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Teachers & Schools OSSLT Practice Tests Resources Google Drive Add-On

OSSLT Strategies and Resources

  • Direct Questions
  • Indirect Questions
  • Short Answer
  • News Reports
  • Opinion Piece

OSSLT Strategies, Tips and, Resources

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OSSLT Strategies

There are several different types of questions on the OSSLT. If you practice being able to identify which type of question you're looking at, you will have an easier time giving a full-mark answer.

Multiple Choice

There are two types of multiple choice questions on the OSSLT:

Direct questions are questions which can be answered by copying information directly from the text, like dates, names, ages, etc.

Strategies for answering direct questions

Indirect questions require you to figure something out. The OSSLT will often ask indirect questions like "What happened first?" or "Which word has the closest meaning?"

Strategies for answering indirect questions

Written Answer

There are three main types of written questions on the OSSLT: Short Answer, News Report, and A Series of Paragraphs Expressing an Opinion

In Short Answer questions, you are asked to look at the reading material exclusively when answering a question. There are three subtypes of this question type: Short Writing, Close Reading, and Main Idea.

Strategies for Short Answer questions

News Reports should follow established conventions from news media. In these questions, you should use the headline and photo provided to write a short news story.

Strategies for writing News Reports

In the Series of Paragraphs Expressing an Opinion, you will answer a question provided by EQAO in several paragraphs. This is the longest piece of writing on the OSSLT, so good planning is very important.

Strategies for writing Opinion Pieces
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