Building a reading diet
Strong readers don't stick to one shelf — they mix genres, eras and forms so their brains meet all kinds of language.
Part of your national curriculum
- Reading: Read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including whole books and plays, and texts from the English literary heritage
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including whole books and plays, and texts from the English literary heritage
Key learning points
- • Fiction and non-fiction
- • Whole books and plays
- • The literary heritage
This lesson at a glance
- 25 minutes
- 16 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 16
Watch first
Building a reading diet
Reading widely, and reading closely.
In a nutshell
Read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including whole books and plays, and texts from the English literary heritage
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 16
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Fiction and non-fiction
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 16
Learn
Fiction and non-fiction
A detective novel teaches you tension and structure; a biography of an astronaut teaches you how real events are shaped into narrative. Reading both widens the tools you can borrow for your own writing, from cliffhangers to precise factual detail.
Reset break
Part 4 of 16
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 4 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 16
Learn
Whole books and plays
Plays like 'An Inspector Calls' are written to be performed, so stage directions and dialogue carry meaning that prose would spell out differently. Reading a whole novel, not just extracts, lets you track how characters and themes develop over time.
Quick check
Part 6 of 16
Quick check
Part 7 of 16
Reset break
Part 8 of 16
Pause
That's sitting 2 of 4 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 9 of 16
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · The literary heritage
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 16
Learn
The literary heritage
Texts like Dickens's novels or Romantic poetry shaped the language and ideas still used today. Reading them shows where phrases such as 'Scrooge' or 'a Frankenstein's monster' come from, and connects modern writing to a long tradition.
Quick check
Part 11 of 16
Reset break
Part 12 of 16
Pause
That's sitting 3 of 4 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Challenge round
Part 13 of 16
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 14 of 16
Game · Recall cards
What is iambic pentameter?
Card 1 of 4
Mastery quiz
Part 15 of 16
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Building a reading diet
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. What is iambic pentameter?
2. A character switches from verse into prose in a tense scene. What might this signal?
3. Which is the best reading of ‘a lantern set upon a cliff’ used of a ruler?
4. Why does a soliloquy matter to an audience?
Lesson round-up
Part 16 of 16
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
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Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaPart 1 of 16 · Watch & discover
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Read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, including whole books and plays, and texts from the English literary heritage