Comprehension and shuffled sentence help

CEM 11 Plus is the selective entrance exam administered by the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Department of Education, University of Durham.

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now
Trafmum82
Posts: 91
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:04 pm

Comprehension and shuffled sentence help

Post by Trafmum82 »

My DS seems to be struggling with comprehension and shuffled sentences and I was wondering if anyone has any tips on what I can do to help?

From what I have worked out from watching him do the comprehension he reads the passage quickly and doesn't digest any of it, but doesn't have time to read the passage slower and then answer the questions in the time given (its for the CEM exam so is very tight on time).

We have tried various different ways - such as skipping the passage completely (I know its not recommended) and starting the questions, reading the passage as he answers them. This seems to give him better results but I am worried about him using this method, in case the questions are all mixed up through the text in the exam and then he struggles to spot them, so we have gone back to reading the text then answering the questions with lower score results!

Regarding the shuffled sentences, again the word doesn't seem to just jump out at him, in a CEM mock exam we tried he had 16 sentences to answer in 6 mins and he managed 4!! He got all of them correct, but it takes him a long time to figure it out.

He scores highly in maths, nvr, and cloze, antonyms and synonyms are also not a problem, so it is these two that seem to be letting him down score wise, he is barely scoring 50% for these. I was wondering if anyone has any tips that could help him?
Daogroupie
Posts: 11100
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Comprehension and shuffled sentence help

Post by Daogroupie »

You have posted this in VR and it needs to be in the CEM section.

Take a read of the CEM section, lots of good tips there.

SS is the hardest of the CEM section so everyone will be getting lower marks. It is much better if you write out the sentences rather than trying to put it together in your head.

I find students who read challenging classic texts are much better at recognising the sentence. But writing it out really helps.

On comp he needs to be looking for key things as he reads. They can't ask about everything so I think you are probably better to read the questions first if he is not digesting the comp.

Mods can you move this to CEM pls? DG
Trafmum82
Posts: 91
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:04 pm

Re: Comprehension and shuffled sentence help

Post by Trafmum82 »

Thanks so much for the reply, sorry didn't realise it needed to be in the CEM section, I'm new to the 11 plus forums, although I have found them really helpful so far!

I was a bit worried reading the questions first being a bit of a gamble, as everything I have researched seems to suggest the best way to do it is reading the text first! However, it seems to work much better for DS, it seems to give him purpose when reading the text, as he knows what he is looking for. When he reads questions first he gets about 70% correct, when he reads passage first its as low as 50%, I just don't want to be telling him to do the wrong thing!
Daogroupie
Posts: 11100
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Comprehension and shuffled sentence help

Post by Daogroupie »

The right thing is what works for him. Chase the marks and go for the method that gets the most correct answers. CEM comp is shorter and less complex so if that way round works for him then go for it. DG
Trafmum82
Posts: 91
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:04 pm

Re: Comprehension and shuffled sentence help

Post by Trafmum82 »

Thanks for the help. I feel much better about encouraging him to do this method now, its the method he prefers to use and the method with better scores for him. I think I just got so caught up in it not being the 'correct' method that I was thinking of that rather than his scores, which seems a bit silly now in hindsight :oops:
Daogroupie
Posts: 11100
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Comprehension and shuffled sentence help

Post by Daogroupie »

Not silly at all. I am one of those who recommend reading the passage first but that is in standard format comprehension. CEM is such a different animal that the rule book needs to be thrown out of the window. I have spent a lot of time experimenting with the right approach to CEM and have concluded that students need to find the way that works for them. There is no one size fits all for CEM. Whatever gets the most marks in a timed section is the right approach for the individual student. DG
Post Reply
11 Plus Platform - Online Practice Makes Perfect - Try Now