Could you correctly answer these reading comprehension questions?

[Nart]

I just got back my son's second grade, second trimester reading benchmark test. I am trying to figure out if these are fair questions. I will come back and post the "correct" answers.

 

Here is the passage:

The Present

Our mother had a new job, and LIlly and I were very happy for her. We saved our money and bought her a gift. It was a hat to keep her warm on cold days. The hat as white and gold, and we knew Mom was gong to love it.

"Lilly", I told my sister, "go find the hat so we can give it to Mom."

Lilly opened the closet where we had put the hat. She looked for a bit, while our dog Otis sniffed around next to her. Otis loved to know what was in every room and closet in the house.

"The hat isn't there!" Lilly cried out.

"It has to be here somewhere" I said. We started throwing things out of the closet. Otis rolled happily in the pile of shoes, toys, and dresses.

Lilly turned to me with her hands on her hips.

"Your took it and hid it somewhere!" she said.

Now it was my turn to be upset. "I did not!" I said.

"I know you didn't hide it", Lilly said sadly. She sat down on her bed. "But its gone, so what are we going to do?"

"Maybe we will find the hat later," I said, "but for now, let's make a new present."

"We don't know how to make a hat!" Lilly told me.

"No, but we can make a pretty card," I said.

Lilly looked a little happier. "We can use our new paints," she added.

Otis sat next to use while we got to work, and soon we had made a bright, colorful card. We both looked at it proudly.

"We made a great picture of the hat," Lilly said. "It's a good thing we have gold paint."

"I am sure we will find the hat soon," I told her. "But for now, this will have to do.

 

[PIcture of a dog walking with a hat in his mouth]

 

1)What is the main message of this story.

A) We should not blame other people for our own problems.

B) It takes careful planning to make sure everything goes well.

C) Sooner or later, your find what you are looking for.

D) The gift is not important because it is the thought that counts.

 

2)What does the picture tell readers about Otis?

A) He is helpful

B) He is hungry

C) He is having fun

D) He is mean

[MiMi 4under3]

1. D

2. C

 

 

[ddcrook]

I don't know the correct answers.

[CardinalAlt]

Those questions do seem a little bizarre. I would probably pick D for #1, but #2? If it were a picture as in illustrating the story, I would think it meant the dog took the hat. If it's the kids' present, I'm lost :)

[zarabellesmom]

D and then C?

 

I'm glad I'm not the little one answering this.

[Chelli]

1. D

2. Not sure. It could be A the picture showing that the dog brought them the hat at the end of the story. It could be C or D showing that the dog hid the hat which is why they couldn't find it.

[SeaConquest]

Bizarre questions, to be sure.

[MiMi 4under3]

1. D

2. Not sure. It could be A the picture showing that the dog brought them the hat at the end of the story. It could be C or D showing that the dog hid the hat which is why they couldn't find it.

 

Yes, I think this might be right now that I think about it... because it tells us twice that Otis loves to know what's in every room and every closet.

[Ellie]

This is why I never used anything for "comprehension." :glare:

[Kathryn]

I think D and A. But I would absolutely not lose sleep over a second grader missing those.

[City Mouse]

I picked the correct answers, but the second questions was really a guess since we can't see the actual picture.

 

I am assuming this was a public school assessment in a state that is following the common core standards. Being able to identify the theme of a reading passage and cite supporting evidence is part of the common core standards.

[texasmama]

I choose D and A.

[Serenade]

These kinds of questions amaze me with their stupidity.  I really think the Common Core is going with these types of questions because it's more or less a game of chance when answering, and everyone will score approximately the same, whether or not they have good reading comprehension skills.  Basically, these kinds of questions are designed to equalize scores across the testing population.  That's my opinion, anyhow.

[Tanaqui]

1 is obviously D, because that's the sort of meaning these passages always have.

 

2 is obviously the stupidest question possible, and utter garbage.

[Tsuga]

Yes, but only because I know the trick to getting these. They do not actually want to know the truth. What they are asking is, "I have an idea in my head about what I think this means. Can you guess it?"

 

So really, it's not a comprehension question, but a psychology question. And to answer psychology questions, you must understand the person asking it. Now think to yourself: Who writes these tests?

 

Let me tell you who. It is the little girl in the front of the class who always has a tidy backpack, a tidy notebook, and who writes in bubbly writing and who writes extremely boring stories about silly characters that she thinks everyone else will want to listen to, but she doesn't read them aloud because she is afraid of being made fun of. She draws cartoon characters for everything and thinks she is a good artist. This girl has a color-coded highlighting scheme in her binders in middle school. In high school she only plays the right sports and she gets straight As by not taking APs. She will grow up to be that teacher who can never see anyone else's point of view because she is so obviously right. "But it's not that way, it's this way." "This is the answer in the back of the book." Because for her, that is a really, really good reason to believe something.

 

And because she was so good at school-- meaning, she was so good at doing what she was told and knowing what the teacher wanted--she goes into curriculum development.

 

So I learned to think to myself, that girl, that teacher, what would she think the answer was?

 

:)

 

Obviously, the answer to 1 is what they tell you in the end, so, D. Now, is this true? Is it clear? Well, that, my friends, is not the point of reading comprehension.

 

As for 2, the answer is C, by process of elimination. He is not hungry because nobody eats hats. Dogs eat hats, you say? You're over-thinking this, child. Don't think. Just choose the answer that is most harmless. Happy.

 

I am proud to say that having unlocked this code, I managed for the first time in my life to get in the top .1% on the verbal comprehension portion of a test. 

 

What would the little girl with the neat handwriting and pigtails who always has the answers but never asks questions, say?

 

I imagine this technique will be hard for a homeschooled child to use unless they regularly encounter that child in, say, Bible classes or something. My suggestion would be to take several SAT prep courses before the "big" tests and observe. Look for the girl with the pink or white tee-shirt, the tidy notebook that does not disintegrate throughout the quarter, and who always has a sharpened pencil. Ask her about her answers and why she chose them.

 

You will get insight into this mentality--the look-at-the-surface-and-make-tons-of-unwarranted-assumptions mentality--and be able to answer test questions.

 

Until then, screw it. You're homeschooling so you can do real comprehension. I don't care what my kids get on verbal IQ tests unless they are vocabulary-based.

[scoutingmom]

It reminds me of a test I took in high-school - it was a make-up test for the test on symbolism I had missed due to illness, but was - at best - a compression test.

 

As I read the first few sentences I had the thought go through my mind 'this is about the Mormon Trck to Utah' - but after a few more sentences it was obviously about something else - which I don't remember now but had no trouble in the least understanding.

 

The first question was something along the lines of 'The first paragraph made it seem that the setting of the story was...' (I think it even was worded more like 'Made you think that'...) and one of the options was the Mormon trek to Utah..... not the right answer.

 

The rest of the test was similarly 'bad'.

 

I, and the couple of other students, had to fight the teacher to not use the marks. It was bull. If a test asks me what I think, or what it seems to me - and I answer what I think - it is correct. Maybe it was a psychology test or something.

[Tsuga]

 

 

 think it even was worded more like 'Made you think that'

 

Yes. These tests also ask you to decide what the author was thinking. I swear to god I'd give a million bucks to be able to fill in a blank:

 

"The author was thinking, 'I can't believe they are paying me to write this crap, but I'm finally going to get to see Paris! WOOHOO!'"

 

"This passage made me think that people who write tests can't even write a single interesting paragraph, so what do they know about it?"

 

The best thing to do is avoid it until you are old enough to game it. And this is not Common Core--these tests have been around for at LEAST 30 years, when I first took them. The fact is, the people writing the tests aren't critical thinkers and they don't get it.

 

Hanlon's razor... and in this case, it's so sad but so true. I actually learned this through a discussion with a woman who was in charge of test prep at a major company. She was helping me prep for a standardized test and told me, "You're over thinking these, Binip."

 

Now, mind you, this was prep for the country's highest national graduate verbal exam. But I was "over-thinking it." When I objected that this should not be possible, she said, "That's the kind of thinking that will get you in trouble on the test. It's not about what it true in the universe, it's about what you are supposed to assume within the test environment."

 

A lightbulb went off in my head. They thought we all knew this, that we, too, didn't care about truth, or beauty, or logic, or anything beyond getting the answer right. So we, too, would have spent all our energy trying to figure out what the teacher wanted, rather than, for example, how I spent my entire education, which was reading books under the table to learn new things about the external world. They thought that we would know the answers because we cared what the teacher thought.

 

I asked her if it had ever occurred to her that maybe some people, some very smart people, took the test makers at their word and really literally interpreted the terms "reading" and "comprehension" and also took very seriously their critical thinking training. She said something like "yeah, you know what's funny, they're smart but they can't figure out what the test is about."

 

:svengo:

 

But I can't complain. I got a great score on the test after that.

 

ETA Can you tell how traumatized I was by this? I am still bitter, LOL.

[Nart]

The answers are 1D and 2C. ( I forgot to add a sentence in the original passage after the kids took things out of the closet that states "Otis rolled happily in the pile of shoes, toys, and dresses." Sorry if that changes anyone's answer)

 

My son answered B it takes careful planning to make sure everything goes well. When I asked him why he chose that answer he said that it was the kids' fault they didn't put the hat in a place they would remember and didn't wrap the gift earlier. Why were they waiting until the last minute to get everything ready? The mom has a new job probably in the cold. The gift of the hat WAS important. Is a card going to keep her warm? Wow, mom when you tell me to put my jacket on I am going to tell you it's the thought that is important so I thought of the nice warm jacket you gave me but I am not going to wear it.

For the second question he said in stories dogs find things for people.

 

He also missed a question that asks: Tell four things that the children do when they can't find the gift they bought for their mother.

He wrote "First, they look through the closet. Next they throw toys, shoes, and dresses but they still couldn't find the hat. Then finally they decided to make a card."

 

It was marked as having only 3 things the kids did my son said he wrote down 5 things -look in closet, throw toys, throws shoes, throw dresses, make card.

 

On the math assessment he also missed a question that asked to write one reason square and rectangle are alike. He wrote they were both closed shapes but it was marked wrong.

[Arcadia]

It is frustrating as the parent but my kids are getting better at giving the answer the test wants and then complain to me about why their answer makes more sense.
Reading comprehension is the only section on standardized tests that my older didn't hit the ceiling because of overthinking.

ETA:
My kid answered that a square is a special rectangle when his teacher asked ages ago. His teacher was open to any answer that make sense :)

[Nart]

It is frustrating as the parent but my kids are getting better and giving the answer the test wants and then complain to me about why their answer makes more sense.

Reading comprehension is the only section on standardized tests that my older didn't hit the ceiling because of overthinking.

 

ETA:

My kid answered that a square is a special rectangle when his teacher asked ages ago. His teacher was open to any answer that make sense :)

That is what I find frustrating- pick the answer that is the test answer not the best real world answer. I always did great on reading comprehension questions, I think because I tend to be neither creative nor confrontational. I love that my two kids are more creative than I am and that they love to argue their point. The only reason I care about this benchmark test is that my son is in the process of being identified gifted in his district. He passed the first screening test and I think they may look at these benchmark tests. The only reason why I care if he is labeled gifted is that I am planning on homeschooling middle school (6-8) and then putting him back in PS for high school. If he is labeled he will have an easier time getting tracked into Honors/AP classes in high school.

[Tsuga]

 If he is labeled he will have an easier time getting tracked into Honors/AP classes in high school.

 

Are you totally sure about that? If he's homeschooled and has done the material he should be able to get in regardless. Did they really say, "Gifted program gets first access to AP courses"?

 

I'm asking because I thought that was the case around here but it turns out it is not. They have to pass a math test to get into the math classes but other courses they can sign up for and if the school has a problem, then they just show the material they've produced. Effort and intention, not labels, matter much more the older you get here.

 

I don't know if it's the same where you are.

[SKL]

The last time I looked on the internet for a 2nd grade reading test, I also thought the questions were awful.  Moreover, the vocabulary and sentence structure of the reading selections were so strange that they required more "analysis" effort (for *me*) than a typical grown-up novel or news article.

 

At that point I realized that testing at early reading levels is pretty meaningless because of the people writing the tests.

 

The above only confirms my belief.

[duckens]

 

Nart asks:

Could you correctly answer these reading comprehension questions?

And the answer is:

"Sometimes questions are just poorly worded.  And sometimes even adults don't know what is wanted in a question.  And sometimes even the adults (your mom) need to look in the back of the book."  With thousands of questions in the question bank, a few are going to be bone-headed.  It's the law of averages.

 

Dd8 is also in 2nd grade, and we have had to cover this "topic" a handful of times already.  I am hoping that

--This teaches her to be resilient with poorly asked questions, so she can say, "THAT was stupid!" and move on.

--I can teach her to not use this as an excuse when the questions ARE well written, but she misses the point of the exercise.

 

 

 

Nart also says:

On the math assessment he also missed a question that asked to write one reason square and rectangle are alike. He wrote they were both closed shapes but it was marked wrong.

This one I would fight the teacher on.  Both of them ARE closed shapes.  Is this a math test, or is it a test on telepathy?

[LaughingCat]

It has always been about being good at taking tests.  This is not new, just previously they were mostly only teacher created tests.

 

The way it is common now to use some irrelevant detail to test comprehension boggles my mind however.

[BatmansWife]

This reminds me of when my son was in 4th grade.  That was the one year we did an online virtual school.  One question he was given was something like: What would you wear in the fall?  The choices were a t-shirt, sweater, jacket, or coat.  My son choose sweater.  It was jacket, so he got it wrong.  Well, why can't you wear a sweater in the fall?  Basically...schools like this leave little to no room for thinking outside the box.

 

And, yes I know Ellie...this is why you never used an online virtual school either.  

 

:lol:

 

Couldn't resist.

[Arcadia]

The only reason why I care if he is labeled gifted is that I am planning on homeschooling middle school (6-8) and then putting him back in PS for high school. If he is labeled he will have an easier time getting tracked into Honors/AP classes in high school.

 

Check the high school requirements.  Below is copied from a high school handbook of a nearby school district which applies to all the high schools in that district.  My district doesn't have GATE.

 

" Honors classes combine GATE students with other high achieving students in courses designated as Honors classes. To qualify or

continue:

â–ª Non GATE identified students must have Advanced subject area CST (California Standards Test) scores, except for Honors

Science, where it must be advanced CST scores in English and Math and “A†or “B†grade earned in the subject.

or

▪ Non GATE identified students with “A†grades in both 7th and 8th grade subject matter classes may enter into Honors classes.

...

• Advanced Placement (AP) classes are open to any student who is interested in the subject and is willing to work hard. Students do

not have to be GATE identified to qualify for an AP course. "

[go_go_gadget]

The last time I looked on the internet for a 2nd grade reading test, I also thought the questions were awful.  Moreover, the vocabulary and sentence structure of the reading selections were so strange that they required more "analysis" effort (for *me*) than a typical grown-up novel or news article.

 

At that point I realized that testing at early reading levels is pretty meaningless because of the people writing the tests.

 

The above only confirms my belief.

 

When my son was in second grade, he had a test question that said ''Jenny wants to write a report about her favorite singer, Beyoncé. Where should Jenny look for information to write her report?'' Two of the four possible answers were the internet, or a book. My son chose the book, because I'd told him many times that information on the internet isn't necessarily reliable, but that books go through a more thorough vetting. That was wrong; he was supposed to choose the internet.

 

And then I'm wondering who thinks it's a good idea for second-graders to be Googling Beyoncé, so I try it and find a video of a dance team of seven year-olds dancing to a song of hers in the skimpiest costumes ever, with moves that would make strippers blush. Beyoncé's own video for the same song was actually fine. So no, second-graders shouldn't Google Beyoncé because they might find videos of other second-graders that amount to dissemination of child pornography.

 

Sorry, just a bit OT there.

[Ausmumof3]

I think it's d and c and I was totally the girl with the pigtails. Except for the colour coordinated markers. I never could keep my pencils in order ... Does that save my reputation just a little? Actually it could be a. If he took the hat he was having fun, if he brought the hat he was being helpful.

 

And it's a dumb question and this is why I don't do reading comprehension. Because even little girls in pigtails who always know the right answer grow up to have scrubby little boys who are full of what it's and whys and buts and maybes. And they start asking there own what ifs buts whys and maybes.

 

And if it takes a major analysis to understand the story the author should have done a better job of getting the message across. Writing is about communication not about trying to totally confuse everyone.

[Nart]

Check the high school requirements. Below is copied from a high school handbook of a nearby school district which applies to all the high schools in that district. My district doesn't have GATE.

 

" Honors classes combine GATE students with other high achieving students in courses designated as Honors classes. To qualify or

continue:

â–ª Non GATE identified students must have Advanced subject area CST (California Standards Test) scores, except for Honors

Science, where it must be advanced CST scores in English and Math and “A†or “B†grade earned in the subject.

or

▪ Non GATE identified students with “A†grades in both 7th and 8th grade subject matter classes may enter into Honors classes.

...

• Advanced Placement (AP) classes are open to any student who is interested in the subject and is willing to work hard. Students do

not have to be GATE identified to qualify for an AP course. "

Thanks. It is really a just in case, who knows what will happen in 7 years scenario, and will be one less thing to have to worry about in the future. The way gifted testing works in my school district is that they give a group IQ test to all second graders. Then teachers refer based on the results or parents can refer. My son was teacher referred because he scored above the cut off. Then those referred kids take a really similar test. You can either qualify by IQ score alone or if you are a point or two away they look at the benchmark tests and teacher ratings. I think he will qualify by score alone since he did really well on the first round so I shouldn't worry but I won't know until June.

 

I looked over his test again and I think part of the problem is he might not be reading all the answers. He looks over the first answer or two and sees if it could make sense. I think he needs to learn to read ALL the answers before picking an answer.

[kiwik]

Ideally he should decide on his answer and then look at the choices.

[Serenade]

 Writing is about communication not about trying to totally confuse everyone.

 

Yes.  

 

Some of these passages are so poorly written, and it makes me wonder what exactly they are trying to teach the kids.  

[vonfirmath]

Ideally he should decide on his answer and then look at the choices.

 

This is not what I was taught in school

When I was a kid, I was taught to read ALL the answers and choose the best one.  SOmetimes there will be answers like "Both A and C" or "All of the above"

[Garga]

In real life I would have chosen B and then not had a clue for 2.  There is not enough information to possibly understand the motivations of the dog.  

 

In test world, I would have chosen D and C because D is the most preachy do-goody answer and so is D.  I would assume the test makers would assume we think all dogs are innocent and having fun in whatever they're doing.

 

This test is a perfect example of real reasoning vs test reasoning.  Ugh. I need to expose my kids to more of this hooey so they can do well on stupid tests they'll have to take in the future.  I used to pass tests so easily because I ignored the real answer and just gave the answer I knew they wanted--the dumbed down answer.

[hornblower]

oh boy. I failed. I would write B & A.

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I assume the dog ate the hat. 

 

 

[hornblower]

I assume the dog ate the hat. 

 

yes, but then what do you say?

 

do you say A - he ate it because it was so ugly so he was being helpful by saving the children from giving a horrible present which mom would have to pretend to like?

 

or B - he ate it because he is hungry? (which is really the most unlikely. Dogs chew up items for lots of reasons but not usually because they're hungry....)

 

or C - he ate it because he is having fun? THAT sounds very likely & is the most likely reason a dog would eat a hat ...

 

or D - he ate it because he is mean - THAT is wrong because it's anthropomorphizing a dog's intentions but otoh, if i'm ok with A, then I'd have to be ok with D except that I tend to think dogs are statistically much more likely to try to please so....

 

 

Or what if he didn't eat it & just found it and was going to bring it to mom & try to make it his present? What if he'll pretend he actually knitted it? What if this is a scheme of his to get rid of the children by showing how superior dogs are to children?

[hornblower]

double post

[SparklyUnicorn]

yes, but then what do you say?

 

do you say A - he ate it because it was so ugly so he was being helpful by saving the children from giving a horrible present which mom would have to pretend to like?

 

or B - he ate it because he is hungry? (which is really the most unlikely. Dogs chew up items for lots of reasons but not usually because they're hungry....)

 

or C - he ate it because he is having fun? THAT sounds very likely & is the most likely reason a dog would eat a hat ...

 

or D - he ate it because he is mean - THAT is wrong because it's anthropomorphizing a dog's intentions but otoh, if i'm ok with A, then I'd have to be ok with D except that I tend to think dogs are statistically much more likely to try to please so....

 

 

Or what if he didn't eat it & just found it and was going to bring it to mom & try to make it his present? What if he'll pretend he actually knitted it? What if this is a scheme of his to get rid of the children by showing how superior dogs are to children?

 

E. He ate it because he started to read this very boring and stupid reading comprehension question then midway gave up favoring chewing up the hat instead. 

 

And what do we learn from this experience?  That cats are better than dogs. No cat would even bother with either of these activities. 

 

 

[hornblower]

E. He ate it because he started to read this very boring and stupid reading comprehension question then midway gave up favoring chewing up the hat instead. 

 

And what do we learn from this experience?  That cats are better than dogs. No cat would even bother with either of these activities. 

 

Cat would have peed on it. Actually cat has been peeing on it for the last 2 weeks & the whole closet smells of cat urine....

Cat peed on the school books containing the comprehension question as well.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Cat would have peed on it. Actually cat has been peeing on it for the last 2 weeks & the whole closet smells of cat urine....

Cat peed on the school books containing the comprehension question as well.

 

I don't know.  My cats don't pee on random stuff, but in this case I'd understand it.  It is a stinky question.

 

Cat would most likely sleep on the hat or book.

[Meriwether]

I would have chosen B for number one. As I was reading, I assumed the dog had gotten ahold of the hat at a prior time. I did not think he was being helpful or mean. I would have to have chosen C.

 

Number 1 is *clearly* not D. The boy says "it will have to do." That is not language you would use if one gift was as good as another. :)

 

This passage was poorly written. Very poorly written.

 

[Ellie]

I would have chosen B for number one. As I was reading, I assumed the dog had gotten ahold of the hat at a prior time. I did not think he was being helpful or mean. I would have to have chosen C.

 

Number 1 is *clearly* not D. The boy says "it will have to do." That is not language you would use if one gift was as good as another. :)

 

This passage was poorly written. Very poorly written.

 

See, I'm not convinced that the passage was "poorly written;" it is the questions that are stupid.

[Garga]

Clearly the reason they couldn't find it was that they were looking for a white and gold hat and the hat was actually blue and black.

 

 

This!!!

[vonfirmath]

yes, but then what do you say?

 

do you say A - he ate it because it was so ugly so he was being helpful by saving the children from giving a horrible present which mom would have to pretend to like?

 

or B - he ate it because he is hungry? (which is really the most unlikely. Dogs chew up items for lots of reasons but not usually because they're hungry....)

 

or C - he ate it because he is having fun? THAT sounds very likely & is the most likely reason a dog would eat a hat ...

 

or D - he ate it because he is mean - THAT is wrong because it's anthropomorphizing a dog's intentions but otoh, if i'm ok with A, then I'd have to be ok with D except that I tend to think dogs are statistically much more likely to try to please so....

 

 

Or what if he didn't eat it & just found it and was going to bring it to mom & try to make it his present? What if he'll pretend he actually knitted it? What if this is a scheme of his to get rid of the children by showing how superior dogs are to children?

 

I pretty much ignored the picture and assumed this was a reading comprehension test -- so we needed to only look at what was said in the text itself.

 

[hornblower]

I pretty much ignored the picture and assumed this was a reading comprehension test -- so we needed to only look at what was said in the text itself.

 

 wait, this isn't an applied animal behavior quiz, with specific emphasis on juvenile homo sapiens sapiens and canis lupus familiaris?

 

:p

[PeachyDoodle]

Yes. These tests also ask you to decide what the author was thinking. I swear to god I'd give a million bucks to be able to fill in a blank:

 

"The author was thinking, 'I can't believe they are paying me to write this crap, but I'm finally going to get to see Paris! WOOHOO!'"

 

"This passage made me think that people who write tests can't even write a single interesting paragraph, so what do they know about it?"

 

The best thing to do is avoid it until you are old enough to game it. And this is not Common Core--these tests have been around for at LEAST 30 years, when I first took them. The fact is, the people writing the tests aren't critical thinkers and they don't get it.

 

Hanlon's razor... and in this case, it's so sad but so true. I actually learned this through a discussion with a woman who was in charge of test prep at a major company. She was helping me prep for a standardized test and told me, "You're over thinking these, Binip."

 

Now, mind you, this was prep for the country's highest national graduate verbal exam. But I was "over-thinking it." When I objected that this should not be possible, she said, "That's the kind of thinking that will get you in trouble on the test. It's not about what it true in the universe, it's about what you are supposed to assume within the test environment."

 

A lightbulb went off in my head. They thought we all knew this, that we, too, didn't care about truth, or beauty, or logic, or anything beyond getting the answer right. So we, too, would have spent all our energy trying to figure out what the teacher wanted, rather than, for example, how I spent my entire education, which was reading books under the table to learn new things about the external world. They thought that we would know the answers because we cared what the teacher thought.

 

I asked her if it had ever occurred to her that maybe some people, some very smart people, took the test makers at their word and really literally interpreted the terms "reading" and "comprehension" and also took very seriously their critical thinking training. She said something like "yeah, you know what's funny, they're smart but they can't figure out what the test is about."

 

:svengo:

 

But I can't complain. I got a great score on the test after that.

 

ETA Can you tell how traumatized I was by this? I am still bitter, LOL.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, the reason I home school, in a nutshell.

 

:hurray:

[LaughingCat]

Ideally he should decide on his answer and then look at the choices.

For me this would be the way to be sure and answer incorrectly.   If I had decided on the answer before reading the choices then my answer would have been "none of the above" for both questions.   Because to me the 'main message of the story' is find a way to work around your problem and 'what the picture tells you' is the reason the children couldn't find the hat is because the dog took it  -- neither of which is even close to any of the given answers.  

 

IMO the way to answer a test question correctly is to look at all the answers, rule out any incorrect answers and then pick the 'most correct' of the answers remaining.   So for question 1, it is D because C is clearly wrong and none of the other answers apply to the whole passage so you pick D because it is an interpretation of the resolution of the story whereas the other answers are only supported by earlier parts of the story (even though I don't agree with it being a good interpretation of the resolution).  

 

Similarly, for question 2  C  is the only answer with anything close to support in the passage.  This question is beyond bad though because the support is extraneous to the story and the wording of 'what does the picture tell you' is completely misleading.   The picture lets you infer that the hat disappeared because the dog took it - which is nothing to do with helpful, hungry, fun or mean.   I suppose they meant you to infer that the dog took it because he has fun taking things but that is not knowable from the few details given about the dog:

 

 our dog Otis sniffed around next to her. Otis loved to know what was in every room and closet in the house.

 Otis rolled happily in the pile of shoes, toys, and dresses.

[PIcture of a dog walking with a hat in his mouth]

[vonfirmath]

Oops and I just realize that I completely misread question 2. "What does the passage tell you about Otis?"  NOT picture

[Entropymama]

If this is a reading comprehension test, why are we LOOKING AT A PICTURE!??

 

I had no clue for #2 because I just assumed the dog took it 'cuz he's a dog. 

 

As to the math question, I'm guessing 'closed shape' wasn't an option because I don't think that's covered by second grade. 

[Nart]

oh boy. I failed. I would write B & A.

 

 

 Can you be my son's teacher? You guys think alike.