Students are provided with six drawings of different types of insects. They use the drawings to explain two features of insects and to explain differences between the insects illustrated.
Task: Match the parts of a water cycle to the parts represented in a model of the water cycle and compare how they are the same and different. Assessment focus: interpreting a model.
Students provide short written answers to questions on the advantages and disadvantages of interviews as source material. They then practise writing effective interview questions.
Students create character vignettes with a focus on writing pieces that are brief, descriptive and set in one point in time. They should not be concerned with plot. As the emphasis is on quality rather than quantity, students need to show a controlled and elegant skill in writing, and to use figurative language to 'show' rather than 'tell'.
In this task, students look for patterns in electron arrangement in the periodic table. They use their ideas to place missing elements in the table, answer some questions about the patterns, and use the patterns to predict the properties of some elements.
Assessment focus: deciding which description of the main idea of an informational text is most appropriate, and justifying their thinking. The text used is about the adaptation of bird's feet to their environment.
Task: Watch a video of two sofas burning, record the results, and use the evidence to make inferences about fire retardants. Assessment focus: using observations to provide evidence.
Task: Complete a drawing of things found in or near a waterway, and describe relationships between them. Assessment focus: interdependence in a waterways environment.
Students read a narrative about a family's encounter with a stray cat. They then use evidence from the text and their background knowledge to evaluate the characters. SJ-1-3-2008. Text provided.
Students complete a cloze passage with 28 blanks about a rugby game. A scoring guide with replacement words/synonyms and guidelines for interpretation are included. SJ-1-2-1998. Text provided.
Assessment focus: ability to interpret visual texts though de-constructing messages to access multiple layers of meaning, by drawing on both the text and previous knowledge and experiences.