Master Your Mind

​TEST TAKING STRATEGIES




THINKING THROUGH YOUR THINKING!

Master Your Mind

​Essential Question: How can analyzing all answer choices help my reasoning to make better decisions on tests?


Learning Objective: I will analyze multiple-choice answers by evaluating each option and writing explanations for my reasoning.

​Today, we are investing our time into a skill that can take our test-taking and critical thinking to the next level: analyzing all answer choices.

Our essential question for this lesson is, How can analyzing all answer choices help my reasoning to make better decisions on tests? By the end of our lesson, we’ll be able to carefully evaluate each option in a multiple-choice question and explain our reasoning for why it’s correct or incorrect.

This lesson isn’t just about getting the right answers—it’s about building confidence in how we think and making better decisions under pressure! (IN and OUT of the classroom!)

​When you are taking a test...


1. How do you decide which answer choices are wrong?


2. Do you read all the answer choices before deciding, or do you stop once you think you've found the right one? Why?


3.When you don’t know the answer right away, what steps do you take to figure it out?

Open Ended

Two things my partner shared with me during our conversation was:

I'm going to be using 3 Key Vocabulary Terms:

REASONING - The process of using facts and logic to make a decision.

INFERENCE - A conclusion reached by using evidence and reasoning.

DISTRACTORS - An answer choice on a test that looks correct but is meant to trick you or test your understanding.

​The ballot is a lantern passed hand to hand,
Its light once dim, now bright through the land.
Each flame ignites a voice once still,
A growing beacon of the people’s will.

​How does the author use the metaphor “The ballot is a lantern” to convey the message about the expansion of voting rights?

a. To highlight that only a few people can truly carry the power of the ballot.



b. To show how voting spreads empowerment and equality.




c. To suggest that voting rights have always been universally bright.




d.To emphasize the fragility of voting rights, like a flame that can go out.

Poll

How CONFIDENT are you feeling so far?

• SUPER confident!

• OH NO!!! I CAN'T!!

• I'm still not sure!

​Here is a 5 step strategy to help you!

Step 1: On your note paper, restate the question in your own words

Step 2: Predict the answer without looking. Jot it down.

Step 3: Write the letters of the answer choices (A, B, C, D) on your paper and write a short reason why it's correct or incorrect.

Step 4: cross out answers that are clearly wrong (does not match evidence)

Step 5: Choose and explain your answer.

Open Ended

How can you apply today's strategy to an exemplar and a FAST tests? Explain what you considered most helpful?

​The vote is a bridge, once narrow and few,
Built stone by stone for the many, not the few.
Its arch now wide, its path made clear,
Each step forward, a voice we hear.

What is the author's purpose in using the metaphor “The vote is a bridge” to convey the message about the expansion of voting rights?

a. To highlight that voting is only accessible to those who work hard to cross the bridge.

b. To emphasize the difficulty of building voting rights over time.


c. To suggest that voting rights are crumbling like an old bridge.


d. To show how voting connects people to a shared future.

​Life is a flame, both bright and brief,
A candle’s glow against the reef.
Its warmth a gift, its light a guide,
A flicker strong, though winds collide.

​How does the author convey the life through the metaphor “Life is a flame, both bright and brief”?

a. By emphasizing the beauty and fleeting nature of life.




b. By suggesting that life is dark and endless.



c. By showing that life’s challenges can extinguish its light.




d. By highlighting how life’s purpose is to burn as long as possible.