ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 15 (May 5)

 Greetings!

The students have done it!  They've reviewed (and re-reviewed) all of the strategies for taking the ACT.  I recently talked with students who had taken this class from me and then took the test.  They said that the tips and strategies not only helped them with the individual tests, but it gave them a greater piece of mind when taking the test.  Research shows that when a person is anxious or overly nervous before doing a big task, they do not do as well.  (See the 2 links below.)

We started the class with working on a sample ACT Essay prompt.  My main goal was for the students to be reminded of the structure and strategies of the test.  One aspect that the evaluators look for are the abilities of the students to analyze and then support their ideas.  These two tasks take some deeper thinking, so I wanted the students to have a little bit more time for thinking through what they might write for a prompt.  After their brainstorming, they sat in small groups to share their ideas.

Our last activity for the day was to do some peer reviews.  Some student brough one of their drafts of their college application essays for others to read.  Often, students are uncomfortable having others read their papers, which is understandable.  

Now, for the nuts and bolts for finishing up the class.  Students can hand in any homework until Saturday morning midnight.  (8:00 am, to be exact.)  All of the remaining homework for the class can be handed in (and returned) via Google Classroom.  I will be sending out grades sometime next week. Look for 2 emails from me:  one the explains how I grade and then the grades themselves.  

This has been a great year with these students.  They're bright and engaging, and they've worked hard this year. Best wishes to them!  I've mentioned to some that if they ever find themselves in Northfield, they are welcome to stop by.  

Blessings!

Mrs. Prichard

Links for this Week

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 15 (May 5)

May Clinic:  Test Anxiety

Princeton Review:  10 Ways to Overcome Test Anxiety

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 14 (April 29)

 Greetings!

We are almost done!  Even though the work load for this class has not been huge or terribly difficult, the students have covered a lot of ground and have been consistently engaged in the process of learning about strategies for taking the ACT.  

This week, we took one of the practice tests.  Most took the Math test, and some took the Science or Reading test.  We have plenty of time, and it was a good, quiet atmosphere.  I had extra copies of an ACT Complete Test (link at the bottom) from the ACT organization that students could use.  This is a good option if students used all of the tests in their books.  

Next week we will take a practice Writing Test and then will do some Peer Reviews of College Application Essays.

One final assignment-- a reflection paper.  I've asked the students to write a short reflection about their learning this year and about their growth as students.  

Assignments for Next Week

-- Print and bring a copy of one of your college application essays

-- The Reflection Paper

Links for This Week

ACT Complete Test and Answers

See you next week!

Mrs. Prichard

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 13 (April 21)

 Greetings!

We had a good class today.  We've gotten to the end of our chapters on the various aspects of the English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing tests.  

As we near the end of the semester, many of the approaches, and steps, and strategies that we cover are repeats of those from other tests.  For all of the tests, we use the answer choices themselves to answer the question.  We rely heavily on process of elimination and our personal order of difficulty.  

The last test, with the exception of the essay portion, is the Science Test.  It's a 35-minute test with 45 questions.  There are three sections of this test:  Charts & Graphs, Experiments, and Fighting Scientists.  This week we again reviewed Chapter 22:  The Basic Approach to learn 3 steps for working through the Charts & Graphs section.

• Step 1:  Work the Figures (charts, tables, graphs)
• Step 2:  Work the Answers
• Step 3:  Work the Questions

Today we walked through the last section of the Science test, "the Fighting Scientists."  The Science test has one section in which the perspectives of 2 or more scientists are presented, and students will answer questions about each of the perspectives and will compare and contrast the perspectives.  Here are the steps for the Fighting Scientists passages:

• Step 1:  Preview & map the questions
• Step 2:  Do one step at a time
• Step 3:  Do the other side
• Step 4:  Compare & Contrast

For our final 2 weeks of class, we'll take time in class doing practice tests.  For next week, April 28, students should come to class ready to take a test from their books, and I suggested that they choose the test that they think they will have the hardest time taking.  For May 5 class we will practice the writing test and discuss the students' college application essays.

We did not talk about the College Application essays. On May 5 we will do some peer reviews of our essays.  (Note:  Note everyone has both essays in, so that should get done.)

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Chapter 23 -- Fighting Scientists

-- Fighting Scientists Drills 1

-- Fighting Scientists Drills 2

-- Finish College Application #1 and College Application #2

We're nearing the end of the school year, so I hope you can all find the energy to stay engaged in school until we're done. If you are missing any work, we have 2 weeks left, so you should check Google Classroom to see what work needs to be done.  I will be sending out a Grades Report at the end of the weekend.

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 12 (April 7)

 Greetings!

We started this week's class with a discussion of a sample college application essay that had a first draft and then was revised for a better second draft.  As we read and discussed it, we considered whether or not "Chuck D" would be a suitable student for college.  Reminding ourselves that he wasn't applying to be our friend, we felt that he would be a hard-working student, but he might be more competitive and ruthless than we'd like.

This week we continued reviewing the final section of the ACT test -- the Science section.  This fourth test is a 35 minute long test with 45 questions.  It's divided into 3 sections:  Charts & Graphs, Experiments, and Fighting Scientists.  The purpose of the Science section is not necessarily to find out how much students learned and remembered but to assess their reasoning skills, their abilities to understand charts & graphs, and their ability to draw conclusions from data.  Knowing certain topics will be helpful because the familiarity will help students understand more quickly how data and conclusions connect.   They had an overview of Chapters 20 & 21 last week and this week we covered Chapter 22:  The Basic Approach.  For homework they should read through these chapters.  When they encounter sample questions, they shouldn't just read to find the answer and then move on.  They should also read the explanations.  These sample problems are used to explain strategies.

I've listed some videos below that are helpful with the Science Test.

When we return to CHAT after Easter break, students should bring to class one of their college application essays.  We'll be doing peer edits, which means that we'll take turns reading one another's essays

A reminder -- No CHAT next week.  Have a blessed Easter!

Assignments for Next Week

• Read Chapter 22

• Basic Approach Drill 1 on p. 335

• Basic Approach Drill 2 on p. 336

• Basic Approach Drill 3 on p. 337

• (Check Answers in Ch. 25 on p. 399 – 402)

• Finish and bring one of your college applications to class for a Peer Review
• College Application #1
• College Application #2

Links for This Week

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 12 (April 7)

Sample Application Essay -- Chuck D

ACT Prep Week 12 Slides (Ch. 22)

3 Strategies for the Science Test (SuperTutor)

Top 10 Hints from M)goosh

Best 3-Step Strategies for the Science Test

Twelve College Essay Examples

Top College Essays

The Common Application Prompts & Examples

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 11 (March 31)

 Greetings!

We covered a lot of ground in class today.  In fact, we've covered a lot this semester.  We started the class with a quick review of overall strategies and then those that are unique to specific tests.  As I had anticipated, the students did not remember as many for the English test that was the first one that we covered.  Before they actually take the test, they should make sure to go through all of the strategies for the individual tests.  It's easy to forget stuff!

We looked at another sample college application essay.  I like reading samples because many times I get a fresh idea for myself.  I hope the same is for the students.  

We are now in the 4th section of the ACT Test -- the Science test.  Like the English and Reading tests, the Science test is passage-based.  It's 35 minutes long, and the students will answer 45 questions for the 6 - 7 passages.  We talked for a lot about how and what they learn in science classes and how this Science test is different.  Students don't need to have loads of information memorized, but they do need to know how to read charts, graphs, and tables.  They also need to be able to draw conclusions from data given in those tables and charts.

This week I introduced the test and gave an overview.  Next week we will walk through the basic approach to handling the test questions.

The first college application essay is due this week, and I've assigned a second essay.  When they finish this this class, they will have 2 potential essays that they can use for college applications.  NOTE:  I've adjusted the due date for this second college application essay.  I've moved it out April 21.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments

• Read Chapters 20 & 21 (p. 299 – 322)

• Read Summary on p. 307

• Read Summary on p. 322

• College Application Essay #2 (due 4/29)

Links for This Week

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 11 (March 31)

Chapters 20 & 21 -- Cracking the ACT

ACT Prep Week 11 (Ch. 20) Slides

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 10 (March 31)

Greetings!

For our class this week, we finished going over strategies and types of questions for the Reading test.  With these strategies, the students should complete the drills in Chapters 17 - 19, practice the Sample Dual Passage, and finally, take the Practice ACT Reading Test.  For this, they should use the first practice test in the book.  When they've finished the test, they should correct it, using the answers included in the test.

Here are some more hints for getting ready to take the Reading test:

-- Stretch your reading ability.  Find challenging articles and literature and read them.  Spending time with more complex writing styles and content is good preparation for the test.

-- Practice picking up the speed of reading passages.  Use a pencil to underline the text to help you to read more quickly and to keep you from going back to words already read.

-- Take more practice tests.  This will help you determine if you want to order the passages any differently than they are given.

We are working on college application essays.  For this week we read some sample essays and discussed their strengths and weaknesses as application essays.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Week 11 (March 31)

• Read Chapter 19 (p. 273 – 285)

• Complete the Sample Dual Passage on p. 282 – 283 

• Read Chapter 19, p. 286 – 296

• Read Summary on p. 296

• Reading Drill 2 on p. 294- 295 (Answers in Ch. 25 on p. 397 - 398)

• Practice ACT Reading Test (35 minutes) p. 450 - 459

• Correct your test and read explanations for missed test questions (p. 511 – 518)

• College Application Essay  #1

Links for this Week

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 10 (March 24)

Sample College Application Essays

Zoom Recording (3/24)

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 9 (March 17)

 Greetings!

We had a productive time in class today.  We started with a short discussion about bias in the news media.  Years ago, an infographic was published that should political leanings and reliability of many national news sites.  The purpose of our discussion was not to promote any media source or ideology, but to remind students to be critical thinkers who evaluate what they are reading.  

For this class, students will write 2 rough drafts of College Application Essays.  These will be essays that they could potentially use for their own college applications.   This week we worked through sample of multiple drafts of a student essay.  We discussed what did and did not work in each of the drafts and could see the types of improvements that made for a strong application essay.  It's helpful to look at samples to get a more clear idea about what a good essay looks like.  Over the next few weeks I have more samples that we'll discuss and analyze as a class.

We've finished the Math section of the ACT Prep and are now onto the Reading section of the test.  The Reading test is passage-based with 40 questions and is 35 minutes long.  The 4 passages are prose fiction, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences.  The first strategy is to decide the personal order of the passages and then to work the passages and the questions.  We covered basics this week and will go over some of the more challenging types of questions.  

 

Have a blessed weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week

• Read Chapters 17 & 18

• Take notes, highlight, underline, and flag sections

• Read Summary for Chapter 17 on p. 244

• Work Sample passage (p. 261 – 263)  (Answers in Ch. 25 on p. 394 - 395)
  

• Reading Drill 1 on p. 269 – 271 (Answers in Ch. 25 on p. 395 - 396)

• Common Application Sign Up

• Start on College Application Essay #1 (Not due until March 31)

Links for This Week

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 9 (March 17)

Sample "Ellie"  Essay

ACT Prep Slides -- Ch. 17 & 18

Chapters 16 - 18 pdfs

Common Application 2021 - 2022 Prompts