Thinking resources

Students read an article and are assessed on their ability to retrieve information and to make inferences in response to two questions about geologists.

This comprehension task involves progressively disclosing a poem to students. It assesses their ability to infer.

Students read an advertisement for a website. Comprehension questions then require the student to explore the writers' use of metaphor and superlatives.

Students read a Junior Journal article about tree cutting. From their comprehension of the story they complete a retrieval chart and explain the figurative language used.

This resource assesses points of view on the issue of keeping score in sport, with the task being to match statements to the views expressed by four students.

The context of this task is a story about a power cut. Students identify the changing feelings of the children in the story and record these as a graph over time.

Students identify what type of people the characters in the story are and choose evidence from the text to justify their decisions; they also identify the main idea of the text. Suggestions for evaluating character and the author's style of characterisation are under the "Working with Students" tab.

Students read fifteen statements and identify the six statements of opinion.

Students produce a simple written description, using nouns and adjectives with some precision.

This resource provides information on students’ ability to write a string of adjectives in the correct order.

Students answer questions about weight and number of packets of biscuits for a school fundraising project.

In this practical task, students decide which of four shapes have the same area, then use 100s blocks to check their answer.

This assessment takes the context of the New Zealand flag and has questions that focus on presenting, layout, symbols, and visual cues.

Students are assessed on their ability to identify the main idea of a text that recounts one person's experience of a Tryathlon.

Students are assessed on their ability to identify the main idea of a narrative concerning one child's experience of White Sunday in Sāmoa.

This comprehension task assesses a student's ability to use evidence in a text to work out what a poem could be about as it is disclosed in stages.

Students place photos in order, then use them to write a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end.

For this NEMP task students work out all possible combinations in a table tennis contest.

Assessment focus: ability to use contextual clues to infer meaning of a word. (There is a link to the text used for this resource in the Using this Resource section.) Reading age 9.5-10.5. SJ-2-2006. Text provided.

Students read an extract from a drama script and answer questions on props, dialogue, and stage sets. (The text used is reproduced in the the Teacher information pages.) SJ-4-1-2000. Text provided.

A school journal article on living in a Japanese home is the context for this assessment that focuses on locating information and general comprehension. SJ-1-3-1994. Text provided.

Students read a narrative about a girl who behaves like an overly enthusiastic parent and her father who behaves like a reluctantly involved adolescent. They use and evaluate evidence from the text, alongside their background knowledge, to complete the task. SJ-3-2-2010. Text not provided.

Students are assessed on their ability to find details about important information in a recount about a walking school bus, then identify the main idea of this text. SJ-1-1-2006. Text provided.

Students are assessed on their ability to find details that support them to identify the main idea in a text about an endangered species of New Zealand. Reading age 8.5-9.5. SJ-1-4-2005. Text provided.

Students read a narrative about a mother-child relationship. They then use evidence from the text and their background knowledge to complete the task. Assessment focus: evaluating. SJ-1-1-2005. Text provided.