Preparing for the OSSLT

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Preparing for the OSSLT

• At Central S.S.

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What is the OSSLT?

• The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test
  (OSSLT) is a provincially-mandated test of
  reading and writing.
• The OSSLT is published by the Ontario Ministry of
  Education and is administered yearly to all grade
  10 students in the province.

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Why is the OSSLT important?

• The successful completion of the OSSLT is
  required for a high school diploma.

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When do we write the OSSLT?

• Thursday, April 2, 2009

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• Bring
• Pencils
• Pens
• A highlighter

• DONT Bring
• iPods
• Cell phones

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What does this test look like?

• The test consists of two 75 min. sessions.
• You will complete one booklet during the 1st 75
  min. session and a second booklet during the 2nd
  session.
• At the end of each session, the booklet will be
  sealed and collected.
• You will have a 15 minute break between sessions.

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What does the test consist of?

• Reading Three Types
• Informational - paragraph and news report
• Literary - dialogue and real-life narrative
• Graphical - a schedule, map, diagram, graph, or
  other form of visual text

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What kind of questions will there be on the
reading section?

• The questions will be multiple choice or short
  answer and will ask for information
• directly stated
• inference (logical guess based on evidence in the
  text)
• connections (personal opinion, connections to
  experiences).

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Writing Questions

• Multiple Choice Questions and Writing Tasks
• organization of ideas
• sentence and paragraph structure
• conventions

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Writing Tasks

• Two Short Writing Tasks
• Six lines each, based on your response to set
  prompts
• Two Long Writing Tasks
• News report (1 page)
• Supported Opinion (2 pages)

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How can I prepare for the OSSLT?

• All grade 10 students participated in an
  orientation workshop
• Interested students are invited to work with an
  SST (Student Success teacher), or with a member
  of the school Literacy Team. See Ms. Humphries or
  Mr. Blackwell for details.
• Visit room 104 at lunch ask for practice
  materials
• Practice materials are also available at
  www.eqao.com

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Schedule

• 800 a.m. Arrive at your designated classroom
  rested, well-fed, and prepared with your
  materials. Your teacher will meet you there.
• 815 a.m. Instructions and test
  distribution
• 830-945 a.m. Booklet 1
• 945 a.m. Break
• 1000-1115 a.m. Booklet 2
• The OSSLT ends at 1115 a.m.

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How to succeed on the OSSLT

• Manage your time
• Follow the instructions
• Listen to the teacher in charge
• Read the questions carefully
• Answer every question
• Write to an adult audience
• Allow time to check your work at the end

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Great Work!!