1. Give yourself plenty of time to read the assigned outside reading. Use the Weekly Agenda and Google Classroom Calendar to stay up-to-date on upcoming assessments. The expectation for Honors is that you are reading 20 pages a night (100 pages a week) and College Prep is 10-15 pages a night (50-75 pages a week). With some novels, we will be well under this pace. If you struggle with comprehending large amounts of text at one time, divide the reading into chunks and approach a little bit each night.
2. Read in a quiet, non-distracting place. Turn off the TV, turn off all music, and most importantly put your phone, tablet, laptop, etc. in a DIFFERENT room.
3. Annotate the text (highlight/write notes in margin) as you read. Highlight significant quotes (quotes that show the character of individuals, quotes that seem to state a theme, quotes showing literary devices, etc.). Before the quiz, look over your annotations and highlights. If the text contains annotations and footnotes, use them to understand confusing concepts/vocabulary.
4. AFTER reading each chapter, use the Reading Guide Handouts for the assigned text. Use this as a tool. Ask yourself (or have a parent, guardian, sibling, friend, etc.) the questions. Check your answers with the reading guide key.
5. If the text still seems confusing, use resources such as SparkNotes or Shmoops. They have great chapter summaries, descriptions of characters, analysis of theme, etc. USE THESE AS A TOOL NOT A CRUTCH! You will NOT do well on the quizzes if you simply skim the original text or look to these places instead of reading the assigned text. Online audio versions are available; however, if you rely only on the audio version, you will retain less information.
6. Literature may often appear difficult with the characters, places, dialogue, diction, etc. However, you are expected to be able to approach an unfamiliar text and dissect it for a basic understanding of the plot, characters, and main ideas (approach it like a Thanksgiving Turkey - pull it apart piece by piece and get down to the "meat" of the text).
7. Quotes are always on our literature assessments. You can always use a search engine and search for "important quotes Act II Romeo and Juliet." Use these quotes to self-test your knowledge of key quotes & characters.
F.A.Q
Can I retake my quiz? No, you may not retake outside reading quizzes.
Is there a curve? Yes. The highest score sets the curve; if you do not see a curve on the quiz it means that someone (or multiple individuals) scored a 100.
This quiz grade dropped my overall grade dramatically, what can I do? Don't panic. It is the beginning of the quarter; you will have multiple quizzes throughout the nine weeks. One quiz grade will not have a significant impact on your overall grade. HOWEVER, multiple low quiz grades WILL impact your grade. Remember that all quizzes often lead to a unit test. If you struggled to understand the material on the first quiz, use this as motivation to dive back into the text, figure out what you misunderstood, and begin preparing for the next assessment.
Why don't we discuss the reading before the quiz? The Outside Reading quizzes are basic comprehension questions. You are expected to be familiar with the characters, the plot, and the main ideas of the text. The quizzes are normally 25 questions in length. The questions consist of True/False, Multiple Choice, and Matching. These questions are not "tricky." They do not require an in-depth analysis of the text.
Can I see my quiz to see what questions I missed? Absolutely! However, you must do this during EXCEL.
Why do we have so many quizzes? Educational Research has shown that quizzes over small units significantly improve a student's overall academic understanding.
There is decades worth of research suggesting that students who are frequently quizzed or tested have better educational outcomes than students who are not tested. In the middle of the 20th century, Fitch, et al (1951) studied whether frequent quizzes would improve student learning during a college lecture course. Over the course of their study, all participating students were taught the same material during lectures, completed the same reading assignments, and had time at the end of each class period for open discussion. The experimental group also completed a 10-minute quiz each week while the control group did not. At the end of the study period, students in the quiz group achieved significantly higher scores than the students in the control group, leading the researchers to conclude that: “frequent testing of achievement in the college lecture classroom may motivate such outside endeavors as will result in superior achievement” (p. 19). -K.P. Cross Academy