Test Strategies and Tools
How do you highlight part of a text on RICAS?
Highlight it with the mouse, then choose a color.
What is dialogue?
When a character in a text is speaking.
What is this prompt asking you to do?:
Write a narrative that tells what happens when Blake touches the book.
Write a narrative (a story)
How many sentences are typically in a paragraph?
5 sentences.
What is conflict?
The problem in a story.
True or false: You can change the background color of the RICAS test.
True.
What does the word "theme" mean in ELA?
A message or a lesson that the author is trying to convey.
What is this prompt asking you to do?
Write a letter to the governor arguing for more libraries in your town.
Write an (argumentative) letter.
How many paragraphs are in an essay?
What is a solution/resolution?
How the conflict is solved.
True or False: If you don't know the answer to a question, you should leave it blank.
False! Always take your best guess if you aren't sure.
What is a narrative?
A story.
Flip this prompt:
Write an essay explaining three important characteristics of Isaac Newton.
Isaac Newton had many important characteristics.
Some important characteristics of Isaac Newton are...
What is the first paragraph of an essay called?
Introduction
What is figurative language?
A description technique in which an author says something that isn't literal. Usually this is a comparison - a simile or a metaphor.
True or False: Eliminating/crossing out answers that you know aren't correct is a good multiple choice strategy.
True! Don't forget you can use the answer eliminator feature on the RICAS site.
What are the three major parts of a narrative? Think of the plot diagram/story mountain.
Conflict, turning point, resolution.
Flip this prompt:
Write an essay explaining the significance of the green light to Gatsby.
The green light is significant to Gatsby.
The significance of the green light to Gatsby is...
The green light is significant to Gatsby because...
How many body paragraphs are in an essay?
Three
True or False: If the test gives you two texts to read and then a writing prompt, it's okay to only use quotes/evidence from one of the texts.
False
How should you indent your paragraphs if "Tab" doesn't work?
What pieces of information do you need to include in a citation after a quote?
(Author's last name, page number).
Flip this prompt:
Write an essay comparing and contrasting Esperanza and Marin.
What are the important pieces of a body paragraph?
Topic sentence/claim
Evidence
Elaboration/Reasoning
Concluding statement
What is an author's tone/mood?
The way the author feels about what they're saying, or the way the author wants the reader to feel.