Test Taking Strategies

What is the first thing you should do when taking the test?

• read the passage

• highlight important lines

• read the questions

• write "I love ELA" on the cover

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RL.6.10

If you run across a difficult test item, a recommended strategy is to

• just put whatever
• shout at your teacher across the room that you "don't get it"
• skip hard or confusing questions and go back later to answer them

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RI. 9-10.10

If you are still unsure of a test item even after reviewing it, you should

• eliminate bad choices and try to select the best response, SOMETIMES the longest answer is correct

• play eenie meenie miney mo to pick the best response

What do you do as you read a passage?

• Jot QUICK thoughts about what you are reading, and summarize your thoughts

• Write down every single thought you have.

• Outline every paragraph with your pencil.

• Highlight all of the words that look important.

What do you do when you come to a passage that is on an unfamiliar topic?

• This is the end. Just give up and start crying.
• Think negatively the whole time you read it.
• Annotate your thinking more and make connections to what you do know.
• Avoid the passage by going to the bathroom many times.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

What do you do when you come to an unfamiliar word?

• Immediately ask for a dictionary and look it up.
• Skip past the word and don't do back to figure out the meaning.
• Stop reading completely and stare at the word until you know it.
• Use your context clues to read around the word and think of what would make sense.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

When you get to the questions and answer choices, you should - 

• Read the question and answer choices without stopping.
• Skim through the question and pick an answer.
• Read the question and pause to think about what it is asking.
• Spend a lot of time writing down all of your thoughts around the question.

How do you determine what a text is mostly about?

• Only look at the title.
• Use important evidence from the text to get the big idea of what the text was about.
• Jot some details down from what you read.
• Only look at the pictures and photographs given.

What do you do if you lose focus during the test?

• Raise your hand and ask to take a quick break, then re-read what you were in the middle of reading to get back on track when you get back.
• Take a quick nap on your desk.
• Just keep going. You may not understand what you are reading but it is what it is!
• Skip around from passage to passage.

What do you do when you are finished with your test and there is time remaining?

• Go back and make sure each answer you chose matches your answer document.
• Shout out, "I'M DONE!" You're friends all need to know.
• Stare at he teacher until she can tell you're done.
• Raise your hand and turn it in without looking anything over.