Key Details, Main Ideas & Patterns.

Practice with scratch paper. As you prepare for the midterm, work through every question you do as if the question is being presented on a computer screen. This means not writing anything on the problems themselves. No crossing off answers, no circling, no underlining. Copy everything to scratch paper and do your work there. You shouldn’t give yourself a crutch in your preparation that you won’t have on the actual test.

Come up with an efficient system for using scratch paper. Mistakes happen in your head, but good technique happens on scratch paper. When you do work in your head, you are really doing two things at once. The first is figuring out the answer at hand, and the second is keeping track of where you’ve been. Mistakes happen when you try to do two things in your head at once. It’s better to park your thinking on your scratch paper. Get it out of your head and onto the page. Good things happen when you do.

Key Details

Main Ideas

& Patterns.

4. Which of these will NOT help you find the Main Idea?

2. Which is not a “key” supporting detail?

a. details relate directly back to the paragraph’s main idea

b. Major details are often, but not always, reasons, explanations, and examples.

c. the other details in a paragraph.

8. tRUE OR fALSe:

1. What would we place in the 'Publisher' section of a Full APA citation for this surce?

a. The url web address

B. The name of the author

C. The name of the Incorportated (Inc.) Organization (.org)

APPROACH to Reading Comprehension Questions:

Attack the Passage. This step will vary slightly based on the length of the passage you’re dealing with, but in each case, the goal is to read less, not more.

Size Up the Questions. Reading Comprehension questions ask you to do a variety of things. Make sure you know what the question’s asking.

Find and Paraphrase the Answer. This is the key. Always return to the passage to find your answer; never answer questions from memory!

Use Process of Elimination. You can use a number of helpful POE guidelines on Reading Comprehension questions.

a. Recognizing and using the patterns of headings as clues to main ideas

b. Recognizing supporting material as the main idea

c. Recognizing and applying common patterns authors use to reveal the main ideas

d. Recognizing supporting material to determine what materials are NOT main ideas

Main ideas can be found anywhere in a paragraph--toward the beginning, in the middle, and/or at the end.

5. What's the main idea?

Provide the best number(s) from the choices below

1- For a quarter of an hour, the investigators from the lab

2- of Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California

3- State University-Dominguez Hills, marked down once a minute

4- what the students were doing as they studied. A checklist on

5- the form included: reading a book, writing on paper, typing

6- on the computer—and also using email, looking at Facebook,

7- engaging in instant messaging, texting, talking on the phone,

8-watching television, listening to music, surfing the web. Sitting

9- unobtrusively at the back of the room, the observers

10 -counted the number of windows open on the students'

11- screens and noted whether the students were wearing ear-buds.

1- Living rooms, dens, kitchens, even bedrooms: 2- Investigators followed students into the

3- spaces where homework gets done. Pens

4- poised over their “study observation

5- forms,” the observers watched intently as

6- the students—in middle school, high school,

7- and college, 263 in all—opened their books

8- and turned on their computers.

Main idea

Hint: Pre-reading; think about the title

"...the observers counted the number of windows open on the students’ screens and noted whether the students were wearing ear-buds."

How Does Multitasking Change the Way Kids Learn?

Because there are many more wrong answers than there are correct answers, on some of the more difficult questions you’ll actually be better served not by trying to find the best answer, but instead by finding the wrong answers and using POE, Process of Elimination.

This will require carful, close reading (of the question & the passage) and critical thinking when eliminating the WRONG answers (i.e. can it be found in the passage; is it too similar to the answer choices; too different from the other answer choices; too obvious).

By Annie Murphy Paul

MAY 3, 2013

KQED Inc.

Retrieved from http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/05/03/how-does-multitasking-change-the-way-kids-learn/

Living rooms, dens, kitchens, even bedrooms: Investigators followed students into the spaces where homework gets done. Pens poised over their “study observation forms,” the observers watched intently as the students—in middle school, high school, and college, 263 in all—opened their books and turned on their computers.

Major details

Main details

6. THe word "Unobtrusively" in the second paragraph means

Write down the number(s) of sentences that best represent the (A)-Main Details, and (B) Minor Details.

3. seperate the main details from the minor details

When annotating, will underlining the whole sentence/passage help identify MAin details?

a. in a way the students find annoying

b. without making false notes

c. without attracting attention

d. observing

e. notetaking

INSTRUCTIONS

ON A PIECE OF PAPER, WRITE DOWN YOUR NAME, ALONG WITH THE NUMBER OF THE QUESTION & THE BEST ANSWER. YOU MUST TURN THIS IN BEFORE YOU LEAVE IF YOU WANT TO BE COUNTED AS 'PRESENT.'

REMEMBER: take your time; practice pre-reading; annotate; read closely (both the passage AND the question); think critically.

a. Yes-because you wont miss any details

b. No- major and minor ideas are often mixed together in a sentence.

9. WHAT MAKES A DETAIL

IMPORTANT?

POE for Inference Questions

On inference questions, eliminate answer choices that Go beyond the Information. Stick to the facts on inference questions. Avoid answers that are overly broad or general. Could Be True. The correct answer on an inference must be true. Answers that might be true or could be true are no good. Use Extreme Language. Be suspicious of strong language. The presence of words such as all, none, always, never, or impossible often means that an answer choice is wrong.

A. If a detail gives the reader an “Ahah!” moment

B. If a detail offers a moment of true understanding

C. The reader--why a detail is important varies from person to person, but it is up to the reader to first find the important details

D. All of the above

E. The Authority--if it is decided that a detail gives ALL readers the same thoughts & feelings

Read the following paragraph from an article entitled “How Does Multitasking Change the Way Kids Learn?," an article that discusses the influence of technology on multitasking, and the impact these factors have on our ability to study well.

Notice the text in red font. Normally, this phrase would be considered a minor detail but it so clearly shoWS THE side effect OF MULTITASKING THAT becomes a key detail.

11. What are the 3 e's?

Although the students had been told at the outset that they should “study something important, including homework, an upcoming examination or project, or reading a book for a course,” it wasn’t long before their attention drifted: Students’ “on-task behavior” started declining around the two-minute mark as they began responding to arriving texts or checking their Facebook feeds. By the time the 15 minutes were up, they had spent only about 65 percent of the observation period actually doing their schoolwork.

Paragraph 5

• A minor detail can become a key detail if it serves to illustrate or illuminate a main idea that previously was unclear!

14. give the number(s) of the correct Categories of Organizational Patterns

A. examples, evidence, and explanations

B. errors, editing, and elaboration

C. entry of information, every point supported, and entire passage organized

13. What is something that organizational patterns do not do?

1. Time order/process

2. Comparison and/or contrast

3. Cause and effect

4. Classification/division

5. List of ideas/enumeration

6. Definition and example

7. Problem – solution

The media multitasking habit starts early. In “Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds,” a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and published in 2010, almost a third of those surveyed said that when they were doing homework, “most of the time” they were also watching TV, texting, listening to music, or using some other medium. The lead author of the study was Victoria Rideout, then a vice president at Kaiser and now an independent research and policy consultant. Although the study looked at all aspects of kids’ media use, Rideout told me she was particularly troubled by its findings regarding media multitasking while doing schoolwork.

12. Use the 3 E's to help you the main idea of a paragraph by identifying the supporting details first, and thenyou can narrowing down the paragraph's contents

12. WHich of the following sentences states the main idea of this reading passage?

a. Rideout told me she was particularly troubled by its findings regarding media multitasking while doing schoolwork.

B. The media multitasking habit starts early

c. a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and published in 2010, almost a third of those surveyed said that when they were doing homework, “most of the time” they were also watching TV, texting, listening to music, or using some other medium.

1- Concern about young people’s use of technology is nothing new, of course.

2- But Rosen’s study, published in the May issue of Computers in Human Behavior, is part of a growing body of research focused on a very particular use of technology: media multitasking while learning.

3- Attending to multiple streams of information and entertainment while studying, doing homework, or even sitting in class has become common behavior among young people—so common that many of them rarely write a paper or complete a problem set any other way.

A. Determine the main ideas in your reading passages by using the topic sentences to find how the author uses patterns of organization.

B. Fit the essay in to identifiable sequences that look like geometric shapes

C. Signal words or transitions are used by authors to indicate the relationship between ideas and how the details are organized. Use transitions to figure out how the author uses organizational patterns.

10. Which Number belongs to the topic Sentence of the passage?

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

1. Time order/process

2. Comparison and/or contrast

3. Cause and effect

4. Classification/division

5. List of ideas/enumeration

6. Definition and example

7. Problem solution

15. The time order pattern is also know as which of the following?

A. chronological order

B. steps and stages

C. narration

D. sequence of events

E. all of the above

F. historical accuracy

The cognitive cost of such task-switching is especially high when students alternate between tasks that call for different sets of expressive “rules”—the formal, precise language required for an English essay, for example, and the casual, friendly tone of an email to a friend.

14.2 WHich relationship if found in the following sentenc:

Time order signal words/transitions include first, third, next, then, finally, eventually, following, preceding, afterwards, later, before, after, and many more words!

18. True or false:

19. True or False:

Division is the process of breaking a whole into parts. Classification, also known as categorization, divides a topic into groups that are based on shared or common characteristics or is the process of sorting individual terms into categories.

16. True or False:

The transitions used in classification/division pattern include but are not limited to categories, classifications, groups, classes, parts, pieces, elements, ways, groupings, features, kinds, types, diverse, roles, varieties, methods, ways,...

The comparison and/or contrast pattern, material is organized to emphasize the similarities and/or differences between two or more items or topics .

The enumeration/listing pattern, usually used to support a main idea by providing multiple examples or reasons, is also called enumeration because it offers a number of supports.

17. Cause and effect pattern does not do which of the following

A. describes or discusses an event or action that is caused by another event or action.

B. use signal words/ transitions like: because, for this reason, due to, cause, on account of, if this, as a result, since, course of events, consequently, became, therefore, thus, in effect, resulting, and the outcome is...

C. gives a reason or hypothesis for to explain somethig

D. uses listings of multiple causes and effects rather than signal words/ transitions and often, especially in history, time order is used.

Enumeration/Listing Continued

transitions used in this pattern include,

but are not limited to, and, too, in addition,

moreover, another, also, furthermore, as well

as, plus, moreover, besides, one, another

In some cases, the list of reasons is

numbered, although in this case, they are not

in “time order”-the reader know that they are

important because the author points it out!

This can be used to show:

then/now comparisons/contrasts to show how one thing changes over time

how two ideas or things are alike

how two ideas or things are different

how two ideas or things are different in some ways, but alike in others

20. WHich of the following is not true of the Problem/Solution pattern of org?

look again!

Problem/

Solution

Pattern

The transition and signal words used in the problem solution pattern include problem, need, difficulty, dilemma, challenge, issue, answer, propose, suggest, indicate, solve, resolve, resolution, improve, plan, respond to

This type of paragraph provides explanations, examples, evidence, comparisons and contrasts, but the main idea is implied; it is not stated clearly in any one sentence of the paragraph. This means the reader needs to determine the main idea and should make note of it in the margin.

A. Problem/solution order is usually persuasive in tone unless it describes a problem/solution from the past

B. The author’s attempt to show a reason for a change in policy, common practice, laws, rules, customs, regulations or societal conditions now (or why they occurred in the past).

C. The author usually gives the reader a problem and expects the reader to come up with their own solution

24. What was the overall purpose of the passage?

21. Use your annotation skills and recnition of patterns to identify the correct sentence number for (A) main ideas, (B) main detail, and (C) Minor Detail in the following passage

Using patterns to identify main ideas, types of details and patters of organization

In the study involving spyware, for example, two professors of business administration at the University of Vermont found that “students engage in substantial multitasking behavior with their laptops and have non course-related software applications open and active about 42 percent of the time.” The professors, James Kraushaar and David Novak, obtained students’ permission before installing the monitoring software on their computers—so, as in Rosen’s study, the students were engaging in flagrant multitasking even though they knew their actions were being recorded.

A. To inform

B. To persuade

C. To entertain

First sentence: Examples or evidence or both

Next sentence(s): Explanation

Final sentence of the paragraph: Main idea

1- Such steps may seem excessive, even paranoid: After all, isn’t technology increasingly becoming an intentional part of classroom activities and homework assignments?

2- Educators are using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as social sites created just for schools, such as Edmodo, to communicate with students, take class polls, assign homework, and have students collaborate on projects.

3- But researchers are concerned about the use of laptops, tablets, cell phones, and other technology for purposes quite apart from schoolwork.

4- Now that these devices have been admitted into classrooms and study spaces, it has proven difficult to police the line between their approved and illicit use by students.

A. informational

B. narrative

C. argumentative

25. What was the overall tone?

1. Time order/process

2. Comparison and/or contrast

3. Cause and effect

4. Classification/division

5. List of ideas/enumeration

6. Definition and example

7. Problem – solution

22. What patters of organization was used in the previous passage?

BONUS

FINISHED!

A. What was the thesis/purpose statement of the essay?

B. Did it match the purpose and tone? Explain

23. What is the implied main idea of this passage?

A. multitasking isn't always a bad thing

B. researchers study multitasking

C. Student's will multitask even if they know they are being watched