GKT102: General Knowledge for Teachers – Reading

Question Types

Exam creators will use clues within each question that you can learn to recognize as a guide.
In this presentation, we'll look at a few common question types and come up with strategies to help you best answer them.
We'll cover questions from the three competencies reviewed in this course:

1. Knowledge of Language Structure
2. Knowledge of Craft and Structure
3. Knowledge of Integration of Information and Ideas
   
   

Annotate the Questions

Just like you annotate the text, you can annotate the questions. You can make notes or underline key words that help you better understand the question purpose.

For example:

• If a question asks for a summary of a paragraph, note which paragraph to help you avoid getting lost in the text.
• If a question asks you to compare two details, underline which details so you can find them quickly in the text.

Knowledge of Key Ideas and Details

These questions will ask you about how key words, ideas, and phrases are used to convey meaning in a text. Here are some examples of possible questions you may see:

• What is the central idea of paragraph 3?
• Which of the following is the best summary of the text?
• What details from the text support the following conclusion…?
• What details from the text support the following inference...?

Keep track of which questions ask for concrete conclusions as opposed to inferences, or central ideas of individual sections of text versus the entire text.

Knowledge of Craft and Structure

These questions will ask you to think about the choices an author made about words and organization, and how those choices impact the purpose, theme, or efficacy of a text. Here are some examples of possible questions you may see:

• How does the author develop their claim in paragraph 5?
• In the context of line 27, what does the following word mean…?
• Which details from the text support the author's purpose?
• Why does the author include paragraph 3?

These questions will guide you to look at specific locations in a text (a line, a paragraph, ect.) or think about how sections of a text are connected. For time purposes, it may be helpful to group questions by section, or even halves, to help you navigate back to the text for your answers.

Knowledge of Integration of Information and Ideas

The question in our final competency are going to ask you to think about bigger connections. These questions may ask you to connect ideas from a text to a picture or graph, or evaluate an author's reasoning. Here are some examples of possible questions you may see:

• What is the author arguing for in this text?
• How is the account of events in the picture different from that of the text?
• What evidence could the author include to make their argument more sound?
• Which of the following pieces of evidence is irrelevant and could be left out of the text?

As you annotate, note which connections the question is asking you to make. What stands out to you in a picture or chart? Were there sections of the text as you read that feel out of place?

Some Final Strategies

For all of these questions, it can be helpful to think about your answer BEFORE reading the options. This can help you pick out the correct answer more quickly.

If you're really unsure of an answer, narrow down your options. Look at the answer possibilities and remove those you know are wrong. If you can narrow your options down to two you can make a better guess.

Don't let yourself get stuck on a question. The exam is timed and you don't want to risk not finishing because of one or two tough questions. Don't be afraid to guess so that you can move on and complete the exam.

Source: Saylor Academy
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.