Thinking resources

Task: Look for the similarities and differences in how students draw graphs to display information.

Students read the humorous narrative 'The Diving Competition' to answer retrieval and inferential questions. SJ-4-2-1996. Text provided.

Students read a narrative about how a character copes with changes in her family dynamics. Students then complete three tasks focusing on that character. Assessment focus: an evaluation of a character and the author's construction of her. (The text used for this resource is reproduced under the "Working with Students" tab.) Reading age 10-12. SJ-4-2-2000. Text not provided.

Students are required to critique a survey and design another useful question to be included.

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.

This resource has an assessment focus on comprehending the language features used in an advertisement.

Students read a short article about Black Holes to answer retrieval and inferential questions.

From a school newspaper interview about a school production, students complete a retrieval chart for a press release. The assessment focus is on identifying key information.

For this task students read the article, 'Chunky Chalks', and identify the ingredients and equipment used to write a set of 10 instructions for making chunky chalk. Students then identify the verb in each instruction. SJ-2-4-2000. Text not provided.

New Zealand's steepest street is the context for this resource. Comprehension questions require students to find information and make inferences. The text is provided with this resource. SJ-4-3-1996. Text provided.

Students read acknowledgement text from a journal and answer questions about acknowledgements.

Students read the letters written by four different people and identify the main idea of each letter.

Students read an article about a cockatoo to find factual information. Junior Journal 17. Text not provided.

This comprehension task assesses student ability to find the main idea of a transactional text. Students are asked to read a text then complete three short tasks. Junior Journal 30. Text not provided.

Students attempt to persuade the adults in their families that they should be able to have a dog. They construct an argument by writing replies to the adults' statements.

Students read an article about shoeing a horse and find information from it to complete a retrieval chart.

Students write an argument about the impact of rugby in New Zealand. The features of a written argument are the focus for this assessment. Links to self-assessment writing supports are given under the "Working with Students" tab.

Pairs of students play a game with four dice, calculate the probability of winning the game, comment on how to get a more accurate estimate of the probability, and explain whether the game is fair based on their results.

From visual stimuli and a series of simple statements that describe physical features, students identify which animal is being described.

Students are asked to interpret the changing feelings of the main character in the School Journal story 'Grey Hair', and to provide evidence of these feelings by identifying the words and actions of the character. SJ-1-3-1996. Text not provided.

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 a short narrative recount and indicate each place in which a paragraph break is needed.