Focusing Inquiry: Know your students
What literacy knowledge and skills do my students have in Science?
Use multiple sources of information to determine the focus of your inquiry – student voice, assessment information, diagnostic tasks.
- Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning e-asTTle This is a norm-referenced online tool for assessing reading achievement relevant to levels 2–6 of the curriculum. It provides national norms of performance for students in years 4–12. You may wish to discuss the implications of asTTle results for your learning area with the Literacy Leader in your school.
- The Assessment Resource Banks are collections of classroom assessment resources in English, mathematics, and science from Curriculum levels 2–5. The username and password to access the ARBs is available from your school. They are intended to support classroom assessment for learning within New Zealand schools.
Some of the resources have a specific literacy focus. For example:
- MW5141 – Level 4 – Communicating in science – Material world: Changes of state – This task assesses student ability to find the text features of an explanation of a scientific idea. The task is essentially a literacy task in the context of scientific writing.
- LW2072 – Level 4 – Communicating in science – Living world: Moa – This task assesses student ability to find the text features of a science report about moa.
- LW2071 – Level 4 – Communicating in science – Living world: Variable Oystercatchers -This task assesses student ability to find the text features of a science report about one of our native birds.
- Subject resources related to NCEA assessments are available - click on the relevant subject page.
What literacy knowledge and skills need to be developed?
- The Literacy Learning Progressions describe the specific literacy knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students draw on in order to meet the reading and writing demands of the curriculum. Teachers need to ensure that their students develop the literacy expertise that will enable them to engage with the science curriculum at increasing levels of complexity.
- The Language of Science provides examples of some language features found in traditional science texts.
Published on: 09 May 2016
