Making Connections: Analyzing Texts for Better Exam Understanding

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Making Connections: Analyzing Texts for Better Exam Understanding

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson you will be able to make connections between paragraphs and analyze how texts work in order to acquire a better understanding of exam texts.

Introduce the learning objective to the students and explain what they will be able to do at the end of the lesson.

What do you already know about analyzing texts?

What are Paragraphs?

Paragraphs are a group of related sentences that develop a single idea. They are the building blocks of any text.

Ask students if they know what a paragraph is and explain the concept to them. Have them identify paragraphs in a text.

Connecting Paragraphs

Connecting paragraphs involves analyzing how ideas are related and how they flow from one paragraph to the next. This helps create a cohesive and unified text.

Explain to the students how to connect paragraphs and why it is important. Provide examples of texts with good paragraph connections.

Exam Texts

Exam texts are designed to test your reading and comprehension skills. They often have specific structures and formats that can be analyzed to improve your understanding.

Explain to the students what exam texts are and how they differ from other types of texts. Discuss the importance of being able to analyze exam texts.

Text Features

Text features such as headings, subheadings, and lists can help you better understand a text's structure and organization. They also provide clues to the author's main points and ideas.

Discuss the different text features and how they can be used to analyze a text. Have students identify text features in a sample text.

Analyzing Texts

Analyzing a text involves looking at its structure, language, and content to gain a deeper understanding of its meaning and purpose.

Explain to the students how to analyze a text and provide examples of what to look for. Have them practice analyzing a short text.

Practice

Now it's time to put your skills to the test! 

Work in twos.

The following text has been split up into paragraphs.

Analyze and identify the connections between paragraphs and try to make the text whole again.

Provide a sample text for the students to analyze. Have them work in pairs or small groups to identify paragraph connections.

Conclusion

By making connections between paragraphs and analyzing texts, you can acquire a better understanding of exam texts. 

Let's see if it helped you gain more understanding of the material. 

Work on the questions alone.

Summarize the key points of the lesson and encourage the students to continue practicing their skills.

Let's discuss the answers

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.