English resources

Students read a short story about swimming in summer and answer questions about comprehension and inference. SJ-2-1-1992. Text provided.

Students read an extract from Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men' to answer retrieval and inferential questions.

The assessment focus is on the ability to make inferences about character and justify these with evidence from text.

This task assesses student ability to find the text features of a science report about moa.

Students read through an article about a pending tidal wave. From their comprehension of the cloze passage, they fill in the gaps with their own words. SJ-2-2-1982. Text 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.

This resource assesses students' ability to select appropriate key words, from a given list, for the purpose of finding information that can be used to answer a given question. Students' ability to generate key words is also assessed.

Students produce a simple written description, using nouns and adjectives with some precision.

A model of combining two short sentences is given. Students create simple then compound sentences to go with some photos, using simple conjunctions to join sentences. A peer sharing task completes the resource.

Students create simple and compound sentences to go with given photos. The focus is on combining sentences, using simple conjunctions. A peer sharing task completes the resource.

Students read a recount about New Zealanders travelling in Africa, then answer retrieval and inference questions. The text is provided.

This comprehension task assesses student ability to evaluate the ideas and information in a text about an environmental issue. Students are asked to read a text, then respond to four questions. SJ-4-3-2005. Text not provided.

Students identify spelling errors in common homophones and write the identified errors correctly. Students also identify lines of text without errors.

Students look at a cartoon and extrapolate meaning through looking at visual features.

Students read an advertisement and retrieve information and make inferences from it.

Students read a poem titled 'The Sea' and explain the meanings of some of the language used.

Students use an index from a book on windsurfing to explain their understandings of an index and to find specific information.

This resource requires students to answer questions about an index page.

This resource assesses the student's ability to interpret the visual elements of a Water Safety Poster. There are questions on font, logos, and language features.

Students interpret five business logos and write a brief statement describing the likely nature of the business.

Assessment focus: ability to de-construct and interpret messages in advertising, so that students can understand meaning-making processes in the construction of imagery.

Students read a narrative about how a character copes with changes in her family dynamics. Students then complete three tasks focusing on that character. Assessment focus: an evaluation of a character and the author's construction of her. (The text used for this resource is reproduced under the "Working with Students" tab.) Reading age 10-12. SJ-4-2-2000. Text not provided.

Students read an extract from the narrative 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' and answer a combination of multiple-choice and short answer questions.

An anecdotal story about fever and the discovery of quinine provides the context for this assessment with its focus on information retrieval and making inferences. The text is provided with this resource.

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.