Identifying these mistakes and practicing ways to avoid them is a powerful way to prepare.

What mistakes do students commonly make?

1) Students refer to their memory rather than the text.

This can be a real problem if the text is an excerpt from a well known story or a different version of it.

It is easier and quicker to turn to your memory, but some students may not realize that the memory is not always reliable or that the text may actually be different.

Some classroom activities that could be used to practice avoiding this mistake are:

a) Underline the part of the text that contains the answer before writing it.

b) Read the questions first so that you are looking for the answers as you read.

c) Practice marking the text with circling, underlining or writing key words in the margin. This makes it easier to go back and find answers.

d) Be aware that one story can have many different versions.

e) Be aware that memory can be an unreliable resource, especially when it comes to fine detail.

2) Students struggle with the meaning of the question.

Questions like, How was the central problem resolved? Which statement is not about the narrator?, are not easy for some students to understand.

If they don't understand the question, then they have little chance of answering it.

Some classroom activities that can be used to practice avoiding this mistake are:

a) Revisit the meaning of those seemingly simple words that often start questions, (who, what, where, when, why, how and which).

b) Study the types of questions usually found in reading comprehension exams.

Search through old tests and make a list of questions.

Students can discuss as a class, what type of answers the questions are asking them to produce.

3) Students don't check their answers.

They don't because they think it means virtually doing the test again. For many students, the thought of this overwhelming.

What they don't know is that there are strategies that they can use to simplify the process.

Some classroom activities that can be used to practice avoiding this mistake are:

a) Only check the questions that were difficult. There is little reason to re-check the questions that have been answered confidently. The student can circle the questions that are problematic and re-check those.

b) Take a break before re-checking. Look up from the reading comprehension exam and stretch a little. Taking your eyes away from the paper, stretching and breathing deeply can all refresh the mind and improve your chances of spotting mistakes.

c) Check the questions for negatives. Questions like, Who didn't feel guilty?, are easy to misread as who did feel guilty? It is a common mistake in a reading comprehension exam.

Students can look out for this type of mistake when they check their answers.

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