We went through multiple concepts and practice problems on the SAT. We went over the problems he got wrong on his practice test (he did not complete the whole thing). He was sent home with more practice to bring back next time.
Matt and I went over common grammatical errors to look out for in the writing and language section, and then reviewed the reading strategy. Matt then completed a number of drills.
Kelly was given a practice test consisting of about 15 questions. This was timed for about 20 minutes. I want her understand the time constraint, as well as the nervous feeling of being timed in a testing environment so that she is able to control that when she takes the actual test (she will be used to it). This applies to all testing situations.
We then went through the problems that she got wrong, and the concepts involving those problems relating it to ACT problems.
I showed her some relationships between the information on the math ACT, as well as the SAT.
Paige was given a practice test consisting of about 15 questions. This was timed for about 15 minutes. I want her to get used to the time constraint, as well as the nervous feeling of being timed in a testing environment so that she is able to control that when she takes the actual test (she will be used to it). We then went through the problems that she got wrong, and the concepts invoking those problems relating it to ACT problems.
I introduced the two tests to Kelly, and advised her on how to choose between the two. We started to focus on the topics for the ACT that she can do without Algebra 1 or 2, or Geometry. We did some work on complex numbers, averages, etc. I advised her to look into the SAT Subject tests and see which one would be of the most interest.
Kelly and I continue to review strategies for the SAT and ACT. We tried to cover all topics today - science, math, reading and writing. Kelly completed some timed practice tests in math and science. We reviewed her answers so she understood how to achieve the correct result if it was incorrect. We listened and watched interactive practice sessions on Khan Academy website regarding reading passages. Kelly has a plan of attack for daily study and practice test-taking. She completed the SAT Question of the Day and learned new SAT Words of the Day - infer, predilection, jubilant and piqued. We reviewed the ACT Study Guide relative to reading and science.
Kelly set up an account with College Board and installed the free app on her phone for daily practice. We will do the SAT Question and Word of the Day and she can continue on her phone or computer. She also took note of other helpful sites. She was familiar with Quizlet, which will allow her to use flashcards to study SAT/ACT vocabulary and have the ability to hear the proper pronunciation. We also looked at practice using the Khan Academy website. It will help to focus practice on questions Kelly missed on diagnostic tests and she will later be able to transfer PSAT results from College Board so that custom practice sessions can be utilized. Today she took a practice Math test which Jackie put together. She also read a reading passage example, learned some strategies and tips, and took a practice language and writing test. We read and discussed the explanations for correct and incorrect responses. We watched the Khan Academy SAT practice video on YouTube. We also discussed the optional SAT essay question and looked at the prompt. Kelly asked about scores, so we looked at a chart showing the spectrum of scores as compared to the old SAT and what kind of score would be better than average or outstanding. Her goal is to score better than a 30 on the ACT and above 1200 on the new SAT. I printed out pages from the ACT Study Guide relative to grammar rules we discussed yesterday.
Jared and I continued to work on developing his vocabulary and sentence completion skills for the SAT Verbal section. He completed numerous practice problems throughout all four practice tests, and we discussed strategies and key terms to look for to help him solve questions.
