Instructional Series
Welcome to the English medium literacy instructional series teaching and learning resources for years 1 to 8.

- Gold
- Purple
- Blue
- Red
- Green
- Yellow
- Orange
- Turquoise
- Magenta
- 2
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- 4
- 1
- 4
- 6
- 5
- 3
- 8
- 7
- 2
- 1
- English
- Social Sciences
- Science
- Health and Physical Education
- Technology
- The Arts
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Learning Languages
- Fiction
- Non-fiction
- None
- Nature of science
- Living world
- Nature of technology
- Statistics
- Geometry and Measurement
- Planet Earth and beyond
- Technological knowledge
- Physical world
- Material world
- Number and Algebra
- Technological practice
- Gather and interpret data
- Use evidence
- Critique evidence
- Engage with science
- Interpret representations
- Articles
- Stories
- Poems
- Plays
- Activity
- Comic
- Kākano | Seed
- Tupu | Seedling
- Māhuri | Sapling
- Rākau | Tree
- Consonant digraphs
- Consonant patterns
- Initial and final blends
- Long vowels
- Short vowels
- Single consonants
- Complex morphemes
- Tense
- Vowel digraphs
- Contractions
- Syllable types
Search results
1167 items - Showing 1051 - 1060
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No More Cakes
retold by Barbara Beveridge
illustrated by Vasanti Unka
In this humorous tale, the hungry cat eats everyone and everything he meets until the tables are finally turned by the landcrabs with their sharp claws.
Turquoise 1
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The King’s Birthday
by Dot Meharry
illustrated by Philip Webb
The King is upset because nobody seems to have remembered his birthday. Lunch, however, reveals a lovely surprise. This is a sequel (with lots of delightful links) to The Hole in the King’s Sock (Shared Reading).
Turquoise 1
This title is also available as a NZ Sign Language e-book on iTunes and GooglePlay.
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Inside the Maize Maze
by Sharon Holt
photographs by Anthony Russell
This text begins with an explanation about mazes and then recounts the narrator’s experience of being inside a maize maze. There is another example of a maze on the inside back cover.
Turquoise 2
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Kapa Haka
by Lisa Rangiaho and Kahurangi Rangiaho-Katipa
illustrated by Adele Jackson
When she joins the school kapa haka group, Marama feels nervous but is supported by her older sister and Whaea Mere. In this recount, Marama practises hard and is honoured to wear her nan’s pounamu for their performance.
Turquoise 2
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Guide Dogs
by Sue Walker
This report describes how guide dogs are trained and how they help blind and visually impaired people.
It provides opportunities for students to identify and summarise main points and to use the information to explain why guide dogs are special.Purple 1
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That’s the Way
by Lino Nelisi
illustrated by Elspeth Alix Batt
This dramatic narrative describes Animoe’s exciting experience of achieving her goal of playing in her mother’s kirikiti team. The text draws out the friendly, lively nature of island cricket and of Animoe’s parents’ pride in her performance. It’s available in five Pacific languages in the Tupu series, and audio versions in both English and Niuean are on Tupu CD Two, item 10625.
Purple 1
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The Queen of Spain
by Alan Bagnall
illustrated by Freya Blackwood
This recount of an imaginary trip on Grandpa’s boat The Queen of Spain mixes fantasy and reality. It links well with Dragon (Orange), also by Alan Bagnall.
Purple 1
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Tom’s Tryathlon
by Kristine Hornblow
photographs by Peter Crawford
In this recount, Tom talks about his first experience of participating in the Weet-Bix™ Kiwi Kids Tryathlon.
Purple 1
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Two Tiger Tales
retold by Barbara Beveridge
illustrated by Caroline Campbell and Ali Teo
This book contains two folk tales in which tigers are outwitted by smaller animals. In “The Clumsy Tiger”, a tiger asks a cat to teach him to become quick and clever. The tiger learns fast, but there is one thing the clever cat realises he shouldn’t teach him! “The Competition” describes how a small but clever frog is able to scare away a tiger.
The two stories are available as individual audio files for download:
Purple 1
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A Quilt for Kiri
by Don Long
pictures by Judith Kunzlé
This sensitive narrative tells of the death of Kiri’s grandmother far away in the Cook Islands. Grandma’s gift of a quilt to Kiri sparks special memories for Kiri and her dad. A Gift for Aunty Ngā (Gold) is a sequel to this book.
Purple 2