Y5 Reading Comprehension: Seal Rescue

Year 5 reading comprehension: an original newspaper article with 15 multiple-choice questions, KS2 reading domains and a full answer key. No prep needed.

Pup Goes Home: Rescued Seal Returns to the Sea – A weak, underweight grey seal pup tangled in fishing net is nursed back to health by volunteers, then released in front of a cheering crowd. A clearly fictional local news report with a strong headline, eyewitness quotations, facts presented in order of importance and a powerful message about ocean litter.

What’s included (12-page PDF):

• Original newspaper article (721 words) with numbered paragraphs, written for Year 5 readers
• Word bank of useful vocabulary
• Pupil question sheet: 15 multiple-choice questions (A–E), with no answers showing
• Quick-mark answer grid with every question tagged to its KS2 reading content domain (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2f, 2g, 2h)
• Full teacher answer key explaining why each answer is right and why every other option is wrong

Skills covered:

• Retrieval
• Vocabulary in context
• Inference about people’s choices and reasons
• Summarising a paragraph
• Headlines and similes
• Why news reports put key facts first
• Comparing the seal at the start and end

Ideal for: guided reading, whole-class reading lessons, reading assessment, homework, intervention groups, tutoring and cover lessons.

Questions build from straightforward retrieval to inference and language, so the pack works for a range of readers. British English throughout.

Written by Word Harbour Reading. Original text, created for educational use.