Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Assessment Task:
Sarah’s Secret
Level: Key Stage 2
Related Basic Competency (BC) Descriptors
Part 1 (Reading strategies)

Using a range of reading strategies to understand the meaning of simple texts with the help of cues
Part 2 (Reading aloud)

Showing a basic understanding of simple and familiar texts by reading aloud the texts with
comprehensible pronunciation and generally appropriate pace, stress, rhythm and intonation
Part 3 (Writing)



Using common punctuation marks in simple texts with some degree of accuracy
Writing and/or responding to simple texts with relevant information and ideas (including personal
experiences, imaginative ideas and evaluative remarks) with the help of cues
Writing simple texts using a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns, cohesive devices and verb
forms fairly appropriately with the help of cues despite some spelling and grammatical mistakes
Part 4 (Speaking – Sharing personal experiences)



Pronouncing familiar words comprehensibly
Providing and/or exchanging (asking and answering) simple information and ideas (including
personal experiences, imaginative ideas and evaluative remarks), and attempting to provide some
elaboration with the help of cues
Using a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns and cohesive devices to convey simple
information and ideas fairly appropriately with the help of cues despite some grammatical mistakes
Part 5 (Reading aloud own text)

Showing a basic understanding of simple and familiar texts by reading aloud the texts with
comprehensible pronunciation and generally appropriate pace, stress, rhythm and intonation
Part 6 (Listening)

Using a range of strategies to understand the meaning of simple texts on familiar topics which are
delivered clearly in familiar accents
1
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Part 1A Reading Strategies
Time Required: 35 minutes
Procedures
Pre-assessment (5-10 minutes)
1. Introduce the text to the pupils by discussing the title and cover illustration with them. Hold it up
or show it on the visualiser. Get them to predict what it might be about.
2. Give each pupil a copy of the text. Ask the pupils to read it silently so that they can find out what
Sarah’s secret is and whether it is a real secret.
3. Lead a short discussion with the class when the pupils have read the text silently, so that they can
think and talk about:
 Who is in the story? [Sarah, Jamie, Mum];
 What is under Sarah’s bed? [sentence 2]; and
 Does Jamie agree with her? [paragraph 2].
Assessment (about 25 minutes)
1. Before they start, explain the instructions. If necessary, show them how to answer the questions by
writing the following examples on the board and discussing them:
Example 1: Ticking the correct answer
Who is Sarah?
A.
B.

C.
She is a boy.
She is a girl.
She is the mother.
[Ask the pupils ‘Which answer do we tick?’ (‘She is a girl’), then put a tick in the box]
Example 2: Putting a circle around key words
I
am
happy.
[Ask the pupils ‘Which is the key or most important word in this sentence?’ (‘happy’), then put a
circle around it]
Example 3: Writing down the right answer
Write down the word that tells what Mum does in the final paragraph.
laughs
[Get the pupils to find the word (‘laughs’) and write it in the space]
2. Get the pupils to answer the questions in the pupil workbook. While they are doing the questions,
you should rove around the classroom and answer questions that they ask in relation to the
instructions. But you must not give them answers to the questions in the workbook.
2
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
THE TEXT
The text is available to pupils in booklet form. Each pupil should have access to an individual copy of it.
They should hand this booklet back to the teacher after each lesson.
Sarah has a secret. A tiger lives under her bed. She’s never seen it but she knows
it’s there because it eats socks, toys and notes from school. Sarah has to jump
into bed like a cat so that the tiger can’t reach out and grab her with its claws. Her
brother Jamie doesn’t believe her.
“Tigers don’t live under beds,” he explains. “Tigers live in jungles and zoos.
They ROAR and snarl.”
“This tiger lives in the dirt, dust and dark,” says Sarah.
“After school I’ll show you there’s not a tiger living under your bed,” says Jamie.
After school Mum says, “Grandma is coming to stay so we moved your bed to
make more room.”
“Did you find a tiger?” Sarah asks.
“No, not a tiger but lots of other things,” laughs Mum. “Some socks, toys and
notes from school.”
Please also note that each pupil should have access to an individual copy of the pupil workbook that goes
with this text.
3
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 1 Reading strategies
 Award 1 score for each correct answer.
 Award 0 score for each incorrect answer.
1.
What is the story about?
A.
B.
C.

Sarah’s secret about the tiger
Where tigers live
Grandma coming to stay
1 score
[This question relates to skimming for information + identifying main points in the text]
2.
What happens first in the story?
A.
B.
C.
3.

Sarah talks to Jamie.
Sarah talks to herself.
Sarah talks to Mum.
1 score
What happens next in the story?
A.
Sarah talks to Jamie.
B.
Sarah talks to herself.
C.

1 score
Sarah talks to Mum.
[These questions relate to sequencing events properly]
4.
What does Mum find under the bed?
A.
A tiger
B.
Grandma
C.

1 score
Socks, toys and notes from school
[This question relates to identifying details in the text]
5.
Why does Sarah think there is a tiger under her bed?
It is because _______________.
A.
B.
she gets eaten

C.
6.
things go missing and she makes it up
1 score
she hears loud noises
How does Sarah feel about the tiger?
A.
She loves it.
B.
She thinks it is silly.
C.

1 score
She is afraid of it.
[These questions relate to making inferences]
4
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
7.
What do you think might happen next in the story?
A.
Mum gets angry with Sarah.
B.
A real tiger arrives.

C.
Sarah helps Mum get the room ready for Grandma.
1 score
[This question relates to making predictions in the text]
8.
Circle the TWO main words in each of these sentences.
a.
Sarah
b.
A
has
tiger
a
secret.
lives
under
1 score
her
bed.
1 score
[This question relates to identifying key words in the text]
9a. Is Jamie a boy or a girl?
a boy
1 score
b. Write down the sentence that gives you this information.
1 score
Her brother Jamie doesn’t believe her.
[These questions relate to scanning for information]
10. What sounds do tigers usually make? Write down the two words.
a.
roar
1 score
b.
snarl
1 score
11. Where do tigers usually live? Write down the two words.
a. zoo
1 score
b. jungle
1 score
[These questions relate to finding vocabulary in the text]
12. Write down any words in the story that join ideas together.
but / because / and / so that / so
1 score
[This question relates to identifying a range of cohesive devices]
13. Write down the group of words that is repeated in the story.
socks, toys and notes from school
1 score
[This question relates to recognizing repetitive language patterns]
5
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Part 2 Reading aloud
Time Required: 5 minutes
Procedures
Pre-assessment
Share read ‘Sarah’s Secret’ again with all the pupils at least twice, so that those who undertake the
task can become more familiar with the text.
Assessment
The assessor gets each pupil to read the text aloud independently. As the pupil reads it aloud, the
assessor will listen for the pupil’s ability to:





read the text comprehensibly, i.e. the meaning of the text is well understood;
read with pausing, intonation and/or stress that adds reasonably good meaning to the text;
self-correct;
pronounce the key content words fairly accurately; and
pronounce the basic sight vocabulary fairly accurately.
6
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 2 Reading aloud
Score of 4



Read fluently and clearly.
Read with appropriate pausing and intonation.
Make few or no pronunciation mistakes.
Score of 3



Read fluently and clearly.
Read with appropriate pausing or intonation.
Make few or no pronunciation mistakes.
Score of 2



Read quite clearly.
Read without any pausing or intonation.
Make some mistakes in pronunciation.
Score of 1



Read hesitantly.
Read without any pausing and intonation.
Make many mistakes in pronunciation.
Score of 0


Able to read only a few words.
Skip many words or phrases.
7
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Part 3 Writing
Time required: 70 minutes (2 lessons)
Procedures
Pre-assessment (35 minutes)
1. Tell the pupils that they are going to pretend that they are Sarah and write a letter to Grandma.
In the letter, they must tell Grandma:


about the tiger under the bed; and
what Sarah and Mum have done to get ready for Grandma’s visit.
2. Prepare the pupils for the activity by guiding them on the possible content of the letter. Through a
class discussion, get them to think about what they could write in the letter. You should remind
them that it could indicate:





what Sarah’s secret is;
what Jamie believes;
what Mum has done to prepare for Grandma’s visit;
how Sarah feels about Grandma’s visit; and
any other interesting or imaginative details that could be included in the letter, e.g. what Sarah
thinks her tiger might be able to do.
3. Get them to talk about each of these points, either in pairs or in small groups or as a class. As they
do this, they will be planning the letter in their minds. You might even get them to write down a
few ideas for the letter on a piece of paper.
4. Remind the pupils that they must say some nice things to Grandma in the letter as Sarah loves her
Grandma very much.
5. Remind them that you will be looking for these features in their writing:






some interesting and imaginative ideas
a clear beginning, middle and end
some interesting words
sentences with clear meaning
good attempts at spelling
clear punctuation
6. Tell them that after they have finished writing the letter, they should use the checklist on page 5 of
their workbook to see if improvement can be made.
8
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Assessment (35 minutes)
Ask the pupils to begin writing their letter. They should do this on page 4 of their workbook. They
should work quietly at this. As they do this, you should rove around the room and answer any
questions that they have. BUT – you must not do any of the writing for them, nor must you change
their work in any way, e.g. correct spelling mistakes, tell them that a sentence does not make sense.
Post-assessment
Correct pupils’ writing in terms of sense/meaning, grammar, spelling and punctuation and hand it
back to the pupils so that they can use it to prepare for Part 5 (Reading aloud own text).
9
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Part 3 Writing
Now, pretend that you are Sarah. Write a letter to Grandma.
In the letter, you must tell Grandma:


about the tiger under your bed; and
what Mum and you have done to get ready for Grandma’s visit.
Write 6 SENTENCES or more.
____________________
Dear Grandma,
10
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Checklist for “A Letter to Grandma”
See if you have done the following for your letter to Grandma. If not, improve your work.
Answer each question by putting a tick in the right column.
Questions
Yes
1. Did I include some interesting and imaginative ideas?
2. Did I show a clear beginning, middle and end?
3. Did I use some interesting words?
4. Did I write sentences with clear meaning?
5. Did I make good attempts at spelling?
6. Did I use punctuation clearly?
11
No
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 3 Writing
Punctuation
Score of 3

Write 6 sentences or more with few or no mistakes in using capitalization and common punctuation
marks.
Score of 2

Write 4 sentences or more with some mistakes in using capitalization and common punctuation
marks.
Score of 1

Write 4 sentences or more with many mistakes in using capitalization and common punctuation
marks.
Score of 0

Make no attempt at all.
Remarks


Mark ‘NA’ if less than 4 sentences are written.
Mark ‘IR’ if the information or ideas provided are irrelevant to the topic.
12
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 3 Writing
Ideas
Score of 3




Write the letter with the correct sender.
Use formulaic expressions to begin and end the letter, including putting the date in the right place.
Provide relevant ideas on both of the guiding points showing some originality.
Communicate ideas clearly.
Score of 2




Write the letter with the correct sender.
Use formulaic expressions to begin and end the letter, including putting the date in the right place.
Provide some relevant ideas on both of the guiding points.
Communicate ideas clearly.
Score of 1




Write the letter with the correct sender.
Use some formulaic expressions to begin or end the letter, including putting the date in the right
place.
Provide some relevant ideas on either of the guiding points.
Communicate ideas quite clearly.
Score of 0


Unable to express ideas clearly.
Provide totally irrelevant ideas.
OR

Make no attempt at all.
Remarks

Do not penalize pupils for wrong use of capitalization, grammatical or spelling mistakes that do not
interfere with the communication of ideas.
13
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 3 Writing
Language
Score of 3

Use a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns and cohesive devices with few or no grammatical
and spelling mistakes.
Score of 2

Use a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns and cohesive devices with some grammatical and
spelling mistakes.
Score of 1

Use a very limited range of vocabulary, sentence patterns and cohesive devices with many
grammatical and spelling mistakes.
Score of 0

Make no attempt at all.
Remarks

Mark ‘IR’ if the information or ideas provided are irrelevant to the topic.
14
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Part 4 Speaking – Sharing personal experiences
Time Required: 4 minutes
Procedures
Assessment
1. To start with, ask the pupils whether they like the story ‘Sarah’s Secret’. Go on to ask the pupils
about their own experiences based on the questions suggested below:







You have read the story ‘Sarah’s Secret’. Do you like the story?
Do you have a secret like Sarah’s secret?
Who will you tell your secret to? Why?
If the person tells your secret to others, how will you feel? What will you do?
Have you got any brothers or sisters?
If yes, do you like them? What do you usually do with them?
If no, do you like to have a brother or a sister? Why or why not?
Note: The teacher should AVOID asking ‘YES/NO’ questions only. He/She
should try to elicit pupils’ response as much as possible by giving appropriate
prompts or guiding questions.
2. The assessor should be listening for these features in the pupils’ verbal answers:





ability to speak sentences that make sense
ability to speak sentences that are generally grammatically correct
ability to add detail to their responses
ability to use some cohesive devices to join ideas
intelligible pronunciation of most words
15
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 4 Speaking – Sharing personal experiences
Pronunciation
Score of 3

Speak clearly with few or no mistakes in pronunciation.
Score of 2

Speak quite clearly despite some mistakes in pronunciation.
Score of 1

Speak unclearly with many mistakes in pronunciation.
Score of 0

Make no attempt at all.
Remarks

Mark ‘IR’ if the information or ideas provided are irrelevant to the topic.
16
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 4 Speaking – Sharing personal experiences
Ideas
Score of 4

Provide relevant answers to most of the questions readily and give elaboration to some of the answers.
Score of 3

Provide relevant answers readily to most of the questions with little or no prompting.
Score of 2

Provide relevant answers quite readily to some of the questions with little or no prompting.
Score of 1

Provide relevant answers to some of the questions with prompting.
Score of 0


Provide no comprehensible responses to the questions.
Provide totally irrelevant answers to the questions.
OR

Provide ‘yes/no’ answers only.
OR

Make no attempt at all.
Remarks

Do not penalize pupils for pronunciation or grammatical mistakes that do not interfere with the
communication of ideas.
17
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 4 Speaking – Sharing personal experiences
Language
Score of 3

Use a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns and cohesive devices with few or no grammatical
mistakes.
Score of 2

Use a small range of vocabulary, sentence patterns and cohesive devices with some grammatical
mistakes.
Score of 1

Use a very limited range of vocabulary, sentence patterns and cohesive devices with many
grammatical mistakes.
Score of 0

Make no attempt at all.
Remarks


Mark ‘IR’ if the information or ideas provided are irrelevant to the topic.
Do not penalize pupils for pronunciation mistakes that do not interfere with the communication of
ideas.
18
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Part 5 Reading aloud own text
Time Required: 5 minutes
Procedures
1. Get the pupils to practise and read aloud to an audience the writing that they have completed on
the text. Tell them that you will be especially looking to see whether they can:



pronounce all the words so that they are easily understood;
use verbal devices such as pausing and intonation to convey meaning clearly; and
use non-verbal devices such as facial expressions and gestures to convey meaning clearly.
2. These are the features that you should be looking for as the pupils read their writing aloud to an
audience.
3. You may need to demonstrate these to pupils by reading aloud the set text (‘Sarah’s Secret’) using
all of the above features and discussing them. The pupils need to be given time to practise
delivering their writing orally before presenting it to you.
NOTE: It may be necessary for the teacher to correct the pupil’s writing before
they start to read it aloud. This will ensure that the pupils do not read aloud
ungrammatical writing. The teacher may also wish to give pupils an opportunity to
practise delivering their writing orally as part of the classroom programme.
19
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 5 Reading aloud own text
Score of 4



Read fluently and clearly.
Read with appropriate pausing and intonation.
Make few or no pronunciation mistakes.
Score of 3



Read fluently and clearly.
Read with appropriate pausing or intonation.
Make few or no pronunciation mistakes.
Score of 2



Read quite clearly.
Read without any pausing or intonation.
Make some mistakes in pronunciation.
Score of 1



Read hesitantly.
Read without any pausing and intonation.
Make many mistakes in pronunciation.
Score of 0


Able to read only a few words.
Skip many words or phrases.
Remarks

Do not penalize pupils for grammatical mistakes that do not interfere with the communication of
ideas.
20
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Part 6 Listening
Time Required
Part 6A and Part 6B: 35 minutes
Procedures
Part 6A
1. Tell pupils that they are going to listen to an audio version of ‘Sarah’s Secret’ and answer some
questions.
2. Let the pupils read the questions on pages 6 and 7 of their workbook. Encourage them to answer
as many questions as they can at this stage.
Part 6B
1. Tell pupils that they are going to listen to some instructions. They are the instructions for drawing
a place where a tiger lives by using some straight lines and simple shapes.
2. Tell them that there are 5 instructions to follow. Tell them that you will be looking to see how
well they can listen to and follow instructions, not how well they can draw.
21
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 6A Listening


Award 1 score for each correct answer.
Award 0 score for each incorrect answer.
1.
Where does the story take place?
A.
B.
C.
2.

B.
C.
Yes


B.
C.
To see her tiger
To talk with her
To tell her to come to dinner
1 score
Yes

No
Probably
1 score
Does Jamie believe that there is a tiger under Sarah’s bed?
A.
B.
C.
6.
1 score
Does Sarah want Jamie in her room?
A.
5.
No
Probably
Why does Jamie come into Sarah’s room?
A.
B.
C.
4.
1 score
Does Jamie knock on the door when he comes into Sarah’s room?
A.
3.
Sarah’s bedroom
Jamie’s bedroom
Sarah and Jamie’s bedroom
Yes

No
Probably
1 score
What colour are the tiger’s eyes?
A.
B.
C.
Grey
Red

Green
1 score
1 score
1 score
1 score
22
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
7.
How does Sarah feel?
A.
B.
C.
8.
Afraid
Sad

Angry
1 score
What is the conversation about?
A.
B.
C.
Jamie and Sarah having dinner

Jamie and Sarah having an argument
Jamie and Sarah finding a tiger
1 score
[These questions relate to using a range of strategies to understand the meaning of simple texts on familiar
topics which are delivered clearly]
23
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Scoring Guide
Part 6B Listening
Listen to the instructions and draw the place where the tiger lives in the box below.
[This question relates to using a range of strategies to understand the meaning of simple texts on familiar
topics which are delivered clearly]
Circle
- 1 score
Square
- 1 score
6 lines
- 1 score
Straight - 1 score
line (on
the left)
Straight - 1 score
line (on
the right)
24
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Assessment Task
Sarah’s Secret
Tapescript
Part 6A Listening
You are going to listen to a conversation between Sarah and Jamie. While you are listening, answer
Questions 1-8. The tape will be played two times. You now have 1 minute to read the questions.
(a pause of 1 minute)
The tape will begin now.
S: Sarah
[ S:
J: Jamie
What do you want Jamie? You should knock on the door before you come into my bedroom. It’s
private.
J:
I want to see your tiger Sarah.
S:
You can’t. It lives under the bed and I won’t let you see it.
J:
Why not?
S:
Because it might eat you.
J:
But you said it only eats socks and toys and notes from school.
S:
Yeah. But it would eat you if I told it to. And if you don’t leave my room now I’m going to tell it to.
J:
I don’t believe you’ve got a tiger under your bed. Will you tell me what it’s like?
S:
It’s got eyes as green as emeralds and it growls all through the night.
J:
I don’t believe you.
S:
It’s got huge horrible teeth and a tail that swishes.
J:
You’re a mad sad person.
S:
No, you’re mad. Now leave my room before my tiger eats you up. ]
(a pause of 20 seconds)
Listen to the tape again and check your answers. (Repeat the tapescript [ ])
This is the end of Part 6A.
25
Sarah’s Secret
Teacher’s Notes
Part 6B Listening
Listen to the instructions and draw the place where the tiger lives in the box below. The tape will be
played two times.
The tape will begin now.
[
Instructions for drawing the place where the tiger lives:
STEP 1:
Draw a square in the centre of the box. Each side must be approximately 10 centimetres long.
(a pause of 15 seconds)
STEP 2:
Draw 6 lines in the square. Each line must go from the top of the square to the bottom of the
square. They must fill up the whole square and be the same distance apart.
(a pause of 15 seconds)
STEP 3:
Draw a straight line from the bottom left hand corner of the square to the bottom of the box.
(a pause of 5 seconds)
STEP 4:
Draw a straight line from the bottom right hand corner of the square to the bottom of the box.
(a pause of 5 seconds)
STEP 5:
Draw a circle on top of the square.
(a pause of 5 seconds) ]
(a pause of 20 seconds)
Listen to the tape again and check your answers. (Repeat the tapescript [ ])
This is the end of Part 6B.
26