Test Taking Strategies Answer Every Question Educated Guess

Test Taking Strategies

Answer Every Question Educated Guess Educated guessing means using everything you know to attempt to answer the question. Not guessing at all gives you 0% a chance of getting the right answer. A random guess 25% gives you a chance of getting the right answer. An educated guess gives you 75% up to of a chance of answering correctly. What’s the lesson here?

Read Ahead O Read the questions first before reading the passage. This will allow you to focus on the specific ideas that relate back to the questions.

Narrow It Down O Eliminate obviously wrong answer choices O Eliminate choices that are partly correct O Eliminate items that are correct but don’t answer the question

Read Carefully. Read and understand the question fully. Read ALL answer choices before picking one. O Whether you write 5 O One may sound good, paragraphs or 10, if your response doesn’t answer the question, it won’t earn any points. but one will always be better. O Tip: Read the answers from the bottom up to ensure that you read ALL of them.

Note Taking Highlight O Use the colors used for NEWSELA to highlight with purpose and to better organize your thoughts. Take Notes O Make note of pieces of texts that may answer questions/prompts or can be used as evidence.

Vocabulary Questions Negative Prefixes O Anti. O Mal. O Mis. O Il. O Un. O Non. O Dis. O In- These prefixes are used to mean the opposite of the root word. O Ex. “Disagree” means to not agree with someone.

Vocabulary Questions Context Clues O The context of a word includes all words and sentences that surround it and the situation in which the word is used. O Use context clues to make an educated guess about the meaning of a word. Figure out words you do know O If you don’t know what one or two words mean, first look at the ones that you do know to see if they are correct. O Substitute each word option into the sentence to see if it makes sense.

Try It!

Written Responses Essays O Intro – should include strong opening/hook O Body Paragraphs – the number depend on the prompt. O Ex: Compare & Contrast should have at least 2 body paragraphs; one for similarities and one for differences. O Conclusion O Include transitional phrases Narratives O Entertaining beginning O Problem/Solution O Should include dialogue O Use proper tags O Use quotation marks O Make a new paragraph when a new person is speaking.

Written Responses O About one paragraph O Use R(estate). A(nswer). C(ite examples). E(xplain/expand). R(eview/rewind/recap) as a guide

Make an estimate O Make an estimate before you add, subtract, multiply, or divide. O After you find the real answer, ask yourself does that make sense with my estimate? O Try it: Christina worked 4. 5 hours mowing lawns last weekend. She gets paid $8. 75 an hour. How much did she earn last weekend? Does she have enough to buy a $30 jacket?

Read Carefully For maps, graphs, and tables be sure to read the titles, keys, units of measurement, scales. Look for patterns/trends and comparisons.

Use Answer Choices Use the answer choices provided to help you solve a problem.

Answer all parts of the math questions. Explain each step. Be clear. Someone should be able to copy exactly what you did and not have to infer anything. Ex: Kevin said he rode. 5 of a mile on his bike. George said he rode 4/10 of a mile on Monday and 7/100 of a mile on Tuesday. George said that he rode more than Kevin because 47 is greater than 5. - Explain why George’s thinking is incorrect. - Write the correct comparison relationship for the fractions. Which answer is clearer? A. George is wrong because 5/10 is greater than 47/100. 5/10 > 47/100. B. George is wrong because. 5 is the same as 5/10 and 5/10 of a mile is exactly half of a mile. 47/100 is actually less than a half because exactly half would be 50/100. Therefore, 47/100 is less than 5/10 > 47/100

CHECK YOUR WORK. Check your work! Review all calculations, reread your essays and open ended responses, use spell check (Yes, there will be spell check! But make sure the word that comes up is the word that you intended to use), check for grammar and punctuation (“Did I capitalize the first word in a quote? ”) You’ll have plenty of time to review and remember there are no extra points or gold medals for finishing first!

Get plenty of rest! • Get plenty of rest the night before each testing day. You need 8 -10 hours of sleep, so go to bed by 10 pm.

Eat a well balanced breakfast. • Eat a good nutritious breakfast the morning of each testing day (Milk w/cereal, eggs, fruits; no Hot Cheetos and candy. )