Using language, symbols, and texts resources

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

An extract about Sāmoan life provides the context for this assessment with its focus on retrieving information and making inferences. Text available.

Students read a narrative and make inferences about the characters' feelings based on evidence in the text. Text is provided with this resource. SJ-2-2-1999. Text provided.

Students are required to identify whether a series of statements about the School Journal story 'Personal Mail' are true or false, and to support their opinion with evidence from the text. This task assesses students' retrieval and inferential comprehension skills. SJ-3-1-1991. Text provided.

Students read an article about the Moa then answer retrieval and inferential questions. SJ-2-3-1982. Text not provided.

Students read the letters written by four different people and identify the main idea of each letter.

Students are required to identify and interpret the metaphors in two short poems.

Students read a story about family dynamics to answer inferential questions. SJ-3-3-1996. Text provided.

Students research and write a biographical recount on the life of a well-known New Zealander. Supports for this process and formative assessment points are given.

Students read a narrative about a family's encounter with a stray cat. They then use evidence from the text and their background knowledge to evaluate the characters. SJ-1-3-2008. Text provided.

Students read a narrative about how a girl deals with her anxiety over Sports Day. They then use evidence from the text and their background knowledge to complete the task. Assessment focus: evaluating. SJ-2-3-2009. Text provided.

This resource assesses students' ability to identify and correct common spelling errors taken from the essential word lists 4, 6, and 7.

The use of metaphors and similes is explored in this poem about umbrellas in a storm. Text provided.

Students identify whether to use 'there' or 'their' in a piece of student writing.

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 create simple then compound sentences to go with a photo, using simple conjunctions to join sentences. A peer sharing task completes the resource.

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 write an advertisement to sell a kayak on a website.

This resource assesses a student's ability to skim quickly and find the answers to eight questions about islands in the Pacific. It is a timed exercise.

Students read a speech extract and decide whether selected pronouns either include or exclude the audience.

Students read a narrative then complete three tasks that focus on one of the characters. Assessment focus: an evaluation of a character and the author's construction of that character. SJ-4-3-2004. Text provided.

Students read a short extract from a legend to answer retrieval and inferential questions.

Students first do the science activity Throwing Balloons 2 (PW2548) where they predict, observe, and explain what will happen when a balloon containing another balloon filled with water is thrown. Then the students do this writing task where they describe the balloon and what happened when it was thrown, and explain why they think it moved the way it did. Six annotated exemplars of student scripts (writing) are included under the "Working with Students" tab.

Students read a text containing instructions then answer retrieval and inferential questions. SJ-2-2-1984. Text provided.

Students read a poster on sand dunes to answer retrieval and inferential questions.