Magic stuff

Magic stuff

Pencil and paperOnline interactive
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
This task is about finding information in a poem and making inferences from it.
Read Magic Stuff  by Fiona Farrell (pages 28-29, School Journal Part 2, Number 1, 1999) and do the following tasks.

Question 2Change answer

a)  What does the poem say the magic brew will do to the person who drinks it?

Question 2Change answer

b)  i)  What is a "brew"?  

     ii) Write down another word in the poem that has a similar meaning to "brew".
          

Question 2Change answer

c)  How many ingredients are used in the magic brew? 

Question 2Change answer

d)  "Boiled cabbage" and "semolina" are food humans can eat.
     Why do you think they have been included in this recipe?

Question 2Change answer

e)  Why did the person probably want to give some "magic stuff" to his/her older brother?

Question 2Change answer

f)  When poets use words that start with the same sound this is called alliteration, e.g., "stinky socks".
     Copy another part of the poem that shows alliteration.
     

Question 2Change answer

g)  Find an example of rhyme that is used in the poem.
     
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper or online (without auto marking).
 
Equipment
"Magic stuff", by Fiona Farrell, pages 28-29 of School Journal Part 2, Number 1, 1999.
Copyright: 
Magic Stuff - Text and images were first published by Learning Media Limited for the Ministry of Education. Text Copyright Fiona Farrell, 1999. Image Copyright © Crown. Permission granted for use.
 
Source: School Journal, Part 2, Number 1, Learning Media, 1999. Text by Fiona Farrell with illutsrations by Daron Parton.
 
Level:
3
Curriculum info: 
English, Making meaning, Reading
Key Competencies: 
Thinking, Using language, symbols, and texts
Keywords: 
poem, poetry, comprehension, vocabulary, rhyme, alliteration, language features, School Journal, SJ-2-1-1999
Description of task: 
Students read a poem, retrieve information, and then use this information to make inferences. The text used is shown into the resource. It can also be located in School Journal, Part 2, No. 1, 1999. SJ-2-1-1999. Text provided.
Curriculum Links: 
Links to the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading:
This resource helps to identify students’ ability to:
  • use comprehension strategies
  • identify the specific language features and structures of many common continuous and non-continuous text types
as described in the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading at: http://www.literacyprogressions.tki.org.nz/The-Structure-of-the-Progressions.
Answers/responses: 

 

Y6 (11/1999)

a)

 

Shrink them.

easy

b)

i)

ii)

A (liquid/runny) mixture.

Potion.

moderate

easy

c)

 

9

easy

d)

 

Any 1 of:

  • They are foods many people dislike/to make the potion taste worse.
  • To trick the brother into drinking it/so he will drink it.

moderate

e)

 

Any answer which gives a negative attitude to the brother.

moderate

f)

 

Any 1 of:

  • "dried dog"
  • "spiders, spit"

easy

g)

 

Any example of rhyme used in the poem, e.g., "brew-pooh".

moderate