Transcript Literacy Test Prep Guide - Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School

Thomas A. Stewart
Literacy Test
(OSSLT)
Prep Guide
2013
Overview
Introduction
To help you navigate
the guide, the TAS
Logo is a link to the
Table of Contents
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 in 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
Table of Contents
•
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)
What is the OSSLT?
•
Table of
Contents
•
•
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.
OSSLT Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ)
Table of
Contents
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?
OSSLT FAQ
Table of
Contents
FAQs
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.
OSSLT FAQ
Table of
Contents
FAQs
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.
OSSLT FAQ
Table of
Contents
FAQs
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.
Overview
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.
Table of
Contents
Overview
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.
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.”
Selection:
Table of
Contents
Overview
What’s in the test?
The OSSLT is divided into two main types of questions: Reading and Writing
Reading Questions
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 require short written - 6 line - answers - and/or multiple-choice
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.
Table of
Contents
*A “selection” is what they have you read so you can answer questions from it.
Whenever you have a short answer question USE ALL 6 LINES.
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
a lot of blank…you
pictures/images
(graphics).
NEVER
leave aand
question
will
get zero.
Overview
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.
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.
Table of
Contents
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
Table of
Contents
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.
Reading Selection
Example:
Read the selection below and answer the questions that follow it.
These numbers
Examples
Table of
Contents
The Little Bear is a vital, year-round
show you the
lines in the
train in Northern Ontario. It connects
paragraph
the town of Cochrane in the boreal
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 to entire prebuilt
15
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 from all over the world match their trips on these rivers
20
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.
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
Reading Selection
Example:
Multiple-Choice (Record the best or most correct answer on the Student Answer Sheet.)
1
2
Examples
3
Table of
Contents
What is the best meaning for “crew” in this
selection?
A tourists
B workers
C passengers
D adventurers
Why would words be placed in parentheses in
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
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.
4
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
5
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.
6
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.
Reading Selection
Written Answers
7
Example:
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.
Examples
Whenever you have a short answer question USE ALL 6 LINES.
Table of
Contents
NEVER leave a question blank…you will get zero.
Read the selection below and answer
that follow
Thistheisquestions
an example
of it.a
Real-Life Narrative
“Selection.” Disaster
Heroes of the Noronic
“Selection is the word the OSSLT uses to refer
Twenty-seven-year-old Don Williamson completed
his shift atitthe
Tire Plant
and to answer
to whatever
isGoodyear
you have
to read
drove a friend downtown. Although it was past one o’clock in the morning, Don, who had
questions.
worked on lake boats, decided to take a fewthe
minutes
to view the ships tied up along
Toronto’s waterfront.
These “Selections” will be followed by
It was September 17, 1949. In those days the Port of Toronto was a very different place,
Choice
and
Open
short
with all sorts of passenger and freight boatsMultiple
lining the docks
from one
end of
the bayResponse
to the
other. The elegant passenger ship S.S. Noronic
had arrived
in Toronto on Friday evening for
answer
questions.
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!
Examples
Table of
Contents
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 water.
Cont…
There’s more to this story. We’re just
showing you what these questions
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.
Examples
Table of
Contents
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
Table of
Contents
Long Writing Task – News Report
Long Writing Task – Series of Paragraphs
Short Writing Task
Multiple Choice
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
Table of
Contents
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
and “a series of paragraphs expressing an opinion.”
(which is really an essay.)
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
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.
Examples
Example of a News Report:
A News Report
should include:
Who
What
When
Where
Why
How
Examples
YouSeries
get twoof
lined
pages
Paragraphs
(about
50 lines) toananswer
Expressing
opinion
these questions.
This is an example of a
Series of Paragraphs "task”
or question.
Writing a Series of Paragraphs
Task: Write a minimum of three paragraphs expressing an opinion on the
Task:
Write a minimum
of three
expressing
an opinion
the
topic
below. Develop
your main
idea paragraphs
with supporting
details
(proof,onfacts,
topic below. Develop your main idea with supporting details (proof, facts,
examples, etc.).
examples, etc.).
Purposeand
and
Purpose
Audience: an an
adultwho
who is
is interested
in your
opinion
Audience:
adult
interested
in your
opinion
Length:
The lined space provided for your written work indicates the approximate
The lined
provided
for your written work indicates the
It’s really importantLength:
to
lengthspace
of the writing
expected.
approximate
Topic:
Is it important for teenagers to pay attention to world news?
follow the instructions
on
these.
length of the writing expected.
They are looking for
Topic: Is it important for teenagers to pay attention to world news?
minimum of three
paragraphs, which
Rough Notes A “Series of Paragraphs” is
include an introduction,
Use the space below for rough notes. Nothing youbasically
write in this
spaceWe
will
an essay.
proof and a conclusion.
be scored.
highly recommend you
Examples
write five paragraphs and
treat it like an essay.
This is a Short Writing “task” or
question. It’s
a stand-alone
Short
Writing
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 spaceWhenever
below for rough
notes.
Nothing
you write
in this USE
spaceALL
will be
scored.
you have
a short
answer
question
6 LINES.
Examples
NEVER leave a question blank…you will get zero.
3: Using
Theseconventions
questions are(spelling,
about
1: organizing
2:
Developinginformation
a main idea
grammar,
what they
punctuation)
call the “three
in a
withideas
and
sufficient
in a coherent
supporting
Multiple
Choice
manner
writing
thatskills.”
does not distract
details
manner
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
Examples
(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
Sentence 5
Unlike the Multiple 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.
Examples
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.
Examples
Multiple Choice
Choose the correct option to fill in the blank.
Like her mother, the artist Manuela Sanchez _________________________
F
G
H
J
Examples
painted portraits to support her family.
her paintings of portraits supported her family.
and also painted portraits to support her family.
whose famous portraits were painted to support her family.
Thomas A Stewart
OSSLT Guide
TAS OSSLT Guides:
How the test is marked and why this matters
Reading Questions: Open Response
Reading Questions: Multiple Choice
Writing Questions: Series of Paragraphs
Writing Questions: Open Response Short Writing
Writing Questions: News Report
How to prepare for the OSSLT
Overview of the OSSLT