Acing The ACTJ.Martin, BGHS

Today’s WN: ACT

Did you run out of time on the practice ACT we did? Why?

How do you feel like you did?

How hard did you try?

What seemed to give you trouble?

Will you take the ACT again? When? Why? (scholarships, get in college, etc.)

What score did you make last time?

What is your goal?

How many times have you taken the ACT?

A. 0

B. 1

C. 2

D. 3 or more

What was your high score?

A. 15 or below

B. 16-20

C. 21-25

D. 26-30

E. 31-36

F. Haven’t Taken It

What have you done to prepare?

A. nothing

B. online

C. act books

D. ACT prep class

How well do you know the ACT?

A. clueless about it

B. a little, not much

C. I’m fairly knowledgeable about it.

D. I could pretty much teach others about it.

Part 1: General Information

ACT Warm Up Handout

Use this to answer questions as you pay attention to the power point.

Who should take the ACT?

Anyone going to college after H.S.

Anyone wanting scholarship $

Anyone who wants more KEES $.

Anyone going to a Vo-Tech school requiring ACT scores.

Who should take the ACT?

What is the ACT?

A standardized test many colleges use to assess which students they will accept into their college.

Required for some scholarships.

TIMED test.

Multiple Choice

When is the test?

September 8, 2012 (8-17-12)

October 27, 2012 (9-21-12)

December 8, 2012 (11-2-12)

February 9, 2013 (1-11-13)

April 13, 2013 (3-8-13)

June 8, 2013 (5-3-13)

Where is the test?

BGHS

WKU

Why me? I’m BRILLIANT!

Preparation can still give you an edge—an edge you may need to get in a certain school or nab an awesome scholarship.

Why me? My Grades STINK!

Maybe you’re a misunderstood GENIOUS! (Genious in hiding?) If so, a college may want you even with lousy grades.

$$$$$ Do well, and you can say, “SHOW ME THE MONEY!”

How Much does it cost?

$35.00 Regular Deadline

+$22.00 Late Registration

GET A COPY OF YOUR TEST & SCORES?

list of your answers

copy of the multiple-choice test questions

answer key

scoring instructions

How can you GET A COPY OF YOUR TEST & SCORES?

Test Information Release

Dates: Dec.

Apr.

Jun.

Fee: $19.00

How Much does it cost?

Free or reduced lunch?

See your counselor for a fee voucher.

2 per eligible person

Special Circumstances?

If you have an IEP, accommodations can be made for you.

How many times can I take it?

As many as you want to pay for.

Until you get the score you want

Best to plan to take it more than once. At least 1x Jr. year & 1 x Sr.

What’s it like?

Multiple choice

Takes about 3 ½ hrs. with breaks

4 SectionsEnglish 45 min. 75 questions

Math 60 min. 60 questions

Reading 35 min. 40 questions

Science Reasoning 35 min. 40 questions

Register Early

Registration Deadlines are usually 1 month before the test date.

Late registration= $22.00 more

How do you register?

Online with a credit card

OR

Snail mail with a check

Where can I get Information?

BGHS Guidance office

BGHS Library

www.actstudent.org

So, what have you learned?

Part 2: General Test-Taking Strategies

Take Notes on your own paper.

1. Know the Directions before you go

The directions are always the same.

Knowing them beforehand will save you time.

2. Use your test booklet as scratch paper.

Feel free to underline or circle things.Draw diagrams in the margins.Mark out answers you know are incorrect.Put question marks beside possible answer choices.Make a distinctive mark beside questions you need to come back to if you have time.

3. Answer easy questions 1st

• Quickly move through the entire section and mark the questions you’re sure you know the answers to. Mark each answer as you go,

• Make note of which questions you guessed on and come back to them later if you have time.

• Don’t miss the opportunity to get all the easy answers right because you spend too much time on some hard ones.

4. Don’t get bogged down by a hard question.

60-90 seconds is a LARGE amount of time to answer 1 question on the ACT

If you find yourself spending anywhere close to this amount of time on one problem, it’s time to make a guess and go on.

Come back to it later if you have time, but you’ve got to keep moving.

5. Avoid carelessness

Don’t make mistakes because you move too quickly

Answer choices often include tempting “partial answers” Don’t mistake a partial answer for a real one.Take a deep breath, look at the question and consider all the answer choices.

Don’t make mistakes because you become frustrated or lack confidence.

Just because a question looks complicated, doesn’t mean you can’t answer it.

6. Be careful bubbling in your answers.

Avoid knowing the right answer and bubbling in the wrong bubble.Pay attention to the letters. That’s why they have odds A-D and evens F-J.You can mark your answers in the test booklet, then go back and bubble the answer sheet (five at a time or a page at a time).

7. Should You Answer Every Question?

YES!

8. Pace Yourself

It’s a timed test.Take some timed practice tests to get a feel for how quickly you’ll need to work.Don’t spend too much time in one place.Guess if you must, then come back to it if you have time.Wear a watchFind a happy medium, a groove, a speed at which you can be both accurate and efficient.

9. When time is called

STOP!

10. It’s multiple choice

Only 1 right answer per question matters.

The correct answer is right in front of you.

Pick the right answer if you know it.

Eliminate wrong answers until you’re left with the right answer.

Guess if you must.

11. Good Guessing

Eliminate as many wrong answers as you can before you guess.

Sometimes you can look just at the answers and notice patterns in the choices that leave only one of them different from the rest.

On the ENG test, less is more.

12. Review your work

If you have time at the end, check your answers.Make sure you’ve marked an answer for every question.Make sure your marks are dark and all erased items are completely erased.Re-check answers to difficult questions

13. Set a target score

Your target doesn’t have to be a 36.

Be realistic

14. Prepare

Study regularlySchedule yourself time to study just for the ACT15 min a day? = 1 hr. 45 min a week30 min per day? = 3 ½ hrs a weekCheck out

http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/act/chapter1.htmlhttp://www.number2.com/www.actstudent.org

Order of Difficulty

The ACT isn’t arranged in order of difficulty.

Some easy & some harder questions throughout.

So, how should you answer questions?

Part II Review questions

1. Why should you know the test directions before you go?

2. Why do you need to pace yourself?3. What can you do to help pace yourself?4. Which questions should you answer 1st?5. Why should you answer those questions 1st?6. What are some strategies for answering harder

questions?7. Why should you mark an answer for every

question?8. What should you do if you have extra time at the

end?9. What should you do when time is called?

Part 3: English Test

Take Notes on your own paper.

English Test

5 Reading Passages with underlined portions

75 Questions 45 Minutes

36 seconds per question

9 minutes per section

Measures standard written English and rhetorical skills

2 Main Types of Questions

Standard English

Punctuation

Grammar

Usage

Sentence Structure

Rhetorical Skills

Strategy

Organization

Style

40 Usage/Mechanics Questions

Punctuation 10

Basic Grammar & Usage 12

Sentence Structure 18

35 Rhetorical Skills

Strategy 12

Organization 11

Style 12

Why not trust your ears?

The ACT is a test of formal English, not the informal English you speak daily or the e-mail English you read on a regular basis.

Look for Specific Errors

“You don’t need to be a strong writer to do well on this test. You do need to know what types of errors crop up

again and again, and how to fix them.”

Cracking the ACT (25)

What does the test look like?

See Example

On the English Test. . .

Most of the “easier” punctuation, grammar, & sentence structure questions come 1st.

Rhetoric questions usually at the end, but can be anywhere

Test taking tip:

Move through the test marking every answer you’re SURE about, then go through it again to think more about the tougher ones

Can you trust your ear?

Pick what sounds right?

Do you speak in FORMAL ENGLISH?

Better to look for specific errors that appear.

NO CHANGE is Correct

25% of the time

Don’t automatically pick it, but if you’ve eliminated other incorrect answers & are stuck, you might pick “NO Change”

OMIT the underlined portion

Correct over 50% of the time

Don’t automatically pick it, but consider it carefully.

Part 4: Basic Terminology

Under Construction– Do not continue.

Simple Sentence

Tom broke the vase.

• 2 nouns Tom vase

• 1verb broke

• 1 article the

A Noun

Names a person, place, thing or idea.

Tom vase

Verb

Expresses action

broke

Article

Modifies or limits a noun

the

Subject

The person, place, or thing the sentence is about

Tom broke the vase.

Object of the sentence

Receives the action of the verb.

Tom broke the vase.

Adverb

Modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb

Often ends in ly

Tom accidentally broke the big vase of flowers.

Adjective

Word that modifies a noun

Tom accidentally broke the big vase of flowers.

Preposition

Word that notes the relation of a noun to an action or thing

Tom accidentally broke the big vase of flowers

Phrase

A group of words that acts as a single part of speech

Prepositional Phrase

Group of words beginning with a preposition

Tom accidentally broke the big vase of flowers.

Pronoun

Takes the place of a noun.

Clause

Group of words containing a subject & a verb.

Independent Clause

(complete sentence) or part of a sentence that can stand by itself as a complete sentence

Dependent Clause

Contains a subject & verb but does not express a complete thought—not a complete sentence by itself.