School Journal resources

Students read an article about castles to complete a retrieval chart using information from the text. SJ-1-2-1995. 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 use the information in an article to interpret the body language of cats in nine different pictures. This task assesses student ability to bring together written and visual texts to show their comprehension. The text is reproduced in the Teacher information pages. SJ-3-1-1990. 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.

This comprehension task assesses student ability to identify important information to establish the main idea of a transactional text about blushing. SJ-4-1-2006. Text provided.

Students read a narrative that is about being different and about group dynamics. Assessment focus: an evaluation of characters and the author's construction of them. (A link to the text is provided. Reading age <8.) SJ-1-4-2005. Text provided.

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.

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 read an article about Tuatara to be able to fill in a chart with specific information. SJ-1-3-1998. Text provided.

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.

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 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 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.

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 read an article on starfish and find factual information to complete a retrieval chart and answer comprehension questions. SJ-1-2-1999. Text not provided.

Students read an article on dog grooming. They find information to complete a retrieval chart and answer comprehension questions. SJ-1-1-1997. Text not provided.