FCAT Reading TestTaking Strategies for Students

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FCAT Reading Test-Taking Strategiesfor Students
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A possible strategy read
the questions FIRST!

• This will help you to focus your attention and
  direct you to the parts of the reading passage
  that are most important for you to understand.

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Make sure you understand exactly what each
question is asking.

• STOP and take a moment to think about what you
  will need to look for in the reading passage.

Sometimes it helps to put the question in your
own words or circle key words in the passage,
such as first, last, not, least, etc.
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Do NOT leave any answers blank!

• Guess on any of the ones that you do not know and
  take note to review them if you have time at the
  end

• Choose what you think is the best answer by
  eliminating the choices that do not seem correct

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Remember!!!

• The FCAT test asks you to choose the best answer
  for each question, so it is important to read ALL
  your answer choices and then eliminate the
  ones that do
  not seem correct or to
  answer the question the best.

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Choose the best answer.

• Never choose an answer that is not supported by
  something in the selection.
• As you take the test, you must
• read and think
• read and think
• READ AND THINK!

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• If the answer you choose is in the reading
  passage, make sure that it completely answers
  what the question asks.

• This could be a distracter a choice that has
  some information from the passage but does not
  completely answer what is being asked.

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• Never choose an answer that contains any wrong
  information. If any part of an answer choice is
  wrong, do not choose this answer.

• Understand that part of an incorrect answer is
  often right, but may not be complete enough to be
  the best answer.

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• Make sure the answer you choose is based on
  information you read in the passage.

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• Take special notice that the answer to a question
  is often stated in words that are a little
  different from the exact words used in the
  reading passage.

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Heres an example A passage about the Civil
War discusses the casualties of
war, but the answer choice uses the word
fatalities. By choosing the answer
choice that contains the word fatalities, a
good test taker is also demonstrating reading
comprehension and the concept of synonyms!
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Skimming a reading passage

• Skimming means to glance at a reading passage
  quickly to get the general idea of the topic
• and important ideas.

• It should NEVER be used as a substitute for
  careful reading of the passage.

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Using the skimming strategy

• A test question asks about the setting of a
  story. Once you have read the passage all the
  way through, go back and skip through the
  sentences that discuss other ideas or events.
• Now, skim the passage until you find the parts
  that discuss the time
  and the
• place.
• Read this part carefully.

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Dont expect to know the answers to most
questions after only one reading.

• Good test takers learn how to go back into the
  passage again and again to find specific
  information.
• This is one of the most important strategies
  for a reading test knowing what information
  you need and re-reading until you find it.
  (You can use your
  skimming skills here.)

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Check your answer sheet!

• About every 5-10 answers, check your answer
  sheet with your test booklet to make sure that
  you have been bubbling on the correct lines ONLY
  in the test you are currently working in! Do NOT
• go in any other test section.
• If you wait until the end of
• the test to check over your
• answer sheet, you could have
• a problem with your answers matching.

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If you have extra time

• Recheck all of your
• answers in this test
• section only.
• Check the ones you
• guessed at first.
• Erase any stray pencil
• marks you made on
• your answer sheet.

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• Please, take advantage of the time you are given.

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For main idea questions

• Dont confuse a supporting detail with the main
  idea.
• Remember that a supporting detail just explains
  or gives more information about the topic.

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• Skim through the reading passage to see how many
  times each of the answer choices are discussed.

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Main idea question

• On some East coast beaches, flags are used to
  indicate the condition of the surf. A red flag
  indicates to swimmers that the surf is
  dangerously rough. A yellow flag is a warning or
  caution swimmers should stay near the shore. A
  green flag means that the surf is calm. Whatever
  the condition of the surf, a swimmer should
  always be careful.
• The main idea of this paragraph is
• a. various kinds of ocean surfs
  
• b. safety precautions for swimmers
• c. flags used to tell surf conditions
• d. East coast beaches
• Taken from Scoring High in Reading,
• Random House Publishers, 1978

What color is the flag?
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Also for main idea questions

• When you finish a reading passage, try to sum
  up everything in one sentence.
• This should be very close to the main idea.
• You can do this the same way you would tell a
  friend about a new movie or song.

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For time and sequence
questions

• Dont always expect to find all of the events
  given to you in correct order in the passage.
  They may be mixed up.
• These directions are not in order
• Pass up your homework after you sit down. Share
  your homework with your partner.
• The correct order is first, sit down, second,
  share your homework with your partner and third,
  pass up your homework.

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For vocabulary questions

• When you have to choose the correct meaning of a
  word, it is helpful to read the following
• The sentence that the word is in.
• The sentence right before.
• The sentence right after.
• This area of the passage
  
• surrounding the word is
• called the context.

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Context clues can be the words, phrases, and
sentences that surround the words you do not
know.
Writers often provide many of these words as
clues to help the reader figure out the meaning
of a new word.
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Vocabulary question example

• The play had a terribly long
  prologue, so I was halfway asleep
  before the first scene even started.
• Prologue means -
• A. finale
• B. nonessential part
• C. extension
• D. introduction

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Vocabulary question example

• The play had a terribly long prologue,
  so I was halfway asleep before the first
  scene even started.
• A. finale
• B. nonessential part
• C. extension
• D. introduction
• The first scene hadnt even begun. This clues me
  that a prologue comes at the beginning of the
  play. D is the
  correct answer.

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Multiple choice questions

• Multiple choice answers that are often wrong are
  
• Answers that contain extreme or absolute
  statements (all, always, never, no one, everyone,
  impossible, must, absolutely, etc).
• Answer choices that are almost exactly alike or
  say the same thing in different words.

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For inference questions

• When you are asked to make an inference or draw
  a conclusion, you will have to know that the
  answer is not specifically stated in the passage.
• The correct answer does not usually appear in
  one specific place in the selection.

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For inference questions

• You will probably need to
• use your own background
• or prior knowledge to decide which
  answer choice makes
• the most sense.

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For inference questions

• Remember there are many messages hidden under
  the surface of the page. Good readers learn to
  take meaning from the total page by joining
  their prior knowledge with the words that are
  written on the page.

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Other strategies

• When you are answering questions that contain the
  word NOT, EXCEPT, or LEAST, always
  read through your answer choices carefully.
• Three of the answer choices you can answer with a
  yes based on what you read in the passage.
• The one answer choice that you can answer with a
  no will be the correct answer.

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Be aware of the three types of questions you will
have to answer

• Right there questions where the answer
  can be found right there in the text or passage.

QAR
1 2 3
Question, Answer, Response
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QAR

• Think and search questions
• where you must search in two or more places in
  the story passage for the answer.

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QAR
Question, Answer,Response

• On your own questions where you must combine
  your own background knowledge with the
  information given in the reading passage to find
  the answer.

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Final reminders
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Yes!

• READ, THINK AND DO YOUR BEST .
• READ, THINK AND DO YOUR BEST.
• READ, THINK AND DO YOUR BEST.
• READ, THINK AND DO YOUR BEST.
• READ, THINK AND DO YOUR BEST.
• READ, THINK AND DO YOUR BEST .
• READ, THINK AND DO YOUR BEST.

Wow!
Whoo Hoo!