Thursday, January 27, 2011

Do Now: What strategies do you use when you answer Multiple Choice questions?

Today we are reviewing before-reading strategies and  Multiple Choice Questions strategies.

Before Reading:

1. Take a brief look at the reading selection. Is it informational, fiction, poetry?
2. Read the questions only. No answers please.
         Highlight the key terms.
         Is there a question you can answer without reading the text? Context clue
and/or roots and affixes?
3. Quickly define any literary terms while they are fresh in your mind - just one or two words.
During Reading:
1. Highlight and mark the text for possible answers to the questions or key information. Don't overdo it. - unusual words in questions, main ideas, inferential questions, label what you've marked in the margins ( theme, main idea, facts, opinions) based on the questions.
2. Chunk the text and mark it: Stopping to restate, and reread if necessary, will prevent having to reread a large amount of text.

Answering Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Go back to the text. Don't trust your memory; this is why you highlighted.
2. Cover the answer choice and try to answer the question. If your answer is there, great! If not go back and reread.
3. Know where to look - Main idea ( first paragraph, title) Theme - read the last paragraph- what' the author's message?

4. Eliminate distractors: 

Cross out what is definitely wrong.
Look for answers that are the opposite of each other. One is probably the answer.
Eliminate partially true answers.
Go back to the section of the reading that deals with the question.
Putting it all together: Look at the Benchmark exam you just took and apply these strategies.
Homework: If you missed Tuesday's CRQ, be sure to take a copy and complete it for homework. Due tomorrow!