Task: Describe where water goes when washing is drying and from a swimming pool, and discuss factors that affect this process. Assessment focus: evaporation.
Students review their knowledge of greenhouse gases and the effects of global warming. They identify areas where they are unsure, as well as things they know.
Task: Choose images to enhance a science text about an adaptation of kererū, compare the messages of images, and reflect on the role of illustrations in science texts. Assessment focus: using and interpreting images in science texts.
This comprehension task assesses student ability to find the main idea of a transactional text about a Māori naturalist/scientist. Students are asked to read a text, identify the main idea from three choices provided, and then justify why they think their choice is right.
Task: Make observations from a photograph, identify potential environmental problems giving reasons, decide which problem is the most important, and give reasons for the choice. Assessment focus: (1) observation, and (2) identifying and prioritising cause and effect relationships.
Choose which toy vehicle will roll further, and explain why. The two vehicles are set up under different conditions (ramps at different slopes, rolling onto different surfaces at the bottom). Assessment focus: science explanations using ideas about forces and energy.
After reading a narrative that is about sibling rivalry, students identify evidence in the text that supports their thinking. Assessment focus: analysis and evaluation of 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. SJ-1-5-2004. 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.
Students are assessed on the ability to identify important information in order to establish the main idea of a narrative text about being judgemental. Reading age 10-12. SJ-4-3-1994. Text provided.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Students read a narrative that is about being different and about group dynamics. Assessment focus: an evaluation of characters and the author's construction of them. (A link to the text is provided. Reading age <8.) SJ-1-4-2005. Text provided.