HOW TO DO AN UNSEEN Reading Strategies Pirchy Dayan

TEXT STRUCTURE TEXT STRUCTURE  Title – gives us a clue about what the text is about. We know what information to expect when we read the title. It’s important to understand ALL the words in the title.  Introduction / First paragraph – presents the topic of the text.  Body of the text (1-4 paragraphs) – presents explanations, examples, facts, details, opinions and arguments to support the topic presented in the first paragraph.  Conclusion / Last paragraph – the last paragraph summarizes the topic or presents solutions.

PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE  Topic sentence – presents the main idea of the paragraph. In most cases it is the first (or last) sentence.  Supporting sentences – support the main idea and develop it by giving explanations, examples, facts, opinions and arguments.

TWO TYPES OF READING  Skimming and Scanning – this is a quick reading in order to understand the main idea of the text, and to look for eye catchers. It should take about 5-6 minutes.

 Reading for Specific Information – this is reading the text carefully in order to answer the questions. (Reading a question and going back to the text in order to find the correct answer.)  It is important to organize your time! Doing the whole unseen should take minutes.

BEFORE READING…  Read the questions BEFORE reading the text in order to know what to look for and underline the lines that are relevant for each question. multiple choice, open question, complete the sentence, charts, YES/NO with justification.  Understand which type of question it is: multiple choice, open question, complete the sentence, charts, YES/NO with justification.  Mark questions you can do after reading a paragraph, and questions you can answer after reading the whole text according to line numbers.  Pay attention to the subject of the question and answer exactly what is required. Don't add unnecessary information.

WHILE READING…  Look for Visual Clues / Eye Catchers  Look for Visual Clues / Eye Catchers – subtitles, headings, different fonts, illustrations, names, numbers, quotation marks…  Highlight the main idea in each paragraph – first or last sentence in a paragraph.  Circle sentence connectors – show relationships between ideas, such as problem/solution, question/answer, compare/contrast, cause/effect, points of view, explanation and examples.  Underline names, places, numbers and dates.  Write a question mark (?) on difficult words (words you don’t know their meaning).

PAY ATTENTION…  Use a dictionary ONLY when a word or a phrase prevents your understanding of the text. Try to understand words from the context when possible.  Remember that words or ideas are usually explained or exemplified between two dashes (- -).  Follow instructions! If the question asks for ONE example/ reason, DON’T give two!  Never answer a question without understanding all the words in it!  Don’t copy the question into your answer.

1. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS  There are 4 answers and you have to choose the 1 best answer.  There are 6 answers and 2 are correct.  Try to…  Make sure you can find a proof in the text for your answer.  Translate the question into Hebrew when necessary.  Try to have an answer in mind before looking at the choices.  Eliminate completely ridiculous choices. When left with two options, try to decide which one is more correct.

2. COMPLETE THE SENTENCE  You are given the beginning of the sentence and you must complete it based on the text.  Try to…  Pay attention to content, grammar and punctuation.  Pay attention to the changes made in the sentence, such as positive/negative, active/passive, synonyms, different phrasing, sentence connectors, etc.

3. OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS  You are asked a WH question OR to name a list of items based on the text.  Try to…  Make your answer short, clear and to the point. Start with a CAPITAL LETTER.  Pay attention to grammar in the question: tenses, subject-verb agreement.  Not to write more than the lines given to you.  Answer the question in these 3 ways: Subject + verb: The text shows that… Infinitive: To show that… Gerund: Showing that…

4. TRUE / FALSE WITH JUSTIFICATION  You need to decide whether the statement you are given is correct or not.  Then, find a proof in the text.  Try to…  Copy exactly as required – words, phrases or sentences.  Pay attention to details, such as positive/negative (some, any/ either, neither), numbers, places, times, subject-verb agreement.

5. GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS  Graphic Organizers ask you to organize information from the text in a table or a flowchart.  Types of Graphic Organizers include: sequence of events, cause & effect, advantages & disadvantages, examples & generalizations, problem & solution.  Try to…  Pay close attention to the complete boxes:  content & form (full sentences or phrases) & grammatical structures (past or present tenses, active-passive)

THESE WORDS CAN HELP YOU TO…  Identify the writer’s opinion:  Identify the writer’s opinion: support, agree/disagree, approve/disapprove regret, luckily/unluckily, fortunately/unfortunately, surprisingly, recommends, criticize, criticism, point of view, perspective.  Identify contrast:  Identify contrast: But, yet, in spite of, despite, although, though, even though, however, nevertheless, even so, on the one hand, on the other hand, on the contrary

THESE WORDS CAN HELP YOU TO…  Identify examples and additions:  Identify examples and additions: for example, for instance, such as, including, in addition (to), moreover, furthermore, besides, also.  Identify reason, cause and purpose:  Identify reason, cause and purpose: Because (of), as, since, seeing that, on account of, owing to, due to, in order to, to, so (that).  Identify results and consequences:  Identify results and consequences: Therefore, as a result (of), consequently, for this reason, thus.  Identify sequence and connection:  Identify sequence and connection: First of all, first, firstly, at first, to begin with, second, secondly, eventually, meanwhile, finally, to sum up, in conclusion.

KNOW THE MEANING OF THESE WORDS גורמים Elements/ factors לפי According to ראיות Evidence לפי ההוראות As instructed מתאים / מספיק / לא מספיק Sufficient / suitable insufficient הנחה / להניח To assume / An assumption להצדיק / הצדקה To justify / justification להציג To present להציג / מאפיין To feature / a feature להסיק מסקנות To draw conclusions במשותף In common הקשר Context מוזכר / להזכיר Mentioned / to mention להגדיר / הגדרה To define / definition לתפקד / תפקיד To function / a function שם / לקרוא בשם של... / למנות A name / to name להגיע למסקנה To infer השפעות, תוצאות effects

REMEMBER!  Doing unseens successfully is a skill!  Good luck!