La Mesa Jr. High School
ELD Department
Presents
Test Taking Strategies
STAR
Standardized Testing and Reporting
Why Should Students Bother?
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Test scores give you a fair measure of your
achievement
Test taking is good practice for
 PSAT – Preliminary SAT for scholarships
 SAT – Used for college entrance
 ACT – Used to screen college applicants
 CAHSEE – Must be passed to graduate from
high school
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Why Do Schools Bother?
State of California requires schools to give
their students these tests
 Our school is evaluated based on the test
results (School’s Report Card)
 Test scores are used to compare schools
 Good scores help to build the reputation of
the school in the community
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Pacing . . . . .
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Pace - the constant speed traveled over a certain
distance
 Long Distance
 Runner must understand pacing or will
probably run out of energy before the
distance is covered
 Sprint
 With a short amount of time to run, the
runner must plan to run quickly before time
runs out
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example . . .
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You have 30 minutes to do 30 questions.
How long for each question?
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You have 50 minutes to do 100 questions.
How long for each question?
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Following Directions . . .
Always listen to the directions given by the
teacher
 Read the directions written on the test
 Ask the teacher if you do not understand the
directions
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When filling in the bubbles on the answer sheet:
 Make sure you completely fill in the bubble
 Fill in only one bubble for each question
 When you change an answer, erase the “old
bubble” completely
 Do not make any extra marks on the answer
sheet
As you answer a question, be sure the number on
the answer sheet matches the number of the
question in the test booklet
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When you begin the test . . .
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Do not spend too much time on hard questions
Try not to get upset when you cannot answer a
hard question
Remember easy questions are not just at the
beginning of the test
You are not expected to know all of the answers
It’s okay to make a light mark on your answer
sheet next to the number of the question you are
skipping and wish to come back to later (just
remember to completely erase the mark)
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Elimination Strategy
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If you can’t figure out which answer is correct, try ruling
out answers that you know are wrong (cross them out)
On Math tests, rule out answers that are too big or too
small (cross them out in you test booklet)
On Vocabulary and Reading tests, rule out answers that
seem too extreme (cross them out in your test booklet)
On all tests, rule out answers that just “sound wrong”
(cross them out in your test booklet)
Once you’ve ruled out an answer, you never have to look
back at it again – just focus on the choices that remain
Select the BEST answer
If you have some knowledge, but are not sure, take your
best guess. THERE’S NO PENALTY FOR GUESSING.
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example . . .
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La Mesa Junior High School is dedicated to
having the best staff and at this time has
_______________ teachers.
(a) 540 (b) 17 (c) 55 (d) 27
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When to Skip Around . . . .
On some tests, questions are neatly ordered
in terms of increasing level of difficulty
 On others, the test makers alternate between
easy and hard questions to motivate
students to finish each question set
 To skip around effectively, students must be
able to diagnose when a question looks too
hard or too time-consuming
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Educated Guesses
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Leaving an answer blank means you get NO
chance of getting points
A random guess gives you a 1 in 4 or 1 in 5
chance of guessing the correct answer
An educated guess, ruling out one or more wrong
answers, increases your chances of guessing
correctly
Educated guessing means using everything you
know to attempt to answer the questions
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example . . . . .
Mr. Malavé teaches two of the following
subjects at La Mesa:
a. Homemaking & Cooking
b. Photography & Art
c. English & Spanish
d. Saturday School
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Clue Words
Key Word
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Which?
Why?
How?
How Many?
What to look for in the answer
Name a person
Name a thing
Name a time
Name a place
Name a choice
Give a reason
The way something is done
Give an amount or number
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Clue Words Strategy
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Use the clue words to eliminate incorrect answers
and narrow down possible correct choices
First, skim the information and questions; then
read carefully and examine all the answer choices
It is very rare to find the correct choice in exactly
the same words that are presented in the question
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Special words
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Pay special attention to words in answer choices
such as:
All, None, Must, Always, Never, Each, Every
These words signal absoluteness and often imply
wrong answer choices
Watch statements that include qualifying words
such as:
Some, Generally, Sometimes, Usually, Frequently
These words are often used to throw you off track
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example . . . .
Why is taking the STAR test important?
(a) Because all students who don’t take the test will
have to repeat the 8th grade
(b) Because some students may receive special
scholarships for doing well
(c) Because most schools will close down if students
perform terribly on the test
(d) Because the CST/CAT6 always shows how smart
you are
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Estimation Strategy
Round off and make an educated guess
Example: If oranges are 99 cents a pound,
how much would you pay for 6 pounds?
 Round the 99 cents to $1 and multiply by 6
 In Math, estimating is an approximate
answer obtained by rounding the numbers
BEFORE you add, subtract, multiply, or
divide
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example . . . .
Can you estimate the following without
writing the numbers in columns and adding
them up? What is 325 + 917 +796?
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Graph, Chart, & Table Strategy
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Understand what information is given and what
information is asked for
Read all the titles, labels, and any other given
information
Check to make sure what units of measure are
given
Check the scale and figure out what each division
or increment means
Look for a pattern, trend, or comparison in the
graph or table
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example . . . .
Snacks at La Mesa Jr. High School & Golden Valley High School
Doritos
Cheetos
Chocolate Chip
Cookies
Tomatoes
La Mesa Jr. High School
Wholesale $1.00
$1.25
$1.00
$1.00
Retail
$3.00
$1.80
$1.60
$2.00
Golden Valley High School
Wholesale $1.20
$1.30
$1.00
$0.80
Retail
$2.00
$2.00
$1.50
$1.60
Which school makes more money from the sale of Cookies?
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example #2 . . . .
Earnings of Best Buy - 2006
90
80
70
60
East
West
North
50
40
30
20
10
0
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
• What is the title of the graph?
• Which quarter had the highest earnings?
• Compare the shares sold in the 1st quarter and the 4th quarter
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Marking Answers Strategy
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Use a No. 2 pencil
Always mark answers neatly, within the designated areas
Erase mistakes completely
Avoid extra markings (If you marked a question to go
back to, make sure you erase the mark)
Always double check to make sure the number of the
question is the one you are answering
Only one answer for each question
When you know it’s almost time to finish, go back and
answer the questions that you haven’t finished
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Reducing Test Taking Fears
1)
2)
3)
Gritting teeth, biting your nails, making fists or
having sweaty palms are some indicators of
anxiety
Practice relaxation techniques: take a deep
breath and exhale quickly to allow your body to
relax
Use the strategies we have discussed and you
will feel more confident and less nervous
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During the test, you should
1) Make sure you know what to do before the test
begins
2) Ask questions
3) Think about one item at a time
4) Read every word carefully
5) Know that there are easier questions paced
throughout the test (easy first)
6) Answer every question & make intelligent
guesses
7) Do Your Best on the Test!
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