Primary English — Reading Comprehension: Five Question Types and Finding Evidence Tutor Prep Guide — question mix, three step location, timing

2026-11-14

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Primary English

Most Primary 6 students read the whole passage and then answer from memory, so detail answers come from the wrong line, inference answers copy a sentence, and vocabulary answers are guessed. There are only five question types, and each one expects evidence from a particular sentence. This lesson gives a five type table plus a three step location drill, so students can name the line their answer came from and stop running out of time.

Objectives — Students can: 1) tell the five question types apart (detail, inference, vocabulary, reference, main idea) and say what evidence each needs; 2) use the three step drill to point to the exact sentence behind any answer; 3) finish two passages and 20 items in 45 minutes using a 5, 12, 12, 6, 5, 5 split, and explain why an inference answer must be rewritten rather than copied.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Reads a 250 word passage to the end	Read in four minutes and give the gist in one sentence	Gist matches the passage rather than repeating the first line
Knows question words	Say what what, why, how and which each ask for	All four correct
Writes one complete English sentence	Write a sentence using because	Subject and verb present, and a full clause after because

02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
5 minutes	Scan both passages	Time five minutes, allow titles, first and last sentences only	Write one guessed gist per passage
12 minutes	Passage one	Work the type table, naming the evidence each item needs	Underline the evidence sentence and write the item number beside it
12 minutes	Passage two	Give time calls only, no item by item help	Finish alone, still underlining evidence
6 minutes	Check and rewrite	Model two inference answers rewritten, not copied	Rewrite any copied answer in their own words
5 minutes	Timing and marks	Explain the 135 second average and the order of sacrifice	Write down which type made them overrun
5 minutes	Exit check	Read three items, collect the papers	Answer three items in writing

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Act one: five types, five kinds of evidence

Reading comprehension is not five skills; it is five types. Once you recognise which type a question belongs to, you know where in the passage to look.

Detail asks who, when, where or how many, and the evidence is a sentence that says it outright, so the answer is close to a copy but must come from the right line. Inference asks why, how someone felt, or what happens next; the passage never states it, so you build one sentence from two, and the answer must be rewritten. Vocabulary gives you a word and asks what it means there, and the evidence is the sentence before and after, because the same word changes meaning with context. Reference asks what it, they or this points to, and the evidence is the nearest group of nouns that still makes sense. Main idea asks what the whole passage is about, and the evidence is the title plus the first sentence of each paragraph.

Hold on to the mix: in a 20 item paper, about 8 are detail, 5 inference, 3 vocabulary, 2 reference and 2 main idea. That means four items in ten can be lifted almost directly, so take those first and leave time for the rest.

Five question types, five kinds of evidence

Scene 2: Act two: three steps to the evidence

Three steps, and each one needs a visible action rather than a thought.

Step one: circle the keywords. Names, times, numbers and capital letters look identical in the passage, so they are the easiest thing to hunt. Step two: scan that paragraph only, and look for paraphrase, because the question may say bought while the passage says purchased, or not happy while the passage says disappointed. Step three: copy the evidence sentence next to the item number, since the answer must be reachable from that sentence alone. If you cannot copy one, scan again.

The usual misunderstanding: that finding the keyword means finding the answer. A keyword only tells you which paragraph to search. The evidence is the sentence in that paragraph that actually addresses the question. Students often copy the sentence that happens to contain the keyword, when that sentence is only background and the answer sits in the next one.

So ask one question every time: does this sentence answer what was asked. If not, read the next sentence.

Circle, scan for paraphrase, copy the evidence sentence

Scene 3: Act three: time and marks

Forty minutes of work and twenty items gives an average of 135 seconds, a little over two minutes. You should not spend that on every item, because some take thirty seconds.

The split used here is five minutes to scan both passages, twelve for the first, twelve for the second, six to check and rewrite, five on timing and five for the exit check, which adds to 45. A real exam has no last two blocks, so scan in three minutes, take fifteen per passage and keep twelve to check.

Order of attack: detail first because it is fast and safe, then vocabulary and reference because the neighbouring sentences give them away, and only then inference and main idea which need a built sentence. Any inference item that passes three minutes gets the closest answer written down with a mark to return, never the rest of the paper.

Detail first, inference last

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Detail	How many students joined the trip	1 circle the number and noun 2 scan for the keyword 3 copy the evidence sentence 4 write the answer	Thirty four (the passage reads thirty-four students)
Inference	Why did Tom leave early	1 find Tom in the passage 2 copy two related sentences 3 join them with because 4 check nothing is copied verbatim	Because he felt unwell after lunch, from he pushed his plate away
Vocabulary	What does reluctant mean in line 12	1 read only the sentences before and after 2 look for a synonym or a contrast signal such as but 3 say it in your own words 4 read it back in the sentence	Not willing, worked out from but finally agreed
Reference	What does they refer to	1 look back from they 2 take the nearest plural noun that makes sense 3 substitute it into the sentence 4 go further back only if it fails	The volunteers, named in the previous sentence
Main idea	What is the passage mainly about	1 read the title 2 read the first sentence of each paragraph 3 summarise in one noun phrase 4 reject options that cover one paragraph only	How a school saves water, since the title and all three topic sentences point to it

Sanity check (teach this): Every answer must point to an evidence sentence; failing to point means not yet found, never that the passage does not say. A second check applies to inference: an answer copied word for word from the passage is not an inference, because inference always adds one step of your own. A third check is length: copy only the clause that matters, since copying a whole paragraph proves nothing about location.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
The passage reads: Amy had saved for months. She finally bought the violin. What did Amy buy, and which sentence proves it	A violin, proved by the second sentence	Whether they quote the second sentence rather than the first
Using the same passage, why could Amy buy the violin	Because she had saved for months, rewritten rather than copied	Whether they join the two facts with because
What does finally suggest about Amy	That she waited a long time or that it took effort	Whether they infer from the word rather than recall a dictionary line

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Reads everything first, then answers from memory	An answer close to the passage but taken from the wrong line	Circle the keywords in the question first, then jump to that paragraph instead of starting at line one.
Copies a sentence as an inference answer	Why did he leave: He pushed his plate away.	A copy is not an inference, so use because and say what you concluded.
Looks too far back for a reference	They answered as the teachers from paragraph one	Start from the pronoun, take the nearest plural noun that makes sense, then substitute it and read the sentence again.
Will not leave a stuck item	Eight minutes on one item and blank space after it	After three minutes write the closest answer, mark it, and come back, so the rest of the paper is not lost.

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

Subject index with practice items and answers — Do the three practice items, then choose one short passage and write the evidence sentence for every question
Primary 6 English paper, reading and grammar — Do the reading section in 30 minutes and underline evidence for each item

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
Which question type must be answered in your own words	Inference, and main idea also needs a built phrase	Answering detail means act one is retaught
What do you do when no evidence sentence can be found	Scan again for paraphrase rather than guess	Answering by feel means act two is retaught
In a 45 minute paper with 20 items, how long is the average item	One hundred and thirty five seconds	No answer or wrong arithmetic means act three is retaught

09 Tutor FAQ

My student reads slowly, should vocabulary come first

Do not wait for vocabulary to be finished. Teach scanning and location, because most items need only one or two sentences, and handle unknown words with the three vocabulary steps. Add oral reading practice only if speed is below about 60 words a minute, and keep it separate from question type work.

Should students read the questions before the passage

Yes, with a limit: read the question keywords only, never the options. Then read the passage carrying two or three keywords. Reading all the options first makes students treat the options as passage content and copy the wrong line.

Can answers be written in the student own words

For detail items, copying the passage is safest and rewriting invites lost marks. For inference and main idea, their own words are required because the passage has no such sentence. Make that boundary explicit every lesson, since students tend to swap the two.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.