Name:... Date:... Comprehension questions Look at the front cover 1. Write a description of the bear. 2. Bear and stair rhyme. Circle any of these words that rhyme with bear and stair. care table where scissors stare apple pear dare glare boy lego wear banana rare daughter pair monster square book 3. What do you think might happen in the story? www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 1 of 14
Read pages 1-4 4. Who is the main character in the story? The main character is... 5. What is William scared of? William is scared of... and 6. What are you scared of? I am scared of... 7. In the story it says William slammed the door with a wham, bang, thump. Which other words could the author use to describe the sound that the door made when it slammed? The author could have used... 8. If you were going to write a story about something scary under the stairs what would you write about? I would write a story about a... under the stairs because... 9. Draw a picture to show what it would look like. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 2 of 14
Read pages 5-8 10. William thinks that the bear might eat boys for tea. Maybe it would eat girls for breakfast. Write a menu to show what you would feed the bear so that it would be full up and wouldn t want to eat you. Menu 11. What did William feed to the bear? William fed the bear a... 12. Why did he wait until no one was looking before he opened the door? He waited until no one was looking because... 13. Circle the words which could be used to describe a bear? furry feathery scaly slimy prickly brown purple blue www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 3 of 14
Read Pages 9-14 14. Why had William kept his eyes tight shut? He had kept his eyes tight shut because... 15. What did William imagine that the bear did in the night? First Next Then After that Finally www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 4 of 14
16. Do you think that William should be scared of the bear? Why? I think that William... be scared of the bear because... Read pages 15-18 17. William threw bananas, bacon and bread and then hazelnuts, haddock and honey into the cupboard under the stairs. For each letter, think of three or more foods that start with the same letter that William could throw under the stairs. C carrot, curry and coconut D F G N P www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 5 of 14
18. Why do you think that there was a strange smell in the air? I think that there was a strange smell in the air because... 19. Imagine that you are the author and have got this far writing the story. Write the part of the story that you would put on the next page. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 6 of 14
Read pages 19-20 20. Circle the words that mean the same as scared. frightened glad fearful excited cheerful hungry happy terrified afraid cold delighted 21. Why didn t William want his Mum to go in the cupboard under the stairs? He didn t want her to go in the cupboard under the stairs because... 22. Imagine that you are going to go and open the cupboard under the stairs. Write a description and remember to include your feelings. 23. Read this sentence from the story and underline all of the words that rhyme with pear. So William told her all about the hungry bear in its lair, there, under the stairs. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 7 of 14
Read pages 20 and 21 Guided reading pack for The Bear Under the Stairs by Helen Cooper 24. What do you think happens next in the story? Why? 25. Change the underlined words to make the bear seem more scary. The soft, furry bear walked out of the small cupboard towards William. It s teeth were clean and its eyes were bright. The..., furry bear... out of the... cupboard towards William. Its teeth were... and it s eyes were... 26. Design your own bear catching tool. Draw a picture of it and label it clearly. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 8 of 14
Read page 22-23 27. Was there a bear under the stairs?... 28. What did William and Mum find in the cupboard? In the cupboard William and Mum found... 29. Circle the words which show how William could have felt when he looked inside the cupboard and saw what was in there. surprised upset tired hungry puzzled glad lonely relieved silly angry embarrassed 30. What should Mum and William do next? Write a set of instructions. 1. First 2. Then 3. Next 4. Finally www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 9 of 14
Read page 24-28 31. Why did Mum buy William a bear? Mum bought William a bear because... 32. Do you think that William was still scared of bears? Why? I think that William was / wasn t afraid of bears because... 33. Look at the pictures. Do you think that there really was a bear? I think that there was / wasn t a bear because.... 34. What is the moral of the story (what is it trying to teach the reader)? Circle the correct answer. If you are scared just run away. If you don t like your food just throw it in a cupboard. Sometimes we are afraid of things that we don t need to be afraid of. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 10 of 14
35. Who could you talk to if you were afraid of something? If I was afraid of something I would talk to... because... 36. Look at the pictures of the bear leaving the house and going on his adventures. Write a diary as if you were the bear. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 11 of 14
37. Write your own story about something scary hiding in your house. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 12 of 14
Fill in this book review. Guided reading pack for The Bear Under the Stairs by Helen Cooper Mark out of 10 and why Who would enjoy this book? My favourite part of the book What I thought about the pictures www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 13 of 14
Comprehension questions Answers Guided reading pack for The Bear Under the Stairs by Helen Cooper 1. Various answers 2. Care, where, stare, pear, dare, glare, pair, rare, wear and square. 3. Various answers 4. The main character is William. 5. William is scared of grizzly bears and the place under the stairs. 6. Various answers 7. Various answers e.g. crash 8. Various answers 9. Various answers 10. Various answers 11. William fed the bear a pear. 12. He waited until no one was looking because he didn t want them to know what he was doing / he didn t want them to know about the bear 13. Furry and brown 14. He had kept his eyes tight shut because he was too scared to look at the bear 15. Various answers based on the pictures. 16. I think that William should be scared of the bear because bears are dangerous / it could eat him or I think that William shouldn t be scared of the bear because it is in his imagination. 17. Various answers 18. I think that there was a strange smell in the air because of the food in the cupboard. 19. Various answers 20. Frightened, fearful, terrified and afraid 21. He didn t want her to go in the cupboard under the stairs because he was scared that the bear would hurt her / eat her. 22. Various answers 23. So William told her all about the hungry bear in its lair, there, under the stairs. 24. Various answers 25. Various answers e.g. The fierce, furry bear pounced out of the dark cupboard towards William. Its teeth were sharp and it s eyes were angry. 26. Various answers 27. Either; No, it was in his imagination; No, it was just that the things in the cupboard looked like the shape of a bear; or Yes but it had gone. 28. In the cupboard William and Mum found an old furry rug, a broken chair and horrible stinky food. 29. Surprised, puzzled, relieved, embarrassed, silly 30. Various answers 31. Mum bought William a bear because it had a nice face and his Mum wanted his to stop being afraid of bears. 32. I think that William was / wasn t afraid of bears because the bear had a nice face (and he realised that there wasn t a bear in the cupboard.) 33. I think that there wasn t a bear because it was just the shape of the things in the cupboard. Or I think that there was a bear because the pictures show the bear leaving the cupboard. 34. Sometimes we are afraid of things that we don t need to be afraid of. Questions 35, 36 and 37 will all have various answers. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30884 Page 14 of 14