Instructional Series
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Find Literacy resources at Tāhūrangi - Literacy.
Welcome to the English medium literacy instructional series teaching and learning resources for years 1 to 8.

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- English
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- Kākano | Seed
- Māhuri | Sapling
- Tupu | Seedling
- Complex morphemes
- Consonant digraphs
- Consonant patterns
- Initial and final blends
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- Single consonants
- Tense
- Vowel digraphs
Search results
399 items - Showing 171 - 180
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Staying Afloat
by Feana Tu‘akoi
illustrations by Fraser Williamson
This humorous story has a serious message. When Grandad takes Vika and Kele out on his boat, he insists that the children wear life jackets and tells them a story from his childhood in Tonga that explains why.
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Buried Treasure
by Kylie Parry
illustrations by Antony Elworthy
This humorous play follows a group of pirates as they use clues on a map to search for treasure. Students will delight in the pirates’ misinterpretation of the clues and the problems caused as they follow their misdirected ideas.
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Swimming Lessons
by Emeli Sione
illustrated by Jenny Cooper
Pati and Tusi enjoy their swimming lessons and are keen to learn to “float like star fish” and get a new sticker on their certificates. When they show Dad their stickers they are surprised to find out that he has never learned to float, but they come up with a helpful suggestion.
Yellow 2
#LFH
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The Lost Hat
by Feana Tuʻakoi
illustrated by Donovan Bixley
When Sunil loses his hat, his friends help him look for it. There are no hats in the classroom or the sandpit, but when the children look in the Lost Property box, they find too many hats! The story ends happily as the children find a way to solve this new problem.
Red 2
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Sky High
by Feana Tu‘akoi and David Hill
Building a rocket in the backyard may not be a common experience for many students, but most will be able to identify with the ongoing human dream of exploring space. This text combines two texts: “Rocket Club” (a recount of one boy’s rocket-building experiences) and “Blast from the Past” (a report linking historical and contemporary information about rockets). The report explains and describes how, when, and why rockets have been used over more than 900 years.
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Just Kidding
by Marisa Maepu
This story gently and implicitly explores the theme of bullying and provides opportunities for students to consider strategies for dealing with similar situations. Told through the eyes of a narrator, it portrays the tensions between Henry and Sefa but also focuses on the importance of maintaining personal integrity. The decisions taken by Henry and Sefa can be compared and discussed, with some analysis of the consequences. The story also deals with the responsibilities of those noticing bullying behaviour around them.
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Severe Weather
by Sarah Wilcox
This article defines, describes, and explains severe weather events and is accompanied by photographs, maps, and diagrams to illustrate the topic. Severe Weather uses the features and structures of informational text in ways that give opportunities to teach the students to use text structure as an important support for comprehension. Students can also use the text as a model for their own informational writing.
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Explorers of the Sunrise
by Jeff Evans and Damon Salesa
Polynesians have travelled vast distances in canoes for more than three thousand years, resulting in many settlements across the Pacific.
In “Explorers of the Sunrise”, the first article recounts a recent voyage from New Zealand to Rapanui and back, using traditional navigation
methods. The second article describes Polynesian travel, from the earliest migrations to modern-day air travel. -
Waiting for Rēwana Bread
by Kiwa Hammond
illustrated by Adele Jackson
In this story, Aunty shows Mahi how to make rēwana bread in the traditional way using fermented potato. Mahi discovers it’s a long process, with lots of waiting – but a delicious outcome. See also shared book Bread.
Blue 3
#LFH
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Monster in the Pool
by Janice Marriott
illustrated by Scott Pearson
Jack invites Monster to his house after school for a swim in the paddling pool. Monster becomes very, very wet but his way of getting dry has hilarious results. Students will have met Monster before in the shared book Monster’s Lunch and in Monster’s Vest (Red 1).
Yellow 1