General Reminders - Get a good night’s sleep before the test. This should take priority over entertainment options. Remember PSSA testing only occurs in April, make the most of this time! - The morning of the test, eat a breakfast that includes protein and will give you energy. Remember the school cafeteria can help you with morning breakfast prior to school if you forget to eat breakfast. - BE ON TIME to school and to ALL of your testing sessions. - Stretch during testing breaks. -

Try not to be nervous – if you try your best the test will go fine!

Multiple-Choice: Test Taking Strategies for Math and Reading Questions (Part 1 of 2) - Read all the questions before examining a passage within the reading section or a diagram within the math section - Read the directions carefully and follow them. - When you read the questions, don’t read the answer choices. Simply, answer the question in your own words. Reading the answer choices will take too long and will make more sense after you analyze the question. - Analyze the question in a step-by-step manner. 1. Highlight (e.g., circle, underline) important information within reading passages or diagrams in the math section. 2. Highlight (e.g., circle, underline) the key words in each question that tell you what the test maker is looking for, such as, “main idea,” ”compare,” or “in the beginning of the passage.” 3. Highlight (e.g., circle, underline) unusual or very specific words/phrases in each question, such as “value of the expression”, “least common denominator”, or “sum of the measures of the interior angles”. 4. Identify in your own words what each highlighted term means. For example, main idea is the most important thing the paragraph says about the topic. 5. Pretend the question is not a multiple-choice question. Read question and cover up the answer choices to see if you already KNOW the answer. Don’t peek – predict the answer! Then see if any of the choice matches your prediction. If your prediction is not one of the choices, reread the question; you may have misunderstood the question. 6. Rephrase the question: In other words, what I’m looking for is...”

Multiple-Choice: Test Taking Strategies for Math and Reading Questions (Part 2 of 2) - Eliminate answers in a step-by-step manner. 1. Answer does not look like it becomes with the rest of the answers. 2. Carefully consider words in the answers like all, always, not, and some. 3. Mark off any answers you think are not correct. Choose the best answer from the choices you have left. - When looking at answer choices, if two answers are opposites, one is often the correct answer. Some answers are partially true - if any part of the answer is false, eliminate it. - If you cannot figure out the answer by using the text and strategies within a few minutes, go with your first impression. Our first instincts are often correct, but we tend to second guess ourselves. Don’t leave it blank - you run the risk of incorrectly numbering the rest of the test and not receiving credit for blank answers. - Circle the questions you’re unsure of, even though you’ve answered them. Go back when you’re done with the section and take a fresh look. A fresh or second look at a question sometimes helps a question to make more sense. Also, later questions help to answer earlier ones. -

Go back to make sure that you have answered all of the questions. Erase all stray marks and smudges. If you have extra or too few answer lines, you need to locate the skipped line or answer.

Multiple-Choice: Test Taking Strategies for Reading Questions - Remember, the passages were not chosen to entertain you. Keep yourself engaged through active reading, highlighting, and writing margin notes. - Read the questions before you read the passage so you know what you’ll be looking for prior to reading. - Take notes, and highlight (e.g., circle, underline) important information as you read along. - Use the information in the text as a resource and do not trust your memory – go back into the text to find the answers to information to help answer the question. - It is acceptable to briefly quote the most important information from the reading passage as evidence to answer the question. Remember to (1) place “quotation marks” around the quoted information, (2) try to identify where in the reading passage the information came from (i.e. provide line numbers), and (3) analyze or explain why the quoted information was selected to answer the question. - For many of the reading sections, a passage will be given for you to read. The answers to some questions may be found in multiple places in the passage, so read carefully! - Answers to questions about the • setting of the story can usually be found toward the beginning of the passage, • the problem that the story focuses on in the middle of the passage, • the solution to the problem toward the end of the passage. - Remember that all questions are not equal. They range from easy to challenging and require different responses. The reader may have to offer a personal connection for some of these questions.

Constructed Response or “Essay” Questions - Read the constructed response or “essay” question too before you start reading the passage. Highlight (e.g., circle, underline) the tasks that you are asked to complete, statements such as: “Explain the main idea...”, “Describe the character...” or “Use 3 examples from the passage...” - While you are reading, keep the constructed response or “essay” question in the back of your mind. - During reading, Highlight (e.g., circle, underline,  draw an arrow ) or make a margin note (e.g., handwritten notes in the margin of the reading passage) of the main idea or key point in each paragraph. - Margin notes will help you locate relevant or important parts of the passage when you’re answering the questions, including the constructed response. - Plan your writing and create a brainstorming visual (e.g., outline, a web, a Venn diagram) before you begin to write. It is time well spent! - Write a clear, organized answer. Your answer must make sense and have a main point. Clearly state your main point (thesis statement) and supply evidence to support it. Avoid supplying information that is not needed or requested. - Spell things correctly and write grammatically. It is important that the reader of the paper understands what you are trying to say. - Remember that human beings are going to read your work. Use everything you know about good writing so that your work is interesting to read. - Show what you know. Relax about your writing – stress will only reduce your effectiveness. You will do fine if you give your best effort! - When you finish your answer, go back and reread it. Make sure it makes sense and that you have not left out any important words. Proofread for spelling and grammatical errors.