Thinking resources

Students read a story about rabbits and mark where the paragraph breaks should occur. The assessment focus is on organisation.

Students read a play (retold from a traditional Persian folktale) about the interactions at a market place in old Baghdad. They then use evidence from the text and their background knowledge to complete the task. Assessment focus: evaluating. SJ-4-2-2009. Text not provided.

This resource assesses grammar knowledge. Students identify prepositions used in twelve sentences.

This resource assesses grammar knowledge. Students complete a table giving definitions and examples of proper, common, collective, and abstract nouns.

Students read an essay on school uniforms then mark where the paragraph breaks should occur. The assessment focus is on organisation.

Students read an article on dog grooming. They find information to complete a retrieval chart and answer comprehension questions. SJ-1-1-1997. Text not provided.

Assessment focus: finding details to support the main idea of an informational text, and justifying why they agree or disagree with the main idea presented. The text used is about environmental issues to do with endangered native species.

Students read a text about living in a house bus to answer retrieval and inferential questions. SJ-2-2-1995. Text provided.

Students calculate the area of a range of rectangular shapes.

Students read an article on a town hall pipe organ and answer related questions. SJ-3-2-1985. Text provided.

Students read two letters about personal viewpoints on graffiti and answer questions about the content and style of the letters.

Students are assessed on their ability to find and synthesise details to explain the main idea of a text. The text is focused on adjusting to life as a separated family. SJ-3-2-2006. Text provided.

Students interpret a train timetable and answer questions about departure and arrival, and journey times.

The assessment focus is on student ability to make inferences about character and justify these with evidence from text.

An article about a clown is read by students who then complete a retrieval chart about his job.

Students read an article on kiwi and answer multiple choice questions that focus on inference and information retrieval.

This is a grammar knowledge resource where students match nine parts of speech and their definitions.

Students read a recount about New Zealanders travelling in Africa, then answer retrieval and inference questions. The text is provided.

Students read an article on Mother Teresa and then answer short comprehension questions.

A poem about trying to fly is the basis of this resource. Students read the poem then answer questions on its illustrations, rhyme, content and vocabulary. SJ-3-1-1994.

Students read a narrative about relationships and wanting to impress others. Assessment focus: the author’s construction of a character and an evaluation of this character.

Students read a poem and explore how the poem expresses the storyteller's mood. SJ-2-1-1990. Text provided.

Students use comprehension skills to answer a range of questions based on a newspaper story. Knowledge of adjectives and alliteration is also required.

This task is about using evidence to find the main idea of a text. Students read a narrative text with a Māori context, find two groups of details, then select the main idea from four choices. Note that the text deals with the hunting and slaughter of pigs, which may be a challenging concept for some of your students. SJ-4-2-2004. Text provided.

After reading a narrative that explores family dynamics, students identify evidence in the text that supports their thinking. Assessment focus: analysing and evaluating a character and the author's construction of him. (There is a link to the text used for this resource in the Task administration section of the Teacher information pages.) Reading age 8-9. SJ-3-3-2003.