We started this week in class with a little bit of a mystery -- where did Mrs. Prichard's reading glasses disappear to? Somehow between the Grace Cafe and the classroom I lost my glasses. We prayed, and Mrs. Johnson appeared at the door with my missing glasses.
I dispensed with the Quick Write and Commonly Misused Words section of the class because I wanted more time for our SAT Essay discussion. Most of the students will not take this test, but I feel that they engage in important critical thinking skills that will benefit them in higher education situations. The SAT Essay requires students to read and analyze how effective and persuasive a particular piece of writing was. As they read a prompt, they consider how the writer uses specific facts/data, logical reasoning, or persuasive style elements. For this week, we used a sample prompt which was a transcript of a speech that Helen Keller gave in New York. We discussed it paragraph by paragraph and then considered how we might structure a response. I was really pleased with the thoughtful comments of each of the students. Students were given the Take Home SAT Test #1, and they can do that test this week or next week.
After our SAT discussion, we focused our attention on the ACT. Last week and this week we've been learning strategies for the English portion of the test. As your students can tell you, this English portion is 45 minutes long and includes 5 separate passages, each with 15 questions (75 questions total). The questions will be a mix of grammar, usage, punctuation, style, and rhetoric topics.
The chapters in the Cracking the ACT book are a blend of strategies for working the test and review of those topics the students will encounter. I've encouraged the students to be active readers and to pay special attention to the areas that seem confusing or troublesome. They might encounter information that they've never learned. When this is the case, they should do some research to learn these topics, ask parents for help, send me an email, or ask in class for more information or for whole class review. Chances are, they won't be the only ones with questions.
One of the homework assignments for this week is to take the Practice English Test. For this, students are to go to Practice Test #2 in the back of their books. Each test has a bubble in sheet; students should either tear that out or make a photo copy. I feel that it's important to practice filling in those bubbles as they take the test, so they are NOT to write their answers on a separate piece of notebook paper. The Practice English Test should be taken in a quiet, undisturbed place. No music or other distractions. If your house is on the noisy side, headphones could be used to block out extraneous sounds. This is also a timed test, so set a timer for 45 minutes.
Assignments for Next Week-- Read Ch. 7 & 8 -- Be active by making notes, highlighting, and marking sections
-- English Drill 2 on p. 70 - 71 (Answers in Ch. 25, p. 385)
Note: These drills will need to be handed in or check in class
-- Rhetorical Skills Drill on p. 84 - 85 (Answers in Ch. 25, p. 387 - 388)
-- PRACTICE ENGLISH TEST -- 45 minutes in a quiet place
-- Take Home SAT Essay Test #1 -- due in 2 weeks
Links for This Week
Class Notes
Videos
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Prichard
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