Reading resources

This resource looks at a set of cooking instructions for making "Crispy Rounds".

The context of this task is a story about a power cut. Students identify the changing feelings of the children in the story and record these as a graph over time.

Students identify what type of people the characters in the story are and choose evidence from the text to justify their decisions; they also identify the main idea of the text. Suggestions for evaluating character and the author's style of characterisation are under the "Working with Students" tab.

Students read fifteen statements and identify the six statements of opinion.

The traditional fable of 'Hare and Tortoise' is presented as a cloze article in this resource. Students draw on their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary to create well-formed sentences.

This comprehension task assesses a student's ability to use evidence in a text to work out what a poem could be about as it is disclosed in stages.

A tale about a character who resolves a problem creatively provides the context for this cloze exercise. Students use their vocabulary and knowledge of grammar to fill in the missing words.

Assessment focus: ability to use contextual clues to infer meaning of a word. (There is a link to the text used for this resource in the Using this Resource section.) Reading age 9.5-10.5. SJ-2-2006. Text provided.

Students complete a cloze passage on the antics of an escaped otter. Students use their vocabulary and knowledge of grammar to create well-formed sentences. SJ-2-2-2000. Text provided.

Students read a narrative about a girl who behaves like an overly enthusiastic parent and her father who behaves like a reluctantly involved adolescent. They use and evaluate evidence from the text, alongside their background knowledge, to complete the task. SJ-3-2-2010. Text not provided.

After reading a narrative about a shrewd boy, students identify evidence in the text that supports their thinking. Assessment focus: analysing and evaluating a character and the author's construction of him. (There is a link to the text used for this resource in the Task administration section of the Teacher information pages.) Reading age 8-9. SJ-2-4-2000. Text provided.

Students are assessed on their ability to find details that support them to identify the main idea in a text about an endangered species of New Zealand. Reading age 8.5-9.5. SJ-1-4-2005. Text provided.

A poem and brief article about Japanese dolls is the context for this comprehension resource that has focus on comparisons and purpose. SJ-2-2-1983. Text provided.

This comprehension task assesses student ability to identify important information and establish the main idea of a text. SJ-2-2-2006. Text provided.

This comprehension task assesses student ability to identify important information and establish the main idea of a narrative text. The text describes a person's experience of war and their learnings from it. SJ-2-1-2006. Text provided.

Students are assessed on their ability to find details that relate to the main idea of a text about a flood. SJ-2-2-2004. Text provided.

Assessment focus: deciding which description of the main idea of an informational text is most appropriate, and justifying their thinking. The text used is about the adaptation of bird's feet to their environment.

Students complete a cloze passage with 28 blanks about a rugby game. A scoring guide with replacement words/synonyms and guidelines for interpretation are included. SJ-1-2-1998. Text provided.

Students read a visual and written text about native plants and animals to answer retrieval and inferential questions.

Assessment focus: ability to use contextual clues to infer meaning of a word. (There is a link to the text used for this resource in the Using this Resource section.) SJ-2-1-2006. Text provided.

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.

Students complete a cloze passage with 20 blanks on polio to create well-formed sentences.

For this task students read the article, 'Chunky Chalks', and identify the ingredients and equipment used to write a set of 10 instructions for making chunky chalk. Students then identify the verb in each instruction. SJ-2-4-2000. Text not provided.

Students are asked to interpret the changing feelings of the main character in the School Journal story 'Grey Hair', and to provide evidence of these feelings by identifying the words and actions of the character. SJ-1-3-1996. Text not provided.

Students study a recipe then answer questions showing their understanding of written instructions.