Making meaning resources

Assessment focus: finding important information and the main idea of an informational text. The text used is about an introduced species of fish which has become a pest. SJ-2-4-2005. Text provided.

This comprehension task involves progressively disclosing a poem to students. It assesses their ability to use evidence from the poem to work out what it could be describing. SJ-3-1-2004. Text provided.

Students are assessed on their ability to identify important information and the main idea of a recount about needing to take action. Junior Journal 29. Text provided.

This comprehension task involves progressively disclosing a poem to students. It assesses their ability to infer. SJ-1-1-1998. Text provided.

This comprehension task involves progressively disclosing a poem. It assesses a student's ability to use evidence to predict what it could be describing. SJ-2-4-1994. Text provided.

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

Using a page from a dictionary, this resource assesses students' dictionary skills through a series of short answer and selected response questions.

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.

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

This resource is based on a job application that needs editing. Students identify six different errors and suggest corrections.

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 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.

Assessment focus: ability to interpret visual texts though de-constructing messages to access multiple layers of meaning, by drawing on both the text and previous knowledge and experiences.

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

In this resource students read bullet points about different cultures and answer information retrieval 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 study a poster about being safe in an earthquake and then answer retrieval and inferential questions.

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

A tourist advertisement for the Kaikoura coast has students being assessed on their understanding of alliteration, fonts, logos, and photo images.

Students read the humorous narrative 'The Diving Competition' to answer retrieval and inferential questions. SJ-4-2-1996. Text provided.

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.

This resource has an assessment focus on comprehending the language features used in an advertisement.

Students read a short article about Black Holes to answer retrieval and inferential questions.

Students complete a cloze passage with 26 blanks about a boy stuck between some steps. A scoring guide with replacement words/synonyms and guidelines for interpretation are included.