Breaking Down the English What are the ‘need to knows’ of this section of the ACT?

The English Section: 45 minutes 75 questions Two question categories Six skills assessed

Usage/Mechanics (40 questions) Rhetorical Skills (35 questions) Question Categories Usage/Mechanics (40 questions) Rhetorical Skills (35 questions)

Skills/Content Tested Examples # of Questions Punctuation commas, apostrophes, colons, semicolons, dashes, periods, question marks, and exclamation points 7-11 questions Grammar & Usage subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement, pronoun forms and cases, adjectives, adverbs, verb forms, comparative and superlative modifiers, and idioms 11-15 questions Sentence Structure subordinate or dependent clauses, run-on or fused sentences, comma splices, sentence fragments, misplaced modifiers, shifts in verb tense or voice, and shifts in pronoun person or number 15-19 questions

Skills/Content Tested Examples # of Questions Strategy adding, revising, or deleting sentences; how a sentence fits with the purpose, audience, and focus of  a paragraph or the essay as a whole 11-15 questions Organization opening, transitional, and closing phrases or statements; order and focus of sentences or paragraphs 7-11 questions Style writing style, tone, clarity, and effectiveness; eliminating ambiguity, wordiness, and redundant material; clarifying vague or awkward material

Punctuation (10-15%) These questions test conventions of internal and end-of sentence punctuation. In other words, you have to understand correct comma, apostrophe, period, and semicolon use. Make sure to take the entire sentence into account, even if the question asks about the punctuation of just a short phrase. 

Grammar and Usage (15-20%) subject and verb agreement agreement between pronoun and antecedent agreement between modifiers and the word modified Verb formation pronoun case formation of comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs are also tested. 

Sentence Structure (20-25%) These questions test your understanding of relationships between and among clauses, placement of modifiers, and shifts in construction. make sure to keep an eye on the sentence as a whole and find the answer that makes the relationship between clauses as clear and natural as possible.

Strategy (15-20%) Strategy questions test how well you can develop a given topic by choosing words or phrases that match an essay's audience and purpose.  You also have to judge the effect of adding, revising, or deleting supporting material. Ask yourself, does the extra material add to the argument, or just confuse it? you have to take the entire passage into account and carefully consider whether the possible revision clarifies or confuses the passage's message. 

Organization (10-15%) The organization questions test how well you organize ideas and choose effective opening, transitional, and closing sentences. These questions tend to focus on the beginning and ends of paragraphs.

Style (15-20%) These questions test how well you select precise and appropriate words and images, maintain the level of style and tone in an essay, manage sentence elements for rhetorical effectiveness, and avoid ambiguous pronoun references, wordiness, and redundancy.

Note: In ACT English, most questions have a NO CHANGE option. The ACT loves tricking students using these answer choices, because it knows that students who don't know grammar rules won't see anything wrong with the sentence. No Change is a really easy answer to choose.

Save time  Solve all your questions first in the book, then bubble all of them in at once. Saves two minutes on average. 36 seconds per question. Some take more time, some take less. Practice the weak areas

STUDENT ACOUNTABILITY Strategies TIME! TIME! TIME! REVIEW STUDENT ACOUNTABILITY

Strategies Mini lessons or bell-ringers can be used as refreshers With every English practice passage, REVIEW the answers and make the kids explain. Keep track of which skills are missed the most in your classes

Resources Mastery Prep ($$) http://online.masteryprep.com/login/index.php Prep Factory (Free) https://www.prepfactory.com/ http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act www.princetonreview.com http://blog.prepscholar.com https://www.kaptest.com