Score Higher Marks On The 11+ Reading Comprehension
11+ comprehension is, for many students, one of the most difficult papers for the 11+. Whereas questions in the Maths papers are maximum a couple of lines long, for the Reading Comprehension the passage can be anywhere between ¾ to almost 2 pages long.
In addition, in the Maths papers, if you do not understand a question, you can simply move on to the next question and you’ll probably lose 3-4 marks at most. The Reading Comprehension is different. Misunderstand the passage, and it can be a slippery slope downwards as all the exam questions will be about the same passage.
So, how can students improve their Reading Comprehension skills and by extension maximise their chances of scoring highly on arguably the trickiest part of the 11+ tests?
Here at My Tutor Club, we encourage our students to fundamentally change the way one reads, at least relative to how one may have been told to read at school or at home.
The name Reading Comprehension is composed of two words. This is NOT a test of “reading ability.” It is a test of COMPREHENSION. Students who overly depend on their memory, as opposed to attempting a more thorough understanding of the underlying themes and structures in the passage, will be playing a risky game. The focus is always on comprehension; not reading.
The 11+ exams will assume students already know how to read. But do students know how to understand? This is the million dollar question that the examiners are looking to answer:
So what strategies can students employ in order to improve their Reading Comprehension scores?
Here are 5 core strategies which, with practice, can help boost your child’s marks:
Read the Questions First
Spend a minute or two going over the questions before you start reading the passage. Make mental notes of what is being asked. As you read through the passage, you will have special “signals” embedded in your mind as you will have a better idea about what information from the passage is going to be useful for answering the questions.
Take Down Notes
We have heard every excuse why not to do it: “I don’t have enough time as it is,” “I can remember what I just read” “It doesn’t help me to take notes.” But if students want to improve their Reading Comprehension score, they have to take down notes along the way.
Taking down notes forces students to understand what they are reading and avoids the trap of completing a long difficult passage and having no idea what it was about. Now, we’re not saying write pages and pages of notes – there is no time to do this and this is all part of the trick of the game – but it is worthwhile investing 5 minutes while reading the passage to take down notes and to be clear about what you have just read before answering the questions.
Develop Decoding Strategies
Focus on meaning, look at how sentences and phrases are formed, recognise key words such as “action verbs.” Developing these strategies – which does take time and practice – can improve a student’s comprehension of the passage.
Try and Enjoy the Passage
Students must engage with the passage and have a positive emotional attitude towards the text. This is not as fuzzy as it sounds. Our brains are wired in such a way that we cannot learn something that we actively loathe or viscerally reject. So getting over the dread of a passage is not just a feel-good exercise for a student, but a prerequisite.
We’re not saying students have to fall head over heels in love with the passage, but at the same time they must keep the topic at emotional arm’s length. If the passage is a real stinker, students just have to roll up their sleeves and to pretend they really like the topic for next 40 minutes or so. Having the ability to do this takes practice.
Keep It Simple
When faced with a difficult passage, in the heat of the exam, students must look for the “simple story.” Find the gist of the passage or the core meaning. How do you find the simple story? Imagine you have to retell the whole story in a text message. What would you say? Alternatively make a “Table of Contents” (Introduction – Main – Conclusion) and write 4-8 words for each subheading. These headlines may not give you the whole story but they may help you outline the overall narrative and structure of the passage. Having the flexibility and ability to adapt one’s approach while in an exam environment is a skill and takes practice.
Learn Common 11+ Words
One key way to improve your marks in the 11+ comprehension is to develop a broad and mature vocabulary.
Just a couple of misunderstood words in the text can lead to an unfortunate loss of marks, or worse still, a misunderstanding of the entire comprehension passage.
So, aside from encouraging good quality reading on a consistent basis to help build up vocabulary, we decided to analyse some more 11+ comprehension papers in the last 5 years to see which “difficult” words kept reappearing year after year.
These 20 words should be learnt as it seems 11+ examiners are very keen to use them in 11+ comprehensions.
- To proceed (to do something)
- Astonished
- Grudgingly
- Beseechingly
- Pandemonium
- Valiantly
- Chastised
- Erratic
- Sinewy
- Ordeal
- Incredulous
- Haughtily
- Perceived
- Spawn
- Resolute
- Scuttled
- Flurried
- Flaccid
- Ravenous
- Inclined (to do something)
Even if you know the meanings of the above words, practice using them in their right context by incorporating them into a full sentence. We are more than happy to check and mark your sentences a gratis if you send them into us. We will send them back to you with comments and/or corrections.
For further information about the 11+ process or 11+ tuition, please contact us.