Transcript Literacy Test Prep Guide

Introduction
This guide is intended to be a resource for students,
teachers and parents.
Basically this guide is designed to give you an idea of
what to expect on the Literacy Test (OSSLT)
Throughout the guide there are suggestions, tips and
hints.
You can jump from section to section or go through
the guide in order (recommended).
We recommend visiting this guide more than once.
A Tas Com-Tech Product: Jesse and Tess

This guide contains tips, and information
on how to prepare for the Grade 10 Literacy
Test. You can jump to the sections below or
work your way through the guide

1) What is the OSSLT?

2) Overview

3) Sample Questions

4) Students’ Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs)




The OSSLT is the Ontario
Secondary School Literacy
Test .
ALL Grade 10 students in
Ontario must write the OSSLT
You must pass the test, or the
Ontario Secondary School
Literacy Course (OSSLC) to
graduate High School.
This guide will give you an
overview of the OSSLT and
some tips and hints that can
help pass it.
Who has to take the OSSLT?
How long will it take me to write the test?
Is the test difficult?
Who marks the OSSLT?
Does my name appear anywhere?
What happens if I do not pass the OSSLT?
How and when will I receive my results?
What is the OSSLC?
What happens if I leave questions blank?
What if I need accommodations?
Who has to take the OSSLT?
If you entered Grade 9 in September 2000 or later and are working toward
an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, you must write the OSSLT to
graduate.
This applies to all students in publicly funded schools and inspected
private schools.
How long will it take me to write the test?
The allotted time for each of the two sessions is one hour and 15 minutes. It
is very important that you manage your time properly to complete the
entire test.
Is the test difficult?
The OSSLT is designed to reflect the requirements of The Ontario
Curriculum. The test assesses literacy (reading and writing) skills students
are expected to have acquired by the end of Grade 9.
Who marks the OSSLT?
The test is scored by qualified individuals who have
received special training for this purpose.
Does my name appear anywhere?
Written responses are identified only by a number.
Furthermore, the booklets from different schools and
different school boards are all mixed up when they are
distributed for scoring.
You are asked to write your name on the Student Answer
Sheet to assist EQAO in case some materials are
misplaced.
How will I receive my results?
You will receive an Individual Student Report in June
indicating whether or not you have passed
the OSSLT.
What happens if I do not pass the OSSLT?
You can take the test again the following year.
You can also talk to your parents or guardians and your school principal and/or
teacher about taking the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC)
instead of retaking the test.
What is the OSSLC?
The OSSLC is another way of meeting the literacy graduation requirement.
Principals have the discretion to allow a student to enroll in the OSSLC before he
or she has had a second opportunity to take the OSSLT, if the principal
determines that it is in the best educational interests of the student (Ministry
of Education Policy/Program Memorandum 127).
What happens if I leave questions blank?
You’ll get a score of zero for these questions.
What if I need accommodations?
If you have an IEP you are entitled to the same accommodations you normally get.
Be sure to speak to Mrs. Duffey and/or Mr. White BEFORE the test to set this
up.
Test Materials
The test contains Two test booklets and one student answer
sheet. Written “responses” (answers) go in the test
booklets. The student answer sheet is for the multiple
choice questions.
Duration
The test takes 2.5 hours, with a short (5 min) break halfway
through. You are given 1 hour and 15 min for each
booklet. There is also a short questionnaire at the end.
They add 10 minutes to the second session to allow for
this.
Results
An Individual Student Report indicating whether you passed
or not will be sent to you in June.
What is in the test?
Each booklet will have one (1) long writing question – a page or two
pages, a couple of short writing/reading questions – 6 lines each
and 15-20 multiple choice questions.
Decoding the OSSLT:
The OSSLT has its own special terminology. It’s important to know
what their terms mean.
Selection:
A “selection” is the thing they have you read…it
might be part of a book,
a story from a magazine,
something from a website, but basically it’s the
thing you
need to base your answers on.
Prompt:
The “prompt” is basically the question. For a Series of
Paragraphs Expressing an Opinion, the “prompt” will be the
topic they want you to
write about.
Response: Your “response” is your answer; what you write about
the “selection” in
answer to the “prompt.”
What’s in the test?
The OSSLT is divided into two main types of
questions: Reading and Writing
There are two different kinds of Reading Questions in the OSSLT: Open
response and Multiple Choice. These can come from different types of
“selections.”
Reading Questions
Reading questions require short written - 6 line - answers - and/or multiplechoice answers. The short written answers are what the OSSLT calls “Open
Response”…which basically means the answer is up to you based on what
you’ve just read.
*A “selection” is what they have you read so you can answer questions from
it. Selections might come from Newspapers, Magazines, Novels. Websites
etc. They might be stories (narratives), articles about an event, place or person
or they might have only a few words and a lot of pictures/images (graphics).
The OSSLT is divided into two main types of questions: Reading and Writing
Writing Questions
Writing questions fall into one of three different “tasks.”
Each booklet will have one Long Writing task – either a news report or a
“series of paragraphs” which is basically an essay (opinion piece).
There will also be two short – 6 lines – writing tasks and a number of
multiple choice questions…usually between 20-30.
Whenever you have a short answer question USE ALL 6
LINES.
NEVER leave a question blank…you will get zero.
Types of Questions
There are two major kinds of questions in the OSSLT:
Reading Questions and Writing Questions
The following are examples of actual OSSLT questions from past tests. We’re
just going to give you a idea of what they look like in this guide. There is a
specific guide for each kind of question that goes in to much more detail.
Links to all the other guides are at the back of this presentation.
Reading Questions
Open Response – Short Answer
Multiple Choice
Real-Life Narrative
Graphic “Selection”
Writing Questions
Long Writing Task – News Report
Long Writing Task – Series of Paragraphs
Short Writing Task
Multiple Choice
This is an example of an Information Paragraph
“Selection” It is one of the different kinds of selections
that Reading questions can be based on.
Example:
Read the selection below and answer the questions that follow it.
These numbers
The Little Bear is a vital, year-round show you the
train in Northern Ontario. It connectslines in the
the town of Cochrane in the boreal paragraph
forests with Moosonee, 310 kilometers
5
north in the James Bay Lowlands. It is
a “mixed train”—one that carries
both passengers and freight. During
the morning, in Cochrane, the crew
10
loads the box cars with things people
in Southern Ontario take for granted (fresh fruits, vegetables and meats, dry
goods, frozen foods, mail). Then, flat cars are connected behind the loaded
box cars. These flat cars carry everything from heavy construction equipment
15
to entire prebuilt fabricated houses. Once people have boarded the passenger
cars, the Little Bear heads north. It is one of the last “flag stop” trains in
Canada. This means the train will stop anywhere along the route to let people
on and off. It is common for the Little Bear to stop for canoe tripping parties at
the major rivers— the Missinaibi, Mattagami or Kwataboahegan. Adventurers
20
from all over the world match their trips on these rivers with the Little Bear’s
schedule. In summer, the train pulls a special flat car with racks for
transporting canoes. The famous Polar Bear Express carries tourists over the
same route during the summer months, but the Little Bear is the all-season
working train for this northern route.
Example:
Multiple-Choice (Record the best or most correct answer on the Student Answer Sheet.)
1
2
3
What is the best meaning for “crew” in this
selection?
A tourists
B workers
C passengers
D adventurers
4
Why would words be placed in parentheses in 5
the fourth sentence?
F to explain what is carried on flat cars
G to show in what order things are loaded
on the train
H to demonstrate that the Little Bear is a
“mixed train”
J to clarify what “people in Southern
6
Ontario take for granted”
What does “the train will stop anywhere along
the route to let people on and off” suggest to
the reader?
A There are other trains.
B The Little Bear is not in a hurry.
C The Little Bear has no schedule.
D The area has very few settled communities.
Why does the Little Bear pull a special flat car
during the summer?
F to let people on and off
G to carry canoes for adventurers
H to carry heavy construction equipment
J to carry fresh fruits, vegetables and meats
The main way the Little Bear differs from the
Polar Bear Express is
A its schedule.
B its destination.
C the route it follows.
D the passengers it carries.
What idea connects the first and last
sentences?
F tourism
G flag stops
H vital service
J summer months
Give this a try. See how
you do. Just click to see
the correct answers.
Example:
Written Answers
7
THIS is a short answer Open
Response Question.
They will give you six lines.
Use them all!
Summarize this selection. Include a main idea and one detail that supports
it.
Rough Notes
Use the space below for rough notes. Nothing you write in this space will be scored.
Whenever you have a short answer question USE ALL 6
LINES.
NEVER leave a question blank…you will get zero.
This is an
example of a
Real-Life
Narrative
“Selection.”
“Selection is the
word the
OSSLT uses to
refer to
whatever it is
you have to
read to answer
the questions.
These
“Selections”
will be
followed by
Multiple
Choice and
Open Response
short answer
questions.
Read the selection below and answer the questions that follow it.
Heroes of the Noronic Disaster
Twenty-seven-year-old Don Williamson completed his shift at the Goodyear Tire Plant and
drove a friend downtown. Although it was past one o’clock in the morning, Don, who had
worked on lake boats, decided to take a few minutes to view the ships tied up along
Toronto’s waterfront.
It was September 17, 1949. In those days the Port of Toronto was a very different place,
with all sorts of passenger and freight boats lining the docks from one end of the bay to the
other. The elegant passenger ship S.S. Noronic had arrived in Toronto on Friday evening for
an overnight stop before heading down the lake to Prescott.
As Williamson turned onto Queen’s Quay, he suddenly heard a ship’s whistle blasting the
dreaded fire signal — 10 short blasts followed by one, two or three additional blasts
depending on where the fire was raging. Approaching the lake at the foot of Yonge Street,
he could distinctly see flames dancing from the back of a large passenger vessel docked at
Canada Steamship Lines Pier 9.
The Noronic was on fire!
Pulling his car to the side of the road,
Williamson
scrambled over the iron fence, removed his
heavy
jacket and jumped onto a large floating
painter’s raft tied up beside the Noronic.
Calling encouragement to those huddled on
the deck
of the ship that was now a blazing inferno,
Williamson was soon busy pulling onto his
raft those
who had the nerve to jump into the black
There’s more to this story. We’re just
water.
showing you what these questions
Cont…
look like.
Read the selection below and answer the questions that follow it.
Francais Contact Us Help
Search
Canada Site
Welcome News and Publications Services to Preservation
Site Map Events
Exhibitions Government
The National Archives
is a treasure house of the
memory of Canada. We
care for and share millions
of documents of all kinds
—films, maps, diaries,
treaties, journals, art,
government records,
photographs, sound
recordings and more.
Many are of unique value
and exceptional beauty.
Some are centuries old.
All reveal how we have
lived in this place called
Canada and enable
Canadians to better
understand the story of
their country and of their
fellow citizens.
This is an example of a Graphic
“Selection.”
It’s from a government web-site.
As you can see not all the reading
questions will be based on straight text.
Top Ten:
In a recent survey, Canadians were asked
to choose the top ten defining moments in
Canadian history. The Archives holds
documents relating to each one. Can you
match the survey result?
Puzzles:
Unscramble puzzles using historical
images.
Pop Quiz:
Test your knowledge.
Map Trap:
Match the event and location.
Types of Questions
Remember there are two major kinds of questions in the OSSLT:
Reading Questions and Writing Questions
We just covered the Reading questions, now we’ll take a look at the Writing Questions.
There are detailed guides to each of these questions. The links are at the end of this
presentation.
.
Reading Questions
Open Response – Short Answer
Multiple Choice
Real-Life Narrative
Graphic “Selection”
Writing Questions
Long Writing Task – News Report
Long Writing Task – Series of Paragraphs
Short Writing Task
Multiple Choice
Writing
Questions
Types of Questions
There are three types of writing questions on the
OSSLT:
Long-writing tasks
Short-writing tasks
and Multiple-choice questions.
Long Writing tasks
There are two Long-writing tasks:
The news report – Should be 4 paragraphs
and “a series of paragraphs expressing an opinion.”
(which is really an essay.) – The essay must be 5
paragraphs
The following are examples of actual OSSLT questions from past tests. We’re just going to
give you a idea of what they look like in this guide.
There is a specific guide for each kind of question that goes in to much more detail.
Links to all the other guides are at the back of this presentation.
In a News Report you are
given the headline and a
photo and you have to use
them to create a story that
could appear in the
newspaper.
The trick is to make a
connection between the
photo and the headline
that makes sense.
They give you one page ,
about 24 lines, to write the
story use three quotes
This is an example of a
News Report “task” or
question.
A news report usually answers
the questions who, what, where,
when, why and how. You are
making it all up a story
Example of a News Report:
A News Report
should include:
Who
What
When
Where
Why
How
YouSeries
get two
pages
oflined
Paragraphs
(about
50 lines) an
to answer
Expressing
opinion
these questions.
Task:
facts,
This is an example of a
Series of Paragraphs
"task” or question.
Write five paragraphs expressing an opinion on the
topic below. Develop your main idea with supporting details (proof,
examples,
Purpose
andetc.).
Purpose and
Audience: an adult who is interested in your opinion
Audience:
an adult who is interested in
Length:
The lined space provided for your written work indicates the
approximate
yourlength
opinion
of the writing expected.
Topic:
Is it important for teenagers to pay attention to world news?
Length: The lined space provided for y
It’s really important to
follow the instructions
on these.
They are looking for
five paragraphs, which
include an
introduction, three
body paragraphs and a
conclusion.
A “Series of Paragraphs”
is basically an essay. We
highly recommend you
write five paragraphs
and treat it like an essay.
This is a Short Writing “task”
or question.
It’s Writing
a stand-alone
Short
question, meaning it doesn’t
follow a reading “selection.”
It looks like an Open Response
Reading Question but it isn’t.
The big difference is it’s
marked out of 50 as opposed
to 30. What is the same is: they
give you 6 lines. Use them all!
Short Writing Task (Answer in full and correctly written sentences.)
1
What was your favourite game as a child? Explain why you liked it.
Rough Notes
Use the space below for rough notes. Nothing you write in this space will be scored.
Whenever you have a short answer question USE ALL 6
LINES.
NEVER leave a question blank…you will get zero.
3: Using conventions
These questions are
(spelling,
1: organizing
2:
Developing
grammar,
a main
about what they call the
punctuation)
idea with
information
sufficient
inand
a manner
ideas in
“threeMultiple
writingChoice
skills.”
thatasupporting
does
coherent
not distract
manner
details from
clear communication.
This is an example of a
Multiple Choice Writing
question.
Choose the sentence that does not belong in the paragraph.
A
B
C
D
(1) Wayne Gretzky’s early career foretells what an amazing
hockey player he was to become. (2) At ten, while playing in a
league with boys four years older, he scored 378 goals in 85
games. (3) That was 238 more goals than the boy who came
second. (4) At 18, Gretzky scored 46 goals as an Edmonton
Oiler and won the National Hockey League Rookie of the Year
award. (5) The Wayne Gretzky Foundation Golf Classic raises
over $120,000 a year for youth in sports.
Sentence 2
Sentence 3
Sentence 4
Unlike the Multiple
Sentence 5
Choice Reading
questions there is no
“selection” attached to
the question.
Multiple Choice
Here are a couple more.
Give them a shot.
Which is the best way to combine all the information in the following sentences?
Anna’s assignment is due tomorrow.
She has to work tonight.
She is feeling rushed.
F Anna’s assignment is due tomorrow because she is rushing to work tonight.
G Anna is feeling rushed because she has to work tonight and her assignment
is due tomorrow.
H Since Anna’s assignment is due tomorrow and she has to work tonight and
she is feeling rushed.
J Although Anna has to work tonight and her assignment is due tomorrow
because she is feeling rushed.
Multiple Choice
Choose the sentence that uses capitalization correctly.
A
My friend from manitoba, whose name is ari, earns money by
delivering the
Winnipeg herald.
B My friend from Manitoba, whose name is Ari, earns money by
delivering the
Winnipeg herald.
C My friend from manitoba, whose name is Ari, earns money by
delivering the
Winnipeg Herald.
D My friend from Manitoba, whose name is Ari, earns money by
delivering the
Winnipeg Herald.
Multiple Choice
Choose the correct option to fill in the blank.
Like her mother, the artist Manuela Sanchez
_________________________
F painted portraits to support her family.
G her paintings of portraits supported her family.
H and also painted portraits to support her family.
J whose famous portraits were painted to support her family.