NJASK Grades 6 - 8 Reading

Lesson 14: Practice Timing and Pacing with Narrative Text

Multiple-Choice

Rationale
Even if a student has strong reading comprehension, sometimes it is difficult to complete the questions
in the time provided. Thus, students need numerous opportunities to read lengthy stories and answer ten
multiple-choice questions and one open-ended item. During this lesson, students will read a narrative
story and practice the skill of test taking by implementing a plan to self-monitor how much they can
complete during different intervals of the thirty-minute narrative text assessment.

Goal
To improve and individualize students pacing and timing strategies on Narrative Text

Objectives
Students will complete a personalized Pacing Chart for Narrative MC Success
Students will recognize areas where they are having trouble with pacing and timing strategies for
Narrative text.

Students with good Reading Narrative Text skills understand how to:
make predictions and formulate questions about what might occur next in a reading passage.
form opinions about what is happening in the text.
ponder their responses and reactions to what is being read in the text.
support comprehension by making notes in the margins and marking text while reading.
visualize the setting, events or images in their mind.
visualize dialogue occurring between characters in relationship to the plot of events.
make connections to what they already know.
examine the characters in relationship to the plot i.e. who are the people and how are they related to
each other.
imagine themselves in place of the characters to increase comprehension.
draw texts together to compare and contrast themes, characters and ideas.

Materials
Sample Narrative Story From TSS, instructors should select a grade and developmentally appropriate
SHORT Narrative Text with 5 multiple-choice questions.
Pacing for Narrative MC Success handout
Time-On-Task handout for Follow-up Exercise
Narrative Text Multiple-Choice Profile (ongoing from Lesson 6)
Class Folder Labeled: Lesson 14: Timing Pacing Narrative MC (At the end of the lesson, place the class
papers in the folder. Please be sure to attach each students papers together.)

Lesson 14: Practice Timing and Pacing with Narrative Text Multiple-Choice Page 1

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Procedure
Some people enter a marathon just to prove to themselves that they can finish; others enter to
win. Up to this point we have been learning the fundamentals of running; today we need to start
focusing on winning. Pacing and timing are the keys to winning.
Review the average timing on the board:

10-12 minutes for surveying and reading the selection

1 minute per MC

5-7 minutes for OE

3 minutes to review all responses

30 minutes total
Ask if this is reasonable for each student. Our Training Plan outlined general strategies for the
NJASK Reading, but today each of you will complete a personalized Pacing Chart for Success.
Explain that some read faster or write more slowly, needing more time for one part or section. Discuss
concept of banking time to meet your requirements.
Explain to students that, for this lesson, they will be reading a short narrative passage and answering 5
multiple-choice questions.
Review the timing on the board:

10 minutes for surveying and reading the selection

1 minute per MC

2 minutes to review responses

17 minutes total

Give all students the selection and questions.

Time students as they survey and read for 10 minutes. Have students make note of the time they finish
reading. For students who do not finish, have them note how far they are into the selection and estimate
how much more time would be needed to complete the reading. Is it only two more minutes?
Have students answer MC questions for 5 minutes. How many have they completed? Have each student
figure out how many minutes they needed for each question.
With the remaining time in class, have each student evaluate his/her own testing requirements and
complete the Follow-up portion of the Pacing for Narrative MC Success handout.
Closing: Ask each student what he or she found surprising about his or her personal requirements (e.g.
I read faster than I thought. I need more time for Pre-reading.)

Teacher Tips During the Timing and Pacing

Which students appeared to utilize Pre-reading strategies such as surveying the reading passage and
questions?
Which students appear to be reading at a good pace?
Which students seem alert with good posture and energy while reading?
Look for students who are underlining or making notations in the margin of the reading passage in
relationship to the questions.
Look for students who appeared anxious and/or frustrated.
Did any students skip any multiple-choice questions?
Did any students lose seconds by remaining on a multiple-choice question too long?
Which students appeared to have to re-read the passage several times while mining for multiple-
choice answers?

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Key Points to Remember
The timing and pacing activity is designed for teachable moments. Students should be working freely
knowing that they can receive teacher assistance with a hint or nudge in the right direction to develop
their responses.
Narrative texts demand a sequence and can be described as a pattern, though not always an obvious one.
Provide opportunities for using graphic organizers to help students see these sequences, patterns, or
relationships; this enables students to read more effectively.

TRY THIS for Discussion

Skimming and scanning is essential to timed reading tests. Distribute sections of newspapers to students
for a Reading Scavenger Hunt
Give students 5-minutes to find the following in their newspapers:
1. a car at least 12 years old in the want ads 6. a road, highway, or street
2. something that plays music (word or picture) 7. an ordinal number
3. a state that borders Canada 8. any fall month
4. the word police 9. someplace you could sleep
5. a city temperature above 70 F (21 C) 10. a plural possessive noun
11. someone who works in Washington D.C. 12. a country in Europe 13. any
kind of meat

Have students share their findings. How many items were they able to find in five-minutes?
How did they feel knowing they were competing against their classmates during this scavenger hunt?

SHARE THIS Reading Tip

Since a narrative text tells a story, active readers will get more out of the story if they begin with a
series of questions to guide their reading. What are the basics of the plot? What is the conflict? Who
are the characters?

Assessment
Review Pacing for Narrative MC Success handout to be sure no one has unrealistic expectations of
his/her timing needs.
Enter Narrative Text Multiple-Choice Profile data for each student. (Please refer to Reading Lesson 2
for the definitions of each area.)

Follow-up
Assign an appropriate story from the curriculum and give 10 MC and 1 OE questions. (Give students a
few days to accomplish this because they need to find a 30-minute period of time to spend on this one
task.)
Distribute Time-On-Task handout for students to complete as they work on the narrative reading
sample.
At the end of the 30-minute period, students should write a reflection about how they feel about the
approach to time usage, and where they can bank time and/or might need to spend more than the
average.

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 Narrative Text Multiple-Choice Strategies Profile Chart

Recog Recog Extrap Recog Tentative Drawing Text

Students Names Theme Details Info Retell Organiz Purpose Meaning Opinion Conc Conventions

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 Lesson 14: Practice Timing and Pacing with Narrative Text
Multiple-Choice
Pacing for Narrative MC Success
Use this pacing guide to assist you with monitoring your timing and pacing while reading Narrative Text and
answering multiple-choice questions.

Title of Work: __________________________Author:___________________________

BEGIN SURVEYING: _____________ (start time)

END SURVEYING: ___________

BEGIN READING: ___________

END READING: ____________

TIME EACH MULTIPLE CHOICE: (You may record only start times, but it is important to be able to go
back and tabulate exact time used for each question.)

BEGAN COMPLETED

MC 1 ___________ ___________
MC 2 ___________ ___________
MC 3 ___________ ___________
MC 4 ___________ ___________
MC 5 ___________ ___________

CHECK OVER WORK: _____________________ FINISH TIME: ____________________

Follow-up: Use this valuable information to reflect on your time usage for this timing and pacing exercise.
What are your strengths? Where do you need to make adjustments? Where may you need to adjust times to
bank in some places and spend more time in others?

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

NAME ________________________________________________ DATE ________________

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 Time-on-Task Worksheet
Use the reading assignment that your teacher will provide to complete this worksheet. Find a time and place
where you will have an uninterrupted 30-minute period (add 5 minutes or so for the time it will take you to
write the times on this page) and a view of a clock with a second hand so that you can record the times to the
second.

Title of work: __________________________Author:___________________________

BEGIN SURVEYING: _____________ (start time)

END SURVEYING: ___________

BEGIN READING: ___________

END READING: ____________

TIME EACH MULTIPLE CHOICE: (You may record only start times, but it is important to be able to go back
and tabulate exact time used for each question.)

BEGAN COMPLETED

MC 1 ___________ ___________
MC 2 ___________ ___________
MC 3 ___________ ___________
MC 4 ___________ ___________
MC 5 ___________ ___________
MC 6 ___________ ___________
MC 7 ___________ ___________
MC 8 ___________ ___________
MC 9 ___________ ___________
MC 10___________ ___________

OPEN-ENDED BEGAN: _______________ COMPLETED: ________________

CHECK OVER WORK: _____________________ FINISH TIME: ____________________

Follow-up: Use this valuable information to reflect on your time usage on this portion of the test. What are
your strengths? Where can you adjust your time to bank in some places and spend more time in others?
Write a reflection.

NAME ________________________________________________ DATE ________________

Lesson 14: Practice Timing and Pacing with Narrative Text Multiple-Choice
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