Transcript Document 7723107

ACT Strategy Session
800-2Review | PrincetonReview.com
Every point counts!
Where Will Your Scores Take You?
School
Average Score of Incoming
Freshmen!
ACT
Harvard University
32
Colorado College
30
University of Colorado
28
Colorado State University
25
Community College
Any
Review your score results with the Where Your Score Will Take You Flyers!
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Why students find
the ACT difficult!
ACT
High School
Number of Questions on
the exams
Designed so you can’t
finish
Designed so you can finish
Answer Choices
Common errors included
in answer choices
Not as many
Essay
30 min
Hours & weeks
Reading
Under serious time
constraints
Read at home
Science
Little science needed
Science required
Math
No partial credit
Process does not matter
You should look for the
wrong answers
Partial Credit
Process matters
Look for the correct
answer
Questions
Intentionally hard
Straight forward
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The ACT Test Writers!
The test writers:
intentionally make the questions time consuming
2) include trap answers
3) include words that lead you to the incorrect
answer choice
1)
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Boys v. Girls
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Who does better on standardized tests?
Boys or Girls
Boys v. Girls
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Who does better in College?
Boys or Girls
Are you an average Joe?
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You all have 3 seconds to pick a NUMBER!
Test writers use this to their advantage when writing questions!
YOU are Joe Bloggs!
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Do cows DRINK milk
or
do they PRODUCE milk and DRINK water!
Basic Strategies
Practice Makes Perfect
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Students should take numerous practice tests!
Students should not under any circumstances take the
tests for the first time when it counts towards their
admissions!
By taking several practice exams students will
• Increase their confidence & decrease test anxiety by
becoming familiar with the test
• Increase their overall speed and accuracy
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Basic Strategies
Study Practice Test Results
Too often we see students take one practice test,
receive a score, and do nothing with that information.
Our practice test score reports give students a detailed
breakdown of their results, not just their score in each
section.
Take a practice test & dive deeply into the specific
sections that you need to improve upon.
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Basic Strategies
Study The ACT
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Study simple facts about the test
Number of sections & what they are
Specific material covered in each section
Number of questions asked
How much time do you have on each section & question?
What are trap answers?
Are the questions arranged from easy to hard or are they mixed?
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Basic ACT Strategies
Answer Every Question
•
There is no penalty for wrong answers on the ACT
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Pick a letter of the day and use that letter every time
you guess
AAAAAA
Not
ABACDEA
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Basic Strategies
Use P.O.E.
Process of Elimination
• Get in the habit of placing a line through the answers you know are
wrong in the test booklet
NEXT Let’s review a sample problem to demonstrate P.O.E.
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General Strategy: POE
Eliminate what you know is wrong.
What is the capital of Malawi?
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Process of Elimination
Eliminate what you know is wrong.
What is the capital of Malawi?
a)
London
b)
Tokyo
c)
Paris
d)
Washington D.C.
e)
Lilongwe
Did you know what the right answer was?
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Basic Strategies
ACT Triage
•Work on the easy/quick questions first
Be sure to know your POOD:
Personal Order of Difficulty
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Basic Strategies
Use a Watch
•
Timing and Pacing are the most difficult aspects of the
test because students are not used to dealing with time
constraints.
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Wearing a watch will helps keep your pacing goals and
tell you if you are spending too much time on one
section or passage.
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Basic Strategies
Day of the Test
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Take the day before the exam off – do not study
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Get a good night’s sleep on at least the 2 days prior to the test
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At breakfast students should review 1 or 2 questions in each section
of the test.
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Eat a balance of protein and carbohydrates that will maintain your
energy level for 4 hours
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How are the essays
graded?
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ACT essay is “optional” for $14 extra. It’s really not optional because Most
schools require the essay!
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Graders:
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They grade 200 essays in about 4 hours, all on the same topic.
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They spend around one minute on each essay.
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The essay is scored from 2-12.
Topics:
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ACT: Close to the hearts of high school students. They think you care.
For Example: Do you think schools should require foreign language?
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Style over substance! People who take The Princeton Review are excellent at
producing first-draft essays, not excellent writers. This is not your admissions
essay, and you will never have to write like this!
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ACT English Information
ACT English Grammar
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75 multiple choice questions; 45 minutes , 36 seconds per question
Question given in conjunction with a passage
Sentence Structure, Grammar and Usage, Punctuation, Rhetorical Skills
The English section tests not only obscure grammar rules but also
punctuation errors as well
ACT expects students to know what they want—It’s more than just pure
grammar!
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In a series of 3 or more items, put a comma before the “and”
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Shorter sentences are preferred to longer sentences
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ACT English Strategies
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Tests against your ear
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Grocery store: 10 Items or…. Less? Fewer?
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No Change = correct 25% of the time it appears
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Omit this Underlined Section = correct 50% of the time it
appears
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ACT English Sample
Question
Watch the context.
The scientist’s work in the field of physics continued to influence
the public’s understanding of the subject.
A)
No Change
B)
continue
C)
will continue
D)
has the ongoing effect of continuing
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ACT English Sample
Question
Keep it consistent.
The scientist’s work in the field of physics continued to influence the public’s
understanding of the subject. His research will redefine a common
misconception held by many people. By conducting this experiment, the
scientist will become more famous than Albert Einstein.
A)
B)
C)
D)
No Change
continue
will continue
has the ongoing effect of continuing
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ACT Math Information
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Math
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60 multiple choice questions; 60 minutes
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1 minute per question!
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Algebra I and II, Arithmetic, Geometry, Trigonometry
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This is 7th-11th grade math
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It’s the wording in the question that makes this section difficult
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Only four Trig problems, but two can be done without having even learned
Trig! They are out to intimidate you!
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ACT
Math Strategies
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Know how to ballpark - this will improve your efficiency and score!
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Learn how to use a calculator – graphing functions and matrix problems
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Take 2 passes - X the questions in the test booklet you do not understand at all and skip them
on your second pass - when should I circle some
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P.O.E. - be sure to eliminate the wrong answers
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Follow your personal order of difficulty – start with your easiest section
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Read the question carefully – they predict where students will misread the
question– you
can count on that answer as being one of your choices – they do this to trap students
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ACT Math Sample Problem
47. A circle is inscribed in a square, as shown in the figure below. If the square measures
10 feet on a side, which of the following expressions gives the area of the shaded region in
square feet?
2
A. 10 - 10π
2
2
B. 10 - 5 π
C. 10 - 5π
2
2
D. 5 - 5 π
2
E. 5 - 10π
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ACT Math Sample
Problem
47. A circle is inscribed in a square, as shown in the figure below. If the square measures
10 feet on a side, which of the following expressions gives the area of the shaded region in
square feet?
Area of the square minus
the area of the circle.
Area (Square) = length x
width
Square
Circle
2
A. 10 - 10π
2
2
B. 10 - 5 π
C. 10 - 5π P.O.E. eliminate any answer choice that does not have 102
2
2
D. 5 - 5 π P.O.E. eliminate any answer choice that does not have 102
2
E. 5 - 10π P.O.E. eliminate any answer choice that does not have 102
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ACT Math Sample
Problem
47. A circle is inscribed in a square, as shown in the figure below. If the square measures
10 feet on a side, which of the following expressions gives the area of the shaded region in
square feet?
Area of the square minus
the are of the circle.
Area (Circle) = π r2
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
2
10 - 10π P.O.E. eliminate any answer choice that does not have π r2 (missing r )
2 2
10 - 5 π
10 - 5π P.O.E. eliminate any answer choice that does not have π r2 (missing r )
2 2
5 -5 π
2
5 - 10π P.O.E. eliminate any answer choice that does not have π r2 (missing r )
2
2
2
In the previous example, we deleted CDE, in this example, we got rid of ACE leaving us with B.
You could just ballpark and get this right as well!
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ACT Reading Information
Reading 40 multiple choice questions; 35 minutes, less than 1 min to answer
each question
There are 4 types of passages you will encounter on the ACT.
1. Prose Fiction: Most interesting to read, but often the hardest questions!
Most time-consuming!
2. Social Sciences: politics, history
3. Humanities: arts, culture
4. Natural Science: Typically the easiest! (POOD) Factual information!
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ACT Reading Strategies
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Don’t take the test in the order it’s presented!
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Timing is everything! Pace yourself!
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You don’t have to read. Skip or Skim.
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You should look for and eliminate the wrong answers
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Pay attention to distracters. Distracters are designed to distract your way of thinking,
Do the easiest section for you
first, because you know you’ll get those right. Save the hardest for last.
break your concentration, and throw you off track.
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Translate the question
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ACT Science Reasoning
Instead of calling it Science Reasoning, think of it as Technical Reading.
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Basic understanding of the scientific method will help you out.
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Not much science knowledge is needed.
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Read and understand charts and graphs
There are 3 types of science passages:
1. Charts and Graphs = consists only of charts and graphs
2. Experiments = combination of reading text and charts and graphs in the same question
3. Fighting Scientists = much like the reading section, only reading text, no charts and
graphs
Work out of order – know your POOD
usually students find the charts and graphs the easiest, then the experiments – if you
find the reading section easy then you should do the fighting scientists second.
Opposites – when a student encounters 2 answer choices that are direct opposites, one will
almost always be the correct answer.
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ACT Science Reasoning
11. According to the chart, which of the following populations shows the
greatest degree of uniformity regarding its blood groups?
A)
Eurasian (Ukraine)
B)
Western European (Spain)
C)
South American (Peru)
D)
European American
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ACT Science Reasoning
11. According to the chart, which of the following populations shows the
greatest degree of uniformity regarding its blood groups?
A)
Eurasian (Ukraine)
B)
Western European (Spain)
C)
South American (Peru)
D)
European American
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How to Read Your
Score Report!
Score Reports
ITEM ANALYSIS: SECTION
This part lists the correct answer (“Corr”), your answer (“You”), and the category (“Cats”) for each
question, section by section. The numbers in the top line represent the question numbers.
12345
Corr
ACDCB
You
+A–b*
Cats
iiijj
In the example above, the correct answer to question one is “A” and the “+” indicates that you
answered the question correctly. On question two, the correct answer is “C”, but your response was
“A”. The “–” indicates that you left question three blank. A lowercase letter, like “b” in question four,
tells you that you guessed incorrectly and indicates the letter you chose. The “*” in question five
indicates that you guessed correctly on that question. The letters in the “Cats”row correspond to the
categories listed in the “CATEGORY” section (see explanation 5 below).
In this example, they indicate that questions 1-3 are easy sentence completions, and 4-5 are medium
sentence completions on an ACT. Each test type has its own categories, so refer to the Category
listing on your sheet for the correct list of question types.
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Let TPR be your guide
Questions?
Krissi Taylor Leslie
[email protected] | 866-408-8867 x.5225|
PrincetonReview.com
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Farewell
Thank you!
800-2Review | PrincetonReview.com
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