Multiple Choice

Advice Experiment with different approaches to the passage and the questions. Practice enough so that each student will find the best approach. –Read the whole passage first; then answer questions. –Read all the questions (or several questions) first; then read the passage and answer questions.

Advice-2 Recognize that the questions give clues about the passage’s structure and meaning. Read the passage for implications and ambiguity. Master literary, rhetorical, and syntactical terms. Recognize that eliminating one answer and guessing is to your advantage, unless you are distracted by possible answers (1/4 point is subtracted for wrong answers).

Advice-3 Ignore difficult questions and focus on the ones you can answer. There is no sequential order of difficulty (e.g., from easier to harder questions). Learn to leave some answers blank. Practice often, even repeating taking passages and questions. Good reading is rereading.

The Metacognitive Approach Identify, though practice, the kinds of questions that tend to be asked. Think about what the question developers are thinking about when they construct the questions.

Multiple-Choice Question Types-1 Reading comprehension –Reading inferentially –Clarifying meaning –Distinguishing main ideas from details –Understanding the rhetorical structure Understanding the passage’s –Purpose –Function –Tone –Audience –Effect –Thesis or focus

Multiple-Choice Question Types-2 Literary terms Rhetorical terms Syntactical terms –Sentence hierarchy Pronoun reference Figurative language Shifts in meaning Oppositions Figurative language –Analogy –Metaphor Definition –Denotation –Connotation –Meaning in context –Metaphorical meaning

Multiple-Choice Question Types-3 Defining the writer’s –Purpose –Rhetorical strategy –Intended audience –Tone –Sense of self –Perspective –Stance –Style Argumentation –Induction –Deduction

Build a Bridge between the Text and the Questions As a follow-up activity after students have learned the answers to their multiple- choice questions, they may write a few sentences to explain the connection between their comprehension of the text and each correct answer. Such an activity can improve a student’s reading comprehension.

Getting the Most out of a Multiple- Choice Passage 1.Students take a multiple-choice panel of questions individually. They record their answers twice—in their notebooks and on sheets they give to the teacher. 2.In small heterogeneous groups (students 1, 8, 15, and 22 are in one group; students 2, 9, 16, and 23 are in another, and so on), students discuss their answers and arrive at a consensus. Each student writes the consensus answer next to the original answer. Students briefly note reasons for selecting an consensus answer.

Getting the Most out of a Multiple- Choice Passage-2 3.The teacher circulates to listen to the discussions in each group, noting insights that should be shared with the whole class. 4.The teacher addresses the whole class and asks each group to give the consensus answer and reasoning for the answer. Teacher affirms the answer with added insights, if appropriate, or corrects the answer with an explanation.

Getting the Most out of a Multiple- Choice Passage-3 5.Students keep a log of their progress on multiple-choice tests. Note that not answering questions (leaving some blank answers) can improve the multiple-choice score. CorrectBlankIncorrectScore (of 14) 1. (14 q) (=5) 2. (14 q) (=7) 3. (14 q) (=9)