Comprehension resources

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

This resource has students comparing four advertisements on holiday camps and identifying the meaning of a slogan.

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.

Students read a short extract on diving and answer five comprehension questions.

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

Students read a poem then retrieve information to answer comprehension questions. SJ-1-1-1999. Text not 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 the poem 'Don't be Wet' and complete two tables to show their understanding of puns. SJ-3-3-1994. Text provided.

Students read the poem 'Hide-and-go-seek' to make inferences about the game. SJ-3-2-1996. Text provided.

Students read a poem then make inferences using the written and the visual texts. SJ-4-2-1994. Text provided.

A school journal article on living in a Japanese home is the context for this assessment that focuses on locating information and general comprehension. SJ-1-3-1994. 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 text containing instructions then answer retrieval and inferential questions. SJ-2-2-1984. Text provided.

Students make inferences from a poem. SJ-2-4-1993. 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.

Students read an extract about gathering water in Sāmoa to find information to fill in a chart. SJ-3-3-1999. Text provided.

Students view an illustration and read a poem entitled 'The Dinosaur Climber's Kit' and then answer retrieval and inferential questions. An awareness of rhyme is explored. SJ-2-3-1994. Text provided.

Students read a report on a fisheries officer's work and make mainly short written responses. The assessment focus is on comprehension and vocabulary. SJ-3-3-1990. Text provided.

Students are assessed on their ability to find details about important information in a recount about a walking school bus, then identify the main idea of this text. SJ-1-1-2006. 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.

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.

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.

Students read a narrative about a mother-child relationship. They then use evidence from the text and their background knowledge to complete the task. Assessment focus: evaluating. SJ-1-1-2005. 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.