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The assessment focus is on students' abilities to identify the details in a text that support a given, main idea.

Students interpret seven business logos that are each presented with a single short written response question about a design feature.

Students read a poster on sand dunes to answer retrieval and inferential questions.

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.

Assessment focus: finding important information and the main idea of an informational text. The text used is about an introduced species of fish which has become a pest. SJ-2-4-2005. Text provided.

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.

This comprehension task assesses student ability to identify important information and establish the main idea of a narrative text. The text describes a person's experience of war and their learnings from it. SJ-2-1-2006. Text provided.

Students are assessed on their ability to find details that relate to the main idea of a text about a flood. SJ-2-2-2004. Text provided.

This comprehension task assesses student ability to identify important information and establish the main idea of a text. SJ-2-2-2006. Text provided.

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 opinions written by four different students and make inferences to answer comprehension questions.

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

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'.

Students are required to identify arguments for and against keeping animals in zoos and then use these to write a paragraph expressing their point of view about this issue.

Students read an article about the Moa then answer retrieval and inferential questions. SJ-2-3-1982. Text not provided.

Students study a recipe then answer questions showing their understanding of written instructions.

Students use the information in an article to interpret the body language of cats in nine different pictures. This task assesses student ability to bring together written and visual texts to show their comprehension. The text is reproduced in the Teacher information pages. SJ-3-1-1990. Text not provided.

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.) SJ-2-1-2006. Text provided.

Students prepare a talk for a group or the class about a book. The assessment focus is on both content and delivery. ARB scoring guides A and B are suitable for this task.

The assessment focus is on an informative speech to a small group about a famous historical person. Student directions, a checklist, and scoring guides are included.

The assessment focus is on an informative speech to a small group about an historical event. Student directions, a checklist, and scoring guides are included.

The assessment focus is on an informative speech to a small group about a famous person. Student directions, a checklist, and scoring guides are included.

Students present an instructive speech to the class or small group. Some topics are provided as examples and scoring guides for teachers are attached.

This task assess the ability to give a short speech that teaches the audience something new. Scoring guides are provided.

Students choose a proverb from a list, then prepare and make a short speech explaining the proverb's message. The assessment focus is on explaining an idea, using an example and personal opinion. ARB scoring guides B and C are suitable for this task.