Developing Reading Fluency and Metacognition in Exam-taking

AP Literature Multiple Choice Question Analysis

Abstract

Students will analyze a question from a passage in the AP Literature Multiple Choice section of the AP Exam. The purpose of this exercise is to break down which skills students need in order to answer questions correctly and quickly. On the exam, they are allotted one hour to answer 55 questions about 5 different passages (poems and prose), so they need to build fluency in reading passages, understanding the question, and selecting correct answers by identifying key words that lead to or distract from the correct answer. This skill can be applied to many other exams in all kinds of subjects.

Level: High School
Setting: Classroom
Activity Type: Learning Cycle
Discipline: English/Language Arts
Course: AP Literature, Junior or Senior English
Keywords: Standardized Test Taking Strategies, metacognition