Showing posts with label english ACT test. Show all posts
Showing posts with label english ACT test. Show all posts

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:

  • 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

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
(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. 
     15 Concepts you need to know
     Using the Answer Choices
    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




- No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Saturday, January 29, 2022

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 3 (January 27)

 Greetings!


We had a full class this week.   We started the class with some Words of the Day.  I have a list of the top 50 SAT words.  While the ACT does not have a dedicated section for vocabulary, the sections use words commonly found in first-year college level writing.  As we discuss the individual words, I usually pull out Latin or Greek words and discuss related words in an effort to not only expand our vocabulary but also to  build word-decoding skills.

The next portion of the class was spent talking about the basics of writing an essay.  Both the SAT and ACT have an essay portion for which student will show that they know how to write a standard essay.  We covered the types of paragraphs required (introduction, body, and conclusion), the elements of the introduction (hook, thesis, road map/plan of development), and body paragraphs.  This was a brief introduction to the ACT essay, into which we will dive more fully in the coming weeks.  One of the homework assignments includes reading the chapter on the essay test.

This week we worked through Chapters 7 & 8, which are primarily reviews of common grammar topics found in the ACT and examples of some of the rhetorical questions that they will encounter in the English section of the test.  These topics included verbs, passive voice, pronouns, possessive, and contractions.  We used the 5-Step Basic Approach as we worked through the sample problems in the book:
  • 5-Step Basic Approach

    • Step 1:  Identify the Topic (see p. 35)

    • Step 2:  Use POE

    • Step 3:  Use the context

    • Step 4: Trust your ear, but verify

    • Step 5: Don't fix what isn't broken.

Another important set of guidelines to remember when taking the English Test are the 4 Cs:  Complete, consistent, clear, and concise.

The biggest assignment this week is to take the ACT Practice English Test.  At the end of the book are 4 - 6 practice tests (depending on the version of the book you purchased.)  For the practice tests assigned in class, students should use the first exam.  Students need to set aside 45 minutes to take this test and should try to mimic a test-taking environment as closely as they can:  sitting upright at a table/desk, brightly lit room, minimal sound and visual distractions, etc.  In addition to taking the practice test, they must correct it using the key at the end of the test.  This is an important step -- learning what you did wrong and why is more important than doing it the right way!  I'm assigning it this week, but it doesn't need to be handed in for 2 weeks.   

Assignments for Next Week:

  • Read through Chapters 7 & 8  (Be an active reader!)

    • Especially read the practice/example questions & explanations

    • Review the Summary at the ends of each chapter

  • English Drill 2 on p. 70 - 71.  (Answers in Ch. 25, p. 385)

  • Rhetorical Skills Drill on p. 84 - 85 (Answers in Ch. 25, p. 387 - 388)

  • Review the following topics as needed:  

    • Verbs, indefinite pronouns, prepositional phrases, apostrophes, transitions, etc.

  • Bring to class questions about troublesome sections or topics

  • Practice English Test (45 minutes) p. 416 – 429

    • Correct your test and read explanations for missed test questions (p. 477 - 495)


Links for This Week:
Class Notes
ACT Related Videos

Have a great weekend!  Stay warm!
Blessings,
Mrs. Prichard





Tamera M. Prichard
- No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Friday, August 30, 2019

ACT Prep & College Essays Class Notes -- Week 2 (Aug. 29)

Greetings!

As with most of the classes this semester, we will cover a lot of material during the class time.  As I pace the class, I'm doing my best to avoid an information overload and yet cover important details.  For the first class of the day, the students have been attentive and engaged.

We started the day with a Quick Write ("Describe your dream job") and some Words of the Day (common usage errors found in student writing and that might appear in the ACT).  I will do these most weeks unless we have too much material to cover.  They are great warm-up activities, but some weeks we may need to jump right into the content of the test preparations.

Before we proceeded the bulk of our the content of the day, I walked the students through the My GradeBook site.  Some of them had already signed in.  If you or your student have not done that yet, go to this document, Instructions for My GradeBook,  for instructions.  As I told the students, they might never need to go to this site if they are keeping track of their homework.  However, if they are absent for a number of weeks or have forgotten if they have handed something in or not, this is a good place to find that information.  As parents, you can check it to see if work is getting in or to check on current grade status.  It is by no means required of students or parents to regularly check this online gradebook.

As we progress through the book Cracking the ACT, I will introduce and discuss the information in the relevant chapters, and then the students will read those chapters, do the sample problems, and complete the drills.   This week we worked through Chapters 5 & 6 that included strategies for taking the English portion of the test.  We did a couple of the sample test questions in class, but students should be sure to read through them again as they read the chapter.

This week we had only a small portion of time to talk about the SAT Essay.  Let me explain my reasoning for including this unit in this class.  Most of the test-taking strategies that we learn are also applicable to the SAT, so if students choose to take that test in addition to or instead of the ACT, they will be prepared.  The SAT Essay is markedly different from the ACT Essay, so I feel students will benefit from  some time spent on that.  Additionally, the SAT Essay requires students to analyze and evaluate a piece of writing, and these are important college-level skills for students to develop.  This week I explained the structure of the test and gave them a sample test question that includes an article by Jimmy Carter.  They are to actively read the article and mark the ways in which it is persuasive and effective.  This will include specific data, logical reasoning, and persuasive stylistic elements.

Below are the Assignments and Links for this week.  In the list of links I've also included some videos for the ACT English Test and the SAT Essay test.  Although these videos are optional, they would be really helpful to increase the students' knowledge of test taking strategies.

Assignments for Next Week (Sept. 5)
-- Read Chapters 5 - 6  (Remember to be active readers)
-- Make notes about confusing or troublesome portions in the chapters
-- Take the English Drill 1 (p. 54)
-- Correct the English Drill 1 (p. 384)
-- Review Persuasive Writing handouts
-- Read Jimmy Carter article and make notes on detail, reasoning, and persuasive style.

Links for This Week
Class Notes

ACT Videos

SAT Essay Videos

Have a beautiful Labor Day Weekend!
Mrs. Prichard


- No comments:
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 15 (May 5)

  Greetings! The students have done it!  They've reviewed (and re-reviewed) all of the strategies for taking the ACT.  I recently talked...