Raise your hand if your students love multiple choice questions. No? Yeah… didn’t think so. Multiple choice questions might seem easy at first glance, but for young readers, it can feel like a tricky guessing game. Do they pick the longest answer? The one that sounds right? Don’t be too discouraged! With a little practice and the right strategies, we can help young students feel confident tackling these multiple choice questions. Let’s dive into 4 simple, stress-free ways to teach students how to break down reading passages and choose the best answer every time!
Start by Teaching Students HOW To Answer a Multiple Choice Question
Before students can start diving into a multiple choice passage, they must know a few strategies first. Try an anchor chart! Take time to break down what multiple choice questions actually are. Explain how they work, common struggles, and how to approach them strategically.
Try to do a few as a whole group to show them the steps of:
- Read the question twice.
- Look through all the answer options.
- Eliminate answers that you know are wrong.
- Go back to the text to find text evidence.
- Select the BEST possible answer.
Use the Color Coding Method for Text Evidence
Making their answer concrete is a great option to help students double check their work. When a student has to match their answer to the text evidence that proved it will help them fully understand why their answer is correct. Teach students to highlight or underline key details in different colors based on what the question is asking. This visual strategy reinforces the habit of using text evidence instead of guessing.
Practice with Both Nonfiction and Fiction Stories
When you’re preparing students for a reading assessment, they aren’t sure what type of text they’re going to be reading. It could be nonfiction, it could be fiction! So teach them how to answer multiple choice questions for both types of text! Make sure to incorporate both fiction and nonfiction into your practice sessions. Mixing both ensures students are ready for any reading test that comes their way!
Meet Students at Their Reading Level
Not all of your students are going to be on the same reading level. So teaching them how to take multiple choice tests with a text that is way too hard for them will only confuse them more. Instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach, provide different passages based on students’ reading abilities. You can scaffold support by offering easier passages with guided questions for emerging readers, while stronger readers tackle more complex texts independently. This ensures that all students are developing test-taking strategies in a way that matches their needs.
Introduce Process of Elimination
When students are first starting out learning about multiple choice questions, the answers are typically pretty straight forward. But as they get older, multiple choice becomes harder. Tests may provide multiple answers that feel correct. Sometimes students get stuck between two answers and end up making a random guess. Instead, show them how to cross out answers that don’t make sense. This narrows down their options and increases their chances of picking the best one. Then, they will be only be left with the options they have to choose between. They will look back in the text for their best guess.
Shop Multiple Choice Reading Activities Here
Find multiple choice reading passages for first & second grade and third & fourth grade. Each set is standards-based, focusing on a reading skill. There are also three options for each passage for you to differentiate your reading levels!
1ST & 2ND GRADE MULTIPLE CHOICE PASSAGES
