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Site with multiple inference work sheets 

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Site with multiple inference work sheets 

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Inferences Worksheets | Reading Activities

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Looking for high-quality, FREE INFERENCES WORKSHEETS? Look no further! Printable or complete online. Check them out now!

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Inferences Test 2 | Online Practice Making Inferences

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Practice your reading skills online with this free interactive inferences test. Print, save, or email your results after completion.

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Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority

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Year 7 Language conventions - NAPLAN test preparation

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Access keys | Skip to primary navigation | Skip to secondary navigation | Skip to content | Skip to footer |

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A thorough 'Teaching Comprehension' Strategy booklet 

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A thorough 'Teaching Comprehension' Strategy booklet 

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This selection of digital curriculum resources from the National Digital Learning Resources Network is designed to assist teachers to find, use and adapt teaching and learning materials that are aligned to the English subject area of the Australian Curriculum.

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Ten possible futures. Two lives. One enduring friendship.

Sam and Tara. Best friends in a future when artificial intelligence organises our lives, and micropets are the latest craze. Best friends when rationing means cold showers and no internet. Best friends when genetic matching makes asking a girl on a date a minefield of epic proportions.

But will they still be best friends in a future when plague wipes out most of humanity? Or a future when the Inquisitor asks Sam to choose one betrayal over another?

Michael Pryor, one of Australia's best authors of speculative fiction, imagines what our next 100 years might be like. Utopia or dystopia? Miracle or catastrophe? Whatever might happen, it's just around the corner. Which future will be yours?

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Ten possible futures. Two lives. One enduring friendship. Sam and Tara. Best friends in a future when artificial intelligence organises our lives, and micropets are the latest craze. Best friends when rationing means cold showers and no internet. Best friends when genetic matching makes asking a girl on a date a minefield of epic proportions.

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Teaching Reading and Viewing a

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Boys and Reading

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Services to Schools | National Library of New Zealand

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Discover and explore digital resources that will connect students to New Zealand's history and culture. Develop your understanding of how these resources can be used to inspire and support inquiry learning. The resources will be credible, reliable, and freely available to schools. You'll take away practical ideas, knowledge, and skills to share with your students and school staff.

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid all books - extracts 

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid all books - extracts 

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DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (Book 1) | Wimpy Kid

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It's a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you're ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary.

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Mark

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Please note that these pages contain a collection of links to activities to support and enhance classroom teaching and learning. The thumbnails and activities are the property of the authors/creators...

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Parent/carer support - NAPLAN

NAPLAN tests the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. It is important to remember that NAPLAN is not about passing or failing, but about assessing learning progress.
Read more

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NAPLAN tests the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. It is important to remember that NAPLAN is not about passing or failing, but about assessing learning progress. Read more

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Audio and written

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Library site - book extracts

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Jack and Annie are on a mission! When the magic tree house whisks them back to Galveston, Texas, in 1900, they find out that a big storm is coming. But even though there is rain and wind, no one believes there is any danger. As the storm grows, seawater floods the city.

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Short Stories: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce

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Full online text of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. Other short stories by Ambrose Bierce also available along with many others by classic and contemporary authors.

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Reading in middle school is tricky, and it's not simply a matter of decoding and fluency.

Middle school students are an interesting bunch, with rapid brain development, emerging identities, and a varied assortment of readiness, background knowledge, and maturity in any given classroom.

This can make selecting short stories for middle school students a challenge. The following graphic may help. weareteachers.com, a treasure trove of teachers resources, put together the image below to help jumpstart your thinking. It is mostly classic stuff, but there are literally zero missteps here, with every story having literary value, from the suspense of "The Lottery" to the memorable characters of "Flowers for Algernon."

As for additions, we might suggest "Everything That Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor, though it's likely better suited for 8th graders and above. Let us know in the comments what else you'd include!
24 Entertaining Short Stories For Middle School
1. All Summer in a Day

2. Flowers for Algernon

3. Harrison Bergeron

4. To Build a Fire

5. The Ransom of Red Chief

6. A Sound of Thunder

7. The Tell-Tale Heart

8. The Lady or the Tiger?

9. There Will Be Soft Rains

10. The Lottery

11. Hearts and Hands

12. The Rocking Horse Winner

13. Miss Awful

15. The Moustache

16. Young Goodman Brown

17. The Most Dangerous Game

18. The Black Cat

19. The Sniper

20. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

21. The Veldt

22. The House of Stairs

23. The Landlady

24. The Fun They Had
24 Entertaining Short Stories For Middle School Affiliate Disclosure External links on our website may be affiliate links that could result in us receiving compensation (payment) when you traverse the link. For example, we may receive pay per click revenue or commission on sales. You can always ensure that all profit goes to retailers and services providers by searching retailers directly for apps, products, and other services we recommend rather than using the links we've provided. You can read more on our affiliate disclosure page. /affiliate-disclosure/

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24 Entertaining Short Stories For Middle School

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Reading in middle school is tricky, and it's not simply a matter of decoding and fluency. Middle school students are an interesting bunch, with rapid brain development, emerging identities, and a varied assortment of readiness, background knowledge, and maturity in any given classroom. This can make selecting short stories for middle school students a challenge.

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A beautiful series !!!!!

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The Wormworld Saga - A Digital Graphic Novel by Daniel Lieske

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Follow Jonas Berg on his fantastic adventures inside the Wormworld in this next generation digital graphic novel. Reading the Wormworld Saga online is free and many translations are available.

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Extract

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"There's no easy way to put this, so I'll say it straight out. It's time I faced up to the truth. I'm fourteen years old and I have Ishmael Leseur's Syndrome. There is no cure." And there is no instant cure to not fitting in. But that won't stop I...

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A really basic introduction to inference

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Albert (Lengy) Lengviriyakul, is fed up with being Thai. His parents own a Thai restaurant with the cheesy name of Thai-riffic! and Lengy is sick of being his father's curry guinea pig, longing to just eat pizza! At school he is a bit of a troublemaker, going to any lengths to hide his background. But when his best friend decides to become Thai for a day for a school project, Lengy stubbornly comes to the realisation that there may just be some pretty cool things about his culture.

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It's hard being Thai, especially when you live in Australia, your house is a Thai cultural shrine, your parents run a restaurant called Thai-riffic! and you're desperate for some pizza! Lengy's adventures will have you laughing out loud and perhaps shedding the occasional wimpy tear.

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As well as being our home, the treehouse is also where we make books together. I write the words and Terry draws the pictures. ~ Sure, Terry can be a bit annoying at times. . . but mostly we get on pretty well. ~ We have added... a boxing elephant called The Trunkinator ~ Life in the treehouse isn't always easy, of course, but one thing is for sure ... it's never dull! ~ The rat chased the cat with the baseball bat. until... KERSPLAT! ~ It's raining big fat cows today. How many cows? It's hard to say. ~ Bad Jack Horner Sat in a corner Pulling the wings off a fly. ~ He swore at his mum, Kicked his dad in the bum And said, 'Oh, what a bad boy am I!' ~ Bad diddle diddle The cat did a piddle The cow did a poo on the moon.

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As well as being our home, the treehouse is also where we make books together. I write the words and Terry draws the pictures. ~ Sure, Terry can be a bit annoying at times. . . but mostly we get on pretty well. ~ We have added...

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Andy Griffiths

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Andy Griffiths

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Andy Griffiths

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Andy Griffiths

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Andy Griffiths

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Andy Griffiths

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National Geographic Reading and Accompanied Audio

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National Geographic Reading and Accompanied Audio

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K-12 School Digital and Curricular Classroom Materials - NGL

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National Geographic Learning, a part of Cengage Learning, is a leading educational publisher of . Through our digital learning programs and classroom learning resources, schools experience the excitement and joy of learning that National Geographic explorers, scientists, writers and photographers experience.

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Into The Book: Prior Knowledge: Look Inside Your Head

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Into the Book is a reading comprehension resource for elementary students and teachers.

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Your browser does not support the audio element, so here's a link to the mp3: https://hlsvod.uvic.ca/vod/dcs/elc/studyzone/330-stories-cam/the-magic-paintbrush.mp3

A long time ago in China there lived a poor boy called Liang. He had no family, so he made his living by doing odd jobs for other people in his village, such as cutting wood and tending cattle. His life was difficult, but Liang was a generous boy and always willing to help people who needed it. In his heart he had a dream. He wanted to paint pictures and become a great artist. He practised drawing all the time. When he was in the forest cutting wood, he drew birds and animals with a stick. If he was looking after a farmers' cows he drew on the sides of the barn. Whatever he was doing he drew - plants, animals, birds and people. He thought of nothing else except drawing, and soon he became very good at it.

One night Liang dreamed that an old man gave him a paintbrush. The man said it was a magic paintbrush and Liang should use it to help people. When Liang woke up the next morning, he was surprised to see that he had a beautiful paintbrush in his hand. Liang was hungry, so he painted a bowl of rice. Suddenly the rice became real, and he ate it. Now he felt happy, so he drew a bird. The bird came to life and flew away.

When Liang went into the village he met an old farmer carrying water from the river to his field. It was a long walk and the man was very tired. Liang painted a river beside the field and the river came to life. Now the farmer could easily bring the water to his crops. Soon Liang met another villager who was crying because his cow had died in the night, and there was no milk for his children. Liang drew a cow, and it came to life. The villager was overjoyed and happily began to milk his cow.

From that day Liang used his paintbrush to help the people in his village. Whenever they needed something, Liang would paint it. Soon the villagers began to prosper, and word of Liang's magic paintbrush began to travel beyond the village.

People asked him, "Why don't you use your magic paintbrush to become rich?"

"What else do I need?" replied Liang. "I feel rich because I can help."

It wasn't long before a rich man who lived near the village heard about Liang's magic paintbrush, and thought he would use it to make himself richer than the emperor. This man decided to steal Liang's paintbrush. He sent some of his * thugs to Liang's home, where they captured Liang and put him in prison. The rich man took the paintbrush.

The rich man wanted to show off his power so he invited some friends to his house. He drew a lot of pictures, but not one picture became real. The rich man figured there must be some special secret that he didn't know about, so he sent for Liang. When Liang stood before him he said, "If you draw some pictures for me and they become real, I will let you go free."

Liang knew that this rich man was not a good man. He didn't want to help, but he wanted to be free. He had an idea. He said, "I will help you, but you must let me go."

"Paint me a golden mountain," said the rich man. "I want to go there and get lots of gold." What he didn't say out loud was, "And then I will be the richest man in the kingdom, richer even than the emperor himself!"

Liang drew a picture of the sea.

"Why did you draw the sea?" said the rich man, "I told you to draw the mountain. I want gold, not fish!"

"The mountain is on the other side of the sea." replied Liang. "I'll show you." Liang drew the golden mountain on the other side of the sea.

When the rich man saw the mountain shining in gold his eyes lit up like two yellow suns. "Yes!" he said, "That's much better! But the mountain is far from here. How will I get there?"

"I'll draw you a boat to get to the mountain," said Liang. And he drew a golden dragon boat that was even bigger and more beautiful than the emperor's boat. The rich man climbed aboard the boat and stood in the bow facing the golden mountain. He said to Liang," Now draw me a wind to take the boat to the mountain." Liang began to draw a wind, and the boat set sail. The rich man stretched his arms out to grab the golden mountain. "Make the wind stronger so I can get there faster," he said to Liang. Liang kept drawing and the wind got stronger. Soon the wind became a terrible gale and the rich man's beautiful boat sank beneath the sea and took him down with it.

People say that Liang married a beautiful girl from his village and had a big family, and they were happy all their days.

* thug: a violent and rough person

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Byron Crossley.

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ELC Study Zone: The Magic Paintbrush: Reading Comprehension

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Your browser does not support the audio element, so here's a link to the mp3: https://hlsvod.uvic.ca/vod/dcs/elc/studyzone/330-stories-cam/the-magic-paintbrush.mp3 A long time ago in China there lived a poor boy called Liang. He had no family, so he made his living by doing odd jobs for other people in his village, such as cutting wood and tending cattle.

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Your browser does not support the audio element, so here's a link to the mp3: https://hlsvod.uvic.ca/vod/dcs/elc/studyzone/330-stories-cam/the-monkey-and-the-crocodile.mp3

Once there was a monkey who lived in a naval tree beside a river. This naval tree produced more fruit than any other tree in the jungle, and its fruit was fresher and sweeter than the fruit on all the other trees.

Every day when the monkey ate this fruit, he was very happy. Not only could he eat his fill, but he could throw some fruit into the river when his friend the crocodile came by. The crocodile and the monkey spent many hours sitting on the shore of the river and talking, and in time they became best friends.

The crocodile always took some fruit home to his dear wife. She loved the naval fruit so much that she became addicted to its taste and freshness. One day she thought, "If the monkey eats this fruit every day, then his flesh must also taste sweet, especially his liver. Oh, I want to taste the monkey's liver." She thought about it and thought about it until she couldn't stand it any longer.

Finally she said to her husband, "I want to taste the monkey's liver. Please bring him home, so I can satisfy my hunger."

The crocodile was shocked! "You want to eat the monkey's liver? But . . . he's my friend! I love him. And he's so generous to us. My dear, it's impossible."

The lady crocodile became angry. She demanded that he bring the monkey to her. She demanded that he let her taste the monkey's liver. Otherwise she would leave.

The crocodile was torn apart. He loved his wife, and didn't want to lose her. He loved his friend, and didn't want to lose him. Why did he have to make this difficult choice?

In the end, he decided to lose his monkey friend. With a heavy heart, he swam slowly back across the river and sat under the naval tree.

"Oh Monkey," he called, "It's a lovely night, and I feel like going for a ride on the river. Why don't you come along? I could show you the beauty of the river."

"I don't think so," said the monkey. "I don't think that's a good idea. And anyway, I can't swim, and I'm afraid of the water."

"I am the king of the river. You don't need to be afraid when you ride on my back. Besides, we've been friends for a long time. What a shame it would be if you can't trust me by now."

The monkey thought for a minute. Perhaps the crocodile was right. Who can you trust, if not your friends? "OK," he said, "I'll come with you." He jumped onto the crocodile's back, and they sailed into the river.

It was a wonderful ride, and the monkey was really happy, but the crocodile was quiet, and deep in thought.

"What's the matter?" asked the monkey.

The crocodile almost burst into tears. "I'm sorry, my friend. I lied to you. I am not doing this to entertain you. Rather, I am taking you to my wife. She wants to eat your liver."

"Eat my liver!!" The monkey was astonished. "Why does she want to eat my liver?"

"She knows that you eat the fruit of the naval tree every day. She thinks that your liver must be very sweet and tender, so she wants to eat it."

"I see," said the monkey. He saw that his life was in danger. He thought for a minute. "My friend, don't feel bad on my account," he said. "I would be honored to give my liver to your wife. But you should have told me about this before we left the naval tree."

"Why?" asked the crocodile.

"Well, I always wash my liver in the river and then hang it on a branch of the tree."

"Oh?"

"If you take me back to the tree, I'll get it for you. Then you can take it to your wife."

The crocodile swam quickly back to the naval tree. When he got to the shore, the monkey jumped off his back and climbed up the tree.

"Hah! Crocodile! Don't you know that I can't give you my liver? This has been a good lesson to me about trust."

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Created with Hot Potatoes by Half-Baked Software, registered to Byron Crossley.

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ELC Study Zone: The Monkey and the Crocodile: Reading Comprehension

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Your browser does not support the audio element, so here's a link to the mp3: https://hlsvod.uvic.ca/vod/dcs/elc/studyzone/330-stories-cam/the-monkey-and-the-crocodile.mp3 Once there was a monkey who lived in a naval tree beside a river. This naval tree produced more fruit than any other tree in the jungle, and its fruit was fresher and sweeter than the fruit on all the other trees.

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ELC Study Zone: Raven Steals the Light: Reading Comprehension

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Myths, Fairy Tales etc

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All free.
Perhaps one of the best book sites ever !!!

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ICDL - International Children’s Digital Library

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NOOK Tablets | Apps | Accessories | Books at NOOK® UK

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NOOK Tablets | Apps | Accessories | Books at NOOK® UK

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NOOK Tablets | Apps | Accessories | Books at NOOK® UK

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Short Story

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Locker Hero (The Misadventures of Max Crumbly Series #1)

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The Hardcover of the Locker Hero (The Misadventures of Max Crumbly Series #1) by Rachel Renée Russell at Barnes & Noble. FREE Shipping on $25 or more!

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Audio Extract

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Audio Extract

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Audio extract

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Audio Extract

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Really Scary Stories for Brave Children 

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Really Scary Stories for Brave Children 

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Audio Extract

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Picture books read by celebrities
One of my all time favourite sites

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The SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Daytime Emmy-nominated, Storyline Online, features celebrated actors reading children's books to inspire a love of reading in millions of children worldwide.

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From 'The Conversation' Blog

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Why stories matter. PROJohn Morgan, CC BY

Ever wondered why boys and girls choose particular toys, particular colors and particular stories? Why is it that girls want to dress in pink and to be princesses, or boys want to be Darth Vader, warriors and space adventurers?

Stories told to children can make a difference.

Scholars have found that stories have a strong influence on children's understanding of cultural and gender roles. Stories do not just develop children's literacy; they convey values, beliefs, attitudes and social norms which, in turn, shape children's perceptions of reality.

I found through my research that children learn how to behave, think, and act through the characters that they meet through stories.

So, how do stories shape children's perspectives?

Why stories matter

Stories - whether told through picture books, dance, images, math equations, songs or oral retellings - are one of the most fundamental ways in which we communicate.

Nearly 80 years ago, Louise Rosenblatt, a widely known scholar of literature, articulated that we understand ourselves through the lives of characters in stories. She argued that stories help readers understand how authors and their characters think and why they act in the way they do.

Similarly, research conducted by Kathy Short, a scholar of children's literature, also shows that children learn to develop through stories a critical perspective about how to engage in social action.

Stories help children develop empathy and cultivate imaginative and divergent thinking - that is, thinking that generates a range of possible ideas and/or solutions around story events, rather than looking for single or literal responses.

Impact of stories

So, when and where do children develop perspectives about their world, and how do stories shape that?

Studies have shown that children develop their perspectives on aspects of identity such as gender and race before the age of five.

A key work by novelist John Berger suggests that very young children begin to recognize patterns and visually read their worlds before they learn to speak, write or read printed language. The stories that they read or see can have a strong influence on how they think and behave.

For example, research conducted by scholar Vivian Vasquez shows that young children play out or draw narratives in which they become part of the story. In her research, Vasquez describes how four-year-old Hannah mixes reality with fiction in her drawings of Rudolph the reindeer. Hannah adds a person in the middle with a red X above him, alongside the reindeer.

Margaret Almon, CC BY-NC-ND

Vasquez explains that Hannah had experienced bullying by the boys in the class and did not like seeing that Rudolph was called names and bullied by other reindeer when she read Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Vasquez suggests that Hannah's picture conveyed her desire not to have the boys tease Rudolph, and more importantly, her.

My own research has yielded similar insights. I have found that children internalize the cultural and gender roles of characters in the stories.

In one such study that I conducted over a six-week period, third grade children read and discussed the role of male and female characters through a number of different stories.

Children then reenacted gender roles (eg, girls as passive; evil stepsisters). Later, children rewrote these stories as "fractured fairy tales." That is, children rewrote characters and their roles into those that mirrored present-day roles that men and women take on. The roles for girls, for example, were rewritten to show they worked and played outside the home.

Subsequently, we asked the girls to draw what they thought boys were interested in and boys to draw what they thought girls were interested in.

We were surprised that nearly all children drew symbols, stories and settings that represented traditional perceptions of gendered roles. That is, boys drew girls as princesses in castles with a male about to save them from dragons. These images were adorned with rainbows, flowers and hearts. Girls drew boys in outdoor spaces, and as adventurers and athletes.

Author provided

For example, look at the image here, drawn by an eight-year-old boy. It depicts two things: First, the boy recreates a traditional storyline from his reading of fairy tales (princess needs saving by a prince). Second, he "remixes" his reading of fairy tales with his own real interest in space travel.

Even though he engaged in discussions on how gender should not determine particular roles in society (eg, women as caregivers; men as breadwinners), his image suggests that reading traditional stories, such as fairy tales, contributes to his understanding of gender roles.

Our findings are further corroborated by the work of scholar Karen Wohlwend, who found a strong influence of Disney stories on young children. In her research, she found that very young girls, influenced by the stories, are more likely to become "damsels in distress" during play.

However, it is not only the written word that has such influence on children. Before they begin to read written words, young children depend on pictures to read and understand stories. Another scholar, Hilary Janks, has shown that children interpret and internalize perspectives through images - which is another type of storytelling.

Stories for change

Scholars have also shown how stories can be used to change children's perspectives about their views on people in different parts of the world. And not just that; stories can also influence how children choose to act in the world.

For example, Hilary Janks works with children and teachers on how images in stories on refugees influence how refugees are perceived.

Kathy Short studied children's engagement with literature around human rights. In their work in a diverse K-5 school with 200 children, they found stories moved even such such young children to consider how they could bring change in their own local community and school.

These children were influenced by stories of child activists such as Iqbal, a real-life story of Iqbal Masih, a child activist who campaigned for laws against child labor. (He was murdered at age 12 for his activism.) Children read these stories along with learning about human rights violations and lack of food for many around the world. In this school, children were motivated to create a community garden to support a local food bank.

Building intercultural perspectives

Today's classrooms represent a vast diversity. In Atlanta, where I teach and live, in one school cluster alone, children represent over 65 countries and speak over 75 languages.

Indeed, the diversity of the world is woven into our everyday lives through various forms of media.

When children read stories about other children from around the world, such as "Iqbal," they learn new perspectives that both extend beyond beyond and also connect with their local contexts.

At a time when children are being exposed to negative narratives about an entire religious group from US presidential candidates and others, the need for children to read, see, and hear global stories that counter and challenge such narratives is, I would argue, even greater.

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Why stories matter for children's learning

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Ever wondered why boys and girls choose particular toys, particular colors and particular stories? Why is it that girls want to dress in pink and to be princesses, or boys want to be Darth Vader, warriors and space adventurers? Stories told to children can make a difference.

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Framework of Understanding and Implementation

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Framework of Understanding and Implementation

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Syllabus
Literacy Continuum

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This site has 100s of book extracts as well as accompanied audio

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Once I escaped from an orphanage to find my Mum and Dad. Once I saved a girl called Zelda from a burning house. Once I made a Nazi with toothache laugh. My name is Felix. This is my story.

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Great Stimulus for strategy implementation - Stage 4

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Eric Luper has written books for kids of all ages, including the YA novel SETH BAUMGARTNER'S LOVE MANIFESTO. He loves excitement and is always looking for his next adventure. Eric has fibbed his way into a tour of the ultra-secret PEZ headquarters, rebuilt a castle in France, explored the tunnels under Paris and Istanbul, escaped hungry crocodiles in Costa Rica, and rafted down the Colorado River.

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SkullDuggery Island - Online Reading and Audio 

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SkullDuggery Island - Online Reading and Audio 

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sGreat Stimulus for strategy implementation - Stage 4

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Great Stimulus for strategy implementation - Stage 4

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Suitable for grades 5 - 8, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is about the hazards of growing up before you're ready. Read Diary of a Wimpy Kid online, here.

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Great Stimulus for strategy implementation - Stage 4

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A Wide Variety of Excellent and Adaptable Reading Strategies

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A Wide Variety of Excellent and Adaptable Reading Strategies

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Instructional Strategies for the Journey North Teacher

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Audio Book - Little Squirt - Paul Jennings

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Audio Book - Little Squirt - Paul Jennings

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Great Stimulus for strategy implementation  - Stage 4

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Audio - Paul Jennings Official Website and Book Shop

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Official website of childrens' author Paul Jennings. The website features facts and information on Paul's awards, biography and books for children such as Rascal, Unreal and Round the Twist. Paul's books are also available to purchase - Paul will autograph and dedicate purchased books.

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Great Stimulus for strategy implementation - Stage 4

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Reading By Morris Gleitzman Saving Ms Fosdyke by penguinbooks

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Pape

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Pape

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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B

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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UNSW International English Competition Practice Reading Paper

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A

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NAPLAN teaching strategies (persuasion)

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NAPLAN teaching strategies (context)

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NAPLAN teaching strategies

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NAPLAN teaching strategies

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NAPLAN teaching Strategies

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NAPLAN teaching Strategies

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NAPLAN teaching strategies

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NAPLAN teaching strategies and practice tests

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NAPLAN teaching strategies and practice tests

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"Need a program that helps you organise your child's study time? Need an easy-to-use method that motivates your child to revise for tests? Then look no further... we have the ideal study guide for you!"--Back cover.

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NAPLAN style Reading Comprehension Resource - Poetry 

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NAPLAN style Reading Comprehension Resource - Poetry 

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From the beautiful RedRoom Poetry Company

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A chapter on reading skills from the textbook, Communication Skills, developed by the Language Communication for Development Department at the Bunda College of...

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Stage 4

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Practice Reading Section

Ready for Anything! ....................................... Click here

Jane Goodall .................................................. Click here

After you have read each story or article, answer the questions in the Answer Section.

Read the story "Ready for Anything!" before answering Numbers 1 through 8 in the Answer Section.

ustin was always prepared. His motto was "Never throw anything out, you never know when it might come in handy." His bedroom was so full of flat bicycle tires, bent tennis rackets, deflated basketballs, and games with missing pieces that you could barely get in the door. His parents pleaded with him to clean out his room.

"What use is a fish tank with a hole in the bottom?" his father asked. But Justin simply smiled and repeated his motto, "Never throw anything out, you never know when it might come in handy."

When Justin was away from home, he always carried his blue backpack. He liked to think of it as a smaller version of his bedroom—a place to store the many objects that he collected. It was so worn and stretched that it hardly resembled a backpack anymore. It was full of the kind of things that seemed unimportant, but when used with a little imagination, might come in handy.

Justin had earned a reputation for figuring things out and getting people out of otherwise hopeless situations. Many of his classmates and neighbors sought him out when they needed help with a problem. On the first day of school, his friend Kenny, came looking for Justin.

"Do you think you have something in your bag that could help me remember my locker combination?" he asked. "I lost the scrap of paper it was written on. I have science class in two minutes and if I'm late on the first day it'll make me look bad for the rest of the year." Kenny looked genuinely worried.

"Relax," Justin said, taking his backpack off and unzipping the top. "Remember how you borrowed my notebook in homeroom to write the combination down? Well, I know how we can recover what you wrote."

He took the notebook and a soft lead pencil out of his bag. The page that Kenny had written on had left faint indentations on another page in the notebook. Justin held the pencil on its side and rubbed it lightly over the indentations. Slowly but surely the numbers of the locker combination appeared in white, set off by the gray pencil rubbings.

"That's amazing!" Kenny said. "I owe you one." And he dashed off to open his locker.

During science class, Mr. Tran was lecturing on the structure of the solar system using a model. He made a sudden gesture and the model fell apart. Planets and rings and connector rods went everywhere, rolling and clattering and disappearing under desks. The students scrambled around on the floor for ten minutes and were finally able to recover every piece except one—a connector rod that was lodged in a crack between two lab stations.

"If we had a magnet," said Mr. Tran, "we could easily coax it out that way. But I loaned all of the magnet kits to the elementary school yesterday."

Justin was already searching through his backpack. "I have some materials that will work just as well, I think," he told Mr. Tran. He pulled out a battery, an iron nail, and some electrical wire and tape, while Mr. Tran and the other students looked on in amazement.

"Why do you have all of that stuff?" Louise Baxter asked. Justin just smiled and repeated his motto. "Never throw anything out, you never know when it might come in handy."

By wrapping the wire around the nail and taping each end to a battery terminal, he was able to make a magnet strong enough to lift the rod out of the crack.

"Bravo!" said Mr. Tran.

"No problem," said Justin.

After school, Justin rode the bus to the mall where he worked at a music store. His boss, Gail, was taking inventory of all of the CDs and tapes in the classical music section. As he helped a customer at the register, Justin heard her exclaim, "Oh, no! I forgot my glasses! There's no way I can read this list without them." Justin sighed, picked up his backpack, and walked over to Gail.

"I think I can help you out," he said, unzipping the bag. While Gail watched in surprise, he pulled out a jar of petroleum jelly, a washer, a glass slide, and a small bottle of water. He put the jelly on the bottom of the washer, placed it securely, jelly-side down, on the glass slide, and then put a drop of water in the center of the washer.

He put the contraption on top of the inventory list and said to his boss, "See what happens when you look through the water droplet." Gail looked and her eyes widened with delight.

"Wow!" she cried. "It enlarges the print that I'm looking at, just like a magnifying glass!" She patted Justin on the back. "I'm all set now," she said. "Thanks."

Justin smiled. "No problem," he said, returning to the register.

It was just another day in the life of the boy whose motto was "Never throw anything out, you never know when it might come in handy."

Now proceed to the Answer Section below.

Read the article "Jane Goodall" before answering Numbers 9 through 16 in the Answer Section.

"Jane Goodall" by Milada Broukal, from
Much of the information we have today about chimpanzees comes from the groundbreaking, long-term research of the great conservationist, Jane Goodall. What A Life! Stories of Amazing People. Copyright© 2000 by Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. A Pearson Company.

Jane Goodall was born in London, England, on April 3, 1934. On her second birthday, her father gave her a toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. Jubilee was named after a baby chimp in the London Zoo, and seemed to foretell the course Jane's life would take. To this day, Jubilee sits in a chair in Jane's London home. From an early age, Jane was fascinated by animals and animal stories. By the age of 10, she was talking about going to Africa to live among the animals there. At the time, in the early 1940s, this was a radical idea because women did not go to Africa by themselves.

As a young woman, Jane finished school in London, attended secretarial school, and then worked for a documentary filmmaker for a while. When a school friend invited her to visit Kenya, she worked as a waitress until she had earned the fare to travel there by boat. She was 23 years old.

Once in Kenya, she met Dr. Louis Leakey, a famous paleontologist and anthropologist. He was impressed with her thorough knowledge of Africa and its wildlife, and hired her to assist him and his wife on a fossil-hunting expedition to Olduvai Gorge. Dr. Leakey soon realized that Jane was the perfect person to complete a study he had been planning for some time. She expressed her interest in the idea of studying animals by living in the wild with them, rather than studying dead animals through paleontology.

Dr. Leakey and Jane began planning a study of a group of chimpanzees who were living on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Kenya. At first, the British authorities would not approve their plan. At the time, they thought it was too dangerous for a woman to live in the wilds of Africa alone. But Jane's mother, Vanne, agreed to join her so that she would not be alone. Finally, the authorities gave Jane the clearance she needed in order to go to Africa and begin her study

In July of 1960, Jane and her mother arrived at Gombe National Park in what was then called Tanganyika and is now called Tanzania. Jane faced many challenges as she began her work. The chimpanzees did not accept her right away, and it took months for them to get used to her presence in their territory. But she was very patient and remained focused on her goal. Little by little, she was able to enter their world.

At first, she was able to watch the chimpanzees only from a great distance, using binoculars. As time passed, she was able to move her observation point closer to them while still using camouflage. Eventually, she was able to sit among them, touching, patting, and even feeding them. It was an amazing accomplishment for Jane, and a breakthrough in the study of animals in the wild. Jane named all of the chimpanzees that she studied, stating in her journals that she felt they each had a unique personality.

One of the first significant observations that Jane made during the study was that chimpanzees make and use tools, much like humans do, to help them get food. It was previously thought that humans alone used tools. Also thanks to Jane's research, we now know that chimps eat meat as well as plants and fruits. In many ways, she has helped us to see how chimpanzees and humans are similar. In doing so, she has made us more sympathetic toward these creatures, while helping us to better understand ourselves.

The study started by Jane Goodall in 1960 is now the longest field study of any animal species in their natural habitat. Research continues to this day in Gombe and is conducted by a team of trained Tanzanians.

Jane's life has included much more than just her study of the chimps in Tanzania. She pursued a graduate degree while still conducting her study, receiving her Ph.D. from Cambridge University in 1965. In 1984, she received the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize for "helping millions of people understand the importance of wildlife conservation to life on this planet." She has been married twice: first to a photographer and then to the director of National Parks. She has one son.

Dr. Jane Goodall is now the world's most renowned authority on chimpanzees, having studied their behavior for nearly 40 years. She has published many scientific articles, has written two books, and has won numerous awards for her groundbreaking work. The Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation was founded in 1977 in California but moved to the Washington, D.C., area in 1998. Its goal is to take the actions necessary to improve the environment for all living things.

Dr. Goodall now travels extensively, giving lectures, visiting zoos and chimp sanctuaries, and talking to young people involved in environmental education. She is truly a great conservationist and an amazing human being.

Now proceed to the Answer Section below.

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Practice Reading Section Ready for Anything! ....................................... Click here Jane Goodall .................................................. Click here After you have read each story or article, answer the questions in the Answer Section. Read the story "Ready for Anything!" before answering Numbers 1 through 8 in the Answer Section. ustin was always prepared.

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Stage 4

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Practice Reading Section

A Letter from New York ................................. Click here

Gone Forever .................................................. Click here

After you have read each story or article, answer the questions in the Answer Section.

Read the story "A Letter from New York" before answering Numbers 1 through 8 in the Answer Section.

ear Aunt Julia,

I have so much to tell you, I don't know where to begin! Remember last summer when I told you that I was planning to enter the TeenSay Magazine essay contest? Well, I entered, and my essay, "Improving Community Safety," won! The prize was a weekend trip to New York City, with a visit to the TeenSay offices to see how they publish the magazine each month. Three of us were chosen to go from Texas: two other contest winners, and myself.

My mom took me to the airport for the flight to New York, and I have to admit I was nervous! I've flown before, but never without my parents. But when we got to the airport and met the other people in our group, I relaxed. The group leader, Ms. Alvarez, was really friendly and easy to talk to. She is in charge of marketing and special promotions at TeenSay Magazine. While we waited for our flight, she described the activities we'd be participating in that weekend. She also introduced me to the other contest winners. Irene is from Arlington, and she's 13 years old like me. She won a prize for the series of photographs she took when her family drove across the country last summer. The other winner is a 15-year-old boy named Eddie. Eddie won the TeenSay community spirit award for cleaning up and improving the neighborhood parks in his town. Irene and Eddie both seemed like a lot of fun. Before our plane even took off, we were laughing and telling jokes like we'd known each other forever.

I was surprised at how quick the flight seemed. Since Ms. Alvarez and I were sitting next to each other, she told me a lot about herself and how she had ended up working at TeenSay Magazine. She said that as a young girl she had always enjoyed writing stories and interviewing people. She also loved planning and organizing events. She was always in charge of planning her school's dances and fundraisers, and even organized her family's big reunion party every year. After college, she got a job as a reporter at TeenSay, and then she gradually moved into their marketing and special promotions department. She said that she still occasionally writes an article for them, but she loves what she does now. I told her that I was thinking about becoming a reporter someday, and she said that she thought I could do it if I worked really hard.

Before I knew it, we were landing in New York. At the airport, we were picked up in a limousine—just like celebrities! We drove to the TeenSay offices downtown. All during the ride, Irene and Eddie and I were pressed up against the windows like little kids, staring at the buildings and the people we passed. You wouldn't believe how different New York is from Texas! The colors, the smells, the noises—everything is different. We couldn't get over how crowded it was: all of the people and cars on the streets and so much going on. We were excited to jump in and start seeing the sights.

When we arrived at the TeenSay offices, Ms. Alvarez took us on a tour. We got to see how a magazine goes from a rough manuscript to a finished issue. I couldn't believe how much work and detail goes into each issue, and how many people it takes to do the work. My favorite part was seeing the bulletin board where sketches, rough drafts, and outlines get pinned up in sequence. We also met many of the employees, from illustrators and writers to photographers and editors, and they answered all of our questions.

By the time the tour was over, Ms. Alvarez could tell that we were getting tired. She took us to her favorite restaurant, and on the way there we had a chance to do some window-shopping and check out some of the sights. All around us, people were speaking different languages. I told Ms. Alvarez that I thought I could spend a whole year in New York and still not see everything!

When I see you at Mom's birthday party next week, I will tell you all about the sightseeing we are going to do tomorrow. I am enclosing a copy of my essay with this letter. So far, it has been a great trip.

Love,
Yoshiko

Now proceed to the Answer Section below.

Read the article "Gone Forever" before answering Numbers 9 through 16 in the Answer Section.

A snow leopard roars in the high mountains of Asia. A black rhinoceros gallops across the plains of Africa. A grizzly bear hunts for fish in a North American river. A mother blue whale and her calf glide through the deep waters of the ocean.

All of these animals share the Earth with us. They fascinate us with their beauty, their grace, and their speed. We love observing their behavior, and learning more about their habits. But just loving them is not enough. All of these animals are endangered. Many of them have died, and without special care, they may someday disappear from the Earth.

Why is it important to care for animals like these? One reason is to protect the balance of life on Earth. Another reason is the beauty of the animals themselves. Each species of animal is special. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Africa was once filled with an abundance of wild animals. But that is changing fast. One of these animals, the black rhinoceros, lives on the plains of Africa. It has very poor eyesight and a very bad temper! Even though the black rhino is powerful, and can be dangerous, its strength can't always help it to escape hunters. Some people think that the rhino's horn has magical powers, and many hunters kill rhinos for their valuable horns. This has caused the black rhino to be placed on the endangered species list.

The elephant seems to represent all that is strong and wild in Africa. It once had no natural enemies, but is now endangered—killed for its ivory tusks.

The fastest land animal, the cheetah, also lives in Africa. It, too, is becoming extinct as people take over more and more of the land that is the cheetah's natural habitat.

Imagine Africa without the powerful rhino, the gentle, intelligent elephant, or the lightning quick cheetah. Once they are gone, they are gone forever.

Wherever people are careless about the land, there are endangered species.

Grizzly bears like to wander great distances. Each bear needs up to 1,500 square miles of territory to call its homeland. Today, because forests have been cleared to make room for people, the grizzly's habitat is shrinking and the grizzly is disappearing. It joins other endangered North American animals, such as the red wolf and the American crocodile.

In South America, destruction of the rain forest threatens many animals. Unusual mammals, such as the howler monkey and the three-toed sloth, are endangered. Beautiful birds like the great green macaw and the golden parakeet are also becoming extinct. They're losing their homes in the rain forest, and thousands die when they are caught and shipped off to be sold as exotic pets.

The giant panda of Asia is a fascinating and unique animal. Yet there are only about 1,000 still living in the wild. The giant panda's diet consists mainly of the bamboo plant, so when the bamboo forests die, so does the panda. China is now making an effort to protect these special creatures from becoming extinct.

Asia's big cats are also in trouble. The exotic snow leopard lives high in the mountains. Even there, it faces the loss of its natural habitat, and hunters who kill it for its fur. The tiger, the largest of all the big cats, is hunted merely for sport.

Ocean-dwelling animals are in danger of extinction as well. The blue whale is the largest animal in the world. It weighs up to 390,000 pounds. Whale hunting and pollution are this species' greatest enemies.

Unfortunately, it is people who cause many of the problems that animals face. We alter and pollute their habitats. We hunt them for skins, tusks, furs, and horns. We destroy animals that get in the way of farming or building. And we remove them from their natural habitats and take them home as pets.

What can you do to help endangered animals? Learn as much as you can about them. The more you know, the more you can help. Make an effort to support zoos and wildlife groups. Many zoos breed endangered animals, helping to ensure that they will continue to live on. Contribute to groups, such as the National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club, that work hard to protect animals. You can also be a smart shopper and never buy a pet that has been raised in the wilderness.

The world is made up of many living things, and each thing is dependent on the others to survive. If we allow even one species on Earth to become extinct, it has an impact on other living things and changes our world. When we mention any endangered wild animals, let's hope that we never again have to say, "Gone forever."

Now proceed to the Answer Section below.

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Practice Reading Section A Letter from New York ................................. Click here Gone Forever .................................................. Click here After you have read each story or article, answer the questions in the Answer Section. Read the story "A Letter from New York" before answering Numbers 1 through 8 in the Answer Section.

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Online Timed Skim Reading Comprehension 

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Online Timed Skim Reading Comprehension 

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ELC Study Zone: Pulp Friction: Timed Skimming Exercise

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Every second, one hectare of the world's rainforest is destroyed. That's equivalent to two football fields. An area the size of New York City is lost every day. In a year, that adds up to 31 million hectares -- more than the land area of Poland.

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Stage 4

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For centuries, people have been playing kicking games with a ball. The game of soccer developed from some of these early games. The English probably gave soccer its name and its first set of rules. In European countries, soccer is called football or association football.

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It's a familiar and unfortunate story: educators everywhere are being asked to do more teaching with less-less money, less staff, and less time. One easy way to provide more content area instruction to very young readers is by scaffolding beneficial learning subjects within memorable read-aloud activities.

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Online Activity

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Into The Book: Summarizing: A Pirate's Life

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Into the Book is a reading comprehension resource for elementary students and teachers.

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Into the Book is a reading comprehension resource for elementary students and teachers.

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Using T charts for Inference and Evidence 

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Using T charts for Inference and Evidence 

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Adaptation for this strategy could be for making up 'Me Tubs' for characters

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Sample Resource

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From ESSA

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(old - but tried and tested)

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Fantastic Teaching Reading Strategies - from Canada

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Fantastic Teaching Reading Strategies - from Canada