Questions
Teaching assessment
1 Circle the correct word to complete the sentence.
1
shaky
1 mark (Content Domain 2a)
2
chalk
1 mark (Content Domain 2b)
[1 mark]
3
flints (accept ‘lines of flints’)
1 mark (Content Domain 2b)
2 What had been dug out of the ground to create the pit?
[1 mark]
4
3 What were poking out of the sides of the pit?
[1 mark]
Expected standard: Pupils should infer that Barney knows the edge of the pit might be dangerous so he crawls towards to edge so that he can look over the edge without risking falling. 1 mark (Content Domain 2d)
4 Why do you think Barney crawled to the edge of the pit?
[1 mark]
5
Expected standard: Pupils should identify the phrase ‘The earth and chalk had fallen away beneath them’. 1 mark (Content Domain 2d)
6
Expected standard: Pupils should identify that the pit is referred to as being a ‘huge hole’, and the writer says that the bottom of the pit is ‘far below’. 1 mark (Content Domain 2h)
The fence around the pit was… ruined
ragged
rocking
shaky
5 What evidence is there that part of the edge of the chalk pit had already given way before Barney visited the pit?
6 Find two pieces of evidence that support the idea that the pit is very large.
[1 mark]
Extension: Pupils may also identify that Barney believes the pit must have taken hundreds of years to dig, which supports the idea that the pit is large. 1 additional mark (Content Domain 2c)
[2 marks]
7 Do you think there was really a ship’s wheel or the tail of an aeroplane in the pit? Give a reason for your answer.
[1 mark]
7
Expected standard: Pupils should identify that while Barney thinks he might have seen a ship’s wheel and the tail of an aeroplane, the word ‘real’ in the sentence: ‘At least there was a real bicycle’ suggests that Barney might have been seeing things that were not there. 1 mark (Content Domain 2d)
8
Expected standard: Pupils should identify that ‘they’ refers to the people who take care of Barney. They may infer that ‘they’ refers to Barney’s parents, but actually the only reference to a relative is to Barney’s grandmother. 1 mark (Content Domain 2d)
9
Expected standard: Pupils should identify that Barney wishes he could get to the bicycle because he is not allowed to have one and he thinks he could fix the one in the pit. 1 mark (Content Domain 2d)
8 ‘They wouldn’t let him have a bike.’ Who do you think the writer is talking about when he uses the word ‘they’?
9 Why does Barney wish he was at the bottom of the pit?
[1 mark] [2 marks]
10 What do you think happens after the ground gives way? Give a reason for your answer.
[1 mark]
Extension: Pupils may also identify that Barney is curious about the ‘strange bits of wreckage’ in the pit and wants to take a closer look. 1 additional mark (Content Domain 2d)
10 Expected standard: Pupils should identify that Barney will fall into the pit because he was right at the edge when it gave way.
8
1 mark (Content Domain 2e)
9