2011 Penn State York Summer Institute

“Question-Answer Relationships and Their Application in Test Prep”

Mrs. LouAnn KopenhaverReading SpecialistPark Hills Elementary SchoolSouth Western School Districtlouann_kopenhaver@swsd.k12.pa.us

TEACHING TO THE TEST?

or

TEACHING TO INTERACT WITH THE

TEST?

Test taking is a life skill.

Students who maintain good test taking attitudes and interact with the test are more “test successful”.

Much of academic and professional success is based on test performance.

What is different between our usual classroom reading

instruction and reading a test?

QUESTION-ANSWER

RELATIONSHIPS (QARs)

*discourages “reciting voice”*encourages active role with

text AND peers *helps to “fix” what isn’t

understood *learning to ASK good

questions helps student ANSWER good questions

4 Types of QARs:

Right There

Think and Search Author and Me

On My Own

QAR Example

Jeff has lived in Martinsville his entire life. But tomorrow, Jeff and his family will be moving 200 miles away to Petersburg. Jeff hates the idea of having to move. He will be leaving behind his best friend, Rick, the baseball team he has played on for the last two years, and the big oak tree in his backyard, where he liked to sit and think. And to make matters worse, he is moving on his birthday! Jeff will be thirteen tomorrow. He is going to be a teenager! He wanted to spend the day with his friends, not watching his house being packed up and put on a truck. Jeff thought that moving was a horrible way to spend his birthday. What about a party? What about spending the day with his friends? What about what he wanted? But that was just the problem. No one ever asked Jeff what he wanted. –Web Quest Education Systems

Right There:

What is the name of the town where Jeff and his family are

moving?

Think and Search:

How long has Jeff lived in Martinsville?

Author and Me:

What might Jeff do to make moving to a

new town easier for him?

On My Own:

In what ways can moving to a new

house and to a new city be exciting?

Test Prep Passages available through:

1. PDE Website www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/

pennsylvania_system_of_school_assessment (Click on “Item Scoring Samplers”)

2. READ 180 Test Taking Strategy blackline masters

3. PDE Standards Aligned System www.pdesas.org (click on “Fair Assessments”)

4. NC state University IRCMS Website (Improving Reading Comprehension using Metacognitive

Strategies)www.ncsu.edu/project/lancet/forms