Locate information within an article. With this section, you must be able to locate specific information from the question within the article. Usually, you do this by using text features. Ask yourself, why does an author use italics, bolded font or bullet points. Is the information presented a certain way like in a graph, chart, map or list? Why? Get in the habit of looking for these sort of clues and discerning the information within. Then, it's a matter of looking for specific details that are introduced by the questions.
Organize information. This goes hand in hand with locating the information. Usually, this is done via a graphic organizer of some sort. Sometimes, depending on the grade level of the student, the student can make a mental list of things that they see that are in common, or different such as themes or details that are similar. The way that the information is organized in the article can be several different ways. Is it chronological? Does it follow a cause/effect pattern? Are there things to compare or contrast? Does it use flashback or other literary devices? Since there are only a few different ways to organize information, figuring out how it's organized lets you predict the outcome and what kind of questions that the article will have.
Synthesizing information. Synthesizing information involves taking information from several different sources and being able to draw conclusions from that information. For example, if you are making a chart where you are differentiating between three different colleges, you would want to see how each college measures up to several different criteria, such as location, cost, living accommodations, meal plans and whether they have your program of study. Then you would fill out that chart for College A, College B, etc. Once filled out you would synthesize how each one measures up to the other.
Evaluate information. Evaluate is somewhat of a misnomer in this situation. When you are evaluating information on the FCAT, you are trying to discern whether the information presented is a viable source. You must know and understand what primary and secondary sources are, and how they affect the text.