FTCE GK EXAMNovember, 2015

Essay, Reading, English Language Arts, Math (please note that some of examples in this guide --and the corresponding power point presentation -- were derived from the CliffsNotes, FTCE General Knowledge Test Prep [3rd edition]).

Test PrepDr. Megan Schramm-Possinger

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The ESSAY

The ESSAY

1) “Write a thesis statement that provides a clear focus for your essay. State a point of view in your thesis that guides the purpose and scope of your essay. Consider the larger point you are trying to convey to the reader and what you want the reader to understand about the topic. Avoid a thesis statement framed as a statement of fact, a question, or an announcement.”

2) “Develop the essay according to your purpose. Develop paragraphs fully to give the reader examples and reasons that support your thesis. The key is to develop a topic by using concrete, informative details.”

3) “Tie your main ideas together with a brief conclusion. Provide a concluding paragraph that ties together the essay's point m s and offers insights about the topic. Avoid a conclusion that merely restates the thesis and repeats the supporting details. Check your time.”

4) Proofread (read aloud to yourself)

(From CliffsNotes)

Sample Prompt:

“Teaching has become a profession that is considered to be fundamental to the health of our nation. Some people contend teaching certification should be granted only after completion of a university teacher education program. Others maintain teaching certification via an alternate route through non-university entities such as school districts, education service centers, and private agencies is appropriate. Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each of these paths to teacher certification.”

• Take some time to list the advantages and disadvantages; let’s share some ideas with the group (BE VERY CAREFUL TO READ THE PROMPT SO YOU ADDRESS THE QUESTION DIRECTLY)

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Example of a first paragraph:

In this paragraph, what are the advantages?

What are the disadvantages?

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Teaching is a highly complex task. Becoming a skilled teacher requires knowledge of best practices – derived by educational theories-, content area expertise, and extensive practice in the field. University-based certification programs are often constructed to increase the likelihood that all teachers will have these competencies; however, some university-based programs are of higher quality than others, and most require substantial financial and time commitments. These costs can dissuade those who could be talented teachers from entering the field. At the same time, although alternate route training programs may make entering the teaching profession more appealing -- due to the less lengthy and less costly training processes --, these shortened training programs may or may not prepare teachers to be skilled at their craft. If this is so then the United States could gain a larger teaching force, but suffer the consequences of lower teacher quality. These costs and benefits will surely affect the health of our nation.

Please note the differences between these two paragraphs:

Paragraph two (adapted from CliffsNotes):

Teaching well is difficult. I like some of my teachers, especially my English teachers. I had a few good history teachers, too. Most teachers are good at what they do, yet sometimes the way they describe the material is confusing, especially when teaching us math problems. I once had a teacher who started and stopped a math problem three times. Teaching algebra is never easy. You must solve for “x” and “y” a certain way. I remember a substitute I had for math one year, and his descriptions were confusing, so the class ended up being exceptionally hard. I do not know what I would do without my favorite teacher who helped me with my homework, Mr. Bowman.

Teaching subject matter effectively involves five simple rules. The first rule is to know your content. Read through the material, practice the problems, and expand your knowledge base repeatedly. This will help you build concept-specific schemas that are increasingly clear and accurate. The second rule is to make sure you can explain what you know to a specific audience. An understanding of what your students already know and how they perceive the material you are presenting is imperative if you are to facilitate their learning. If you are unsure what your students already know, administer a formative assessment. Also, use examples that pertain to your students’ lives and interests. By using these examples, you can be sure that your students can visualize what it is you are trying to teach. The third rule is to never abandon best practices in classroom management. Give your students a sense of safety, comfort and belonging in your class. If your students make poor choices, be sure to calmly explain the consequences of their actions. This will ensure that your students know that choices are associated with consistent consequences; and next time, you will have an opportunity to praise them for having made good decisions. The fourth rule is that all students have different needs, strengths and weaknesses. Whether your students are visual or auditory learners, make sure they have ample opportunities to learn the material in different ways, work hard on the subjects they find to be more challenging, and shine when they are doing what they love. Finally, the fifth rule is to make sure you use relevant data to make instructional decisions. A student’s misconception can be an opportunity, or it can lead to more extensive confusion – and even confuse other students in some cases. By following these five simple rules, teachers can assume their roles effectively and foster their students’ content area knowledge.

List these differences:

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SAMPLE CLOSING (“Tie your main ideas together in the last paragraph – offer insights about the topic”)

In sum, teachers’ influence on educating our citizenry, thereby enabling our nation to retain its global standing, is incontestable. Whether we can incentivize entering the profession, while also ensuring our teachers are trained extensively to effectively assume their professional roles, is an extant issue. Thus, we must strive to find a balance that protects us from increasing quantity – or our pool of educators -- at the cost of quality and longevity.

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Sample Reading Passage (from CliffsNotes)When Hernando Cortéz left Cuba in February of 1519 with 550 soldiers on 11 ships, he could have no idea that one of the oldest soldiers in his company would become the last living survivor of his great conquest. Bernal Díaz not only participated in all of the great events of the conquest, but as an old, old man living almost without funds in Honduras, he happened to read an idealized and romanticized history of the conquest written by a priest and determined—at the age of 79—to set the record straight. Though Bernal Díaz died at the age of 84, he was able to complete his eminently readable six-volume account of the conquest of Mexico. Though the priest's version of the conquest tells that Cortéz secretly burned the boats of the expedition so that his men would be unable to retreat and would have to advance, Díaz corrects him. Cortéz, says Díaz, was appalled to learn that the boats had been attacked by sea worms and that they were no longer seaworthy. Moreover, the fittings of the ships were made of metal that could be salvaged and used to make both guns and ammunition necessary for the conquest. According to Díaz, Cortéz called his men together and informed them of the problems, then they voted to burn the ships. Díaz also sets the record straight with regard to Doña Marina, the brilliant girl from a Yucatan tribe who spoke several of the Mexican dialects and thus became invaluable to Cortéz as interpreter, negotiator, and guide. He acknowledges that Doña Marina bore Cortéz a son and that she was with Cortéz when Cortéz's wife died shortly after she arrived in Mexico City from Cuba. This situation was the center of a firestorm of gossip. But he tells how Cortéz arranged a marriage for Doña Marina with one of his lieutenants before marching off toward the Northwest on a new exploration and conquest and vanishing somewhere near the Sea of Cortéz—the inland bay between lower southern California and the mainland, the bay that bears his name. Almost incidentally, Díaz describes how some indolent aristocrats from Spain, expecting to make their fortunes in the new world, were given large grants of land on some of the Caribbean islands. But, of course, they could earn little from their lands without workers, so they approached Bernal Díaz with the proposition that they would provide the financing if he would attack an island and carry back its population to bondage. His reward would be half of the captives. Díaz showed his humanity and humility as he refused this partnership, declaring such an attack on the homes, culture, and lifestyle of free peoples a terrible injustice.

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Identify the most accurate statement of the central idea of this passage. A. Bernal Díaz corrected the record of Cortéz's conquest of Mexico. B. Bernal Díaz proved that Cortéz did not trick his men into marching to Mexico by burning their boats. C. Hernando Cortéz conquered Mexico in one of the greatest invasions the world has ever known. D. Doña Marina was a great help to Cortéz during his great battles in Mexico

From this passage one could infer that the author:A. likes Cortéz very much.B. thinks Díaz was a fine man. C. believes that Doña Marina and Cortéz murdered Cortéz's wife.D. thinks the priest's version of the conquest is superior to that of Díaz.

All of the following pieces of information relate to Cortéz's conquest EXCEPTA. Cortéz asked his men to vote on whether or not to burn their ships. B. Doña Marina was with Cortéz at the time of his wife's death. C. the ships of the expedition had been attacked by sea worms and were no longer seaworthy. D. Bernal Díaz refused to lead an expedition to bring back islanders as slaves.

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1 Know ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS ledge 25%

• Evaluate correct placement of modifiers.• Apply knowledge of parallelism, including parallel expressions for

parallel ideas.• Apply knowledge of a variety of effective structures (e.g., recognizing

fragments, comma splices, run-on sentences, syntax errors).• Determine patterns of organization in a written passage (i.e., modes of

rhetoric). %• Determine the meaning of unknown words, multiple-meaning words, and

phrases in context.• Determine and select the correct use of commonly confused words,

misused words, and phrases.• Determine diction and tone appropriate to a given audience. conventions

50% • Determine and select standard verb forms.

• Determine and select inappropriate shifts in verb tense.• Determine and select agreement between subject and verb.

• Determine and select agreement between pronoun and antecedent.• Determine and select inappropriate pronoun shifts.• Determine and select clear pronoun references.

• Determine and select pronoun case forms (e.g., subjective, objective, possessive).

• Evaluate the correct use of adjectives and adverbs.• Determine and select appropriate comparative and superlative degree

forms.• Demonstrate command of standard spelling conventions.

• Demonstrate command of standard punctuation/capitalization.

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1) Modifiers WHAT IS A MODIFIER? A MODIFIER IS A WORD, PHRASE, OR CLAUSE WHICH FUNCTIONS AS AN ADJECTIVE OR AN ADVERB TO DESCRIBE A WORD OR MAKE ITS MEANING MORE SPECIFIC. MODIFIERS MUST BE CLOSE TO THE WORD IT MODIFIES .

• Princess Beatrice, who is starting a history degree at Goldsmiths College, London, later this year, was photographed running in the surf on the island of St Barts with her American boyfriend Dave Clark dressed in a blue bikini last month.”

Please view the sentence below. What is the modifier? How can it be moved closer to the word it is modifying?

• The wildlife scientist saw several male moose driving through the woods.

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2) Parallelisms: How would you fix this sentence?

Arnold is both friendly and a considerate person.

3) FRAGMENTS –WHAT IS AN INDEPENDENT CLAUSE? WHAT IS A COMMA SPLICE?

AN INDEPENDENT CLAUSE IS A GROUP OF WORDS CONTAINING A SUBJECT AND A PREDICATE (VERB).

COMMA SPLICE

THE HORSE RACE WAS SUSPENSEFUL FROM START TO FINISH, MY FRIEND’S HORSE WON THE RACE.

COMMONLY MISUSED/CONFUSED WORDS:

ALL TOGETHER: TO INCLUDE EVERYBODY OR EVERYTHING (THE PRINCIPALS LED A WORKSHOP ON TIME MANAGEMENT ALL TOGETHER.)

ALTOGETHER: TO BE TOTALLY INCLUSIVE

4) ALSO STUDY SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT- A SINGULAR SUBJECT SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY A SINGULAR VERB. ALSO STUDY PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT.

A chorus of cheers were heard from the crowd. • What is the subject of this sentence?• What is the verb?• Is this sentence written correctly?

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5) Pronouns/antecedents A woman who works hard to achieve success may find they are not accepted as equals in certain situations.

What is the antecedent in this sentence? What is the pronoun? Is there agreement? Why or why not?

6) 6) STUDY SPELLING• Believe• Occasion• Patted• successful• Receive• Noticeable• Beginning

7) PUNCTUATION Use of commas Use of semicolons Use of colons I will need apples, pumpkins, and cinnamon. We were living in Newtown, Pennsylvania, before we moved to Florida. I broke my clock; therefore, I could not tell what time it was.8) TENSES Present: I work Past: I worked Future: I will work; he will work Present perfect: I have worked; he has written (started in the past and is

ongoing) Past perfect: I had worked; she had written (past action that occurred before

a previous past action)

Future perfect: I will have worked; she will have completed (past action that will occur before a future action)

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NOTES:

MATH operations 17%

Knowledge of number sense, concepts, and operations 17%

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Compare real numbers and identify their location on a number line.• Solve real-world problems involving the four operations with rational numbers.

• Evaluate expressions involving order of operations. Knowledge of geometry an 2 Knowledge of geometry and measurement 21% ment 21%

• Identify and classify simple two- and three-dimensional figures according to their mathematical properties.

• Solve problems involving ratio and proportion (e.g., scaled drawings, models, real-world scenarios).

• Determine an appropriate measurement unit and form (e.g., scientific notation) for real-world problems involving length, area, volume, or mass.

• Solve real-world measurement problems including fundamental units3 Knowledge of alge 3 Knowledge of algebraic thinking and the coordinate plane 29% f

• Determine whether two algebraic expressions are equivalent by applying properties of operations or equality.

• Identify an algebraic expression, equation, or inequality that models a real-world situation.

• Solve equations and inequalities (e.g., linear, quadratic) graphically or algebraically.• Determine and solve equations or inequalities, graphically or algebraically, in real-

world problems.• Graph and interpret a linear equation in real-world problems (e.g., use data to plot

points, explain slope and y-intercept, determine additional solutions).• Identify relations that satisfy the definition of a function.

• Compare the slopes of two linear functions represented algebraically and graphically.

4 Knowledge of 4 Knowledge of probability, statistics, and data interpretation 33% y, statistics, and data interpretation 33%

• Analyze data presented in various forms (e.g., histograms, bar graphs, circle graphs, pictographs, line plots, tables) to solve problems.

• Analyze and evaluate how the presentation of data can lead to different or inappropriate interpretations in the context of a real-world situation.

• Calculate range, mean, median, and mode of data sets.• Interpret the meaning of measures of central tendency (i.e., mean, median, mode)

and dispersion (i.e., range, standard deviation) in the context of a real-world situation.

• Analyze and evaluate how the selection of statistics (e.g., mean, median, mode) can lead to different or inappropriate interpretations in the context of a real-world

situation.• Solve and interpret real-world problems involving probability using counting

procedures, tables, and tree diagrams.• Infer and analyze conclusions from sample surveys, experiments, and

observational studies

1) If the company would like to give the impression that its employees are highly paid, which salary statistics should it use?

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Employee Salaries Title Yearly salary

President $120,000

Office manager 40,000

Foreperson 60,000

Laborer 1 15,000

Laborer 2 15,000

Laborer 3 15,000

Laborer 4 15,000

A. minimum B. mode

C. medianD. mean

2) PROBABILITIES

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• Ellen has a bag full of 5 red, 7 yellow and 8 black marbles. If she draws one marble from the bag without looking, what is the probability it will be black?

• First ask: How many marbles are there in all?• Second: How many are black?• Then create a ratio: the dividend/divisor = quotient (or

probability)Or, the number of black marbles is divided by the total number of marbles

3) CORRELATIONAL STUDIES, EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES, CONTROL GROUPS, STANDARD DEVIATION, MEAN, MEDIAN, MODE, CONFOUNDING VARIABLES• Forearm length is positively correlated with reading ability – why?

• If I randomly assign participants to multiple conditions, is that an experimental study or a non-experimental study?

• I administered a placebo to 1/3rd of the participants. Why?

• How would I compute the mean, median and mode?

• What does the standard deviation tell me?

• If I want to evaluate reading comprehension on a typewritten test and the participants vary in their ability to type, why would this variation be a confounding variable?

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4) LINEAR EQUATIONS

• Yael bought 4 pairs of shoes and two pairs of boots for $250.00. All shoes cost $25.00 less than boots. How much did Yael pay for one pair of boots?

4(x – 25) + 2x = 250

4x – 100 + 2x = 250

6x -100 = 250

6x = 250 + 100

X= 58.30

How can I check my answer?

5) Solve: 4x – 3 = x + 1 3

3 (4x -3) = 3x + 3 1 3

4x – 3 = 3x + 3 simplify

4x – 3 – 3x = 3x + 3 -3x

-3 + x = 3

-3 + x = 3 + 3

X = 6

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Solving inequalities:

6x -5 < 37

6x – 5 + 5 < 37 +5

6x < 42

6x < 42

6 6

X < 7

Solving quadratic equations:

X2 – 5x -24 = 0

( ) ( ) = 0

(x ) (x ) = 0 we need the product to be x2 so x is the “first term”

Now, the second terms must yield a product of -24 and they must add to equal -5

Since the product of -8 and 3 is 24, and the sum of -8 and 3 equals -5, we can use -8 and 3 as second terms

(x – 8) (x + 3) = 0

If we set each factor to zero and solve for x, then x – 8 = 0 or x + 3 = 0

Thus, x = 8 or x = -3

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Geometry:

The hypotenuse of a right triangle is 30 centimeters long and one leg is 24 centimeters long. Find the area of the triangle.

Make a sketch, then find a, then solve for area.

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30 cm

24 cm

a

a2 + b2 = c2

a2 + (24cm)2 = (30cm)2

a2 + 576 = 900

a2 = 900 - 576

a2 = 324

a = √324 or a = - √324

a = 18 (-18 should be rejected, measures of length are nonnegative)

Now, we can find the area of the triangle

A = ½bh

A = ½ (24cm) (18cm)

216 cm2

In summary-

Look at the list of competencies on the test (state website) Highlight the topics that are unfamiliar/you don’t recall that

clearly Feel free to utilize the resources listed above

Practice, practice, practice

Resources: www.XAMonline.com http://www.testprepreview.com/ftce_practice.htm http://www.studyguidezone.com/ftcetest.htm http://www.pocket-prep.com/ftce-practice-test/ http://www.mathhelp.com/ftce-math-test-prep/ http://study.com/academy/course/ftce-general-knowledge-test.html http://thinktimeinc.com/ftce-products/tests/general-knowledge-test/ http://www.gohmath.com/#!teacher-resources/c1ghi http://study.com/academy/topic/ftce-algebraic-thinking.html http://www.yourepeat.com/g/FTCE?o=date&d=short (order CliffsNotes, FTCE, GK, 3rd Edition)