Test Taking
A Critical Educational Skill
It’s a Life Skill!
 Preparation
and Positive Attitude
– Key elements
 Focus!
So what’s the plan?
Student Preparation

Believe you can do well!

Make a Plan
– Organize materials and study
– Be in all your classes for the reviews

The Night Before:
– Do a quick review and get to bed early
Preparing for Challenge
 The
Morning of the Test
– Don't skip breakfast
– Get to school early and do a ten-minute
power study right before the test
– Bring a book
Obvious Guidance
Answer the easiest ones first
 Guess aggressively
– If you don't know an answer, don't leave
the question blank or guess randomly
– Eliminate the choices you know are
wrong; then make an educated guess
from the remaining, and

it’s usually true that…

Multiple Choice are set up to have
– Two completely wrong answers and
– Two others – one close and one totally correct
50-50 chance with True/False
 Essays require some organization

You may need some suggestions:
 Test Taking Tips - Study skills
Test Types
 Multiple
Choice
 True – False
 Fill-in-the-Blank
 Matching
 Essay Questions
 Open Book
How to Handle
Multiple Choice
Read the whole question carefully and try to
decide what the answer is before reading any of the
options
 Read all of the answer options, then choose the
one that most closely matches your answer.
 When unsure, eliminate answers that are clearly
incorrect.
 If forced to guess, choose the longest, most
detailed answer.

Multiple Choice Tips

Don't keep on changing your answer
– Usually your first choice is the right one, unless you
misread the question.

"None of the above" choices
– If you’re certain one of the statements is true,
don't choose "None of the above"

In "All of the above" choices
– If one of the statements is false, don't choose "All
of the above"
More Multiple Choice Tips
If there is an "All of the above" option and you
know that at least two of the choices are
correct, then select the "All of the above"
choice

A positive choice is more likely to be true
than a negative one

Usually the correct answer is the choice with
the most information
True-False
Circle key words in the question
 Remember: If any part of the answer is false,
the whole thing is false.
 Watch for words like "never," "always,“ "every,"
"all," "none," and "only“ - they generally
indicate a false answer
 Rarely leave a blank — a guess has a 50-50
chance of being right!

Fill-in-the-Blank

Read the sentence carefully for clues about the
type of information needed
– For example, look for person's name, number, fact

Watch for grammar clues
– For example, the word "an" before the blank
indicates that the answer starts with a vowel.

Notice the type of blanks in the sentence
– One short blank calls for a single word answer; a
longer blank indicates a longer answer, such as a
phrase
Matching
Scan the whole column of possible matches
– Don’t stop at the first likely answer!
 Answer the questions you’re sure of first
 Cross out choices as you use them
 Keep going through the columns to make more
matches
 Avoid guessing until you’re absolutely stumped

Essay Questions

Before writing, make an outline or graphic to:
– Organize main ideas and facts to include in essay
Focus on only one idea per paragraph
 State the main point in the first sentence of
each paragraph
 Avoid unsupported statements

– Include relevant details and examples

Proof read your work!
Open Book





Prepare a sheet with important facts or formulas
– Avoid spending time looking them up
Mark important pages with sticky notes or paper clips
Practice using the index to look up specific topics
Skip questions when the answer can't be found quickly
– Mark them to come back to later
Do not copy from the book!
– Use the book as a guide to write answers in your
own words
What will I do if …
I'm Stuck!
Don't get worried or frustrated
 Reread the question to make sure you
understand it; then try to solve it the best way
you know how
 If you're still stuck, circle it and move on

– Don’t forget to come back to it later

Review your options and make the best guess
you can
I'm Done!
 Not
so fast! There is more to do!

Use all the time you need and go back to
review your answers

Make sure that you didn't make any careless
mistakes (such as putting the right answer in
the wrong place or skipping a question)

Spend the last remaining minutes going over
the hardest problems before you turn in your
test
References/Cited Work
Test-Taking Tips - SchwabLearning.org
 Multiple Choice Tests
 Ten Tips for Test Taking
 Top Ten Test-Taking Tips for Students TeacherVision.com
 Tips on Taking Multiple-Choice Tests
 Article from Measure Up (page 12)
