2012 NAPLAN
Teaching
Learning
and
Assessment
Reading
National Assessment Program
Literacy and Numeracy
www.det.nt.gov.au/teachers-educators/assessment-reporting
0
CONTENTS
Foreword
2
Preparing the Students
The reading tests
3
Test icons
3
Interpret and unpack the language of the test questions
4
Scaffolding language for EAL/D learners
5
Strategies for answering the test questions
5
Developing a ‘plan of attack’
6
Specific techniques for answering questions
6
Multiple choice questions
6
Short answer questions
8
Sequencing questions
8
Explicit teaching and modelling of question types
9
Classifying the questions
10
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
10
Engaging Classroom Activities for Text Analysis
11
Checklist of Common Question Types
15
Literacy Resources
Books
16
Websites
16
For information please contact:
Natalie Ede
A/Senior Program Manager
Assessment and Reporting
Phone: 8994 9245
Email: natalie.ede@nt.gov.au
Fax: 8999 4200
Sarah Belsham
Consultant
Literacy Assessment
Phone: 8994 9239
Email: sarah.belsham@nt.gov.au
Fax: 8999 4200
1
Foreword
Determining the learning needs of students assists to inform teaching and learning in the
classroom in particular the selection of teaching strategies, design of assessment, and evaluation
of the effectiveness of a teaching program. That is, student learning needs are a starting point for
effective teaching. This booklet is intended to assist with developing the teaching foci for student
learning in reading by providing teaching strategies or processes to assist with teachers’
understandings of students’ learning needs.
Research shows that explicit teaching techniques are particularly effective for comprehension
strategy instruction. In explicit instruction, teachers tell the student why and when they should use
strategies, what strategies to use, and how to apply them. The steps of explicit instruction typically
include direct explanation, teacher modelling (‘thinking aloud’), guided practice, and application.
The activities contained within this booklet, form a part of any good teaching program. They should
be utilised by teachers of all year levels, not just for years 3, 5, 7 and 9 as an element of the
NAPLAN process. A benefit of incorporating good teaching strategies is improved literacy
outcomes for all students – and improved NAPLAN results.
NAPLAN resources
There is a range of resources that have been developed to assist teachers in the classroom that
work hand in hand with this document. These can be found on the NT DET website.
NAPLAN Marking Guide
NAPLAN Analysis for literacy
RAAD Analysis & User Guide
www.det.nt.gov.au/teacherseducators/assessment-reporting/nap
Annotated NT Writing
Samples
Writing Ideas
NT Assessment and Reporting
website
2
About the reading tests
Students will receive the following items when participating in the reading test.

A test booklet for students with multiple choice, sequencing and short answer questions.

A stimulus magazine containing texts from a variety of genre which can include:
Argument
 Opening paragraph poses
a question
 Cause and effect
Discussion
 Presents two view points
 Informal language to
involve the reader
 Sub-headings
Short stories and extracts
 Sub-headings may
indicate text as an extract
 Technical and figurative
language
 Dialogue
Biography
 Bold heading with date to
indicate life span
 Information divided into
paragraphs with topic
sentences
Poetry
 Free verse format
 Poetic techniques
Procedural /instructional
 Sequenced steps of
directions
 Headings, sub-headings,
diagrams, photographs
to clarify instructions
Poster
 Persuasive poster
 Catchy heading/slogan
 Personal pronouns to
engage reader
Online blog
 Opinion text
 Menu bar with icons
 Forum structured text
Information
 Headings and subheadings
 Information in complex
sentences
Graphic & symbols
 Heading and extract
information
 Labelled diagram with
symbols
3
Test instruction icons
In the Reading tests students will encounter three types of instruction icons. Making students
familiar with these icons and the testing process can assist with decreasing student stress and
increasing student confidence during the test week.
Multiple choice
Short answer
Sequencing
Interpreting and unpacking the language of the questions
It is important that teachers explicitly teach the following skills and strategies to prepare the
students for the NAPLAN tests.
Language of the test

Teaching the meaning of words or phrases that are found in comprehension questions is
critical in helping students make sense of what is being asked.

Making a class glossary or large chart of words and phrases, add new entries as they are
‘discovered’. Students can use these words when making up their own questions.
Examples are:
According to
Attitudes
Author
Best
Caption
Circle
Cues
Definition
Describe
Extract
Effect
Expressions
Fill in the missing word
Find evidence from the text
Identify
Illustrator
Indicates
Infer
Information
Interpret
Italics
In what order …
Inverted commas
Judgement
Key words/factor
Label
Main message
Main idea
Match
Means
Opinion
Overview
Paragraph
Phrase
Purpose
Question
Refers to
Relates to
Represents
Review
Sequence
Shows
Statement means
Suggests
Sub-heading
Symbol
Synonyms
Techniques
Text
Theme
Title
Tone
Vocabulary
What is another word for …
4
Scaffolding the language for EAL/D Learners
All learning areas place literacy demands on learners. The language of tests may include new or
unfamiliar words for EAL/D learners and the meanings need to be made explicit to these students.
Teachers should consider some strategies to allow EAL/D learners to access the language of the
questions.





Provide opportunities for learner repetition and practice of target language.
Scaffold oral language thoroughly before setting reading tasks.
Accept the language offered by the learners and with positive feedback, model the Standard
Australian English version.
Introduce the new terminology together with concrete activities, e.g. synonyms - have students
create flash cards with a variety of synonyms. In groups students use the cards to play ‘Snap’.
Encourage learners to rephrase the questions in a format that is familiar to them but still has
the same meaning.
Teaching strategies to assist students in answering the reading questions
Students require a range of skills when answering reading comprehension questions. Developing
strategies to assist students with managing all of the reading processes will enable them to identify
and understand explicitly what is stated in texts.

Locating information quickly by
- skimming the text to get an overview of the piece of writing – genre, main ideas
-

scanning the text to locate key words or phrases, dates and places.
Writing key words in the margin by
- reflecting on each paragraph and identifying key messages or words
- writing key words at the end of each paragraph
-

Understanding the non-verbal signals of a text to convey meaning, such as
- underlining and italics
- bold print
- headings and sub-headings
-

using these words to assist in locating ideas when answering questions.
captions and labels.
Predicting what the text is about to orientate the reader by
- reading headings, pictures and diagrams
-

reading the questions before reading the text.
Visualising what is being read can
- create mental pictures to make reading three-dimensional
-
help readers engage with text in ways that make it personal and memorable.
5
Developing a ‘plan of attack’ to incorporate the reading strategies
Students need to develop strategic reading behaviour and build a strong, personal repertoire of
these strategies that they have successfully used. Encouraging students to follow these basic
steps will assist them to comprehend texts.

Read the title and examine the illustrations.

Note the text layout.

Identify the key points and summarise.

Read the questions.

Go back and read through the text.

Interpret new words from the context in which they have been used.

Understand that the texts may include names of places and people that are unfamiliar, and to
read on rather than deliberate over the pronunciation of such names.
Specific techniques for answering questions

Read the entire question carefully.

Re-read and carefully underline/circle/highlight key words or the main phrase in the question.

Understand what information is required.

Refer back to the text to clarify information.

Write key words in margin of text to summarise each paragraph.
Multiple choice questions
When answering multiple choice questions explicitly teach students about the distractors.
Distractors can often ‘look’ correct; they are carefully chosen to be plausible and attractive to
students who do not know the correct answer or who have not read the text carefully for meaning.
Distractors can represent

common misconceptions

seemingly logical alternatives

partially correct options

other plausible, but incorrect possibilities.
Explicitly teaching students about the subtleties of the distractors and providing practice with a
range of examples will optimise their success.

Explain the concept of distractors.

Model the approach to dealing with distractors.

Provide practice in answering multiple choice questions with plausible distractors.

Give students the opportunity to construct questions that have one correct answer (known as
the key) and several plausible wrong answers and discuss these.
6
Provide students with a process to answer questions.






Cover up the alternatives before you read the stem (the first part of the question).
Read the stem carefully.
Process the stem:
-
underline key words
-
translate the question into own words
-
watch for small but important words, such as ‘not’ or ‘always’.
Predict an answer.
Uncover the alternatives and read all of them carefully, even if the first choice seems correct.
Identify the best response.
Example of teaching points for multiple choice questions:
7
Short answer questions

Understand what information is required.

Refer back to the text (scan, skim, reread if necessary) and underline relevant words.

Answer the question using parts of the text if necessary.

Read your answer to make sure it says what you mean.
Sequencing questions

Understand what order is required.

Refer back to the text.

Lightly write the number order under each event, sentence or picture.

Check, and then when satisfied, write the numbers in the boxes for each response.
8
Explicit teaching and modelling of questions
Making explicit the different levels of questioning will give students a greater awareness of how to
make meaning from texts. Familiar stories like fairy tales and myths are a good way to develop
understanding of these different types of questions.
Levels of complexity
Level
Definition
Example
Literal
An understanding of what is explicitly
What did each pig use to build its house?
author said it
stated in the text.
Who was trying to catch the little pigs?
Inferential
Going beyond an author’s literal
Why are pigs afraid of wolves?
author meant it
statements about the
Why did the 3rd little pig build a brick house?
thoughts/feelings/happenings that are
not directly stated but hinted at in the
text.
Synthesis
Being creative with the story, using the
How might the story be different if the wolf
author would
information in the text to solve
had visited three little fishes?
solve the
problems or predicting how something
How might the wolf have entered the third
problem
may be interpreted.
pig’s house if there had been no chimney?
Evaluative
Making some sort of judgement or
Do you feel it is a good idea to build three
author would
interpretation of a text - is it fact or
separate houses? Why?
agree with it
opinion?
Do you think this is a true story? Why?
Applied/
Going beyond the text to:
Who do you think might feel sorry for the
Creative

Apply information to new situations
wolf?
author would be

Make generalisations
Would you rather be a wolf or a pig? Why?
interested in it

Gain additional insights

Seek out or express new ideas

Respond emotionally and so on.
Adapted from Success for All – Selecting Appropriate Learning Strategies by Kiddey and Waring, 2001
9
Classify the questions

The class reads one of the practice NAPLAN texts and answers the questions together.

The students critically evaluate, discuss and classify each according to the level of questioning:
Literal, Inferential, Evaluative etc.
Students self evaluate and decide which level of questioning they enjoy answering and are
most confident with.
Next read a new text. Students work in pairs or individually to create a variety of questions that
reflect the different levels of question complexity.


-
Which students can construct only literal questions?
Which students can delve beneath the text and produce inferential questions?
Which students can be really creative with evaluative and applied questions?
Reading activities using Bloom’s Taxonomy

After reading a story, the students can analyse the text by participating in a variety of
engaging activities based on Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Knowledge: remember, recognise, describe . . .

Make a list of events

Acrostic poem of the story

Name all the characters.
Comprehension: understand, interpret, explain . . .

Retell story in own words

Make a cartoon strip

Prepare a flow chart to illustrate sequence of events.
Application: applying, implement, construct . . .

Paint a familiar scene from the story

Construct a model to show how it works

Make a scrapbook about the text read.
Analysis: analyse, compare, organise . . .

What do you see as other possible outcomes/endings

Write an advert to sell a new product

Determine the turning point of the story.
Evaluation: evaluate, critique, judge . . .

Is there a better solution to...

List 5 strengths and 5 weaknesses of the main character

Conduct a debate about an issue from the book.
Synthesis: create, design, produce . . .

Write about your feelings in relation to the story

Rewrite the story changing the setting to a future setting

Compose a song relating to the story.
10
Engaging classroom activities for text analysis
Critical reading activity
Students read a story or book one chapter at a time.
After each chapter, they write what they think will happen in the next chapter. Students should
support their predictions with prior knowledge from the book and other books they’ve read.
Teachers may need to ask leading questions to get students to think about ‘clues’ such as
foreshadowing, suspense, character traits, and common elements of certain genres (mystery,
science fiction, historical fiction, etc.).
Students may find it helpful to use a matrix to record their predictions. Label columns with headings
such as, What I think will happen, Why I think that will happen, and What really happened. Label
rows as chapter 1, chapter 2, etc.




Early years critical reading
 Preparation/Discussion
Gather a variety of predictable books, fairy tales, or other literature that follows a pattern.
Demonstrate for the class the relationship between sequence e.g. beginning, middle, ending
and story language e.g. Once upon a time, Long ago, happily ever after.
Discuss the types of information and language that tend to appear in different parts of a story.
For example, the beginning of a story may establish setting, describe a character’s appearance,
or establish relationships between characters; the middle may show more about a character’s
personality and describe different events; and the ending might describe a lesson that was
learned.
It might be helpful to create a class list of language that is used to signal different parts of a
story, such as Once upon a time, One day, ...from then on.

Whole Class Activity
Using either a picture book with no words, or a short story with the words covered up, model
how to write a story by interpreting picture clues.
Choose a second book to ‘read’ with the students, asking them to contribute possible
interpretations of each picture. Students should use appropriate story language to establish
sequence, as well as pay attention to the overall flow of the narrative.
Finally, if you are using a story with the words covered up, compare the actual text to the text
generated by the class. Discuss the similarities and differences between the two stories, and
look at the pictures again to see if there were any clues that the class overlooked.
-
-

Small-Group or Individual Activity
-
Distribute photocopies of picture books and have students ‘read’ the story to themselves,
asking their teacher for help if they have trouble interpreting the illustrations.
After ‘reading’ the pictures, students should write the story they believe the illustrations are
telling by writing the appropriate text under each illustration. Students unable to write the stories
themselves can dictate the story to an adult. Students should focus on using story language
that indicates sequence (e.g. the beginning, middle, and end). They can refer to the class list of
story language, or to the literary texts originally used to model such language, and determine
where in the story it might be appropriate.
11
Before you read
Before beginning a new novel or picture book with a class, ask students to make predictions about the
text using clues from the cover. Without opening the book, discuss the illustrations on the front and
back cover and read the title. Students should write one sentence predicting what they think the book
will be about. Repeat this process after reading the blurb.
Class quiz sessions after reading a text
Choose three or four contestants, like on TV shows, use OHT or interactive whiteboard and uncover
questions one by one.




‘Who wants to be the class champion?’ Class quiz with ‘phone a friend’, ‘3 lifelines’, ‘ask the
audience’, 50/50 etc.
Play ‘Celebrity Heads’ using the characters/events in the text, contestant asks questions to the
class.
Divide the class in half and alternate questions, have scorers out the front using tally marks.
Have individuals or small groups making up their own questions about the text.
Text jigsaws

Cut up the titles, pictures, texts and questions of several stories of different types of texts.

Jumble them up.

Ask the students to put them back together.

Students have to work out the text type e.g. recipe, report, narrative etc. and give reasons why e.g.
visual layout, typical vocabulary, structure etc.

Students have to identify the audience and purpose of the different text types.

They can do this with their own pieces of writing and make up a variety of questions. Children get a
good understanding of multiple choice when they have to create their own responses. Inferential
questions can extend students’ thinking and provides an excellent opportunity to use a computer for
this activity.
Capturing the caption

Provide each student with a photocopy of a page / two pages from a book or magazine.

Using a highlighter or marker, students place a box around a caption and draw an arrow to the
relevant picture.

It might be necessary to discuss how they knew the picture related to the caption.

Note: Science texts aimed at primary school aged children are particularly useful for this kind of
activity.
Sequencing jigsaws

Cut up a text into sentences, for younger students, and into paragraphs for older students and
reassemble the piece of writing.

Good practice for sequencing can be humorous by reading an out-of-sequence story to the class –
the importance of order is easy to see. Students can type the text on computer (leaving double
spaces between paragraphs) print it out and cut it up to make their own text jigsaw.

Fairy tales, nursery rhymes, poems or familiar myths are a great way to begin sequencing e.g. The
Three Little Pigs.

The class jigsaw story starts with the teacher giving the students a paragraph to get the story
started. Students then add sentences in turn to build a story. After story building, the students can
illustrate the narrative. This class created story jigsaw can be taken apart and put back together.
Draw the character/setting
Ask students to draw what they imagine a character or setting to look like during or after reading a text.
Students might need to reread sections of the text. Discuss how important it is to create images in your
mind when trying to comprehend a text.
Collect images
When reading a novel with the class, encourage students to identify what is unfamiliar in a text e.g.
What does snow feel like? Are anteaters real? What do fir trees look like? Provide opportunities for
students to find images of unfamiliar items and display these in the classroom with the relevant words.
Encourage students to ask questions while reading even if they cannot be answered at the time.
12
Computer cloze

After reading and discussing a text, the students can create and type out a number of cloze
sentences with one or two words missing.

They can print these out and swap them with other students who will try to solve the cloze with the
correct words. If they get stuck, they can go back to the text to find the missing words.

This can be modelled for the whole class activity on the interactive whiteboard.
Here’s the answer! What’s my question?

Read the text either as a class or individually.

Teacher or students read out an answer.

Students have to come up with a question to match the answer.

Discuss the variety and type of questions created from one answer.
Around the world

The class read and discuss the text together.

Students sit in a large circle.

One person stands behind someone in the circle.

The teacher asks a question about the text, only the person standing up and the person sitting on
the chair in front of them can call out the answer.

If the person standing up answers correctly first, he/she moves on to stand behind the next person
in the circle (the goals is to work their way around the circle without getting out).

If the person sitting down calls out the correct answer first then they stand up while the person who
was standing sits in their place.

Then the process begins again. Who can get right around the circle (world) without sitting down?
Small group rotational activity




Photocopy a variety of the Practice Reading Stimulus texts (available on DET, NAPLAN and other
web sites) onto coloured card.
Photocopy the accompanying Practice Reading questions onto similar coloured card and cut up
into individual questions with answers on the back.
Students read the text either separately or together and then take it in turns to ask each other the
questions.
Cards can be placed in a tray or resource box for students to use when other work is finished.
Here’s the text! What are the questions and answers?



Read a text and give the students a chance to come up with both questions and answers.
Encourage variety – multiple choice (especially alternate responses), sequencing, cloze, matchups, short answer, true/false etc.
As a small group activity, students can create all levels of questions with appropriate answers –
literal, inferential, evaluative, analytical. The rest of the class can try to answer these studentconstructed questions. This encourages students to refer closely to the text.
What’s the main idea?







Divide a text or story among groups in the class and have each group determine the main idea of
their paragraph.
Have each group write and share the main idea with the class.
As a class group organise the main ideas in a logical sequence.
Compare the class ideas and order with the original text.
Have students reflect on their main ideas as a group?
Did they present their piece of the text in the best possible way to the class?
This encourages students to monitor their comprehension of what they have read and substantiates
their ideas through summarising.
Rename a text
Having read and discussed the content, purpose and intended audience, have students brainstorm
alternative titles for a text.
13
Student-constructed test questions
These are a powerful assessment FOR learning tool. During the process, students either
independently or in small discussion groups gain a deeper understanding of the text by having to create
their own questions and answers. They also gain insight into the assessment process. Research
shows that student-constructed tests:

foster a positive assessment culture

are critical components of student-centred classrooms

are a powerful group review strategy

empower students to take responsibility for their own learning

reduce test anxiety/stress.
Newspaper comprehension activities

Collect a number of newspaper and /or magazine articles.

Separate the articles from the headlines. Put the headlines in one pile and the articles in another.
Ask the children to match the headlines to the articles.

Repeat the above activity, but include some headlines without including the articles that go with
them (and vice versa) to make things a little harder.

Give the children a number of articles about the same story, but from different newspapers. Ask
them to compare the stories from each newspaper. Ask some of the following questions:
Are there any differences between the articles?
Are some stories biased towards one particular point of view?
Comprehension alphabet

After reading a story or text, the students, either individually, in pairs or small groups, list A to Z
down the page.

The students analyse the text, identify and describe key events and ideas, then create an ‘Alphabet
of Ideas and Facts’ from the story.

When students start comparing their ‘Alphabets’, they discover different views about the text that
they did ‘see’ themselves.

This is a great review strategy for non-fiction, information texts.
Music and poetry

Allow students to bring in lyrics to their favourite songs to analyse poetic elements, theme,
language and rhythm.
Selecting a text or book


It is most important that students enjoy and understand what they are reading and are engaged in
reading texts at a level which will enable literary analysis.
The charts included as Appendix 2 and 3 will help in the selection of reading books that are suitable
for the student and enable the above activities to occur.
‘Real’ texts

Discuss reading as a skill with relevance outside of the school environment.

Encourage students to bring examples of particular text types to school for display e.g. a recipe
from a magazine, instructions for assembling shelves.

Use real texts for comprehension activities. Identify the genre and intended audience for these
texts.

Have students create questions for these texts.
Inference debate

Halfway through a reading assignment, hold a debate with your students that requires them to
make inferences about a certain character or event in the text.

All inferences should be supported with evidence from the text.
14
Checklist of common reading and language conventions question types
Use this checklist to monitor the frequency of exposure that students in your class have had to common
question types. This will ensure students are not faced with unfamiliar tasks when participating in the
testing. This list is indicative of items students are likely to encounter in NAPLAN testing. These types
of questions should be a part of good classroom practice throughout the year.
Term 1
Tick the boxes to monitor
exposure to question types
Weeks
1& 2
Weeks
3& 4
Weeks
5& 6
Term 2
Weeks
7& 8
Weeks
9 & 10
Weeks
1& 2
Weeks
3& 4
Multiple choice questions on a text
 Literal
 Inferential
 Evaluative
Short answer questions
 Literal
 Inferential
 Evaluative
Sequencing events, steps or key ideas from
a text
Questions that relate to illustrations in a text
– diagrams, pictures or labels
Identify spelling errors in sentences
 Circled/underlined
 Not circled or underlined
Multiple choice questions on
 placement and choice of punctuation
in sentences (can be one or two
bubbles)
 correctly punctuated sentences
 cloze/insertion of correct words e.g.
prepositions, verbs
 grammatically correct sentences e.g.
verb tense
 identification of word types e.g.
doing or naming words
Upper grades
Multiple choice questions on
 identification of word types e.g.
verbs, nouns, etc
 identification of figures of speech
e.g. simile, metaphor
Other types of questions
 _ _ _
 _ _ _
15
Literacy Resources
The following resources are full of ideas to assist teachers with the technical and engaging aspects
of teaching literacy to students and assisting teachers with their own professional learning.
Books
1. First Steps Books: Reading Resource Book; Reading Map of Development; Linking
Assessment, Teaching and Learning etc. (2004) DET WA, Harcourt Education:Vic
2. Stepping Out Books: Success for All – Selecting Appropriate Learning Strategies (2001); Make
their Heads Spin! (2005) DET WA, Curriculum Corporation:Vic
3. Sadler R and Hayler English Experience: Exploring Language and Texts 1 (2001) MacMillan
Education: Vic
4. Hancock, J and Leaver, C. Teaching Strategies for Literacy (2006) ALEA:SA
5. Holliday, M. Strategies for Reading Success (2008) PETA:NSW
6. Gehling, K. A year in Texts: An Explicit Reading Program (2000) PETA: NSW
7. Wilson, L. Reading to Live: How to Teach Reading for Today’s World (2002) Heinemann: USA
Websites
National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy Test website has all the latest details,
samples, parent information, and FAQs: www.naplan.edu.au
DET NT site has a variety of administration details, forms, updates, practice tests and other
support materials:
www.det.nt.gov.au/teachers-educators/assessment-reporting/nap
The Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) has analysed each of the 2011 test items and added
some useful teaching ideas and curriculum references as well, see below. Sets of practice tests
are also available. Teachers can go to the QSA site and set up an account to access the various
documents: www.qsa.qld.edu.au/8101.html
DET Vic site has a variety of practice materials from Year 3 to Year 9:
www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/prep10/naplan/schools/index.html
Various educational websites with a plethora of teaching, learning and assessment ideas:
Assessment Training Institute: www.assessmentinst.com
Assessment is for Learning (AifL), Scotland: www.ltscotland.org.uk/assess/index.asp
Teaching literacy ideas for your classroom can be found:
www.primaryresources.co.uk/
www.senteacher.org/
www.teachingideas.co.uk/
www.worksheetlibrary.com/subjects/languagearts/readingcomprehension/
Reading practice: www.starfall.com/
Rubrics Construction: www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/
McRel Lesson Plans www.mcrel.org/lesson-plans/lang/langlessons.asp#critreading
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