona, “but you can come in and wait for
him if you like?”
“Yes, yes, that would be lovely, thank you,” said Ben,
remembering his manners and calming himself down
a little.
“Let me introduce you to Baby McCool,” Oona
said, pointing towards the bath where Finn was

10
 wrapped up with a frilly sheet around his head which looked like a large,
floppy baby’s bonnet.
“My, that’s a big baby!” exclaimed Ben, laughing.
“Yes, you can only imagine how big his Daddy must be!” replied Oona.
Ben stopped laughing and seemed a little worried. He looked towards what
he thought was the baby and put a finger out to tickle him under the chin.
As soon as Finn saw the finger he opened his mouth very wide and clamped
his teeth down on Ben’s finger.
Ben shot two metres into the air, howling. “My finger!” he screamed. “He
nearly bit it off!”
“Oh, you naughty baby!” said Oona, wagging her finger at Finn and grinning.
“He’s got a good set of teeth, that one. If you think his bite is strong, imagine
what his daddy’s must be like!”
Ben looked at Finn and felt slightly nervous. Finn grinned back at him and,
getting into character, put his thumb into his
mouth and started to suck noisily.
“Mama! Pie!” he squealed towards Oona.
“Alright, alright, you greedy thing. I’m just
getting it ready,” replied Oona.

11
 12
Answer: 1. Example answers: Because he cannot understand how this will help him get away from
Ben. Because the bath tub is not a good hiding place. 2. To pretend he is wearing a baby’s bonnet.
3. She calms / controls / settles herself. 4. He has been running after Finn. 5. She dresses Finn up as
a baby so that they can pretend that Finn is not there. She also makes Ben think that Finn must be
really big if his baby is that size. 6. Example answer: Oona is very calm and does not panic when she
is in danger. She is clever because she thinks up a plan to fool Ben.
to an adult.
Now re-tell Part 2 of the story
words.
6. Describe Oona’s character as fully as you can in your own
5. Describe Oona’s clever trick in your own words.
4. Why do you think Ben is panting and sweating?
What do you think this means?
3. Oona ‘composed herself’ before she opened the door.
2. Why does Oona tie a frilly sheet around Finn’s head?
get in the bath?
1. Why does Finn look puzzled when Oona suggests he should
reading comprehension questions
The Legend of Finn McCool, Part 2:
 Follow the path: words ending -sure / -ture
You will need a die and two counters for this game.
The player who gets to the end first wins!

Look at this
START word, then
cover it over GO BACK
and spell it TO THE
out loud: START!
measure

Look at this
word, then
Look at this cover it over
word, then and spell it
cover it over out loud:
and spell it
out loud:
GO
nature
furniture FORWARD
THREE
Look at this SPACES!
word, then
cover it over
and spell it
out loud:
creature Look at this
word, then
GO BACK cover it over
THREE and spell it
SPACES! out loud:
enclosure GO
FORWARD
THREE
SPACES!

Look at this
word, then Look at this
cover it over word, then
and spell it cover it over
out loud: and spell it
pleasure out loud:
picture
Look at this
word, then
cover it over
and spell it
out loud:
treasure GO BACK
FOUR
SPACES!

13
 Powerful verbs to replace ‘said’
All these separate lines of speech have been taken from Part 2
of ‘The Legend of Finn McCool’. The author has used lots of different
verbs (doing and being words) other than ‘said’. Can you underline
them all?

“Quick! Get in the bath!” she shouted.

“Just trust me,” she whispered.

“I need to see that rascal Finn!” raged Ben.

“I’m afraid he’s out,” smiled Oona.

“My, that’s a big baby!” exclaimed Ben.

“My finger!” he screamed.

“Mama! Pie!” he squealed.

“Alright, alright, you greedy thing. I’m just

getting it ready,” replied Oona.

Now use the powerful verb bank to replace each underlined verb
with a different one:

pleaded begged whimpered sobbed

cried wailed shrieked screamed
shouted barked bellowed demanded
growled muttered hissed murmured
Finally, try writing some sentences of your own. Make sure each one
contains a line of speech and a good alternative verb to ‘said’.

14
 Using possessive apostrophes
In Year 2 you will have learnt to use apostrophes to show possession.
We use possessive apostrophes when something belongs to someone.
For example:

Claire’s bag was hanging on a hook.

Can you add apostrophes to each of the following sentences?

Bens hands were sore from bricklaying.

He was angry because Finns rocks were

landing close to him.

He used Finns path to run across the sea.

Oona heard all about Finns foolish behaviour.

She threw the frilly sheet over Finns head.

She heard Bens angry knocks on the door.

Finn bit Bens finger very hard.

Oona put Finns pie in the oven to bake.

Ben’s angry knocks / Ben’s finger / Finn’s pie

Answers: Ben’s hands / Finn’s rocks / Finn’s path / Finn’s foolish behaviour / Finn’s head /

15
 Writing Finn’s diary
If you were Finn, what information would You will need to:
you include in your diary? Write a page of ✔ use joined handwritin
g
Finn’s diary, including everything that has ✔ use capital letters an
d full
happened in the story so far. stops in the right place
s
✔ try to include an
exclamation mark and
a
question mark
✔ choose good adjectiv
es
✔ include powerful ve
rbs
instead of ‘said’

PARENTS’ TIP
Allow your child to do this
writing task on their own. Once
they have finished, read it through
with them and discuss how they
might be able to improve their
punctuation. Have they included
adjectives and powerful verbs?
You may want to help them use a
thesaurus to add some
good descriptive words to
their writing.

16
 Reading comprehension:
The Legend of Finn McCool, Part 3
Oona went towards the kitchen and took two pies out of the oven. The delicious smell
of meat, gravy and pastry filled the room. Ben looked at the pies hungrily. The pastry
was golden brown and through a hole in the top of one of the pies he could see the
succulent meat and glossy sauce inside. Working hard building houses always built up
his appetite. He could feel his mouth watering as the smell of the pies filled his nostrils.
“Pie! Pie!” squealed Finn, still pretending to be a baby.
Ben went over to Finn and started making goo goo noises at him. While his back was
turned, Oona sneakily made a small hole in the side of one of the pies and slid a rock
inside it. She picked up a knife and made a cross in the top of the pie containing the
rock so that she would know which one it was. She took the pies over to Finn and
handed her husband the one that didn’t have a rock in it.
Finn shoved the whole pie in his mouth and smacked his lips noisily as he ate. He
managed to gulp it down in seconds.
“More! More!” he shouted.
“You silly thing!” said Oona. “We need to give the other pie to our guest.”
She handed the pie with the cross on the top to Ben.
“Thank you so much,” he said, sinking his teeth heavily and gratefully into the pie.
Suddenly he yelped, spat the pie out and clapped his hand to his mouth.
“What’s the matter?” asked Oona, as if she had no idea.
“I don’t know what’s in that pie, but it really hurt my teeth!” wailed Ben.
“That’s funny, the baby doesn’t seem bothered. Mind you, he does have very strong
teeth!” Oona smiled at Finn and winked. “Takes after his daddy again in that respect!”
Ben sat frowning, his hand covering his sore mouth. He stared sadly at the pie and
thought about his empty, groaning tummy.
He looked outside at the boulders* that surrounded the house. Some were as
tall as the front door of the house.
“Ah yes, those boulders,” said Oona, following Ben’s gaze. “Finn often
juggles with those to keep the baby amused.”
“Baby love juggling!” grinned Finn from the bath. “Daddy love juggling!”
Ben’s face started to turn a little pale. He swallowed hard.
“Are you ok?” asked Oona. “You look terribly pale.
Would you like a lie-down?”
“No, no, I’m fine,” replied Ben, thinking
about bolting for the door.

* A boulder is a large, round rock.

17
 18
Answers: 1.Answer needs to include some of the following points: She / he mentions that a delicious
smell fills the room. She / he describes the pastry as golden, the meat as succulent and the sauce as
glossy. She / he also says that Ben’s mouth waters when he smells it, so we know it must smell good.
2. Example answer: She wants it to look as if the baby’s teeth are strong enough to eat rocks. This will
then make Ben think that the baby’s father must be even stronger. 3. She says they have to give the
other pie to their guest. 4. yelped / spat the pie out /clapped his hand to his mouth 5. He is really hungry
but can’t eat it because it hurts his teeth. 6. To make him think that he is incredibly strong. 7. He is
scared that Finn will arrive and fight him.
Now re-tell Part 3 of the story to an adult.
7. Why does Ben look pale and think about bolting for the door?
boulders?
6. Why does Oona tell Ben that Finn likes juggling with the
5. Why does Ben look sadly at the pie? Answer in your own words.
something wrong with the pie?
4. What three things does Ben do that shows that there is
3. Why does Oona not allow Finn to have another pie?
you can in your own words.
2. Why does Oona put a rock in one of the pies? Explain as fully as
1. How does the author make the pies sound delicious?
reading comprehension questions
The Legend of Finn McCool, Part 3:
 Spelling: words containing ‘ou’
Can you underline the words containing ‘ou’ in the following sentences?

Ben caused trouble with Finn.

Finn had had enough of Ben’s mockery.

Finn lost his courage when he saw how big Finn was.

Ben ran from one country to another to catch Finn.

Oona and Finn were a couple who lived by the sea.

Oona made pies to nourish her family.

The pie had a rock in it, so was too

tough to eat.

Oona encouraged Ben to

believe that Finn was very
big and strong.

Say each underlined word out

loud. Do you notice that the
grapheme ou makes the sound
/u/ as in ‘cut’?

See if you can write each ou

word into a sentence of your
own (it doesn’t have to be
about Finn McCool).

Learn the spelling of each ou

word and ask an adult to test
you when you think you know
them all.
couple, nourish, tough, encourage
Answers: trouble, enough, courage, country,

19
 Using adverbs
All these sentences relate to Part 3 of ‘The Legend of Finn McCool’.
An adverb is a word that tells you HOW a verb is being done.
Look at the adverb bank below and write in words that you
think would work in these sentences. Could you also use
a thesaurus to find some alternative adverbs?

Oona took two pies out of the oven.

“Pie! Pie!” squealed Finn .

Ben smacked his lips .

Oona put a rock in the pie.

Ben sank his teeth into the pie.

He spat the pie out .

Finn grinned .

Ben looked at the pie.

Finn juggles with boulders.

Ben swallowed .

noisily gratefully hungrily greedily

fearfully sadly carefully cheekily
nervously immediately loudly sneakily
cautiously carelessly anxiously boldly
fearlessly rudely quickly slowly

20
 Punctuating speech
We follow these rules when writing speech between two characters:

- Start each character’s speech on a new line

- Use speech marks to open and close the speech

- Use , ? or ! at the end of the speech

- Include a reporting clause with an interesting verb (for example,

whispered Ben).

Look at these words spoken by Ben and Oona:

“Would you like a pie,

Ben?” asked Oona.
“Oh, I’d love one,”
replied Ben.

Can you add the correct punctuation

to the rest of the speech between
these two characters?

Aaargh Ben screamed, spitting the pie out.

Whatever is the matter asked Oona.

It’s too hard. My teeth! My poor teeth screamed Ben.

The baby doesn’t seem to mind. Although he does have very

strong teeth, said Oona craftily.

That baby must have teeth made of iron wailed Ben.

Yes, he gets that quality from his daddy Oona responded.

wailed Ben. / “Yes, he gets that quality from his daddy,” Oona responded.
he does have very strong teeth,” said Oona craftily. / “That baby must have teeth made of iron!”
“It’s too hard. My teeth! My poor teeth!” screamed Ben. / “The baby doesn’t seem to mind. Although
Answers: “Aaargh!” Ben screamed, spitting the pie out. / “Whatever is the matter?” asked Oona. /

21

Reporting Finn and Oona’s
conversation
Remember the bit of the story where Finn rushes
home and Oona tells him to get in the bath? Rewrite
the conversation in their own words here:
Remember to follow the rules of reported speech:
- Start each character’s speech on a new line
- Use speech marks to open and close the speech
- Use , ? or ! at the end of the speech
- Include a reporting clause.
Choose some interesting adverbs to
enrich your writing!!
22
PARENTS’ TIP
Children are supposed to be
able to write correctly punctuated
speech unaided by the end of
Y4. It’s not easy, so don’t worry
if they find it tricky at first! They
will probably need help going over
their writing, discussing where the
punctuation needs to be added.
You may also want to act out the
conversation between the two
characters before they start
writing, to give them
some ideas.
 Reading comprehension:
The Legend of Finn McCool, Part 4

“There’s something I wanted to ask you,” Oona asked a pale-faced Ben.

“What’s that?” he replied, trying to look calm.

“Every morning, Finn picks up the house and turns it around so that
we get the sun into the front room for the first half of the day. Now
it’s lunch time and the sun will move round to the back of the house.
It would be lovely to get more sun in the front room for the afternoon.
Would you mind turning the house back for me?”

“Erm,” mumbled Ben, and gave a nervous

little cough. “Before I do that, could you
let me know when you think Finn will
be home?”

“Oh, I shouldn’t think he’ll be home

for another few hours. He said he
had plenty of work to
do today.”

“Well yes, of course, I’d

love to help you out.”

Ben was not sure he

would be able to pick
the house up and
turn it around, but he
didn’t want to admit
that. He went outside
and had a good look
at the foundations. He
bent down and managed
to get his fingers under
the outer wall of the
house. He started to lift

23
 and couldn’t believe how heavy it was. Finn did this every morning?
Eventually he managed to load the house up on his shoulder and very,
very slowly, terrified he might drop it on his foot, he managed to turn
it round and then gently place it back down.

“That’s grand!” said Oona. “It’ll be lovely to have some light in our
front room while I sit sewing this afternoon.”

“No problem,” said Ben, sinking to the ground, panting. “Anything else
you need doing?” he asked, half-joking.

“Well, now you mention it, Finn’s been meaning to put all those
boulders in a line at the bottom of the garden as a breakwater in case
the sea comes up to meet the house. I’m so fed up of nagging him to
do it. Do you think you could manage that?”

Ben walked over to where the boulders were and started rolling them
down to the bottom of the garden.

“Oh, Finn usually picks them up, it’s a bit quicker,” said Oona.

“Right you are,” answered Ben, getting himself ready for the challenge,
even though his arms were aching terribly from moving the house.

It took a few hours, but once he had got all the boulders down to the
bottom of the garden, he dragged himself back up to the house.

“You poor thing,” said Oona looking at him. “You need a nice, cool
drink. I’ve just heard Finn coming down the gravel beach. You can
finally meet him and have a drink together!”

Before Oona knew what was happening, Ben had run as fast as his
legs could carry him, out of the garden and off into the distance.

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 The Legend of Finn McCool, Part 4:
reading comprehension questions
1. Why does Oona say she wants the house moved?

2. Why do you think Ben asks when Finn will be home?

3. Why do you think he doesn’t want to admit that he doesn’t think

he’ll be able to lift the house?

4. Finn did this every morning?

Why do you think Ben asks himself this question?

5. Why do you think Oona tells Ben that Finn picks up the boulders
rather than rolling them?

6. “Right you are,” answered Ben, getting himself ready for this
challenge, even though his arms were aching terribly from moving
the house.
What do you think the word ‘challenge’ means?

7. Why does Ben run off at the end?

Now re-tell Part 4 of the story to an adult.

and strong. 6. Example answers: a difficult task / a test of strength. 7. He is terrified of Finn.
/ He can’t believe how strong Finn is. 5. She wants to keep making the point that Finn is very big
does not want to look weak. 4. Ben can’t believe Finn would do something so difficult every day.
Oona to think he is strong. / He is a giant, so is expected to be strong. / He is very proud and
before Finn returns home. / He is scared that Finn will find him. 3. Example answers: He wants
Answers: 1. To get some sunlight into her front room in the afternoon. 2. He wants to leave

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 Spelling patterns: ‘ei’ and ‘eigh’ and
‘ey’ representing the /ai/ sound
All these words include the same vowel sound, /ai/,
which is made by different letter strings.
In each of the words, can you underline the string of
letters that make the /ai/ sound?

vein weigh eight

neighbour they obey

reindeer prey rein

Now cut them out and put them into the correct columns:

‘ei’ ‘eigh’ ‘ey’

prey eight rein rein prey reindeer

obey weigh reindeer
obey they neighbour
they neighbour vein
eight weigh vein
‘ey’ ‘eigh’ ‘ei’

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 Using adverbs to describe action
An adverb is a word that tells you HOW a verb is being done.
All these sentences relate to Part 4 of ‘The Legend of Finn McCool’.
Using the adverb bank below, and write in the words that you think
would work in these sentences. Could you also use a thesaurus
to find some other adverbs?

Oona asked Ben if he could

move the house.

Ben looked at the house and

wondered if he could lift it.

Ben coughed and asked about

when Finn was going to be home.

Ben lifted the house and

could not believe how heavy it was.

Ben rolled the boulders

down the garden.

Ben staggered up the

garden.

Oona offered Ben a drink.

Ben ran out of the garden.

ADVERB BANK
noisily gratefully politely kindly sadly fearfully
carefully cheekily nervously immediately loudly
quickly slowly cautiously carelessly anxiously
wearily sneakily gradually happily

27
 Speech punctuation practice
Remember the rules of speech punctuation:
- Start each character’s speech on a new line
- Use speech marks “ ” to open and close the speech
- Use , ? or ! at the end of the speech
- Include a reporting clause with an interesting verb (for example,
murmured Oona)

Here is a similar conversation to the one Ben and Oona

had in Part 4 of ‘The Legend of Finn McCool’.
Can you add the correct punctuation to this speech?

Would you mind moving the house for me said

Oona It’s just nice to have the sun in the front room
for the afternoon

Yes of course said Ben,

looking nervously at the house

Now, could you move these

boulders for me please asked
Oona I’ve been nagging Finn
to do that for weeks

Now continue the conversation. Remember to use

the correct speech punctuation!

you move these boulders for me please?” asked Oona. “I’ve been nagging Finn to do that for weeks.”
front room for the afternoon.” “Yes of course,” said Ben, looking nervously at the house. “Now, could
Answers: “Would you mind moving the house for me?” said Oona. “It’s just nice to have the sun in the

28

Writing dialogue
Now that Ben has left, imagine that Finn has
got out of the bath and Oona is explaining to
him what happened in the garden. Write the
conversation between Finn and Oona.
Don’t forget to:
- Start each character’s speech on a new line
- Use speech marks to open and close the speech
- Use , ? or ! at the end of the speech
- Include a reporting clause with an interesting verb
- Use adverbs to describe how events are unfolding
29
PARENTS’ TIP
Again, try acting out this
conversation first. You may
want to take it in turns to
write a line of speech each
(this gives you an opportunity
to model how to use the
punctuation as well). Keep
encouraging your child to use
powerful verbs for ‘said’ and
also add some adverbs
to their work.
 Reading comprehension:
The Legend of Finn McCool, Part 5
Oona watched Ben tear out of the garden, down the path and along
the beach. She assumed he was going back to Scotland, so her plan
had worked!

She went back into the house to find Finn hiding in the bedroom, still
with the bonnet on, in case Ben should come back.

“Has he gone?” he whispered to Oona.

“Don’t you worry,” smiled Oona, glad that her plan had worked. “I
don’t think he’ll be bothering us again.”

“But the pathway,” said Finn, suddenly worried. “If the pathway is
still there, he can come back any time he likes. What if he finds out
I’m not bigger than him after all?”

Oona wasn’t sure what to do. She had thought up enough cunning
plans for one day and now she had run out of ideas.

“I’m going to follow him without him knowing,” said Finn. “When he
goes across the pathway, I’ll just have to go and take it apart myself.”

“Very well, you do that,” nodded Oona, glad to be left alone to have
a rest.

Finn took off his bonnet and put on a warm overcoat, as

it was chilly. He crept down the beach towards his
farm, where he had a good view of Scotland. Sure
enough, he saw Ben on the pathway that he himself
had made across the sea without meaning to. It
wasn’t until he got closer that he realised half the
pathway had disappeared! He could see Ben across
the water, tearing up the rocks that had formed the
pathway and throwing them as far as he could in
various different directions!

Finn hid behind a rock to watch Ben and chuckled to see

30
 him grunting and sweating, terrified of a giant that had never existed.
Finn simply could not resist calling out:

“Here Ben! Look at me! I’m not the big giant you feared after all!
Maybe now you’ll stop your teasing?”

Finn grabbed a huge chunk of earth from the nearby cliff and hurled
it over at Ben. It missed, but it made him look up. It landed in the sea
and became the Isle of Man.

“Look Finn. Let’s call it a day shall we,” groaned Ben wearily. “We’ve
both been behaving like fools and have managed to destroy much of
the natural beauty around here with our silly squabbling. You stay
over there in Ireland, I’ll stay here in Scotland, and I promise not to
bother you again.”

And with that truce the two giants made up and decided to behave
like grown-ups from then on. You can see the torn-up path today:
it’s called the Giant’s Causeway. The Isle of Man is a small island
between Scotland and Ireland.

Scotland
Northern
Ireland Isle of
Man

31
 32
Answers will vary - these are examples: 1. Finn keeps the bonnet on in case Ben comes
back. He then worries about Ben coming back over the path and decides to go and take it apart
himself. 2. Ben is tearing up the pathway. I think Finn is pleased because it saves him from
having to do it. He also laughs at him because he is scared of something that never existed.
3. At the beginning of the story Ben kept making fun of Finn. He then chased him to have a
fight. His behaviour has changed here, as he has decided they should be grown up and leave
each other alone. 4. The Giant’s Causeway is in Northern Ireland. It was formed about 60 million
years ago when lava shot up through the rocks. When the lava cooled and dried it formed the
hexagonal pillars you can see today.
to an adult.
Now re-tell Part 5 of the story
Write a paragraph to describe it.
4. Ask an adult if you can research the Giant’s Causeway.
the story. Explain as fully as you can.
his behaviour changed from what he was like at the beginning of
3. Ben tells Finn that he thinks they should stop arguing. How has
feels about this as fully as you can, in your own words.
2. What is Ben doing to the pathway? Explain how you think Finn
examples from the story.
that Finn is still scared of Ben. Explain how you know this, using
1. In the first few paragraphs of Part 5 of the story we can tell
reading comprehension questions
The Legend of Finn McCool, Part 5:
 Spelling rules: changing
adjectives into adverbs
We can change an adjective sad - sadly
(describing word) into an
adverb (word that describes complete - completely
a verb) by adding -ly.
Sometimes that is all we final - finally
have to do:

happy - happily When the adjective

ends in -y, we take
angry - angrily the y off and add -ily:
grumpy - grumpily

When the gentle - gently

adjective ends in
-le, we take the e simple - simply
off and add -y:
terrible - terribly

sad complete final

happy angry grumpy

gentle simple terrible

Cut out the adjectives above and put them face down on
a table. Turn one card over and then write the adjective
as an adverb (with the -ly ending). For example, if you
turn over the word ‘terrible’, write the word ‘terribly’ from
memory.
Continue to do this until you have written all the words.
Check your spellings against the list above.

33
 Punctuation revision
In this learning pack you have been revising the correct use of:
- capital letters and full stops
- exclamation marks and question marks
- apostrophes for possession
- speech marks (including commas at the end of speech)

Look at this passage, similar to Part 5 of ‘The Legend of Finn McCool’.

Can you add punctuation? Once you have finished, try reading the text out
loud to check that your punctuation makes sense.

what if ben finds out I am not actually as big as he thinks I

am and he uses that path to come back here said finn, in a
complete panic

I have no idea said oona who had run out of ideas

by this time

I know I will go and tear up the path so he cannot

get back here then we will be safe

good idea said oona relieved to get back to her

cooking

finns coat flapped as he ran wildly out of the

house and down to the beach when he got to
the path he found that ben was frantically
tearing it up

thank goodness thought finn

now I have no worries about
him coming after me

goodness,” thought Finn. “Now I have no worries about him coming after me.”
and down to the beach. When he got to the path he found that Ben was frantically tearing it up. “Thank
idea,” said Oona, relieved to get back to her cooking. Finn’s coat flapped as he ran wildly out of the house
time. “I know, I will go and tear up the path so he cannot get back here, then we will be safe.” “Good
back here? said Finn, in a complete panic. “I have no idea,” said Oona, who had run out of ideas by this
Answers: “What if Ben finds out I am not actually as big as he thinks I am and he uses that path to come

34
 Planning your own giant story
Use this planning frame to plan your own version of a giant story
(starring Finn McCool or your own invented giant!).

Start with two giants.

What is each one called? What do they both look like?

Where do they live? What are they arguing about?

The first giant upsets the other one – how?

What happens next?

How do the giants make peace at the end of the story?

35
 Write your own giant story
Can you write your own story about super-sized people?

Don’t forget to include:

✔ capitals and full sto
ps
✔ adjectives to describ
e
people and places
✔ powerful verbs and
adverbs
✔ speech including the
correct punctuation (“
? !)
✔ apostrophes for
possession

36