Whale watch

Whale watch

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

humpback whale

Read Whale Watch by Diana Noonan (pages 14-19, School Journal Part 1, Number 1, 1998). 

Then answer the questions.

Question 1Change answer

a)  Max said he wore a necklace for good luck. What was the good luck he was hoping for?

Question 1Change answer

b)  Why did Lester put the hydrophone in the water?

Question 1Change answer

c)  Why did Lester take the whale watchers five kilometres offshore?

Question 1Change answer

d)  What are two possible reasons for the hydrophone not picking up any sounds?

Question 1Change answer

e)  The words "We waited …and waited…" have been written in large print to make them stand out. What might this tell us about how Max was feeling?

Question 1Change answer

f)  What was the first clue Max had, that a whale was at the surface near the boat?

Question 1Change answer

g)  Describe a time you felt like Max.

Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper or online (without auto-marking).
Copyright: 
Whale Watch - Text first published by Learning Media Limited in School Journal on behalf of the Ministry of Education. © Diana Noonan. Illustrations © Crown, 1998. Reproduced with permission.

Text source: School Journal, Part 1, No. 1, Learning Media, 1998. (Text abridged).
 
humpback whale
Image (c) J. Fisher, 2011, www.photokete.co.nz (permission granted for educational use within New Zealand Aotearoa).
 
 
 
Level:
2
Curriculum info: 
English, Making meaning, Reading
Key Competencies: 
Thinking, Using language, symbols, and texts
Keywords: 
comprehension, recount, inference, SJ-1-1-1998
Description of task: 
A recount about a whale watch is the context for comprehension questions that require making inferences. The recount is reproduced in the resource. SJ-1-1-1998. 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
Acquiring and using information and ideas in informational texts, sets 2-3
Reading for literary experience, set 3
within the Reading Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
 

Y4 (10/2000)

a)

Seeing a whale.

very easy

b)

Any 1 of:

  • To "hear"/find out/check/see if a whale was there.
  • To try to pick up whale sounds.

easy

c)

Any 1 of:

  • The water is deep there.
  • The food whales like to eat can be found there.
  • That is where whales can be found/whales are not found close to shore.

moderate

d)
  • The whale was on its way to/near the surface.
  • The whale was asleep deep under the water/the hydrophone wasn't deep enough in the water.

2 correct – difficult

1 correct – moderate

e)

He was feeling bored/impatient/anxious/worried/ disappointed/sad.

moderate

f)

He heard a rush of air/it breathing.

difficult

g)

Accept any answer in which there is an obvious link between the experience the child describes and Max's experiences. Experiences could include:

  • looking forward to something.
  • having to wait for something.
  • hoping you won't be disappointed.
  • having an exciting/moving experience.

moderate