Congratulations!

You’re taking a reading test!

A reading test is in your future!

• You will soon be taking a reading test

• This test will help your teachers, parents, and others to find out your strengths as a reader

Why a test?

• No one can see inside your brain as you read and comprehend text

• In order to find out how you are doing, you need to answer some questions about what you read

The bright side

• There are some good parts to taking a reading test

• Often, you will get to read some interesting text

• You may enjoy the articles and stories that you read

Strategies for Success

• You can be successful on reading tests

• There are some important strategies to remember

• If you remember these strategies, you will find that taking a reading test is not as difficult!

Before the test

• Think about it!

• Brainstorm three things that you think you should do before the test even begins

Before the test

• Your success begins in the morning

• Studies suggest that a healthy breakfast can help you to think and pay attention as you take the test

• What kinds of breakfast foods would be good choices?

Before the test

• But breakfast isn’t the only way to help yourself be successful on the test

• Your attitude is also important

• If you go into the test feeling positive about yourself, you are more likely to try harder

Before the test

• “Positive self-talk” is a way to build these good feelings

• Right now, think about three things that you are good at

• Notice how just thinking about these things can help you to feel calmer!

Before the test

• Let’s review!

• What are some things that you can do before the test to help yourself do well?

While you take the test

• Now, we’re going to think about the things that you can do while you are taking the test

• Before we begin, brainstorm a few ideas

• What do you already know about taking a reading test?

The path to success

• While you take the test, remember to use the good reading strategies that you have been learning all year long

• The best path to success is to take your time and learn from the text

What to do first?

• Once you get the test, you have a choice

• Some teachers suggest that you flip to the questions and look at them to help you get an idea of what the text is about

What to do first?

• But…this can cause a problem

• Some students read the questions and try to answer them right away, without reading the text

• Can you explain why this is a BAD idea?

Don’t skip the text!

• Skipping the text will not bring you success!

• So, decide carefully with your teacher whether you want to look at the questions first

Activate your schema

• Whether you read the questions first or not, you will need to do some work BEFORE you start to read

• Jumping into a text without preparing is like jumping into the deep end of the pool before you can swim

Activate your schema

• As you look at the first reading selection on the test, you need to activate your schema

• Read the little box that introduces the text. What is the text about?

• Look at the text features. What kind of text is it?

Activate your schema

• Now, activate your schema

• This means think about what you already know

• Activate your schema for the TOPIC of the text by thinking about what you already know

Activate your schema

• Activate your schema for the KIND of text as well

• What do you know about this kind of text? What do you expect to read?

Try it out!

• On the next slide, you will see a sample introduction box to a reading text

• Activate your schema!

• Think about what you already know about the TOPIC and the KIND OF TEXT

Activate your schema

In this informational text, you will read about the history of the sandwich. After you have finished reading the text, answer the questions that follow.

• What schema should you activate?

• What should you think about to get yourself ready to read this text?

Activate your schema

In this informational text, you will read about the history of the sandwich. After you have finished reading the text, answer the questions that follow.

• This text will be about the history of the sandwich

• To get ready to read this text, think about what you already know about the history of sandwiches

Activate your schema

In this informational text, you will read about the history of the sandwich. After you have finished reading the text, answer the questions that follow.

• Also, think about what you can expect from an informational text that shows the history of something

• What text structure will it use?

What should you expect?

• If this is about the history of the sandwich, it is probably in chronological order

• You should expect to see dates

• You should also expect to read about how the sandwich has changed over time

Get your mind ready

• Wow! Just by reading a two-sentence introduction, we can get ready to read the text

• Try this one!

Activate your schema

In this story, you will read about what happens when Gwen loses her little brother in the forest. After you have finished reading the text, answer the questions that follow.

• What schema should you activate?

• What should you think about to get yourself ready to read this text?

Activate your schema

In this story, you will read about what happens when Gwen loses her little brother in the forest. After you have finished reading the text, answer the questions that follow.

• This text will be a story

• To activate your schema, think about what you already know about stories

• What elements do you expect to find?

Activate your schema

• That’s right! Stories have characters, a setting, a conflict, events, and a theme

• You already know that one of the characters is Gwen

• You already know that the conflict has to do with her brother being lost in the woods

While you are reading

• Once you have activated your schema and previewed the text, you are ready to start reading

• To help you understand the text, use an active reading strategy

While you are reading

• An active reading strategy will help you to stay focused as you read

• There are several different strategies that you can use

While you are reading

• If you are reading nonfiction, you can try keeping track of your questions and their answers

• This will help you to focus on learning from the text

• When you go on to answer the questions at the end, you will have worked hard to understand the text

Questions Answers

Who invented the sandwich?

While you are reading

• If you are reading a story, you may want to make a story map and record the characters, setting, plot, conflict, and theme

While you are reading

• Remember to use the strategy of visualizing

• Make a “movie in your mind” to picture the events in the story or the information in the article

• Visualizing will help you to see how the pieces all fit together

• On some tests, you will be allowed to use a highlighter to highlight important information in the text

• Check with your teacher to see if this is okay

• If you are allowed to highlight, be sure to mark only the important ideas—don’t highlight the whole page!

While you are reading

While you are reading

• Another good strategy is to use the strategy of self-monitoring

• Pause at the end of each paragraph to think, “Did I understand what I just read?”

• If you do not understand, then go back and read again

Let’s Review

1. How can you activate your schema to get ready to read a text?

A. Eat a good breakfast

B. Highlight every word on the page

C. Read the introduction box and title

The correct answer is…

C. Read the introduction box and title

Let’s Review

2. Which of the following would make a good breakfast for test day?

A. Cereal

B. Chocolate doughnuts

C. Highlighters

The correct answer is…

A. Cereal

Answering the questions

• Wow! You have read and understood the text

• Now it’s time to answer the questions

• Keep some hints in mind and you will do well

Multiple choice or selected response

• This kind of question asks a question, and then gives a choice of responses

Multiple choice or selected response

• It is very important that you read all of the choices

• Then, eliminate any choices that you know are incorrect

• Go back to the text to check on your answer

Multiple choice or selected response

• Remember, some answers will not be right there in the text

• You may need to put ideas together to make an inference

• This is why it’s so important to activate your schema from the start

Multiple choice or selected response

• Be careful!• Sometimes, there

will be choices that are true, but are not the correct answer to the question

• Also, watch out for questions with the words always and never

Read EVERY choice

Look at the question below. Why should you NOT just pick the first choice?

Which of the following do you do in the morning?

A. Brush your teethB. Eat breakfastC. Get dressedD. All of the above

Read EVERY choice

That’s right! If you had picked the first one, you would have missed that the correct answer is D

Which of the following do you do in the morning?

A. Brush your teethB. Eat breakfastC. Get dressedD. All of the above

Avoid careless errors

• If you are working between a test booklet and an answer booklet, check to make sure that you are marking your answer by the right number

• Also, remember to check your work at the end of each selection. It’s very easy to mis-mark an answer!

Review

• What are some things to remember as you take a multiple choice test?

Open-ended questions

• Sometimes, you will have to answer open-ended questions

• For these questions, you do not have choices

• Instead, you have to create your own answer from scratch

Open-ended questions

• What are some things that you already know about writing responses to open-ended questions?

Open-ended questions

• To answer these questions, it’s important that you go back to the text

• You will need to find specific text details to support your answers

Open-ended questions

• Think about following these steps

• First, write a topic sentence to state your answer

• Then, find text evidence to support your answer

• Finally, write a concluding sentence to explain how the text evidence shows your answer

Try it out!

• Read the text on the next slide

• Then, write a short answer response to the question

• Be sure to include a topic sentence, specific text details, and a concluding sentence

Simon looked at the cabin in dismay. The brown paint was peeling from the walls. A single light bulb lit the dim room. Along the walls, he could see rickety metal bunk beds. Something scampered along the floor by his feet—a spider? A mouse? He couldn’t tell. “I don’t know if I want to spend the week here,” Simon said.

“You’ll love it!” his father replied. “Here—spread out your sleeping bag.”

Simon took his sleeping bag to the nearest bed. The mattress was dingy and dirty. “Yuck,” he said.

Question: What word or phrase could you use to describe the cabin? Support your answer with specific details from the text.

What do you think of this answer?

Simon looked at the cabin in dismay. The brown paint was peeling from the walls. A single light bulb lit the dim room. Along the walls, he could see rickety metal bunk beds. Something scampered along the floor by his feet—a spider? A mouse? He couldn’t tell. “I don’t know if I want to spend the week here,” Simon said.

“You’ll love it!” his father replied. “Here—spread out your sleeping bag.”

Simon took his sleeping bag to the nearest bed. The mattress was dingy and dirty. “Yuck,” he said.

I think the cabin is not very nice because I would not want to spend the night here it seems really rotten.

What do you think of this answer?

This answer is not very good! Notice how it does not include any specific details from the text. When you write your answer, go back to the text to find the specific details.

I think the cabin is not very nice because I would not want to spend the night here it seems really rotten.

What do you think of this answer?

Simon looked at the cabin in dismay. The brown paint was peeling from the walls. A single light bulb lit the dim room. Along the walls, he could see rickety metal bunk beds. Something scampered along the floor by his feet—a spider? A mouse? He couldn’t tell. “I don’t know if I want to spend the week here,” Simon said.

“You’ll love it!” his father replied. “Here—spread out your sleeping bag.”

Simon took his sleeping bag to the nearest bed. The mattress was dingy and dirty. “Yuck,” he said.

Simon is at a cabin with his dad. He doesn’t like the cabin much and he sees a spider. He says yuck and doesn’t want to stay there.

What do you think of this answer?

Another poor answer. This response doesn’t even answer the question! Be careful when you take tests. Make sure that you are answering the question.

Simon is at a cabin with his dad. He doesn’t like the cabin much and he sees a spider. He says yuck and doesn’t want to stay there.

What do you think of this answer?

Simon looked at the cabin in dismay. The brown paint was peeling from the walls. A single light bulb lit the dim room. Along the walls, he could see rickety metal bunk beds. Something scampered along the floor by his feet—a spider? A mouse? He couldn’t tell. “I don’t know if I want to spend the week here,” Simon said.

“You’ll love it!” his father replied. “Here—spread out your sleeping bag.”

Simon took his sleeping bag to the nearest bed. The mattress was dingy and dirty. “Yuck,” he said.

I would say that the cabin is unpleasant. I think this for a few reasons. For one thing, it has peeling paint. The bunkbeds are also rickety with dirty mattresses. Yuck! But worst of all, there are things living there, like mice or spiders. I think this cabin is yucky and unpleasant!

What do you think of this answer?

Finally, a good answer!

Notice the topic sentence that introduces the answer

Notice the specific text details

Notice the concluding sentence

I would say that the cabin is unpleasant. I think this for a few reasons. For one thing, it has peeling paint. The bunkbeds are also rickety with dirty mattresses. Yuck! But worst of all, there are things living there, like mice or spiders. I think this cabin is yucky and unpleasant!

What do you think of this answer?

Finally, a good answer!

Notice the topic sentence that introduces the answer

Notice the specific text details

Notice the concluding sentence

I would say that the cabin is unpleasant. I think this for a few reasons. For one thing, it has peeling paint. The bunkbeds are also rickety with dirty mattresses. Yuck! But worst of all, there are things living there, like mice or spiders. I think this cabin is yucky and unpleasant!

Remember to check your answer!

• After you have finished writing, it might be tempting to just turn the page and forget about it

• If you have the time, read your answer to make sure that it makes sense

What have you learned?

• What are some steps to completing an open-ended response?

Think about this

• You might actually enjoy some of the selections that you read

• One of the things that’s hard about a reading test is that you often have to read several selections in a row

Think about this

• Before you go on to the next selection, take a deep breath and give yourself some more positive self-talk

• Once you turn the page, remember to start all over again with activating your schema

Putting it all together

• What are some things that you should do BEFORE the test?

• What should you do to activate your schema before you start to read the selection?

• What are some active reading strategies that you can use to understand the selection?

• What do you need to remember as you answer questions?

Enjoy the test!

• And enjoy your future reading!

by Emily Kissner