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 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.

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 (March 18)

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.  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:  The speaker in the video is talking pretty quickly.  Go to the setting icon and slow the playback speed.)

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.

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

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

• Read Summary on p. 218

• OPT. 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 packet

Links for this Week:

Class Notes

Practice Math Exam Breakdown

(this video works through all of the problems on a practice test)

The 52 Math Skills in the ACT (Part 1, 18 Skills)

The 52 Math Skills in the ACT (Part 2, 14 Skills)

The 52 Math Skills in the ACT (Part 3, 12 Skills)

The 52 Math Skills in the ACT (Part 4, 8 Skills)

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature 

ACT Prep & College Writing Class Notes -- Week 6 (March 4)

 Greetings!

This week, as with every week, we covered a lot of ground.  We started with a Quick Write in which I asked the students to list the strategies that we had learned so far. It's important to continually review these so that they are at the students' "fingertips" when they take the test.

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.  I added to Google Classroom a post with a number of helpful Math videos.  

Our College Essays topic this week included an review of 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.

Have a great weekend!  The weather looks to be marvelous, so get some fresh air!!!

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Assignments for Next Week:

• Read through Chapter 12

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

• Flag or write questions about topics that need further review

• Read through the “Fun Facts” on p. 156 - 159

• Review the formulas on p. 160 - 161

• Review the vocabulary on p. 162

• Geometry Drill on p. 163 (Answers in Ch. 25 on p. 390)

• Read the Summary on 164 – 165

• Practice ACT Essay Exam #1 (I handed out Practice Exam #2, but it is not due)

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

ACT Prep & College Writing Class Notes -- Week 5 (February 18)

 Greetings!

This week we started right 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. In last week's class notes, I included a number of videos that would be helpful.  

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 for next week, and we will continue to brainstorm and talk through multiple tests.

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

• Note: I had my weeks wrong with the ACT Practice Essay Exam. I gave students the exam and paper for writing it, and they can feel free to do it some time over the next 2 weeks. It is not due until March ll.

Links for this week

Class Notes

Class Notes for 2/11 with Math videos

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

ACT Prep Class Notes -- Week 4 (February 11)

 Greetings!

We covered a lot of material this week.  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.

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 Slides

ACT Calculator Policy

Sample ACT Essay Prompts for Brainstorming

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

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.

ACT Prep & College Writing Class Notes -- Week 7 (Oct. 3)

Greetings!

We continued to work on the Math portion of the ACT this week.  I'm intentionally going more slowly through this  part of the test because many students find that they need more time to review math-related concepts.  This week's chapter included percentages, averages, weighted averages, and probability.  We only got partway through the chapter, so I expect students to work through the whole chapter, including the practice questions and explanations.  The explanations are especially helpful because they will help the students to think like the test writers and to develop some short cuts in working through the problems.  Working a lot of problems is a key strategy to preparing for the test.

A note about homework:  I mentioned to the students this week that not doing  the homework and not reading the chapters only disadvantages themselves.  Sometimes students have a hard time seeing the importance of homework and feel that they are doing worksheets and assignments for the teachers' sake.  This is one class that I can guarantee that they will benefit themselves by doing the homework.  

For the ACT Essay portion of the class we turned to the sample our Cracking the ACT book.  We discussed a basic approach to answering the questions and a strategy for organizing the essay.  I've included the notes from this part of the discussion on a separate blog post; it includes a good summary of who to brainstorm and how to organize the ACT Essay.

Assignments for Next Week: 

-- Read Chapter 13 -- flag problems or explanations that need further explanation or review

-- Word Problems Drill (p.187)  Remember to correct your drill and read the explanations

-- Summary (p. 188)

-- Practice brainstorming the ACT Essay using the prompt on p. 376

-- Read Ch. 24 (Writing) p. 358 - 375

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Basic Approach to Writing the ACT Essay

Practicing Percentages on the ACT

How to Solve Percent Problems

How to Solve Difficult Average Problems

ACT Math:  Permutations and Combinations

ACT Math:  How to do Permutations

ACT Math:  How to find Combinations

Dos and Don'ts of the ACT Essay

3 Steps to a Perfect ACT Writing Score

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)