Help students explore the power of figurative language through this engaging five-day reading sequence built around an original mentor text, The Oak Tree.

Designed for Years 5–6, this pack focuses on personification and how authors use it to communicate deeper themes and messages. Through the image of a weathered oak tree standing strong through changing seasons, students examine the theme of resilience while developing their understanding of author craft, inference, and evidence-based responses.

Across five short, structured lessons, students move from vocabulary and language analysis to interpretation, theme exploration, and written response. Activities are carefully scaffolded to support growing confidence while encouraging deeper thinking and discussion.

This pack includes:

• Original mentor text
• Five days of structured learning
• Explicit WALTs and success criteria
• Vocabulary and figurative language investigations
• Metaphor analysis activities
• Inference and interpretation tasks
• Theme and author’s purpose exploration
• Evidence-based response scaffold
• Student self-reflection pages
• Comprehensive teacher guide with answers and alternative interpretations

Perfect for:

• Whole-class reading
• Guided reading follow-up
• Literacy rotations
• Independent literacy tasks
• Figurative language instruction
• Explicit comprehension teaching
• Students will learn how metaphors allow authors to communicate complex ideas through familiar images and experiences. 

By the end of the week, students will be able to identify metaphors, explain what they represent, and discuss how figurative language contributes to meaning, theme, and author purpose.

Curriculum Focus: Reading Comprehension, Figurative Language, Author Craft, Inference, Themes, Evidence-Based Responses

Year Level: Years 5–6
Lesson Length: 15–20 minutes per lesson
Pack Focus: Figurative Language
Week Focus: Personification
Theme: Resilience

Scope and Sequence: Pack A, Week 3