Tactics again this week!
Before we start to get really serious and start to tackle lots of full length question papers and mock exams, we just need to make sure that all the children have the right skills, both in terms of tactics for each section and of course more importantly, time management.
So for the different elements of the CEM 11+ we recommend:
Synonyms: Avoid words that kind of ‘look’ the same, for example deter and defer.
Antonyms: Watch out for words that look like they could be antonyms but aren’t, for example insist and consist.
Comprehension: Use the method that best works for you, for more details please look back to week 33 of the ‘diary of a tutor’.
NVR: Concentrate on one aspect of the pictures first and eliminate any options that you can. Then start to look at another aspect, and then possibly a third aspect. If push comes to shove and time is a factor, isolate two answers that are almost identical; the answer
is almost certainly to be one of those options.
MATHS: Use the tips that you have learned for speeding up. Try and be intuitive about how to tackle questions, for example: if you come up against the following sort of question where you have to find the correct answer (00-99)
In Esther’s purse, there are an equal number of 20p coins and 2p coins.
The total amount of money in her purse adds up to £3.52.
How many coins in total are there in Esther’s purse?
Realistically, it’s probably going to take too long to solve – therefore guess and move on.
However if the same question had options A-E and the options were 22, 24, 32, 40, 50 – USE THE FACT THAT THE ANSWER IS THERE IN FRONT OF YOU and start by seeing which option works.
Shuffled Sentences: Look for words that simply jump out as not belonging in the sentence:
discovered Jasmine the floorboards money simply the under some – Jasmine discovered some money under the floorboards
longing we for rest a all was were – we were all longing for a rest
Cloze Always, always read on PAST the missing word to make sure the sentence makes sense. Some children like to complete what they think are the easier answers first when tackling a Cloze passage, but they need to understand that by doing that they run the risk of
losing their place on the answer sheet.
This week’s homework is here:Week 37 Leap Homework
