Evacuee Diary Reading Comprehension

Year 6 HistoryWorld War Two6 pages

About this worksheet

Two diary entries, dated 2 and 3 September 1939, form the reading passage in this Year 6 history comprehension. Arthur, aged eleven, leaves Bermondsey from Waterloo Station and ends up in a parish hall in Little Torrington, Devon. He and seven-year-old Tommy are the last children chosen, by Mr Moss. Twelve questions follow in three sections: Retrieve, Infer, and Evaluate and Respond. They range from the length of the train journey to whether the choosing in the hall was fair. Two pages of answers close the pack. The sheet fits the England National Curriculum KS2 study of British history beyond 1066.

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Evacuee Diary Reading Comprehension: World War Two - page 1

Evacuee Diary Reading Comprehension: World War Two - page 2

Evacuee Diary Reading Comprehension: World War Two - page 3

Evacuee Diary Reading Comprehension: World War Two - page 4

Evacuee Diary Reading Comprehension: World War Two - page 5

Evacuee Diary Reading Comprehension: World War Two - page 6

Curriculum objectives covered

British history beyond 1066

“A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils' chronological knowledge beyond 1066”

The passage covers Operation Pied Piper in September 1939, when around 1.5 million people left British cities. Questions 8 and 12 ask what evacuation was like for the children.

What's inside this worksheet

Operation Pied Piper: The Diary of an Evacuee

Pupils read Arthur's two entries, from the blister left by his gas mask box to hearing on the wireless that Britain is at war with Germany.

Section A: Retrieve

Four short-answer questions, such as which station Arthur left from and what sweet he gave Tommy. A true or false table follows, with a line for evidence on the final statement.

Section B: Infer

Pupils find the luggage label simile, explain the strange black-and-white beasts and say why the farmers pinched the boys' arms. Question 10 asks for the meaning of gaunt from four options.

Section C: Evaluate and Respond

Pupils give two of Arthur's personality traits with evidence in a table. They then judge whether the way evacuees were chosen in the parish hall was fair.

Answers

Answers to all 12 questions, with sample traits such as kind and observant and a marking note for the fairness question.

How teachers use it

Pack a case

Show a small suitcase with a gas mask box and a luggage label before reading. Pupils then spot each item in the 2 September entry.

Hot seat after question 12

Put two pupils in role as Arthur and Tommy. The class asks them how it felt to wait on the splintered benches until Mr Moss arrived.

Guided reading

Questions 6 and 10 test a simile and the word gaunt, so the sheet fits a guided reading session as well as a history lesson.

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