Test Strategies
Help your child remember these strategies as you review any incorrect work at home.
* Read All About It!: If the directions say read...READ! You don't want to miss anything!
* Keep on Keeping On! : If you get to a couple of questions that you just don't know, DON'T GIVE UP! Keep giving the test your very best. You will get to an easier question soon!
* Jail the Detail: Highlight, underline, or circle the details in the questions! This helps you focus on exactly what the question is.
* Slash the Trash! : Read ALL choices. Eliminate any choice(s) that you KNOW is a wrong answer. The choice is obviously trash!
* Be Slick and Predict! : Read the question carefully. Predict what the answer is BEFORE you read the choices.Check to see if your prediction is correct.
* Be Smart with Charts & Zap the Maps! Charts give information you need to answer questions. Maps give information you need to answer questions.
* Plug It In, Plug It In! Once you have chosen your answer, PLUG IT IN and make sure it makes sense.
* If you SNOOZE, You Will LOSE!: DON'T leave a question unanswered. You will not have any chance of getting it right. If you snooze and leave a question blank, YOU LOSE!
* Check it out! : When you have completed the test, go back and CHECK IT OUT one more time! Sit back and relax as you browse through your test to reaffirm your answers. Don't be LAZY. Go the extra mile and CHECK IT OUT!
* Be a Whiz...With the Grid! : A machine grades your tests. If it isn't bubbled in exactly right...YIKES!!! you will NOT get credit for your knowledge.
Reading FSA Vocabulary- these words will need to be learned and will be tested on.
- acts: breaking the plays up into smaller parts.
- author: a person who writes the words in a story or passage.
- autobiography: a story written about the author by the author. Ex. An autobiography informs us about someone’s life through his or her own eyes.
- antonym: a word that has the opposite meaning of another word Ex. hot/cold and wet/dry.
- biography: a book or passage about someone that was written by another person. Ex. A biography informs us about a person’s life through someone else’s eyes.
- cause: a person or thing that brings about the some action or result Ex. The wind caused the door to slam.
- central message (lesson) “big idea”: the lesson about life that the story teaches.
- character: a person or animal in a story or play Ex. The main character of the story Peter Pan is Peter Pan.
- Character point of view(opinion): way of thinking or feeling about what is happening.
- compare: to see how things or characters are alike or similar in a story.
- comprehension: the power to understand. Ex. I comprehend a story if I can answer questions correctly.
- context clues: when you use other parts of a story to figure out what a certain word means within that reading.
- contrast: to show differences or opposites in a reading. Ex. Steve’s character has blue eyes, while John’s has green.
- details: the small parts of something. In a story, it is the supporting sentences and facts that tell us more about the reading. *Key details are the most important events/facts in a fiction/nonfiction *
- describe: to use adjectives to tell how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, or sounds.
- different: something that is not the same.
- directions: details given to tell you how to do something.
- effect: anything that is caused by some other thing Ex. What is the effect of the wind blowing?
- entry words: the bold printed words on a page in a dictionary.
- eliminate: to get rid of or omit Ex. The wrong answer was eliminated from the choices.
- fact: a thing that has actually happened or is supposed to be true. Ex. The fact is that the President works in Washington D.C.
- fiction (stories): stories that are not always true and that were created to entertain Ex. We know a fiction story has an author’s purpose to entertain.
- glossary: A short dictionary in the back of a book to understand meanings of words specific to that subject.
- guide words: words at the top of each page that show the first and last entry words on the page of a dictionary.
- illustrator: a person who creates the pictures for a book.
- important: something of value, worth, significance, and having weight.
- literal: words and phrases that mean exactly what they say. i.e. cried loudly
- main (key) idea: what a reading is mostly about.
- mood: feeling a story gives to you.
- multiple meaning: a word that has more than one meaning Ex. Bank: 1. river bank or 2. bank for storing money.
- nonfiction: passages that are real, true and were created to inform.
- nonliteral: words and phrases have a meaning that is different from their usual meaning i.e. cried her eyes out.
- noun: word that names person, place or thing in a sentence. common noun=girl; proper noun=Becky
- passage: a section or part of a written work.
- play (drama): story that actors preform on stage.
- plot: the different action or events in a story or play Ex. A summary of a story includes the characters, setting, problem, plot, and ending.
- poems: stories written in short lines that are grouped together called stanzas.
- prefix: letter(s) added to the beginning of a word that changes its meaning. Examples are pre, re, un mis, im, bi, tri, under etc.
- recounting: telling the details of the story in the order that they happen in your own words.
- root words: a word that does not have a prefix or suffix and stands alone to have own meaning.
- sentence: a group of words expressing a complete thought Ex. Each paragraph has a topic sentence.
- setting: where and when the story takes place Ex. Tell the setting of your chapter book.
- shades of meaning: some words have similar definitions, but there are small differences in their meaning. i.e., surprised, shocked.
- similar: when something is alike or the same Ex. Explain why the two stories are similar.
- suffix: letter(s) added to the end of a word that changes its meaning. Examples are ing, ed, ful, able, and s.
- text features: special parts of a passage that organize information for readers. (Title, heading, key words, side bar, bold print, Hyperlink)
- theme: central message about life many stories offer. i.e., cooperation, friendship, giving back
- time order: to put, say, or tell something in order Ex. What is the sequence of the events in the story.
- verb: word that tells what someone or something does (action) or is (being).