They Laughed But Now They Are Crying

Every class I teach has some class clowns. Put 20 or more teenagers in a class room together after regular school hours and there will be some who want to fool around rather than learn. Its okay to have fun but not at the expense of others who really want to listen and learn. Each class I teach comes with a 10 minute break specifically to allow students to "blow off steam".

Now that the May SAT results are out, it is no surprise that many of the comedians are not satisfied with their scores. The comedians are not laughing anymore. The comedians are scrambling to take the June SAT this Saturday hoping to improve their scores. For many, this summer was supposed to be a stress free period of relaxation. A time to visit some campuses. A time to work on an application essay and a time to enjoy the sun.

The good news is that those who wanted to learn were for the most part satisfied with their scores. You get out of life whatever you put into it. The SAT is no exception. For some unfortunately it was Garbage In, Garbage Out.

New SAT Study Guide

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Collegeboard will revise its Official SAT Study Guide this summer. The Official SAT Study Guide has remained virtually unchanged since its original publication in 2004 to reflect the new SAT format which began testing in March 2005. The Official SAT Study Guide currently includes 8 simulated SAT tests. The new and revised guide will feature 3 actual SAT tests along with 7 simulated tests for a total of 10 practice tests.

How To Become A Better SAT Reader

Many of the major magazines have an essay in each issue. Time, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times Magazine, etc. These essays are approximately the same length as the SAT's long reading passages. Take out a pen and mark up these essays. Underline any key phrases or quotations. Circle any vocabulary words you may not know and look up those words. Ask yourself the following questions: What is the authors point? Why did the author use this example? Does the article read as sad, funny, serious, sarcastic, tragic, or hopeful?

From these questions start to anticipate what questions the test makers would ask if given the passage in front of you, ie. figure out the main idea, vocabulary in context questions, inference questions, function questions, etc. When you put yourself in the shoes of the test makers, you become a better test taker.

Understanding the Structure of Reading Passages

Often an excerpt from a novel or a short story will serve as an SAT reading passage. Novels are narratives with dialogue. It is important for the reader to identify the fictional characters and keep track of who is saying what. It is also important for the reader to understand who the narrator is, what the narrator's tone is, and what each character's attitude and agenda is. Once the reader is able to master this, the questions which follow are easy to answer.

The other type of reading passage is the more classic reference piece, much like what one would read in a textbook or encyclopedia. This passage will read like a classic essay. It will have an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion. Figure out the author's thesis. Highlight the topic sentence of each body paragraph. Understand the examples used to prove the thesis. Be aware of the essay's tone and key words. The questions which follow will be easy to answer.

The Wizard of OZ as a source of SAT Vocabulary

Every time Easter and Passover approach I think of the Wizard of Oz. As a child, this classic always seemed to be on television during this time of year. Who knew that a careful review of the script would be replete with SAT vocabulary words? For instance consider the three following lines from the wizard:

'Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the earth, or slinks through slimy seas has a brain"

"You dare to come to me for a heart, do you? You clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk!"

"And you, Scarecrow, have the effrontery to ask for a brain - you billowing bale of bovine fodder!"

Just from these three lines, I was able to italicize 8 SAT words! How many do you know?
What is your favorite book or screenplay? Go back, reread them and find some good words to look up. Its a lot more fun than tedious memorization.

A Wonderful Website for Flashcards

Quizlet is a wonderful free Internet site for students. Many students often ask me what the best way to learn SAT vocabulary. While there is no surefire way, the use of flashcards is an efficient way to increase your word power. Quizlet allows you to create your own SAT vocabulary flashcards. The site displays many different groups of words including the 100 most popular SAT vocabulary words as well as the 250 most difficult words. These are but a few of the word sets the site offers. The link is http://quizlet.com/

Long Reading Passages

The long reading passage aka The Gigantic Passage should not be feared. Sure, most SAT long passages are seemingly endless and boring. Sure some sport topics as ancient Greek poetry or the history of glass. Do not despair. As long and as boring as the passages are, there is a method which must be employed to successfully answer most of the 12 or 13 questions which usually follow approximately 90-115 lines of reading.

First, lightly skim the passage for no more than 3-4 minutes. Always read with your pencil. Circle or underline key words or themes. This will help the reader quickly locate important information which will facilitate answering the questions. In the case of dialogue, keep track of who is saying what--that's it.

Second, realize that the questions will be always be presented in orderly fashion. For example, the first question may direct the reader to lines 3-6, followed by a question regarding lines 10-12 and so on. Therefore, the reader is forced to re-read the passage once again anyway, so there is no need to panic if the passage was not easy to understand during the initial light skim.

There are more literal comprehension type questions in this part of the SAT. As a result, questions to the long passage are generally easier than other passage based reading questions. Time management and proper discipline are key components necessary to master long passages on the Critical Reading part of the SAT.