The Night Walk at Camp Wattlebird
A school camp story about a nervous girl and a walk in the dark, with eight questions on evidence, language and theme.
Read the passage
Camp Wattlebird sat at the edge of a dark and rustling forest, and tonight, Ava had decided she would rather be anywhere else. The whole of Year 6 stood in a huddle outside the dining hall, clutching torches, while Ranger Min explained the plan. A night walk. In the bush. With the lights off.
“Your eyes are cleverer than you think,” said Ranger Min. “Give them ten minutes in the dark, and you’ll see things you never noticed.” Beside Ava, Jasper snorted. “Ten minutes of nothing, you mean.” But Ava noticed that he had edged closer to the group.
The track wound uphill between towering gums. Torch beams swung left and right, catching the glint of spider webs and the startled eyes of a possum. Somewhere above, an owl called, a low, hollow note that made Ava’s skin prickle. She kept her torch aimed at her boots and counted her steps.
At the top of the hill, Ranger Min stopped. “Torches off,” she said.
The darkness fell like a heavy blanket. Ava’s heart thudded against her ribs. She could not see her own hands. A twig snapped; someone gasped; someone else laughed nervously. She wanted to switch her torch back on so badly that her thumb twitched against the button.
“Breathe,” murmured Ranger Min. “And wait.”
Ava breathed. She waited. Slowly, strangely, the black began to soften. The outlines of the trees appeared, then the glow of the sky between their branches, and then, all at once, the stars: thousands upon thousands, scattered across the darkness like spilled salt. Ava forgot to be afraid.
“Whoa,” whispered Jasper. For once, he had nothing clever to say. Ava smiled in the dark. She had come to the bush expecting to be scared, and instead she had found something she would remember for the rest of her life.
Answer the questions
- What was the name of the camp? (1 mark)
- The story says the students stood “in a huddle.” What does “huddle” mean? (1 mark)
- How did Ava feel about the night walk at the start of the story? Cite two details that show this. (2 marks)
- The story says, “The darkness fell like a heavy blanket.” What does this comparison suggest about the dark? (2 marks)
- What can you infer about Jasper from the way he behaves? Use evidence from the story. (2 marks)
- Quote the sentence that shows Ava’s feelings had changed. Then explain how it shows the change. (2 marks)
- Why was Ranger Min’s advice to “breathe” and “wait” important? Support your answer with evidence from the text. (2 marks)
- Choose the statement that best expresses a theme of the story. Write its letter. (1 mark)A. Facing something you fear can lead to a wonderful surprise.B. Forests are always dangerous at night, so people should avoid them.C. Torches are more important than stars on a bush walk.D. The loudest students are always the bravest in the dark.
Answer key for parents and teachers
1. Camp Wattlebird. (1 mark)
Finding information. A fact to find in the first paragraph.
2. A small, close group. (1 mark)
Word meaning. Working out a word from how it is used.
3. Reluctant or nervous. Any two of: she would “rather be anywhere else”; her skin prickled at the owl’s call; she kept her torch aimed at her boots and counted her steps. (2 marks)
Inference. Citing evidence means naming specific details from the text that prove a claim.
4. It was thick and total and seemed to press in on Ava, so she could not see anything. (2 marks)
Language choices. Explaining what a simile suggests about a setting.
5. He was nervous too but hid it by joking. He snorted and made a joke, but he “edged closer to the group” and later “had nothing clever to say”. (2 marks)
Inference. What a character says and what they do can be different. The child spots the difference.
6. “Ava forgot to be afraid.” It shows that wonder at the stars replaced her fear. (2 marks)
Quoting from the text. A quote plus an explanation: using the text as proof.
7. Waiting gave Ava’s eyes time to adjust to the dark, so she could see the trees and then the stars. “Slowly, strangely, the black began to soften.” (2 marks)
Explaining from the text. Linking advice to what happens next.
8. A (1 mark)
Summarising. A theme is a big idea the whole story supports. The wrong answers are untrue or only small details.
What this practises
Finding information, Word meaning, Inference, Language choices, Quoting from the text, Explaining from the text, Summarising. This sheet links to Comprehension Strategies (AC9E6LY05). Schools and states deliver the Australian Curriculum (version 9) in different ways, so check what your child's school uses. Marks and answers are a guide: accept any sensible answer that is backed up by the text.
Now try the writing task
Write about a time you did something you were nervous about. What did you discover?
Aim for eight to twelve sentences. Read it back aloud together and fix anything that does not sound right.
Want feedback on your child's own writing?
You mark the worksheet yourself with the answer key. LiteracyLab AI is different: it reads what your child has written and gives specific feedback, such as what worked, one thing to try next, and a corrected version, matched to their year. The Free plan includes 3 pieces a month and needs no card.
More Year 6 worksheets
Free to print and copy for your own family or classroom. Please do not sell or republish. The passage and questions were written for LiteracyLab AI.