#reading tests

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Eliminating silly answers is...silly, or: Why I teach reading strategies, not test taking strategies.

I teach third grade ELAR and Social Studies. This is my first year at this grade level, and the response before I moved up from first was a general, “Oh no, STAAR!”

I decided to move up for a few reasons: I was tutoring third grade math and loved the personality differences in slightly older learners, I wanted the experience with other grade levels as I hope to become a Literacy Coach, and I wanted to inspire change in the way we view teaching reading to these children in light of the STAAR test. So, my response was generally, “Yeah, STAAR? So what?”

The reality is that my students will be taking a STAAR test at the end of the year. I have to prepare them in a lot of ways. Not only do we have the STAAR test, but students are exposed to district tests throughout the year that mimic the STAAR in many ways. What was I to do? Not teach anything related to taking a test? No. We did look at passages and review answering questions; however, I have made a point to keep this at about a 15 minutes per week and instead use real texts throughout my lessons. To prepare students for the types of questions they will see on the test, I use exit tickets that are framed with STAAR “stems”. 

But my biggest triumph is modifying the ever popular UNRREAL test strategies to reading strategies...that happen to help when you’re taking a test. The original UNRREAL goes something like this:

Underline the title (But why?)

Number the paragraphs 

Read the questions 

Read the passage

Eliminate silly answers (Which ones are silly to kiddos first taking tests like these? All of them.)

Answer the questions

Look back for evidence

Ok. So sue me if perhaps I am a little skeptical about this. Keep in mind that I have a class that is 1/3 identified low English proficiency (LEP) and to them, figuring out if something is silly can be quite the chore. More of my students are LEP without identification as some parents elect not to write their actual home language on surveys. It’s cool. We’re really all ELLs in third grade, am I right?

I digress. The first changes were made by my coworker, actually. They weren’t too bad:

Underline the title 

Number the paragraphs and label text features (okay, I can definitely see the point in making sure to attend to text features, especially with all of this expository text)

Read the questions  and label the skills (this helps to look for specific text structures, so YES)

Evidence for all answers (now this seems to be a better place to think about evidence...but each answer choice? That will take time)

Answer the questions

Look back and check your work (THAT makes more sense!)

As we practiced these skills while READING (I like to make copies for students when legal, or to use Reading A-Z texts for certain activities, so we can write and mark on our texts) I thought about my own study skills as a graduate student. I shared with my students that I am also a student - it keeps them interested and lets them know that learning is a lifelong process. I tell them how I use the skills I teach them when I am learning. I do this with writing, too (did I mention I’m getting published next year?!).

 I also considered this fact - I really want readers to use their own thinking when answering questions. In the real world, you’re not going to get multiple choice answers to the questions you will need to research and come up with solutions for. You have to figure it out on your own. I started to take away multiple choices on tests and homework. I still give them AFTER students have written answers sometimes...and they are much better able to find the RIGHT answer than the silly answer.

I have changed UNRREAL and prefer to call these READING strategies. You can use them any time you are reading to learn:

Underline the title and headings...and predict (what will this be about?)

Number the paragraphs (for reference on questions) and label text features (what are they there for?)

Read the questions and label the skills (what are you looking for in the text?)

Read the passage - look for evidence, make notes (I share my own text book, pictured below, for why this is important)

Evidence for answers in your own words (show your thinking)

Answer to match YOUR thinking (which answer best matches the one you thought of?)

Look back and check your work (what did you learn?)

(see kids, Ms. Sandi looks for evidence, though she prefers pink highlighter)

So why am I writing this? Well...it takes time using these strategies to think in-depth about a text. We practice them a lot with read alouds and think alouds and book discussions and sharing the “How do I know this?” 

I recently had another teacher in my classroom. While I was out, I wanted my students to take a biography test as we had recently finished a unit examining biographies. Due to the fact that STAAR is coming up, I used multiple choice so that they could practice using their reading skills in a test taking situation. I do teach my students to utilize the time allotted for a test rather than to rush through it. For most of my ELLs, this means they will have extended time. I reflect that through time given on a test. Most students finish pretty early in the time they are given; my ELLs will take the whole time. It’s a process.

But, after the day was done, I was approached by the teacher who gave them the test. She didn’t understand why my students were going through and showing evidence to questions BEFORE they chose an answer, why they don’t eliminate silly answers, or why they write their own answer before they choose one. It takes too long. That doesn’t make sense.

I said, “They need to be able to appreciate the text, understand it, and think for themselves before they look at these answers. If they choose an answer first, they could find evidence anywhere in the text to support it. Trust me, I saw this happening at the beginning of the year.”

And then: Yeah, I mean that teaches them comprehension skills, but does that teach them to take the test?

This is where I struggled. I simply had to remind her that I teach reading, not test taking. For those who would like to know, I’ve seen scores on our tests rise a great deal by teaching reading and thinking through authentic texts, rather than focusing on passages. I choose books based on their interests, what we are learning in social studies (I will go into why THIS is so important for STAAR grades and ELLs another time) and whatever it is that they are struggling with. One thing I notice about my readers - they sure do love to read. And they’re good at it, too. 

Rather than spend my time beating down students about their test scores, I choose to uplift them for finding information in the text features. I cheer them on for answering the ever difficult questions about what the reader can conclude in thoughtful ways while referencing their texts. The added bonus is that they can feel good when they are successful on the test, because they did it just by reading, not panicking over their strategies. 

Side note: While this teacher and I disagree on this particular subject, I respect her immensely; we simply view this in different ways. 

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Are Girls Really Better At Reading than Boys?

Are girls really better at reading than boys?

In the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), it is generally accepted that girls are better readers than boys, which is borne out by a lot of testing. Tests administered to students at the ages of 10, 15, and 16-24 bear this out, with the gap starting around 10, widening a great deal by 15, and then closing by age 16 to 24. What this seems to show is that girls are better…

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