EOG Strategies and Tips for Students
Reading Directions and Questions
1. Read the directions carefully. Look for words like all, none, and except. These can
throw you off.
2. Understand what the question is asking before trying to complete the answer. If you
don’t understand the question, chances are you’ll answer the wrong question.
3. Use your test booklets to help you! Circle and underline words in the question
or directions that help you to answer the question. Write in your test booklets.
4. Read each question and answer carefully. If you don’t understand something, read it
again.
Marking Answers on the Answer Sheet
1. Check periodically (every five to ten answers and at the bottom of each row) to
see that item numbers and answer numbers match.
2. Use a piece of paper lined up under each row on the answer sheet. This will ensure
you are on the correct number and not accidentally skipping a line.
3. If a question is skipped, also skip the answer.
4. Put a light mark next to skipped items on the booklet and the answer sheet. This wil
remind you to go back and answer those questions.
5. Don’t erase mistakes too hard, and don’t redraw erased circles. This may cause
holes in the answer sheet and make it hard to score.
6. Watch for stray marks on the answer sheet. These can be picked up by the
computer as the answers and cause you to miss questions you should not miss. The computer will
count your answer incorrect if two circles have pencil mar ks in them.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Read each item completely and all of the answer choi ces before choosing an answer.
2. There are usually a couple of choices that sound correct; don’ t be tempted to
mark the first one that sounds good.
3. Check back over your answers at the end of testing. Sometimes, you can make sil y
mistakes, and you’ll catch them when you look back over your answers. Check your work!
4. Students miss the easy questions as often as the hard question because they do
not read the questions carefully. The questions all count the same. Be sure to get the easier and
more difficult ones correct!
5. Make sure you answer every question. If you don’ t, you are guaranteed to be
wrong.
6. Read all of the answer choices before answering. One of the choices might include
more than one answer. For example: both A and B.
EOG Strategies and Tips for Students
Eliminating the Wrong Answers
1. Test booklets with a large number of elimination marks receive higher marks than
those with few or none. Use the process of elimination to help you have a higher score. Cross out
wrong answer choices as soon as they are read. Pick your answer from the remaining options. If you
eliminate two answers as being incorrect, you have a 50 /50 chance of getting the right answer.
2. Make logical and reasonable guesses—perhaps the choice with the most information
provided. If you don’t know the answer completely, use the partial knowledge you have about the
question and answers to help you.
3. A couple of the answer choices usually look like they could be correct. Choose the
best answer.
Time Management
1. Focus on one question at a time; avoid looking ahead at other questions. This can
make you feel overwhelmed.
2. Try not to feel rushed and anxious. If you begin to think about all you have to finish in
an amount of time, it can make you feel too stressed and make it hard to focus on what you are
doing. As long as you don’t waste your time, you wil have plenty of time to complete the test.
3. Don’t worry about other people in the room. W e all work at a different pace, and
finishing first does not make you do better.
4. Keep moving through the test. Skip questions that are giving you trouble. When you
finish, go back and retry any skipped questions. Don’t spend too much time wrestling with one question.
Before the Test
1. Don’t stay up late. You don’t need to feel sleepy during testing. Getti ng a goodnight’s
sleep has been proven to help you stay alert and perform better on tests.
2. Eat a healthy, well balanced breakfast before school starts each day of the test.
Feeling hungry during testing can really distract you. Having a full stomach can help you to do your
best.
3. Try to have a positive morning before coming to school and once y ou arrive at
school. Problems hanging over you can make you lack focus.
4. Wear a comfortable or favorite outfit each day. This will build confidence and help
you feel comfortable as you take the test.
5. Increase water intake to hydrate your br ain throughout the weeks leading up to
EOG.
6.Don’t miss school unless you are really ill.
EOG Strategies and Tips for Students
Testing Environment
1. To provide a positive testing environment for all, avoid tapping your pencil or fingers,
etc… This can be very distracting to others in the room testing with you. They may tend to focus on
you rather than the test.
2. Go to the restroom and get water before the test. You should not have to leave the
room during testing for any reason.
Relaxation Techniques
1. Take a deep breath, hold it and then slowly release the breath and the tension.
Repeat until your body relaxes.
2. Make an effort to relax. You have learned this information. Most people get nervous.
It’s natural. Just do your best.
3. Think positively. Some problems may seem hard to you, but you may be able to
figure out what to do if you read each question carefully.
4. Don’t get frustrated. The test is designed so that the m iddle part of the test is
actually the hardest. Do not get frustrated and give up during this part of the test. It wil get easier.
Don’t give up.
Reading
1. You can read through all of the questions in a selection bef ore reading the text. This
gives you an idea of what to look for in your reading. Be sure to still read the text carefully. Don’t just
look for the answers. Lots of times, the questions ask overall concepts, and you have to infer the
answers.
2. Underline and circle important parts of a passage as you are reading. Write ideas
and comments to yourself in the margins about what is happening in the story.
3. Be sure to read all information including graphs, charts , pictures, and captions. Some
questions wil pull information from this part of the text.
4 .Try to relate the passage to something y ou have done or know about. Make a
connection.
5. Read the title and predict what you think the passage will be about. Make a prediction.
6. It is imperative to look back and find a piece of proof in the passage to support
your answer. Don’t forget to give it a Hashtag!
7. Number the paragraphs as you read. This will help you to refer back to
certain passages.
8. Use context clues to help you decipher unfam iliar words. Read the sentence before
and after the word to help define it. Replace the word with the definitions provided. If it makes sense,
it’s probably the correct choice.
9. Base your answers only on what is in the passage and not some outside knowledge.
10. Use your RUNNERs strategies. Write them at the top of the page and check off each letter as
you complete it.
EOG Strategies and Tips for Students
Math
1. If you are having difficulty with a problem, draw a picture or diagram to help you.
If a figure or diagram is provided, mark it up to help you solve the problem.
2. Use formulas provided for you. Be familiar with formulas needed whether they are
provided or not. If no formula is provided, write one on the page from memory. If one is provided,
use it to help you solve the problem. (ex. Area = LxW)
3. Check your work. Test writers will include answers that look like they could be right if
you read the question incorrectly. Double check everything! Use the opposite operation to check!
4. Use all materials provided for you to help with your answers. Use your calculator,
extra paper, figures, drawings, etc….
5. Read each problem carefully and think about ways to solve t he problem before you
try to answer the question.
6. When you have finished each problem, reread it to make sure your answer is
reasonable.