Testing Strategies for Readers: Passing Standardized Tests with Success

1. Testing genre Strategies for Readers Dr. Dimple J. Martin, Reading/Language Arts, K-5 “Reading is the New Civil Right!”

2. Hope is not a strategy

3. Testing as a genre • Why do our students need to pass standardized tests? • How can we help our students show what they know on standardized tests?

4. Why do our students need to pass standardized tests? • Life skill • ACT Aspire • High School Exams • SAT/ACT • College Exams • Job Placement

5. How can we help our students show what they know on standardized tests? • Teach Test Talk • Teach Strategy Use • Teach Test Navigation • Teach Readiness

6. Test Talk • Testing language is hyper-English (Calkins, 1998) • Vocabulary of the directions or questions uses a very proper language • Students need to know how to translate the words and phrases

7. Language of Testing • ARTICLE • DETAIL • OPPOSITE • PASSAGE • PHRASE • SELECTION • SEQUENCE • SIMILAR • STATEMENT • THEME • TOPIC • BEST DESCRIBES • BEST COMPLETES • CAN TELL • CHOOSE THE BEST • DOES NOT BELONG • MAIN PURPOSE • MAINLY ABOUT • MOST IMPORTANT • MOST LIKELY • RIGHT AFTER

8. Genre Specific Vocabulary • Poetry • mood, tone, stanza, line • Fiction • character, setting, plot, solution, events • Non-fiction • caption, bullets, text box, diagram, chart Specific terms can be found in the state and Common Core standards.

9. Strategy Use • The month of the test should not be the first time students are taught reading strategies • Infer, Visualize, Question, Determine Importance, Make Connections, Synthesize, etc • Active Reading • Using Schema (Background Knowledge) • Using the Author’s Clues to Recognize Important Information • Identifying and Following Directions • Re-Reading • Skim & Scan • Navigating the Text

10. Test Navigation • Read the questions first, but don’t try to answer them before reading the passage. • Read the questions and choices carefully. • Reread the text before choosing an answer. • Be alert for signal words in questions. • Questions are asked in different ways. • Bolded words in questions are clues for you to use. • Use all the information you are given- titles, captions, arrows, etc.

11. Readiness • Practice building stamina at a desk • Don’t linger on hard questions • Read the question carefully, looking for signal words, bold or italicized words • Read each question choice • If you skip a question, be sure to come back

12. Understanding the Questions • “Reading tests have predictable kinds of questions, and each kind requires a unique approach.”- Harvey & Goudvis • Multiple Choice Tests Have Four Main Types of Questions • Vocabulary Questions • Literal Questions • Summarizing & Synthesizing Questions • Inferential Questions

13. Literal Questions • What… • When… • Which… • Where… • How… • Which of these events happened first? (sequence question) • When you touch poison ivy, you… (asks information from the passage)

14. Teaching Literal Questions • The answers are “right there” in the text • Teach Skim and Scan • Look for key signal words (what, when, which, where, how) • Match the words of the question to specific words in the text • Scan several paragraphs to notice events or steps in sequence • Eliminate answers you know are not true

15. Summarizing & Synthesizing Questions • Which statement best summarizes… • What is the main idea… • What is the main reason… • What is the most important idea in this article/passage/poem… • This story/article/poem is mainly about… • This section mainly describes… • This story/article/passage was written in order to… • Another title (good name) for this story might be…

16. Teaching Summarizing & Synthesizing Questions • “Author and Me” Questions • Teach strategies to DETERMINE IMPORTANCE • Read for the gist of the story/article • The distracter is often the answer that is most interesting, but not most important • Screen out your personal opinion and stick to the information from the passage • Wrong answers are usually facts or details from the passage • Use the process of elimination

17. Inferential Questions • Why • What can you conclude… • What lesson does this teach… • What is the problem… • Which of these is most likely true about… • From the story you can probably guess… • How does the author feel about… • After reading this, what will probably happen next… • How did (the character) feel about…

18. Teaching Inferential Questions • Students must use the author’s words and personal background knowledge to infer • Students often try to guess based on their personal thoughts/feelings- REINFORCE referring back to the text • Search for evidence to support answer • Look for text clues • Focus on the author’s purpose • Don’t over think

19. References • Calkins, L. Montgomery, K. & Santman, D. (1998). A teacher’s guide to standardized reading tests. Portsmouth: Heinemann. • Greene, A.H & Melton, G.D. (2007). Test talk: Integrating test preparation into reading workshop. Portland: Stenhouse. • Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2005). The comprehension toolkit: Extend & investigate. Portsmouth: Heinemann.