Test Taking Tips

Greetings everybody! With the final exams soon approaching, I wanted to give you some advice and tips about how to do exams and give yourself the best chance of getting a good score.

Always answer multiple choice questions- never leave them blank!

Read the question carefully. If it says that you must write in sentences, then do it! You'll lose points if you don't even try. Similarly, if the question asks you "why" ("Who is your biggest hero, and why?"), make sure you give your opinion! Half an answer = half the points.

Look through all the exam at the very beginning to get an idea of what sections will be more difficult/time-consuming. Do the sections that you are confident with first.

Seriously, always answer multiple choice questions. Never leave them blank!

You might want to answer multiple choice questions first. This is for two reasons:
1) These are the quickest questions to answer.
2) If you run out of time at the end, it's better to finish an essay half-way rather than leave an entire page of multiple choice questions unanswered.

Look at the number of points for each section. In NP and SEEK exams, the total number of points for the section/page will be written at the top. Think about doing these sections first! For example, if the multiple choice section of the exam is worth 20 points, but the long essay section is only worth 10, then do the easier questions first to get the points 'in the bank'.

If you are allowed to use a dictionary, be careful that you don't spend too much time looking up every single word! Use the dictionary only when you have to.

On multiple choice questions, answers B and C are more likely. This is because people who write tests are less likely to put the correct answer as A (because these come first and they think people might not read all the options properly), and also less likely to choose D (because it's at the end and they think people will ignore it). It's not a huge difference, but if you really don't know then you should probably choose B or C and use it for every question!

One last time- always answer multiple choice questions and never leave them blank!

Semester 2 Final Exams: Supplemental

Good morning students!

Here is a presentation with information about the supplemental exam.

Here are some more examples of the 'blind date' article for you to look at.

Good luck!

Semester 2 Final Exams: Core

Greetings everybody!

Here is the link to a presentation about the second-semester final exam.

Today, the activities are up to you:

• Philip's practice test
• Pages 43-48, 58-59, and 63-64 of the English File workbook
• The English File CD-Rom
• Exercises and games from the English File website

Tomorrow, you'll find out about the supplemental exam.

Final Exam Practice Quizzes & Reflections

Good morning students!

Firstly, for practice go to this quiz on the active or passive voice. Under each question, you can click "Answer" to see the correct answer. After you have enough practice, you can do this quiz here and get your score!

Here is a quiz to review the grammar from Unit 7. At the end of the quiz, you'll be able to see your score.

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Finally, I'd like you to think and write about your favourite thing that we've done this year. Next week you'll do a longer multiple choice form to talk in detail about the things that you did (or didn't) like about our class, but today I'd just like you to say what your favourite thing was from this year.

You can look back at the blog to get some ideas, or talk with your friends about the things you enjoyed. Maybe you enjoyed:

Frankenstein?

The Practical English drama?

The Hour of Code?

Or maybe just learning English with your friends?

After you've got something in mind, please go to the Padlet website to write up your idea. You might need to sign up with your class Gmail account. Remember to add an image or YouTube video to illustrate your writing!

Useless and Stupid Inventions

Here are some infuriating useless inventions. Below are some inventions which aren't exactly useless, but are impractical, uncomfortable, or just plain stupid!

Now, I'd like you to design your own useless or stupid invention! On A4 paper, I'd like you to draw a colour picture of your invention, and label/describe it in English:

• What is your invention called?
• What parts does it have?
• What is made of?
• What "problem" is it "solving"? 

Reader Presentations

Hello students!

On Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th of February, you are going to give presentations about your second semester readers.

About the presentations:

-You will have time to log-in on the computer and load your presentation.
-The presentations will be recorded for checking later, and possibly for uploading to the Dara NP website (I'll ask you first to make sure that's ok)
-You will be able to use Philip's presentation clicker. You can use this to go forwards and backwards in your presentation, as well as using the laser pointer.

-You will be presenting for between 3 and 5 minutes. If you show a video, the timer will stop and then start again when you begin speaking.
-The timer will be on an iPad that only you and the teacher can see.

Grading:

You'll be given a score out of five for the following categories:

1) Speed/Fluency: Do you speak too fast, too slowly, or at a good, steady pace? Do you take a long time to think about what you are going to say next?

2) Accuracy/Grammar: Do you make mistakes in your grammar, or do you speak English accurately?

3) Content/Knowledge: Do you include all relevant/useful information? Do you include too little or too much information?

4) Style/Prounciation: Do you speak too loudly or quietly? Do you sound bored, or enthusiastic? Is your voice clear and easy to understand?

5) Creativity/Originality: Do you have your own ideas? Is your presentation different? Do you talk about different things from everybody else?