End Of Grade & Multiple Choice Test Taking Tips
Tips on answering multiple choice questions:
- Read the question before you look at the answer.
- Come up with the answer in your head before looking at the possible answers, this way the choices given on the test won't throw you off or trick you.
- Eliminate answers you know aren't right.
- Read all the choices before choosing your answer.
- If there is no guessing penalty, always take an educated guess and select an answer.
- Don't keep on changing your answer, usually your first choice is the right one, unless you misread the question.
- In "All of the above" and "None of the above" choices, if you are certain one of the statements is true don't choose "None of the above" or one of the statements are false don't choose "All of the above".
- In a question with an "All of the above" choice, if you see that at least two correct statements, then "All of the above" is probably the answer.
- A positive choice is more likely to be true than a negative one.
- Usually the correct answer is the choice with the most information.
THE DAY OF TESTING
•Start your day with a good breakfast.
(A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.)
•Breathe! Oxygen to your brain will help you think.
•Think Positive! “I can do this!”
•Think of what you will do to relax when you get home from school.
•Wear PURPLE
Multiple Choice Questions
•Listen and read the directions carefully.
•Read the questions and all answer choices before marking anything.
•Read and reread the selection.
•Make notes in the margin, and underline key words.
•Do not change your answers unless you are very uncertain about your first answer choice.
•Try to answer every question. Make the most intelligent guess you can.
Pace Yourself
•Don’t spend too much time on any one question. Do your best and then move on.
•Answer the easiest questions first.
•Circle all of your answer choices in the test booklet BUT be sure to mark your answer on your bubble sheet.
•Mark those that you skip in the test book with a question mark and go back to those questions!!
Answering Questions
•Don't guess blindly, but if you have time to think about the best answer choice, make it!
•Choose the BEST OVERALL answer when more than one choice seems correct.
•DO NOT leave any question unanswered.
•Use test Taking Strategies
What were the test taking strategies for Multiple Choice Questions?
•We did them as a spiral every day in class.
•Start with Annotating the Question
•Then Annotate the Answer Choices
•Then use Process of Elimination
What does Annotating mean?
•Circling words you do not know the meaning of-
•Making "friendly" definition of the "harder" vocabulary
•Underlining the "frequently" used words such as "most likely, more often, least likely" etc.
•Restating the question will allow you to understand it easier and know what it is asking
•Restating the answer choices to where you understand what they mean
The Process of Elimination
•After you have been through all of the answer choices once, go back and eliminate choices that you know are incorrect.
•Justify why the answer is incorrect for the question you are trying to answer.
•Eliminate the next wrong answer and justify why it is not the correct answer.
•If you can eliminate two wrong answers, your chance of choosing the right answer is greater.
•You should get to a 50/50
•Chose the best answer from your 50/50
•Justify your answer from your 50/50
Skip, Return, Check
•If you finish early, check to make sure you have answered all questions.
•Yes, that means really go back and check your work!
Key Words
•Find key words or phrases in the question that will help you choose the correct answer.
- best
- most likely
- least likely
- except
- mainly
- best evidence
- best answer
Tough Vocabulary
•Use context clues- look at the other words in the sentence to help you know the meaning of an unfamiliar word.
•Look at parts of words and work from what you DO know.
Are we communicating?
•Make sure you understand what the question is asking.
•Be sure you are responding to the question that is being asked.
Graphs/Reading Selections/Charts
•By doing this, you will know what you are looking for as you read. This also helps you go faster on the test.
•When there are several questions about a graph or chart, look for clues in other questions that will help you with those items that you are unsure about.
Pick out KEY WORDS…
•SKIMMING: Read pieces of the text: dates, names, and places; review graphs, tables, and charts. A quick check of text.
•SCANNNING: Find a particular answer. Scanning involves moving your eyes quickly down the page seeking specific words and phrases to help you answer a question.
•Use a highlighter or underline when you read to save time later.
Final Tips For Answering Questions
•Fill in bubbles fully, write neatly, and erase stray marks.
•Double-check the test number in your test booklet against the answer sheet every few questions to be sure you haven’t gotten on the wrong number
•Plan your time. Try to complete half the questions by the time you are halfway through the test.
•Don’t rush through the test just to get finished.
• Just remember to do YOUR BEST & breathe again! - _ -
OTHER STRATEGIES...
RUNNERS
R Read the title and predict
Read the title, look at pictures, scan the text. Make predictions about the genre and author’s purpose.
Do the pictures look real or fake?
Is there dialogue throughout the passage?
Fiction or non-fiction?
*Remember these are only predictions, so they may not be correct, but they will get the reader’s brain warmed up and thinking.
U Underline key words in the question
This will help students set a purpose for their reading. Students should underline important names, dates, and parts of the question. If a word is already bold or italicized it is not necessary to underline since it is already telling us how important the word is.
What is the question really asking (author’s purpose, main idea, sequencing, etc.)
N Number the paragraphs
If the passage contains a lot of dialogue, avoid numbering all of the paragraphs.
N Now read the passage
E Enclose key words
While reading the passage students should circle or underline anything that reminds them of a question. This will make it easier for them when they are answering questions and looking back in the passage.
R Reread the questions
Reread the questions with a focus on the important words that were underlined or circled.
S Select the best answer
Show proof in the passage of where the answer was found.
Steps to Finding the Meaning to Unknown Words
STEP #1: Break the words into smaller parts. Look for the parts of the word you know.
You can investigate even further by asking, "Do subways and submarines have anything in common?
STEP #2: Look For The Context Clues: What do they tell you?
STEP #3: Use Your Background Knowledge
You can conclude that submersible means a vessel or vehicle that is capable of traveling and operating under water.
PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES THAT WILL HELP UNDERSTAND WORDS
Prefix or suffix Meaning
A- not
Ab- from, away
Ad- to, toward
Angio- vessel
Abio- not living
Ante- before
Anti- against
Aqua- water
-Ase enzyme
Auto- self
Bi- two, twice
Bio- life
Epi- on, above
Gen- produce, begin
Hemo- blood
Hetero- different, other
Homo- alike, same
Hydro- water
Hyper- over
Hypo- under
Inter- between, together
Intra- within
-ology science, knowledge
Macro- large
Micro- tiny
Mono- one
-ole small
-oid like
Poly- many
Pro- before
Post- after,
Toxi-, Toxo- poison
-trophic feeding
STEP #1: Break the words into smaller parts. Look for the parts of the word you know.
- submersible -->SUB mersible
- What does the word "SUB" make you think of?
You can investigate even further by asking, "Do subways and submarines have anything in common?
- Both are used for transportation and traveling from one place to another place
- Both are underground
STEP #2: Look For The Context Clues: What do they tell you?
- Explorer, the submarine, "watercraft , sank deeper into the ocean"
- Submersible is describing a feature of the watercraft
- The watercraft can travel deep into the ocean
STEP #3: Use Your Background Knowledge
- I know a sub or a submarine goes under water
- The question of passages says..."sank deeper into the ocean...
You can conclude that submersible means a vessel or vehicle that is capable of traveling and operating under water.
PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES THAT WILL HELP UNDERSTAND WORDS
Prefix or suffix Meaning
A- not
Ab- from, away
Ad- to, toward
Angio- vessel
Abio- not living
Ante- before
Anti- against
Aqua- water
-Ase enzyme
Auto- self
Bi- two, twice
Bio- life
Epi- on, above
Gen- produce, begin
Hemo- blood
Hetero- different, other
Homo- alike, same
Hydro- water
Hyper- over
Hypo- under
Inter- between, together
Intra- within
-ology science, knowledge
Macro- large
Micro- tiny
Mono- one
-ole small
-oid like
Poly- many
Pro- before
Post- after,
Toxi-, Toxo- poison
-trophic feeding