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

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 8 (March 10)

 Greetings!

We are officially over half way through the Spring semester.  I don't know about you, but once we hit daylight savings time and the days get longer, the days also seem to fly by more quickly!

We have finished the Math section of the Princeton Review's Cracking the ACT!  For students who are currently taking a math class, it might feel a little unfair to be doing so much more math.  We've reviewed basic math principles, algebra, plane geometry, coordinate geometry, and word problems.  I use the sample questions in the book that especially highlight one of the strategies to keep it from being to overwhelming.  This week I covered graphing and coordinate geometry.  I also gave a short nod to the advanced topics.  In the list of links below are some videos that will help students practice the strategies and to review the math skills.  (Note:  When watching the videos, feel free to speed up or slow down the speaker using the playback settings.)

We have shifted from practice writing the ACT Essay Exam to writing some college application essays.  For this unit, we'll explore personal interests, brainstorm topics, read some sample essays, and write essays that can be used for applications.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week:

• Read Chapters 14, 15, and 16  (Remember to be active!)

• Flag or write questions about topics that need further review

• Review graphing calculator functions

• Graphing and Coordinate Geometry Drill on p. 203 (Answers in Ch. 25 on p. 391 - 392)

• Read Summary on p. 204

• Extra Credit: Trigonometry Drill on p. 217 (Answers in Ch. 25 on p. 392 - 393)

• Read Summary on p. 218

• Extra Credit: Advanced Math Drill on p. 227 (Answers in Ch. 25 on p. 393)

• Practice ACT Math Test (60 minutes) p. 430 - 449

• Correct your test and read explanations for missed test questions (p. 495 – 511)

• Finding Your Hook

Links for this Week:

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 8 (March 10)

Week 8 Assignments & Resources

Practice Math Exam Breakdown -- 

          this video walks students through an entire practice math test and explains each and every question.  It's long (about 90 min.), but I think it's helpful.

The 52 Math Skills in the ACT 

Week 8 -- Helpful Math Videos for Advanced Math

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature 

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 7 (March 3)

 Greetings!

It was so good to see the students; including our week off and the week my son subbed for me, it's been 3 weeks since I've seen their smiling faces. 

We began the class with a short Quick Write for which I asked the class to write down as many strategies for the ACT test that they could think if.  We wrote them on the board and discussed those that applied to the overall test and those that were specific to the English, Math, and Writing tests.

For the ACT Prep section of the class, we are still in the Math section of the test.  I give this section more time so that students can figure out what they need to review before taking the test.  I also feel that having more time to practice the strategies helps be more prepared for those Math topics about which they are not as knowledgeable.  This week we started with Word Problems, Percentages, and Ratios.  I moved ahed to some material for next week, which included Coordinate Geometry.  Next week we will cover more  coordinate geometry and then be done with the Math section.

For the College Writing section of the test, the students have the second Practice ACT Essay Exam. Next week we will start discussing the college application essay.  My hope is that doing a practice application essay in this class will either give the students something they can use in a college application or give the students a springboard for an even better essay.

Have a great weekend!  Enjoy our spring weather!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week:

• Read through Chapter 13

• Be an active reader and highlight important tips and/or information

• Flag or write questions about topics that need further review

• Word Problems Drill on p. 187 (Answers in Ch. 25 on p. 390)

• Read the Summary on 188

• Practice ACT Essay Exam #2

Links for this Week

Chapter 13 -- Word Problems

Week 7 Slides -- Word Problems

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature