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:

• Read through Chapters 9 & 10 (Be an active reader!)

• Review the Summary

• Especially mark any areas where you have questions or need further review

• Quiz yourself on the vocabulary list on p. 109 - 110

• Fundamentals Drill on page 113 (Answers in Ch. 25, p. 388)

• Bring to class questions about troublesome sections or topics

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Chapters 9 & 10 Cracking the ACT pdfs

Chapters 9 & 10 Slides

ACT Calculator Policy

Sample ACT Essay Prompts for Brainstorming

Some Helpful English Videos

ACT English Bootcamp #1 -- Introduction

ACT English Bootcamp #2 -- Section Analysis

ACT English Bootcamp #4 -- Core Strategy

ACT English Bootcamp #28 -- Rhetorical Skills

ACT English Bootcamp #29 -- Passage 1

(There are a number of good videos in this series.  Most of them are under 3 minutes, and they include specific grammar topics.  Check them all out)

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.

Blessings!

Mrs. Prichard

ACT Prep & College Writing Class Notes -- Week 8 (Oct. 10)

Greetings!

This week we covered a lot of ground.  I began the class with 3 unusual Words of the Day (Gluggavedur, tidsoptimist, and dysania) and had the students make up definitions using clues from the roots and/or sounds of the words.  From this, we had a brief discussion about how to decode words in a text that are unfamiliar and how to prepare for the kind of reading that is required on the ACT.  After Fall Break we will start work on the Reading portion of the test where familiarity with a large vocabulary and speed in reading will be important.

For the ACT portion of the class, we covered Chapters 14, 15, and 16, which were the final chapters of the Math Test.  I've intentionally taken a longer time on the portion because my experience is that students struggle if they need to speed through the review of the math concepts.  Because my goal is to review and to practice strategies for working through the tests, I did not spend long on Chapters 15 and 16 where students would be learning new information.  One of the strategies for ACT is to review and work on areas of strength to make them stronger and to not try to learn something new just for the test.  We have the "Letter of the Day" strategy for those "Never" problems.  

If there is an a topic on the Math test that a student would like to learn, Khan Academy has some excellent videos.  They are to take a practice ACT Math Test before the next class.

For the ACT Essay portion, I showed a short video from SuperTutorTV about Dos and Don'ts of the ACT Essay.  We discussed the video and reviewed organizational options for the essay.  Students are to take one more ACT Practice Essay test before the next class.  That will conclude our SAT and ACT essay portion of the class, and we will start working on college application essays.

Assignments for Oct. 24

-- Read Ch. 14, 15, and 16

-- Complete and correct the Trigonometry Drill

-- Complete and correct the Advanced Math Drill

-- Complete and correct the Practice Math Test from the first practice test in the book.  Find a quiet place and set the timer for 60 minutes.  Good luck!!

-- Finish the Take Home ACT test.  Set a timer for 40 minutes.  Again, Good luck.

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Words of the Day:  (Gluggavedur, tidsoptimist, and dysania)

Dos and Don'ts of the ACT Essay.  

Have a great Fall Break!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

ACT Prep & College Writing Class Notes -- Week 6 (Sept. 26)

Greetings!

We worked hard today and covered a lot of material.  I started with a short video about random reasons that colleges might not accept an application.  Knowing some of these dynamics can help students be proactive in avoiding the random whims related to the human element and the strategic inclinations of college development.  Some tips that we derived from this video included being memorable in a good way, expressing knowledge of and enthusiasm for the college, and finding advocates connected to the college of choice.  By the way, the videos by Brooke Hanson of SupertutorTV are really helpful, so I've included a link to her YouTube channel.

During the ACT Prep portion of today's class we continued to review for the Math portion of the test.  We reviewed basic strategies to be used for this test:  ballparking, POE (process of elimination), Plugging In, and Plugging in the Answers (PITA).  For each Math test question, students should follow the same Basic Approach:  1) Know the question; 2) Let the answers help; and 3) Break the problem into bite-sized pieces.  A challenge with a number of test questions is two-fold:  geometry questions combine algebraic reasoning, and many questions have so much information that they become word problems.

Our College Essays topic this week included an introduction to the ACT Essay Test.  This test is structured differently than the SAT, but both of the tests are designed with the types of writing required in college in mind.  Rather than analyzing and evaluating the persuasive writing of a passage, 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 for next week, and we will continue to brainstorm and talk through multiple tests.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read through Chapter 12 - Plane Geometry

     -- Be an active reader and flag any math or strategy topics that are causing you trouble.

-- Read through the "Fun Facts" on p. 156 - 159

-- Review the formulas on p. 160 - 161

-- Complete the Geometry Drill on p. 163 and correct it.

-- Read the Summary on p. 164 - 165

-- Take the first ACT Essay Take Home Test

-- NOTE:  A couple of students mentioned that they were missing some homework.  If that is the case for any of you, please check past Class Note emails or blog entries for attachments or links.

Links for This Week

Class Notes

5 Random Reasons Why Colleges Might Reject You

Brooke Hanson & SupertutorTV

ACT Take Home Test #1

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

ACT Prep & College Writing Class Notes -- Week 5 (Sept. 19)

Greetings!

I began the class with a short writing task.  I asked the students to answer these 3 questions:  1) What are colleges looking for? 2) What do you have to offer to a college? 3) How can you best demonstrate who you are to a college?  After the students took some time to write their responses, we discussed the first question.  Their comments included such characteristics as dedicated, hard-working, committed, academically prepared, unique, etc.  As we progress to the application essay, later in the semester, we will discuss how the students can write about themselves in such a way that colleges will want them as part of their student bodies.

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.

Following our work with the ACT Math prep, we talked about the SAT Essay.  I shared with them the parameters/rubric used for scoring the test.  The SAT Essay is scored in 3 categories:  Reading, Analysis, and Writing.  Scores range from 1 to 4 and 2 readers will score every essay.  The scores are added, so the student can score between 2 and 24 points on the SAT Essay.  For next week, students are to take home the SAT #1 Take Home test that they did for this week, and using the scoring definitions and the samples of scored essays, they are to score their own essays.  They are also to take SAT #2 Take Home Essay.

Note:  In the section below of helpful links, I've included links for some helpful math-related videos and for a link to the ACT policy about calculators.  If a student is reading through the Cracking the ACT book and finds that he/she needs more explanations or more practice, theses links would be really helpful.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Ch. 11 "No More Algebra"

-- Take the Algebra Drill (p. 130)

-- Correct the Algebra Drill 

-- Read handouts about scoring the SAT and sample essays

-- Score your SAT #1 essay

-- Take SAT #2 Take Home Essay

-- Extra Credit -- Score SAT #2

Links for This Week

Class Notes

SAT Scoring

Sample Scores for SAT #1

Helpful Math-related 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 Calculator Policy (pdf)

ACT Math Calculator Skills  (6:46)

Here ACT/SAT Prep (10:27)

     15 Concepts you need to know

ACT Math 2018 (act.magoosh.com) (7:30)

   Strategies and common types of problems

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.

Detailed explanations of problems from an ACT Math test

ACT Math Test Prep Part 1 (2:18:03)

ACT Math Test Prep Part 2 (1:30:36)

ACT Math Test Prep Part 3 (1:39:58)

ACT Prep & College Essays Class Notes -- Week 4 (Sept. 12)

Greetings!

We worked hard today and covered a lot of material.  I began the class with a Quick Write for which I asked the students to list the strategies that they remembered about taking the ACT.  They were also to write their thoughts about the Practice English Test.  Some of the students had run out of time for the test and some didn't.  Most of them felt that determining whether the question was a Now, Later, or Never question was a good strategy and helped with time management.

About the Practice Tests and Chapter Drills -- I will check to make sure that the students finish these, and it is important that they correct the tests and drills.  A very important part of getting ready for the ACT is understanding how the test works, and working through the answers is extremely helpful.

Our next section of the ACT is the Math Test.  This is always the second section of the test.  It is a 60 minute test that includes 60 test questions about Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Advanced Math.  I gave an overview of Chapters 9 and 10.  

Our College Essays topic this week included another SAT Essay.  For the SAT Essay, students will be reading and analyzing a passage as to its effectiveness.    This week as homework students are to finish one of the sample SAT Essays.  Next week we will discuss the scoring.

Assignments for Next Week

-- Read Chapters 9 & 10

-- Quiz yourself on the Vocabulary

-- Fundamentals Drill on p. 113 (Answers on p. 388)

-- Practice SAT Essay Exam (50 minutes)

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Week 4 Slides

Teacher Notes

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard