How to Improve Reading Comprehension
Correctly Answer Specific Detail Questions in Multiple Choice Format
Sep 29, 2009
Even in high school, students struggle to correctly answer multiple choice questions used to assess reading comprehension. Oftentimes, students cannot tell the difference between question types, such as vocabulary in context, main idea, organizational patterns and specific details. For this reason, they try to answer all multiple choice questions by using the same techniques--and often experience frustration.
Teach Specific Types of Multiple Choice Questions
Teachers can assist students to become better readers and improved test takers by using a simple, two-layered approach. First, teachers should show students how to identify different question types commonly found on both standardized and teacher-made tests. Once students have identified specific question types, they can guide students to develop a tailored plan of attack to tackle each type.
Understanding Specific Detail Questions
Specific detail questions test students' basic level of comprehension related to plot details, conflict development character development, sequence of events and ideas stated directly in the passage. These are lower-level reading comprehension questions that often begin with who, what, where, and when. Sample specific detail questions are as follows:
- Who is the main character of the story?
- What color boots was Thomas wearing when he left the house?
- What did Thomas' mother tell him as he closed the door?
- Where did the story take place?
- When did Thomas finally arrive to school?
While students begin answering these types of questions in elementary school, many often find these questions challenging as reading passages become more difficult in high school. Still, they are generally the easiest type of question to answer on standardized tests. Therefore, it is important students master this question type.
Teach Reading Strategies to Answer Specific Detail Questions
Clearly, the answers to these type of questions should be readily accessible in the text. Students can locate the answers to these types of questions by returning to the passage and skimming to locate the answer. Students can follow a simple process to find the answers to specific detail questions:
- Read the question carefully and reword it so that it is easy to recall.
- Scan the first and last sentence of each paragraph to identify the paragraph in which the answer is most likely to be found.
- Skim the paragraph for the correct answer.
- If the student cannot find the answer, he should read the answer choices and look for synonyms in the passage to words in the answer choices.
- Select the best answer using all available information.
Teachers should model this simple process and then provide students with ample practice until answering these types of questions becomes second nature to them. Students should be exposed to a variety of reading passages in order to practice their skills, including non-fiction, news articles, short stories, novel excerpts, and poetry.
Teaching specific detail questions can be easy if this skill is approached methodically. Once students have correctly answered specific detail questions about diverse reading passages, they can then be exposed to more challenging question types to further improve reading comprehension.
Improve Reading Comprehension
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