ACT Prep & College Writing: February 2022

Thursday, February 10, 2022

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 5 (February 10)

Greetings!

This week we started right in with the ACT Essay Test. Our College Essays topic this week included an introduction to the ACT Essay Test. In the ACT Essay Exam, students are given a topic that elicits multiple perspectives. They are to develop their own perspective and then compare it with 3 other perspectives. In the course of their writing, they are to support their viewpoints with details, logical arguments, and persuasive elements. A basic outline for this essay would look like this:

I. Introduction -- state the idea presented in the passage and give your perspective as a thesis statement
II. Explain your perspective and back it up with details, logical arguments, and persuasive elements
III. Compare your perspective with the perspective that you mostly agree with. Unpack that perspective to explain its strengths and weaknesses.
IV. Compare your perspective with the perspective that you kind of agree with. Unpack that perspective to explain its strengths and weaknesses.
V. Compare your perspective with the perspective that you mostly disagree with. Unpack that perspective to explain its strengths and weaknesses.
VI, Conclusion -- Summarize the main points of the body and reassert your perspective.

This type of writing can be really challenging, so lots of practice is important. The students have a take-home ACT test that is due on March 3. We will continue to brainstorm and talk through multiple prompts for the tests.

After the Essay discussion, we started in with our slides and discussion of the strategies from the Princeton Review's Cracking the ACT. We've started on the Math section of the ACT and worked through Chapter 11, "No More Algebra." In this chapter, the writers gave us strategies for answering some kinds of problems without specifically using algebra skills. By using ballparking (a strategy from Ch. 10), POE (process of elimination), Plugging In (choosing workable numbers for variables) and PITA (plugging in answer options into equations), students can often solve problems more quickly. As I've stated multiple times in class, the #1 enemy in the whole ACT test-taking process is the lack of time. If students can employ some test-taking strategies that will buy them time, they will have more time for harder questions and will more likely raise their scores.

Next week my son Ryan Prichard will be subbing for me. Our plan is for him to set up the class and I will Zoom in for the ACT slides explanation.

Assignments for March 4

Read through Chapter 11 (Actively!)

Work through the examples and carefully read the explanations
Review the Summary

Algebra Drill on p. 130 (Answers in Ch. 25 on p. 389)
Bring to class questions about troublesome sections or topics

Links for this week

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 5 (February 10)

ACT Plugging in Strategy (This is a really helpful video for practicing the plugging in strategy.)

Some Helpful Math Videos

Note: Some of the videos are short explanations of strategies, and some are instructional videos that go through actual past tests. There are also links for information about calculator policies and calculator use.

5 Hacks for the ACT Math Test (8:19)

Ti-84 Calculator Downloading Programs (9:47)

ACT Math Calculator Skills (6:46)

Here ACT/SAT Prep (10:27)

15 Concepts you need to know

Here ACT/SAT Best Math Prep Strategies, Tips, and Tricks (5:48)

Using the Answer Choices

ACT Math Practice Test 1 (1:16:19)

Actual Problems from the Official ACT Prep Pack 2019-2020

Note: The instructor in this video uses his calculator a lot, so if you are unfamiliar with various possibilities of your calculator, this would be a good video to watch to help you become more familiar.

Thursday, February 3, 2022

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 4 (February 3)

Greetings!

We covered a lot of material this week, so I bypassed a Quick Write and the Words of the Day. We've switched from going over strategies and review topics for the English portion of the ACT. Now we're on to the Math section. Some of the same strategies apply, but there a number that are specific to answering the math questions. The Math test is always the second test. It's a 60 minute test with 60 questions. Approximately 33 of the questions cover algebra, 23 cover geometry, and 4 are from trigonometry or pre-calculus topics. We worked through a few practice problems in order to practice some of the strategies. In the Links section below, I have listed a number of helpful videos specific to the Math portion of the test.

Next week we will work through Chapter 11 -- "No More Algebra." We'll learn some more strategies and practice them through some of the test questions.

We've also started learning about the ACT Essay portion of the test. All of the students in the class have plenty of practice writing essays that have thesis statements, introductions, conclusions, and supporting paragraphs, so composing an essay like this should not bee too difficult. We will brainstorm a few sample prompts over the next week or so, and then the students will write a couple essays of their own.

Note: I've included a lot of videos below that would be helpful both for review of grammar topics and for some strategies for taking the test.

Assignments for Next Week: