EnglishGrammar, vocabulary and Standard English22 min★ difficulty

Growing your vocabulary from reading

Every book, podcast or documentary you take in is a chance to steal a brilliant word and make it your own.

Part of your national curriculum

Grammar and vocabulary: Draw on new vocabulary and grammatical constructions from their reading and listening, and use these consciously in their writing and speech

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Draw on new vocabulary and grammatical constructions from their reading and listening, and use these consciously in their writing and speech

Key learning points

• Notice, don't skip
• Try it out
• Borrow structures too

This lesson at a glance

22 minutes
14 parts to scroll through
3 quick checks
Marked quiz at the end
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

vocabularygrammaticalconstructionsreadinglistening

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 14 · Discover7%

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 14

Watch first

Growing your vocabulary from reading

An English teaching video on this topic from Joseph Tsar. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Draw on new vocabulary and grammatical constructions from their reading and listening, and use these consciously in their writing and speech

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 14

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Notice, don't skip

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 14

Learn

Notice, don't skip

When you meet an unfamiliar word like 'nocturnal' in a wildlife documentary, pause rather than skipping past it. Working out meaning from context — animals active at night — helps it stick far better than looking it up passively.

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 14

Learn

Try it out

Reading the word 'relentless' in a book about space exploration ('the relentless cold of deep space') is only step one. Using it yourself — 'the relentless rain ruined the match' — is what turns a word you recognise into a word you own.

Quick check

Part 5 of 14

Quick check

What is the best way to learn a new word from a documentary?

Reset break

Part 6 of 14

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 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.

Stop here for now

Quick check

Part 7 of 14

Quick check

What does it mean to 'own' a new word?

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 14

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Borrow structures too

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 14

Learn

Borrow structures too

It's not just words: noticing a sentence pattern like 'Not only did she survive, but she thrived' teaches you a construction you can reuse in your own writing for emphasis.

Quick check

Part 10 of 14

Quick check

Besides vocabulary, what else can you borrow from reading?

Challenge round

Part 11 of 14

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 12 of 14

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ the word 'relentless' in a book about space exploration ('the relentless cold of deep space') is only step one.

Mastery quiz

Part 13 of 14

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Growing your vocabulary from reading

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

1. What is the best way to learn a new word from a documentary?
2. What does it mean to 'own' a new word?
3. Besides vocabulary, what else can you borrow from reading?

Lesson round-up

Part 14 of 14

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

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Points this lesson

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

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Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Extract

The last bus

The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.

She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.

Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.

Original extract written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.

Reading response
Reading
Read the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
Writing
Write your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.
250–350 words
Reading log
Reading
Note the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.
20 minutes' reading

Write your answer, notes or working here

Saved as you type.

Photos of paper work, diagrams or working outHow many minutes did the written work take?

Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover

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Draw on new vocabulary and grammatical constructions from their reading and listening, and use these consciously in their writing and speech