Flea feast

Flea feast

Pencil and paperOnline interactive
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
This task is about using information and making inferences from a text.

Read the poem Flea Feast by Valerie Matuku (School Journal part 3, no. 1, 1999) and answer the following questions.

Question 2Change answer

a)  i)  Who are the "victims" the flea talks about in the first verse?   
     ii) Write down two words from the first verse that give an idea of who the victims are.
          , 

Question 2Change answer

b)  When the dog says, "My owner thinks he's won the war", what war is he talking about?

Question 2Change answer

c)  In the second verse the dog says, "I'm not scratching any more". Why isn't he scratching any more?

Question 2Change answer

d)  What is the most likely reason that the dog had to sleep in the shed?

Question 2Change answer

e)  What made the boy decide to let the dog sleep beside his bed?

Question 2Change answer

     In the last verse the flea talks about having a "change of diet".
f)  i)  Who will probably be the flea's new victim?  

     ii) What happens in the poem that gives an idea of who the flea's new victim will be?
          
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pen and paper or online (without auto marking).
 
Copyright: 
Flea Feast - Text and images wre first published by Learning Media Limited for the Ministry of Education. Copyright © Valerie Matuku, 1999. Illustrations Copyright © Crown, 1999. Reproduced with permission.
 
Source: School Journal, Pt 3, No. 1, 1999. Illustration Copyright © Crown (1999). Written by Valerie Matuku with illustrations by Kirsty Lillico.
Level:
3
Curriculum info: 
English, Making meaning, Reading
Key Competencies: 
Thinking, Using language, symbols, and texts
Keywords: 
comprehension, inference, poetry, School Journal, SJ-3-1-1999
Description of task: 
A poem about fleas from a School Journal is the context for this resource. The assessment focus is on making inferences. SJ-3-1-1999. Text provided.
Curriculum Links: 
Links to the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading:
This resource helps to identify students’ ability to:

  • use comprehension strategies
  • infer ideas and information that are not directly stated in the text

as described in the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading at: http://www.literacyprogressions.tki.org.nz/The-Structure-of-the-Progressions.

Learning Progression Frameworks
This resource can provide evidence of learning associated with
Reading for literary experience, set 4
within the Reading Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
 

Y6 (11/2001)
a)
i)
 
ii)
 Dog
People/humans/children/boy
Bark
shout		 very difficult
moderate
very easy
easy
b)   The war against the flea(s). easy
c)   The flea is still/quiet/not biting.
[Do not accept "The flea has gone" or "The flea is dead" or "The boy has given the dog pills, sprays and powder".]		 difficult
d)   Any 1 of:

  • The dog has fleas.
  • So the boy/other people don't catch the fleas.
  • So fleas don't spread through the house.
 easy
e)

 

   Any 1 of:

  • He thinks the flea(s) have gone/are dead.
  • The dog isn't scratching.

[Do not accept "The fleas are gone/are dead."]

 moderate
f) i)
ii)		 The boy/human/owner.
The dog is now sleeping next to the boy/inside.		 easy
difficult