11 Plus Exams Forum

My DN is having great difficulty on Type 6 VR question type. He seems to be doing quite well on the other question type except the one above.

Would appreciate any tips to improve his ability on this type of question.

e.g of such a question

The soldiet COLSED in the heat

Ans: add 3 letters LAP to make COLLAPSED

My DD doesnt find them easily too. I ask her to try and see if she can work out the what the word is immediately. If not then I ask her to work from the answer sheet and try and place each given answer on to the different parts of the word. The word collapsed isnt the easiest and its quite long and sometimes when they dont know the word there isnt much they can do. Shorter words are much easier to play around with. This is one section where good vocabulary really helps.

What I do to get around the vocabulary issues is to reinforce getting all questions right in sections she doesnt need vocabulary like Type C, G and P and Z questions. She has a tendency of making silly mistakes and I ask her now to have a pen and paper so she doesnt try and remember it all in her head but write the codes down as she works them. This has been working quite well in covering up for areas where vocab isnt her stongest.

Dear Mh1

Type F, is one of the harder types of questions, many of my children "hate" them. However if they keep to the method and technique, they can be worked out. Speed writing is the essence.

:: The missing word can go at the beginning, at the end or between any of the letters.

:: The sentence is always a clue to what the whole word should be, NOT the missing three letter word.

:: Sometimes you can see the big word and missing word immediately:

The children GATED in the hall
The children GATHERED in the Hall

:: If you cannot see the answer straight away start looking for letter blends that do NOT go together. e.g.

His general KNOWGE was outstanding.

Possible answers:

WED
AGE
LED
ONE
BAN

You KNOW that the letters W and G do NOT go together; you therefore know the missing word MUST go between these letters. Try sounding out the words from the options given, if not WRITE IT DOWN in a logical manner, not randomly.

KNOWWEDGE = not a word
KNOWAGEED = not a word
KNOWLEDGE = definitely a word, does it make sense in the sentence?

His general KNOWLEDGE was outstanding = yes, mark the answer LED on the answer sheet, there is no need to go any further.

:: You can also look for letter blends that often DO GO together e.g.

He was a very ABLE student.

Possible answers:

MAP
RIM
SIP
CAP
RIP

You KNOW that often words end in ABLE therefore start by trying to put the words offered in front of ABLE. Try sounding out the words from the options given, if not WRITE IT DOWN in a logical manner, not randomly.

MAPABLE = No
RIMABLE = No
SIPABLE = No
CAPABLE = Yes, does it make sense in the sentence?

He was a very CAPABLE student. = Yes, mark the answer CAP on the answer sheet, there is no need to go any further.

:: If there are no clues from the letter blends then you will have to sound out or write out all possibilities.

Hope this helps

Patricia

Dear Sherry_d

Vocabulary questions are without a doubt the hardest to get right.

I EXPECT 100% marks in certain areas to give that leeway in the vocaubulary questions.

All codes [C L N U]

All maths [G I K P]

Where does the letter come from [O and R]

Zs

I expect children to follow certain methods and techniques, as in the above post for type F, before they are allowed to take an educated guess

Another example: Compound Words. They work directly from the answer sheet to save time. If they are unsure I expect them to write out ALL the possible combinations [9 words] they must write out the words next to each other e.g. COME and DIES written out next to each other COMEDIES. Again speed writing is the essence.

I am also an iron maiden when it comes to making notes. The children are working at such speed that keeping their workings in their heads is a recipe for silly mistakes. If they get any questions wrong in their tests [which they complete for homework] due to either not following known method and techniques or they have not made relevant notes, I just look them in the eyes and say " Tell me Johnny, why did you get this wrong" their answer " beacuse I didnt follow your methods" or "I didnt make notes." They know.

I give children a set of rules. One of the most important rules is: MAKE NOTES!

Do find out whether the child has to use the question booklet for workings out or if they are required to use rough paper and not allowed to write on the question booklet.

In Bucks, rough paper is NOT allowed for the 11 plus but the 12 plus requires them NOT to use the question booklet, they MUST use rough paper.

In areas where the child is not allowed to write on the question booklet I encourage [well insisit] that they square off the corner of the rough paper, where they jot down all the question numbers of questions they are unsure of and need to go back to.

Patricia

Patricia you really are a star and I wouldnt have tackled VR without your help.

I have a little notepad of all your tips and they work amazingly well. I have been becoming an iron lady too on late insisting on note taking and I need to really push it much more to eliminate those silly mistakes. She needs to get those questions right as I said that her vocab isnt too great. I will use your tips on the F questions and see how she gets on.

I know some parents refer to question types, what are these exactly. Do all VR questions are classified into categories. If so who did this categorisation , is it Bond or NFER or Susan Daughtrey. Are these question types are common across all counties. We live in Slough borough and using Bond series for VR practice but I dont find Bond using this word as Question type.

So I am confused when mh1 refers to Type 6 VR Question type

and

sherry_d refers to question types as Type C, G and P and Z questions

Can both of you and others please clarify this categorisation of questions

My son is preparing for 11+ with the help of 1-1 tution at home and tutor never used these words question types. I am doubt if my tutor is covering all as needed

Help is appreciated

clarify this categorisation of questions

Have a look here. http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... f=3&t=3740

mitasol wrote:

clarify this categorisation of questions

Have a look here. http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... f=3&t=3740

thanks lot, so these are not standard acroos industry/country/authors.

muvvalac wrote:

mitasol wrote:

clarify this categorisation of questions

Have a look here. http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... f=3&t=3740

thanks lot, so these are not standard acroos industry/country/authors.

no they are not. IPS has a different lettering system again. The 11+ is no longer standard across the country Kent and Medway have different tests from each other despite Medway being in the county of kent

Hi,
All these codes are a mystery for me, but I wil have to understand all of them if necessary for my DS.

However, I wonder what I need to do for the Birmingham exams...

Which way should I go in VR? Bond book ? IPS? Or something else?

Jane, having a BIG headache!