Year 8 Comprehension - Ruby in the Night - teaching resource

Year 8 Comprehension – Ruby in the Night

This two-lesson mini-unit is designed to help Year 8 learners build their comprehension skills while preparing for the demands of English Language GCSE. Using the short story Ruby in the Night, the unit combines focused reading activities with exam-style practice to strengthen key skills such as inference, deduction, and language analysis.

The resource includes a 50-slide editable PowerPoint presentation, worksheets, and a full comprehension assessment task.

Lesson One:

• Introduction to comprehension in English

• Approaches to tackling comprehension questions

• Practising inference and deduction skills

• Analysing and writing about language techniques

Lesson Two:

• Using quotations effectively in extended responses

• A 40-minute comprehension assessment (PDF format)

• Post-assessment discussion of model answers and examiner-style feedback

This engaging mini-unit provides Year 8 pupils with the tools they need to succeed in comprehension assessments, while also building a strong foundation for GCSE English Language.

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