ACT Prep & College Writing Class Notes -- Week 2 (January 20)

 Greetings!

We had a good class today.  A lot of the class will consist of going through a slide presentation that includes the strategies for the ACT along with samples from the book.  So that the students are not simply sitting and listening to me for the whole time, I like to start with a Quick Write.  I also do these in my other writing classes, but the Quick Writes that we'll do in this class will be focused more on those big life issues and decisions.  This week, I asked students to list 7 of their greatest academic strengths, 7 of their greatest personality strengths, and 7 activities/hobbies that they would like to be able to do for the rest of their lives.

This week we worked through Chapters 5 & 6, which are about the English Test.  This is the first test of the ACT, and it's mostly about grammar, mechanics, and word usage.  I have slides that I use to present the information; they are also posted on Google Classroom.)  We discussed basic steps for approaching the questions:

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

Each week I will go through 1 - 3 chapters from the book Cracking the ACT, and for homework, students will read that those chapters and do practice exercises or drills. For this week, they are to do the English Drill 1 (here are instructions for how to do the Drills on Google Classroom.)

Have a great weekend!

Blessings!

Mrs. Prichard

Homework for Next Week

Read through Chapters 5 & 6 -- Be an active reader 

• Especially read the practice/example questions and the explanations
  
• Review the Summary
  

English Drill 1 on p. 54 - 56 (Answers in Chapter 25, p. 384)
Bring to class questions about troublesome sections or topics
Review the following topics as needed:  

• Verbs:  Subject-verb agreement, Verb tenses, Irregular verbs, participles
  
• Pronouns:  Agreement, antecedents, cases
  
• Modifiers:  Adjectives, adverbs, comparison, superlative
  
• End (Stop) punctuation:  period, question mark, exclamation point, semicolon
  
• Go punctuation:  comma, colon, dash
  

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Instructions for Drills and Practice Tests

ACT Week 2 (Ch. 5 & 6) Slides

Chapters 5 & 6 from Cracking the ACT (pdf)

ACT Videos (Supplemental)

3 Must Know Tips for English Test

4 Major Rules for Commas for the ACT

Number 1 Tip for the English Test

10 Quick Hints for the English Test

ACT Grammar Top Punctuation Rules

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 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 2 (January 28)

 Greetings!

We had a full class today as we worked through Chapters 5 & 6 of Cracking the ACT book.

We started class with a Quick Write in which I asked the students to think and write about two prompts -- 1) What makes you unique?  What makes you "you?" and 2) What factors do people consider when making decisions for the futures?  I appreciated their comments about themselves and about their futures.

As I mentioned, we worked through Chapters 5 & 6, which are about the English Test.  This is the first test of the ACT, and it's mostly about grammar, mechanics, and word usage.  I have slides that I use to present the information; they are also posted on Google Classroom.)  We discussed basic steps for approaching the questions:

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

Each week I will go through 1 - 3 chapters from the book Cracking the ACT, and for homework, students will read that those chapters and do practice exercises or drills. For this week, they are to do the English Drill 1 (here are instructions for how to do the Drills on Google Classroom.)

One thing that I've noticed is that, due to the masks, it's harder to have discussions in part because it takes a lot more energy to respond and talk. That said, the class has done a great job at answering questions and taking part in discussions.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings!

Mrs. Prichard

Homework for Next Week

Read through Chapters 5 & 6 -- Be an active reader 

• Especially read the practice/example questions and the explanations
  
• Review the Summary
  

English Drill 1 on p. 54 - 56 (Answers in Chapter 25, p. 384)
Bring to class questions about troublesome sections or topics
Review the following topics as needed:  

• Verbs:  Subject-verb agreement, Verb tenses, Irregular verbs, participles
  
• Pronouns:  Agreement, antecedents, cases
  
• Modifiers:  Adjectives, adverbs, comparison, superlative
  
• End (Stop) punctuation:  period, question mark, exclamation point, semicolon
  
• Go punctuation:  comma, colon, dash
  

Links for This Week

Class Notes

ACT Syllabus

ACT Assignments Checklist

Spring ACT Prep Google Drive folder

Instructions for Drills and Practice Tests

ACT Week 2 (Ch. 5 & 6) Slides

Where Will I Go?  (due 1/28)

ACT Videos (Supplemental)

3 Must Know Tips for English Test

4 Major Rules for Commas for the ACT

Number 1 Tip for the English Test

10 Quick Hints for the English Test

ACT Grammar Top Punctuation Rules

Video:  5 Most Important Things to Know for the English Test

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature

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)

ACT Prep & College Writing Class Notes -- Week 3 (Sept. 5)

Greetings!

We started this week in class with a little bit of a mystery -- where did Mrs. Prichard's reading glasses disappear to?  Somehow between the Grace Cafe and the classroom I lost my glasses.  We prayed, and Mrs. Johnson appeared at the door with my missing glasses.  

I dispensed with the Quick Write and Commonly Misused Words section of the class because I wanted more time for our SAT Essay discussion.  Most of the students will not take this test, but I feel that they engage in important critical thinking skills that will benefit them in higher education situations.  The SAT Essay requires students to read and analyze how effective and persuasive a particular piece of writing was.  As they read a prompt, they consider how the writer uses specific facts/data, logical reasoning, or persuasive style elements.  For this week, we used a sample prompt which was a transcript of a speech that Helen Keller gave in New York.  We discussed it paragraph by paragraph and then considered how we might structure a response.  I was really pleased with the thoughtful comments of each of the students.  Students were given the Take Home SAT Test #1, and they can do that test this week or next week.  

After our SAT discussion, we focused our attention on the ACT.  Last week and this week we've been learning strategies for the English portion of the test.  As your students can tell you, this English portion is 45 minutes long and includes 5 separate passages, each with 15 questions (75 questions total).  The questions will be a mix of grammar, usage, punctuation, style, and rhetoric topics. 

The chapters in the Cracking the ACT book are a blend of strategies for working the test and review of those topics the students will encounter.  I've encouraged the students to be active readers and to pay special attention to the areas that seem confusing or troublesome.  They might encounter information that they've never learned.  When this is the case, they should do some research to learn these topics, ask parents for help, send me an email, or ask in class for more information or for whole class review.  Chances are, they won't be the only ones with questions.

One of the homework assignments for this week is to take the Practice English Test.  For this, students are to go to Practice Test #2 in the back of their books.  Each test has a bubble in sheet; students should either tear that out or make a photo copy.  I feel that it's important to practice filling in those bubbles as they take the test, so they are NOT to write their answers on a separate piece of  notebook paper.  The Practice English Test should be taken in a quiet, undisturbed place.  No music or other distractions.  If your house is on the noisy side, headphones could be used to block out extraneous sounds.  This is also a timed test, so set a timer for 45 minutes.  

Assignments for Next Week-- Read Ch. 7 & 8 -- Be active by making notes, highlighting, and marking sections

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

     Note:  These drills will need to be handed in or check in class

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

-- PRACTICE ENGLISH TEST -- 45 minutes in a quiet place

-- Take Home SAT Essay Test #1 -- due in 2 weeks

Links for This Week

Class Notes

Helen Keller Test Prompt

Week 3 Slides

Videos

     3 Tips for Writing the Perfect SAT Essay

     SAT Essay -- The College Board

     The SAT Essay -- Khan Academy

     ACT English Test:  3 Must Know Tips

     ACT Grammar Tips -- Comma Rules

     ACT Multiple Choice Strategies

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard

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

Week 2 slides

Persuasive Writing Techniques

Ten Timeless Persuasive Writing Techniques

31 Powerful Persuasive Writing Techniques

Arctic National Wildlife (Jimmy Carter)

ACT Videos

3 Must Know Tips for English Test

4 Major Rules for Commas for the ACT

Number 1 Tip for the English Test

10 Quick Hints for the English Test

ACT Grammar Top Punctuation Rules

SAT Essay Videos

About the Essay  (Khan Academy)

Part 1 -- The New SAT Essay

Part 2 -- Know Persuasive Devices

Part 3 -- How to Read and Analyze the Passage

Part 4 -- How to Write the Essay

Have a beautiful Labor Day Weekend!

Mrs. Prichard