2. Acing The ACT J.Martin, BGHS

3. 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?

4. How many times have you taken the ACT? A.0 B.1 C.2 D.3 or more

5. 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

6. What have you done to prepare? A.nothing B.online C.act books D.ACT prep class

7. 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.

8. Part 1: General Information

9. ACT Warm Up Handout Use this to answer questions as you pay attention to the power point.

10. 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.

11. Who should take the ACT?

12. 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

14. 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)

15. Where is the test? BGHS WKU

16. Why me? I’m BRILLIANT!

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

18. Why me? My Grades STINK!

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

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

21. How Much does it cost? $35.00 Regular Deadline +$22.00 Late Registration

22. GET A COPY OF YOUR TEST & SCORES? list of your answers copy of the multiple-choice test questions answer key scoring instructions

23. How can you GET A COPY OF YOUR TEST & SCORES? Test Information Release Dates: Dec. Apr. Jun. Fee:$19.00

24. How Much does it cost? Free or reduced lunch? See your counselor for a fee voucher. 2 per eligible person

25. Special Circumstances? If you have an IEP, accommodations can be made for you.

26. 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.

27. What’s it like? Multiple choice Takes about 3 ½ hrs. with breaks 4 Sections English 45 min. 75 questions Math 60 min. 60 questions Reading 35 min. 40 questions Science Reasoning 35 min. 40 questions

28. Register Early Registration Deadlines are usually 1 month before the test date. Late registration= $22.00 more

29. How do you register? Online with a credit card OR Snail mail with a check

30. Where can I get Information? BGHS Guidance office BGHS Library www.actstu dent.org

31. So, what have you learned?

32. Part 2: General Test- Taking Strategies

33. Take Notes on your own paper.

34. 1. Know the Directions before you go The directions are always the same. Knowing them beforehand will save you time.

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. 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.

38. 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.

39. 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).

40. 7. Should You Answer Every Question? YES!

41. 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 watch Find a happy medium, a groove, a speed at which you can be both accurate and efficient.

42. 9. When time is called STOP!

43. 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.

44. 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.

45. 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

46. 13. Set a target score Your target doesn’t have to be a 36. Be realistic

47. 14. Prepare Study regularly Schedule yourself time to study just for the ACT 15 min a day? = 1 hr. 45 min a week 30 min per day? = 3 ½ hrs a week Check out http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/act/ chapter1.html http://www.number2.com/ www.actstudent.org

48. Order of Difficulty The ACT isn’t arranged in order of difficulty. Some easy & some harder questions throughout. So, how should you answer questions?

49. 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 1 st ? 5.Why should you answer those questions 1 st ? 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?

50. Part 3: English Test

51. Take Notes on your own paper.

52. 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

53. 2 Main Types of Questions Standard English Punctuation Grammar Usage Sentence Structure Rhetorical Skills Strategy Organization Style

54. 40 Usage/Mechanics Questions Punctuation10 Basic Grammar & Usage12 Sentence Structure18

55. 35 Rhetorical Skills Strategy12 Organization11 Style12

56. 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.

57. Look for Specific Errors

58. “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)

59. What does the test look like? See Example

60. On the English Test... Most of the “easier” punctuation, grammar, & sentence structure questions come 1 st. Rhetoric questions usually at the end, but can be anywhere

61. 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

62. Can you trust your ear? Pick what sounds right? Do you speak in FORMAL ENGLISH? Better to look for specific errors that appear.

63. 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”

64. OMIT the underlined portion Correct over 50% of the time Don’t automatically pick it, but consider it carefully.

65. Part 4: Basic Terminology Under Construction– Do not continue.

66. Simple Sentence Tom broke the vase. 2 nouns Tomvase 1verb broke 1 articlethe

67. A Noun Names a person, place, thing or idea. Tomvase

68. Verb Expresses action broke

69. Article Modifies or limits a noun the

70. Subject The person, place, or thing the sentence is about Tom broke the vase.

71. Object of the sentence Receives the action of the verb. Tom broke the vase.

72. Adverb Modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb Often ends in ly Tom accidentally broke the big vase of flowers.

73. Adjective Word that modifies a noun Tom accidentally broke the big vase of flowers.

74. Preposition Word that notes the relation of a noun to an action or thing Tom accidentally broke the big vase of flowers

75. Phrase A group of words that acts as a single part of speech

76. Prepositional Phrase Group of words beginning with a preposition Tom accidentally broke the big vase of flowers.

77. Pronoun Takes the place of a noun.

78. Clause Group of words containing a subject & a verb.

79. Independent Clause (complete sentence) or part of a sentence that can stand by itself as a complete sentence

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