This resource was trialled by 30 students. The trial involved small groups of Year 3 and 4 students across four primary schools.

Tasks a) and b) Details identified by students:Students generally had no difficulty finding at least two or three details in the text that related to each of the two groups of details identified for them.At a), the trial students most commonly identified quotes where characters express the significance of giving and receiving tïvaevae. Students tended to use quotes containing vocabulary from In Rarotongan families giving tïvaevae is an important thing to do, i.e., the giving being "important", and details in the text, i.e., the giving of "something special". For example, over half of the trial students identified the detail where Kiri says 'I want to take something special to give to Aunty Ngā...I want to give her our quilt'. Possibly relating to the emotional significance of this, almost a half of the students then went on to identify the detail where Mum says '...every stitch is filled with love'.At b), details most commonly identified were "There were so many people waiting to meet them – cousins, aunties, uncles…" from page 5, and from page 14 where all the relations sing Grandma's song with dad.In finding details for a) and b), two areas of difficulty emerged:

Students relying too heavily on specific words as clues.Some students used specific words, e.g., "family" in Families are special and found details in the text with these words in them. This is not always an appropriate strategy. For example, one student focussed on the word "family" and gave two details that are more related to plot, i.e., page 8: "It was nearly time for Kiri's family to leave too" and page 10: "The other family were moving to Auckland". Such students do not understand that they need to link "family" and "special" in order to find related details.

Students relying too heavily on prior knowledgeSome students gave supporting details that were too generalised, calling on their prior knowledge only. For example, for task a) In Rarotongan families giving tïvaevae is an important thing to do, one student wrote "When there is a birthday or wedding or funeral we give something special to them". For task b), Families are special, one student wrote "Because they will always be there for you, because they always care, and because you will always remember them".

One strength area emerged:

Students using inferenceThe difficulty mentioned in the previous paragraph can be turned into a strength when students relate their generalised, conceptual knowledge to concrete examples in the text. For example, in task b) one student inferred the scene on pages 8 and 9 (where the family are sharing food, helping and caring for each other) to mean that Families are special.

Task c)Most students easily identified the correct main idea at task c).Although most students correctly identified the main idea, it cannot be assumed that they can independently do so since this resource provides considerable scaffolding. For example, in tasks a) and b), students are given two important pieces of information which they combine to get the main idea at task c). If they were independently finding the main idea they would need to find and combine all the important information the text presents.