Task: Complete a diagram of part of the water cycle and answer a question about rain. Assessment focus: Question a) – the water cycle and conventions of diagrams; question b) – evaporation of a solution.
Explain what affects the distance travelled by toy cars, and why they eventually stop. Assessment focus: science explanations using ideas about forces and energy.
Students read a narrative then complete three tasks that focus on one of the characters. Assessment focus: an evaluation of a character and the author's construction of that character. SJ-4-3-2004. Text 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.) Reading age 9.5-10.5. SJ-2-2006. Text 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 read a narrative about how a girl deals with her anxiety over Sports Day. They then use evidence from the text and their background knowledge to complete the task. Assessment focus: evaluating. SJ-2-3-2009. Text 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.
Task: Answer questions about what happens to water in open and closed containers and compare to the water cycle. Assessment focus: evaporation, the water cycle.
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 comprehension task assesses student ability to find details that relate to the main idea of a text about a Māori naturalist/scientist. Students are asked to read a text, find details about the given main idea, then justify why they think the main idea is right or wrong.
Students read a personal recount about family relationships in a Pacific context. Assessment focus: the author's construction of two characters and an evaluation of them.
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.
This comprehension task assesses student ability to use evidence in text to make inferences about characters' points of view, and to analyse and synthesise understandings of these characters.
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.
This task assesses student ability to find the text features of a science report about one of our native birds. The task is essentially a literacy task in the context of scientific writing, and can also be accessed from the English Bank.