How do I Prepare for the OSSLT?
Notice a dreadful buzz in the air?
It might be the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)! This mandatory test is required for all Grade 10 students in Ontario to graduate and earn their high school diploma. The next round is scheduled for March/April, leaving you a month or so to prepare.
Many students feel anxious when they realize how much this test affects their success. But the best way to fight anxiety is with effective OSSLT study strategies. Helping your child prepare is the most effective way to boost confidence and improve performance.
In this blog, we’ll cover the best ways to prepare for the OSSLT. Be sure to read until the end for a bonus tip on OSSLT prep!
Reading, reading, reading
Strong literacy skills start with effective reading strategies which are essential for OSSLT success. This means more than just recognizing words—it’s about understanding how sentences and paragraphs work together to convey ideas. Expanding vocabulary and recognizing grammar and stylistic conventions will also help. While these skills are useful for writing, reading comprehension is a key focus of the OSSLT.
Encourage your child to read a variety of materials. Novels, dramas, news articles, short stories, and even graphs or charts expose them to different writing styles. While reading, ask them questions:
- Can they summarize what they read?
- What supporting details stood out?
- How does the information apply more broadly?
Practicing these skills will make OSSLT reading comprehension questions feel more familiar.
Some of our tutors at TutorShark have compiled a list of their favourite books to study for high schoolers.
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- A literary classic that deals with serious themes of racial injustice, moral growth, and human compassion—essential topics for high school students.
- Encourages critical thinking and empathy by presenting complex social issues through the eyes of a child.
- Provides a historical perspective that remains relevant today, making it a timeless addition to any high schooler’s reading list.
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- A gripping and contemporary novel that addresses vital social issues such as racism, police violence, and activism.
- Encourages teenagers to think critically about the world around them and their role in making it a better place.
- Written in a relatable voice that resonates with today’s youth, making it an impactful and relevant read.
- The Catcher in the Rye
- A classic novel that explores the complexities of adolescence, identity, and rebellion—topics that high school students often grapple with.
- Offers a deep dive into the mind of a teenager, making it highly relatable for young readers trying to understand themselves and the world.
- A great conversation starter for discussions about mental health, societal expectations, and the journey to adulthood.
Writing matters too!
If you’re going to set aside time to practice reading, you might as well get the most bang for your buck by transitioning that reading into an opportunity to write. Rather than just asking them to verbalize their answers, have them write about it. This will help them familiarize themselves with the short answer component of the OSSLT. Another big component of the OSSLT is a free-writing component. This is where you’ll often be asked to do things such as pretend to write a news report that answers the 5 W’s (Who, What, Where, When, and Why) or an opinion essay with all the right structure. Opinion essays can be a fun activity if you ask them to write about things they’re already interested in. Is your kid into a particular sport? Ask them to write about who they think are the greatest players and why. Maybe they like video games more; you could ask them if they think video games can be educational and why or why not. Of course, it’s important to weave in some more serious topics too. Oftentimes, OSSLT essay prompts might be something along the lines of “Do you think schools should have longer or shorter school days? Why?”
Nothing Beats the Real Deal
While practice through reading and various prompts can be really useful, nothing will beat practicing with the actual format of the OSSLT. The OSSLT format consists of multiple-choice questions based on reading comprehension passages, short writing tasks about the same reading, and long writing tasks like the ones mentioned above. At TutorShark, we’ve gathered some of the best mock OSSLT test resources that we could find and given them answer sheets along with sample written passages for the longer form writing questions. Come check them out on our website, where we’ll continue to post loads of practice tests for your student and other resources too!
The OSSLT Is a Marathon, Not a Race
The OSSLT takes a total of two hours! For a tenth grader, this sort of exam length is quite long. There’s a good chance you’ll lose out on some marks due to careless mistakes or rushed answers if you don’t have the endurance to stay focused the whole time. One of the best ways to prevent this is by practicing reading and writing for longer, more sustained periods.
When practicing your work, try setting increasingly long timers starting from 30 minutes with no interruptions. Not only does this strengthen focus and concentration, but it also builds confidence that they can comfortably complete the test without feeling overwhelmed.