Question 81 reading fluency · core
Read aloud to a teacher or adult. The listener should give feedback on accuracy and meaning, not just speed.
The spare spool
Mina had tested her kite in the garden all week. At the park, she reached into her bag and found the kite but no spool of string. Across the grass, Leo was packing away a kite with a torn wing. Mina almost asked to borrow his string. Last week, however, she had refused to lend him her coloured pencils.
She walked over anyway. “I wasn't very helpful last week,” she said. “I'm sorry. Could I borrow your spool?”
Leo studied his broken kite, then handed it over. “Only if I can help launch yours.”
Soon they were both looking up. Mina held the spool for a while, then placed it in Leo's hand.
Read the final three paragraphs aloud. Make the change from narration to each character's speech clear, without rushing the apology.
What to aim for Reads the supplied words accurately, using word parts when needed. Groups words and pauses to preserve the meaning. Notices and corrects a reading error or explains how they checked a difficult part. Complete this task aloud with an adult or partner.
Response or adult observation notes
Question 82 reading fluency · core
Read aloud to a teacher or adult. The listener should give feedback on accuracy and meaning, not just speed.
Make a seed label
You need a clean, dry ice-cream stick, a pencil and a waterproof pen. Ask an adult to check that the stick has no splinters.
1. Write the plant's name lightly in pencil near the top of the stick.
2. Check the spelling against the seed packet. Correct any mistakes now.
3. Trace over the name with waterproof pen.
4. Wait until the ink is dry, then push the blank end into the soil beside the seeds.
If you are labelling several rows, finish one label before beginning the next. This helps you match each label to the correct packet. Keep the writing above the soil so that it remains easy to read.
Read the equipment list and four steps aloud so a listener can follow the order. Re-read any phrase that stops making sense.
What to aim for Reads the supplied words accurately, using word parts when needed. Groups words and pauses to preserve the meaning. Notices and corrects a reading error or explains how they checked a difficult part. Complete this task aloud with an adult or partner.
Response or adult observation notes
Question 83 reading fluency · core
Read aloud to a teacher or adult. The listener should give feedback on accuracy and meaning, not just speed.
The Saturday repair table
A table outside the community hall used to display things for sale. Now volunteers use it to mend small items. A sign says: “Bring one broken item. We will see whether it can be repaired.” There is no promise that everything can be fixed.
Last Saturday a volunteer replaced a missing wheel on a toy truck. Another sewed a button onto a coat. A cracked glass vase was set aside because no one had the right materials to repair it safely.
Visitors watch the repairs and ask questions. “I thought I needed a new bag,” said one visitor, “but I only needed someone to show me how to mend the strap.” The organisers say the table saves useful objects and helps neighbours share skills.
Read the first two paragraphs aloud, grouping words into meaningful phrases. Work out a difficult word from its parts and check it in the sentence.
What to aim for Reads the supplied words accurately, using word parts when needed. Groups words and pauses to preserve the meaning. Notices and corrects a reading error or explains how they checked a difficult part. Complete this task aloud with an adult or partner.
Response or adult observation notes
Question 84 reading fluency · core
Read aloud to a teacher or adult. The listener should give feedback on accuracy and meaning, not just speed.
After the shower
A gutter gurgles, full of sky;
A silver bead slips slowly by.
My boots make islands in the lane,
Then small round worlds of mud again.
The clouds unzip a strip of blue.
A sparrow shakes; the rain is through.
Read the whole poem aloud. Let the sentence punctuation guide your pauses, even when a sentence continues onto a new line.
What to aim for Reads the supplied words accurately, using word parts when needed. Groups words and pauses to preserve the meaning. Notices and corrects a reading error or explains how they checked a difficult part. Complete this task aloud with an adult or partner.
Response or adult observation notes
Question 85 reading fluency · core
Read aloud to a teacher or adult. The listener should give feedback on accuracy and meaning, not just speed.
Subject: Changes to Friday's garden visit
Hello Year 4,
Our visit to the community garden will still take place on Friday. However, we will leave school at 10:00 am instead of 9:30 am because the gardener has a morning delivery.
Bring a hat, a water bottle and a packed lunch. You will not need a gardening tool; the garden will supply tools for our activity. Wear closed shoes.
If heavy rain is forecast on Thursday afternoon, we will send another message to families and hold the planting activity in our classroom instead. Please do not assume the visit is cancelled just because it is cloudy.
We expect to return to school by 1:30 pm.
Ms Tran
Read the weather paragraph aloud. Use phrasing to make clear which change depends on the forecast. Correct yourself if you skip the word “if”.
What to aim for Reads the supplied words accurately, using word parts when needed. Groups words and pauses to preserve the meaning. Notices and corrects a reading error or explains how they checked a difficult part. Complete this task aloud with an adult or partner.
Response or adult observation notes
Question 86 inference with evidence · extension
Read the shared text above ↑
Explain how Mina changes during the story. Use two different details as evidence.
What to aim for States a change in Mina. Uses an early detail and a later detail. Explains how the details support the change. Response or adult observation notes
Question 87 summarising · core
Read the shared text above ↑
Summarise the repair-table report in no more than three sentences. Include both benefits described by the organisers.
What to aim for Includes the repair activity. Includes saving objects and sharing skills. Leaves out minor details without changing the meaning. Response or adult observation notes
Question 88 questioning · core
An observation, not a race
During a class observation, six garden snails were placed on a damp mat beside a shelter. The children watched quietly for ten minutes. Four snails moved under the shelter. Two stayed on the mat. The class did not know whether those two moved later because the observation had ended.
A student wrote, “Most of our six snails moved under the shelter during the observation.” Another wrote, “All snails always choose shelter.”
Their teacher asked them to compare the claims. A small observation tells us about what happened in that place and time. It cannot show what every snail will do. The children returned the snails to the garden where they had found them.
Write one question this text answers and one question it leaves unanswered. Explain where you found the answer to the first.
What to aim for Provides an answerable question with its answer. Identifies a genuinely unanswered question. Points to relevant evidence. Response or adult observation notes
Question 89 predicting · core
Read the shared text above ↑
Predict how Mina might respond if Leo asks to borrow pencils tomorrow. Explain why it is a prediction rather than a fact in the story.
What to aim for Makes a plausible prediction. Uses the sharing or apology as evidence. Distinguishes the prediction from a stated event. Response or adult observation notes
Question 90 monitoring and rereading · core
Read the shared text above ↑
A reader says, “The trip is cancelled because it might rain.” Explain which sentences they should reread and correct the misunderstanding.
What to aim for Identifies the confirmed plan. Explains the condition. Uses a relevant part of the text to correct the claim. Response or adult observation notes
