2. All English II students will be taking an end of course test provided by the State of North Carolina.

3. This test will count as the final exam, and will thus be 25% of the course grade.

4. This test will also be taken online. All students will go through a tutorial and a practice test online to prepare for this test.

5. You will also have two benchmark tests (one in October and one in November) online to chart your progress and give you experience.

6. The test is 68 questions long (including constructed responses, of which there are four). You will have four hours to take the test.

7. It will take two weeks to get scores back, so we will take the test earlier than all other exams. Then, we will finish our curriculum for the class.

8. Standard Percentage of items on the test Reading for Literature30-34% Reading for Information32-38% Writing (one paragraph responses) 14-18% Language (grammar in the one paragraph responses) 14-18%

9. For the Reading for Literature and Information, you will be reading passages from literature, poems, and articles about various topics. You will answer multiple choice questions and constructed response questions (short paragraphs) about these different passages.

10. MetaphorsSimiles Identify the structure of a text (the order of the ideas) Identify the importance of the structure of the text Connect ideas in the textIdentify tone and its importance to the theme ThemeAuthor’s Purpose in writing the text Rhyme Scheme and how it impacts themeSynonyms AntonymsMeaning of a phrase of words How the speaker or character changed in the text (character development) Author’s Point of View (first period, third person limited, third person omniscient, etc.) Personification Infer information from the text about characters, plot, theme, etc. ConnotationConflict Summarizing a textAuthor’s craft—the purpose of specific word choice The effect of word choice in a text The central idea of a text The purpose of figurative language in a textOxymoron AllegoryRhetorical questions and their purpose Sense of entitlement

11. Throughout the test, you will also be asked to write short paragraphs in response to questions about the passages you are reading. These questions will ALWAYS ask you to use specific evidence from the text to support your answer.

12. To answer these questions, make sure that you do all of the following: Write in complete sentences, with periods at the end!

13. Your topic sentence should include part of the prompt to show that you are addressing the question. It can also include a brief answer that you will explain with evidence in the following sentences. Get right to the point!

14. After your topic sentence, you should then use specific examples from the text itself, quoting it, or referring to it, to back up your opinion stated in the topic sentence.

15. You should use AT LEAST TWO EXAMPLES from the text to develop your response. In many cases, you can’t receive the highest score on the constructed response unless you have at least two specific examples from the text.

16. End your constructed response with a summary statement to give it a well- rounded feel as the scorer reads it.

17. Each of your constructed responses will be scored on a scale from 0 to 2, with 2 being the highest score possible.

18. Grammar will also affect your score, so make sure that you edit your responses.

19. There will not be any spell check available, so you need to know how to edit your own work.

20. Remember to use the tools provided for you in the right way to benefit you. For example, just because there is a highlighting tool doesn’t mean that you should spend large amounts of time highlighting entire passages and then un-highlighting them just to amuse yourself.

21. Stay focused on the screen and remember that you can mark questions to go back to later if you are stuck, so keep the test going. When you review your test, you can see which questions you marked or didn’t answer.

22. Use the tools to mark out answers you know are incorrect so you can visualize the process of eliminating answers.

23. People around you will have a different form of the test, so it won’t do you any good to look at someone else’s screen! Keep your eyes on your own screen.

24. If your eyes get tired while reading on the screen, give them a break by looking up at the ceiling, rubbing them, and then get back to work!

25. Read all of the directions and questions twice to make sure that you know what you are doing!