ACT Prep & College Essay Writing Class Notes -- Week 13 (April 29)

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 worked through 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, May 6, 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 13, I suggest they come prepared to take a test that will be the easiest for them to take.  

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

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Chapter 23 -- Fighting Scientists

-- Fighting Scientists Drills 1, 2, and 3

     -- Note:  Drill 1 was done in class

-- 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.

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

ACT Prep & College Writing Class Notes -- Week 11 (April 15)

 Greetings!

We covered a lot of ground in class today.  In fact, we've covered a lot this semester.  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.

Today 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.

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

Class Notes

Quick Write (4/15)

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

ACT Prep & College Writing Class Notes -- Week 10 (April 1)

 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 Easter Weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Week 11 (April 15)

• 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

Class Notes

Sample College Application Essays

ACT Prep Ch. 19 Slides

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature