Strategies for Strategies for SuccessSuccess

Strategies for Strategies for SuccessSuccess

adapted from adapted from Just Read Florida Just Read Florida Conference 2008Conference 2008

and and The Florida Department of The Florida Department of

EducationEducation

Getting to the Heart of the Matter with FCAT Reading

• What should students do to experience success on FCAT Reading Performance Tasks?

Lesson 1: Read and Plan

• Read the entire question and understand what is being asked of them.

• Plan their responses to Performance Task items (PT’s)

Lesson 2: Just the Facts! No Opinions, Please!

• Students should . . .Go back to the passage/article for

evidence and/or support.Not include outside/prior knowledge

in their responses.Not include opinions in their

Peformance Task Answers

Lesson 3: Details, Details, Details!

Students should . . .Remember to use text-based

details that are relevant to the answer.

Remember to paraphrase text support as much as possible

Lesson 4: Demonstrate Reading

Comprehension!Students should . . .Avoid summarizing or retelling the plot.

FCAT items do not test the skill of summarizing.

Avoid “list-like” responses. These usually contain insufficient support and do not convey understanding.

Not use Venn diagrams.

Lesson 5: Remember the Difference Between FCAT Reading

and FCAT Writing

Students should be reminded that . . . The answer to a reading PT does not need an

introduction, a body with 3 main points, and a conclusion. The focus should be on content rather than format.

The answer space for reading is limited; therefore, all information in the written response should be pertinent to the question.

The question does not need to be repeated in their response.

Lesson 6: Answer the Entire Question

Students should . . . Remember that multi-part Performance Task items

require multi-part answers.

Example: Explain what causes x… and why this is important to Y.

Remember the Performance Task rule that S=plural=more than one.

Example: What are the causeS of x? What are the effectS of y?

Lesson 7: Stop Writing When the Question has been

AnsweredStudents should . . . use only as many lines as it takes to

give a complete and correct answer.

Remember that just ‘filling up all the lines with writing’ can sometimes negate the answer or make it seem unclear or confusing.

Lesson 8: Leave Room for the Answer

Students should . . .Know that an extended-response box

has 14 lines.Not rewrite/restate the question.Avoid writing below, up the side of, or

on top of the response frame/box. Nothing written outside of the box will be scored.

Reminders The student has the responsibility to convey

understanding Student responses to reading performance

tasks are not scored on writing conventions Items are not written for students to answer

verbatim Write within the box Know the copy rule This is a reading test, not a writing test.