ACT Close and Critical Reading Using ACT Content Passages Macomb Intermediate School District September 15 th, 2010

Close and Critical Reading The Importance of Strategy Instruction! The Karate Kid

Getting Ready for the Big Game! Just like playing a sport or an instrument, students need practice before game day. Preparing a game plan!

Now, let’s take a practice test! Same testing conditions.  Full Length ACT Practice Test  Select a passage (Prose, Social Studies, Humanities, or Natural Science)  8 minutes to try it out

Talk at your table... How did you feel? What strategies did you use while taking the test?

Think about it... If you just keep giving students multiple choice tests, and you don’t change your instructional methods, how can you expect different results?

Why is this important? Today in Michigan schools, the measure of English Language Arts for the purpose of Annual Yearly Progress report will be determined by Reading only. Only 25 percent of the passages on the ACT assessment are prose fiction with the other passages equally distributed among the three areas: Social Studies, Humanities, and Natural Science.

ACT Reading The Reading Test is a 40-question, 35- minute test that measures reading comprehension. Students are asked to read four passages and answer questions that show their understanding of:  what is directly stated  statements with implied meanings

Timing …At a glance ACT Reading  40 multiple choice questions (4 passages with 10 questions each) = 35 minutes That means about 9 minutes on each passage. ACT Reading for Information  33 multiple choice questions = 45 minutes That means about 1 and ½ minutes on each question.

Reading Review and Practice

Text Structures

Referring Questions (14) – they refer to what is exactly stated in the passage. Reasoning Questions (26) – they call for answers that you must reason by interpreting ideas, making generalizations, and drawing inferences and conclusions.

The Passages Each passage is about 750 words, or roughly two pages of typical book. Arranged by reading level. Ten questions are arranged according to level of difficulty.

Performance on complex texts is the clearest differentiator in reading between students who are likely to be ready for college and those who are not. And this is true for both genders, all racial/ethnic groups, and all annual family income levels. - ACT Reading Between the Lines

What’s New! Alignment to Common Core State Standards More ACT Reads for all Content Areas More Scaffolding and Grade Level Passages (9 th, 10 th, and 11 th Grade) Two Guided Highlights for Questions 1 and 2

Providing Direct Strategy Instruction Guided Highlighted Reading Close and Critical Reading  Question # 1 – Content and Summary  Question # 2 – Craft, Structure, and Purpose Getting are students ready!

A Seven Step Guide ACT Guided Highlighted Reading and Passage Matrix

Highlighted Reading Purpose: Engage students in print Develop fluent scanning Highlight most important information Prepare text for substantive conversation

Procedure: Build the context for the reading by activating prior knowledge. Have students find the vocabulary in the text and highlight it as you give the definition. Move the students to scan the text by telling them which paragraph and what to highlight. (Like finding Waldo)

Let’s try it out! ACT Exam A – Passage 2 What it looks like in Data Director:  Test 6856  Teacher Key  Guided Highlight, Teacher Directions and Lesson Plan

Data Director Complete ACT Test (All Four Parts) Two Full Length Reading Tests  For a total of three complete reading tests can be given through Data Director. Exam ID Numbers for Pre/Post ACT Reading Test  6830  6831

Think about... How might you use these tools back in your classroom? What activities might you try with your students?

Scaffolding and Tools Resources and Handouts are on ACT Close and Critical Reading Final Thoughts