“The old lighthouse stood at the edge of the cliff, its white paint peeling in the salty wind. Every evening at precisely six o’clock, the keeper would climb the 142 stone steps to light the lamp. He had done this without fail for thirty-seven years, even on the wildest nights when the waves crashed against the rocks below.”
Retrieval Questions in SATs Reading: How to Answer
Retrieval questions are the most straightforward questions on the reading paper — the answer is right there in the text. Your child doesn't need to interpret or infer anything. They just need to find the right bit of information and write it down. Sounds easy, right? Yet children lose marks on these every year. Here's how to make sure your child doesn't.
What Does “Retrieval” Mean?
Retrieval means finding information that is directly stated in the text. The answer is written right there — your child doesn’t need to guess, work things out, or read between the lines.
Retrieval questions often use phrases like:
- “According to the text…”
- “Find and copy…”
- “What did [character] do when…?”
- “Where did [event] take place?”
- “List two things that…”
How to Scan for Answers
Your child doesn’t need to re-read the entire text for every question. Teach them to scan:
- Read the question carefully — underline the key words.
- Identify where to look — questions usually follow the order of the text. If the last answer came from paragraph 3, the next answer is probably in paragraph 3 or 4.
- Scan for key words — look for the same words (or synonyms) from the question in the text.
- Read around the key words — once you find the right area, read the full sentence (and the ones either side) to get the complete answer.
Worked Example with a Passage
Question: At what time did the keeper light the lamp?
Key words to scan for: “time” and “light the lamp”
Answer: six o’clock (or precisely six o’clock)
Question: How many steps did the keeper climb?
Key words to scan for: “steps”
Answer: 142
Question: How long had the keeper been doing his job?
Key words to scan for: “years” or a number
Answer: thirty-seven years
The PEE Technique for Longer Answers
Some retrieval questions are worth 2 or 3 marks and need a fuller answer. The PEE technique helps structure these:
- P — Point: State the answer clearly.
- E — Evidence: Quote from the text to prove it.
- E — Explain: Briefly explain how the evidence supports your point.
Question (2 marks): How can you tell the lighthouse was old?
Point: The lighthouse was in poor condition.
Evidence: The text says “its white paint peeling in the salty wind”.
Explain: This shows the lighthouse has been exposed to the weather for a long time and hasn’t been repainted.
For 1-mark retrieval questions, a short answer is fine. PEE is for the 2- and 3-mark questions where the mark scheme wants evidence from the text.
“Find and Copy” Questions
These are the purest retrieval questions. The answer must be copied word for wordfrom the text.
Question: Find and copy one word that tells you the keeper was reliable.
Answer: “fail” (from “without fail”)
If the question says “one word”, write exactly one word. If it says “a phrase”, copy the relevant group of words. Follow the instruction precisely.
Common Mistakes to Watch For
- Writing too much — for a 1-mark question, a short answer is enough. Writing a paragraph wastes time and can accidentally include wrong information.
- Not going back to the text — children sometimes answer from memory and get details wrong. Always go back and check.
- Confusing retrieval with inference — if the answer isn’t directly stated in the text, it’s not retrieval. Don’t make things up.
- Copying the wrong number of words — “Find and copy one word” means exactly one word. Two words will be marked wrong.
- Misspelling copied words — the word is right there on the page. Copy it exactly, letter by letter.
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