A little overview about our approach to preparing students for the ACT test.
OUR GOAL: to help students understand what is expected of them on the test.
OUR STRATEGY: administering multiple real ACT tests to them during the course
in an attempt to familiarize the student with the test format and question
types.
**It is essential that any work assigned to do outside of class be completed
in order to maximize success in the class. High school students who are involved
in extra-curricular activities know the importance of practice as it relates
to performance.
The following is a list of the four sections of the ACT and our approach to teaching them:
English: Most students are unprepared for this section because of a poor understanding of what is going to be tested. Students believe that if they are performing well in English class, they will score well on this section. A typical high school English class, however, is concentrating on Literature more than any other subject. Any study of grammar is typically only in a troubleshooting format. Most teachers are not revisiting the fundamentals of grammar and mechanics at the high school level. This section, however, concentrates heavily on grammar, and the students need a solid understanding of the most popular ACT grammar questions. This class will thoroughly and directly address these skills. On average, the point increase is about 3 points after completing the ACT course.
Math: Many students, even those with experience on math team or Pre Cal or Calculus will have trouble with the math section. The reason stems from schools not working as hard on teaching students how to “read” problems as they do on just merely showing them how to “work” problems. They usually see the same problem on the chapter test, just with different numbers plugged in. This class will teach students how to read a math problem and how to work it in the proper order. Most students have the necessary skills to do the problems; they simply lack the skill to know what to do first and how to do it quickly. Students usually see about a 2 to 5 point increase on the math section after they complete the ACT course.
Reading: Students typically go into this section of the test already defeated because of a poor approach to the passages. There are four passages to read and 40 questions to answer in only 35 minutes. Time is not their friend, and reading every word of every passage is their number one setback. Students will learn how to scan the passages, looking for pertinent information. They will learn how to answer the questions in order of difficulty, and most of all, how to keep moving! Point increases vary greatly from student to student because of different reading speeds and levels of comprehension.
Science: This is probably the most misunderstood section of the ACT. Most
students believe that it is a test of their basic knowledge of their school
science classes. When they see the test for the first time, however, they see
problems related to geology, cosmic events, or environmental data. Many students
have never seen such topics before and think they don’t know how to do
the section. The only science they really need to know is 9th grade science
and a little bit of common sense. Reading comprehension is critical as is reading
speed. Practice tests are imperative for improvement in this area. With only
25 minutes to read about 12 to 14 pages and answer 40 questions, time is of
the essence. An average student can see a point increase of about 5 to 10 points
after completing the course.