Looking at insects

Looking at insects

Auto-markingPencil and paperOnline interactive
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
This task is about adding words to a text so that it makes sense.
The following piece of writing has some spaces where words are missing.
 
First, read the whole piece of writing through to get an idea of what it is about. Then fill each space with ONE word so that the whole piece of writing makes sense. You are able to change answers as you go.

When you have filled in all the spaces, re-read the text to check that the whole piece of writing makes sense.

Question 1Change answer

Looking at insects
 
There are more than three-quarters of a million kinds of insect and there are many insects of each kind. It's no wonder some of them 1 nuisances and get in our way. 2 have to have food, but some 3 food we want to have for 4. They eat the grain grown on 5 farms and the vegetables in our 6 and the fruit in our orchards. 7 we find a worm-eaten apple we usually say, "One of our six-legged neighbours 8 here first". However, the "worms" in 9 are not real worms but baby 10 called larvae. Many insects are like 11 when they are young. Some of 12 worm-like baby insects we call caterpillars; 13 we call grubs. Some insects even 14 to our tables and try to 15 food off our plates, like house-flies. 16 insects are our enemies because they harm our forest and garden trees. They 17 eat the leaves, or bore into 18 trunk or roots. Other insects chew 19 in our clothes, and they may 20 our books or sometimes damage the 21 our furniture is made of. But, 22 most harmful insects are those that 23 deadly diseases: flies, fleas, mosquitoes, and lice. 24 are our greatest enemies!
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper or online with auto-marking.
Copyright: 

Source unknown

Level:
4
Curriculum info: 
English, Making meaning, Reading
Key Competencies: 
Using language, symbols, and texts
Keywords: 
cloze, comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, text features
Description of task: 
Students complete a cloze passage with 24 blanks on insects. A scoring guide with replacement words/synonyms and guidelines for interpretation are included.
Curriculum Links: 
Links to the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading:
This resource helps to identify students’ ability to:
  • use comprehension strategies
  • monitor their reading for accuracy and sense
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
Making sense of text: processing system, set 5
Making sense of text: vocabulary knowledge, set 6
within the Reading Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.		 are
Insects/They
eat/take/steal
ourselves
our/the
gardens
When/Whenever/If/After
got/was
apples/fruit
insects/bugs
that/worms/this
these/the
some/others
come/get/fly/crawl/go
take/eat/get/steal
Some/many
may/sometimes/often/can/usually/will
the
holes
harm/hurt/destroy/eat/chew/damage/wreck
wood/fabric/material(s)/timber/cloth/fabric
the
carry/have/transmit/spread/cause
They/These

Click here for more information on Interpreting Cloze Results