How to Train Your DragonGuided Reading Questions and Activities

Retrieving information

1.What is Hiccup’s mother called?2.What has Hiccup got to do by Thor’sday

Thursday?3.What happened when Old Wrinkly accused

Hiccup of talking to dragons?4.Find a word on p.80 that means the same

as ‘other’.Challenge: Collect all the adverbs ending in –ly from this chapter.

Making inferences

1.Why did Old Wrinkly ‘hurriedly turn the laugh into a cough’ p.76?

2.Do the Vikings in this story play sports?3.What ideas are we given about Hiccup’s

leadership skills?4.Why is Old Wrinkly an important character? Challenge: Draw a thought bubble for Hiccup at the end of this chapter. What plans can he think of to train his dragon?

Structure and language

1.What does the word ‘shovelling’ suggest about Stoick the Vast at breakfast time?

2.Why does the author describe the sea as being ‘as flat as glass’ p.75?

3.How does this chapter help you to understand more about Hiccup?

Challenge: Design an invitation for spectators at Thor’sday Thursday. Think about the kind of events they might be able to watch.

Viewpoints

1. What can you tell about the author’s opinion on Professor Yobbish’s book?

Challenge: Write a book review of ProfessorYobbish’s book.

Chapter 5: A Chat with Old Wrinkly

How to Train Your DragonGuided Reading Questions and Activities

Retrieving information

1.What does ‘suspended’ mean?2.How many years are there in a century?3.Can ‘stirred’ have more than one meaning?4.Which words and phrases told you that

something was changing in the sea?Challenge: Write three newspaper

headlines declaring sightings of the Sea Dragon.

Making inferences

1.What does ‘not a mollusc stirred, not a scallop shimmied’ suggest about the Sea Dragon on p.82?

2.What do the words ‘jerking’ and ‘fluttering’ describe about the dragon now?

3.Why are the changes in the Sea Dragon important? Challenge: Design a noticeboard with a warning for sailors, swimmers and fishermen of the lurking Sea Dragon.

Structure and language

1.Why did the author compare the dragon to a mountain?

2.How has the choice of words and phrases emphasised how enormous the dragon is?

3.What does the phrase ‘underwater desert’ p.82 tell us about what is happening?

Challenge: Find out what hermit crabs and barnacles are: what do they look like, what do they eat and where do they live?

Viewpoints

1. Was this chapter trying to build tension? Challenge: Draw the Sea Dragon described at the beginning of the chapter.

Chapter 6: Meanwhile Deep in the Ocean...

How to Train Your DragonGuided Reading Questions and Activities