ACT 101 1 ACT What does ACT stand

ACT 101! 1

ACT…? What does ACT stand for? A. American College Test? B. Academic Collegiate Test? C. Annoyingly Confusing Test? D. None of the above 2

What’s on the ACT? English Math Reading Science ü Grammar ü Arithmetic ü Passages ü Punctuation ü Algebra I & II ü Sciencebased passages with graphs, charts, and tables ü Geometry ü Trig Essay – technically optional, but YOU SHOULD DO THE ESSAY! 3

ACT Scoring • Each section (E, M, R, S) is scored from a 1 -36. The four scores are averaged together to get a composite score. • The essay is scored from 2 -12. It DOES NOT factor into your composite score. • Average score= 21 • What’s a “good score”? It depends! 4

ACT Global Strategy #1: Pacing • Right answer = +1 • Blank answer = 0 • Wrong answer = 0 • You do all 60 math questions and get half of them right. • 30 raw points • Scale score of 20 5

ACT Global Strategy #1: Pacing • Right answer +1 • Blank answer 0 • Wrong answer 0 • You do all 60 math questions and get half of them right. • 30 raw points • Scale score of 20 • You do only 40 of the 60 questions and get 38 right. • 38 raw points + 4 from Letter of the Day = 42 pts • Scale score of 26 6

ACT Global Strategy #1: Pacing Accuracy is more important than speed SLOW DOWN! Answer fewer questions, but get them right. 7

ACT Global Strategy #1: Pacing Never leave anything blank on the ACT! ACT does not take off points for wrong answers! Global Strategy #1: fill in every bubble using Letter of the Day! (LOTD) 8

ACT Global Strategy #2: POOD PERSONAL ORDER OF DIFFICULTY In Reading: Raw Score of 30 correct questions= 27 scaled score. Work all four passages and get 75% correct -or. Work only three passages and get 100% correct. YOUR CHOICE! 9

ACT Global Strategy #3: POE Use Process of Elimination and then guess 10

Global Strategy #3: POE What is the capital of Malawi? A) B) C) D) E) London Tokyo Paris Madrid Lilongwe 11

Strategy Recap • POE » » Process of Elimination Eliminate what you know is wrong, even if you aren’t sure which one is right) • POOD » Personal Order of Difficulty » Do the easy questions first • LOTD » Letter of the Day » Don’t leave anything blank! • Pacing » Work only on the number of questions you need for your target score. 12

ACT Writing English: Fun Facts SAT Question • How many minutes? • 45 • How many questions? • 75 • How is it divided? • 5 passages with 15 questions each • Topics covered include: • Grammar • Punctuation • Editing 13

ACT Writing English. Question Example SAT 4 C’s 1. Complete - Are the sentences complete? 2. Consistent - Are the sentences consistent (verbs and subject verb agreement)? 3. Clear – Meaning should be clear 4. Concise – The best answer, free of any errors, will be the most concise 14

ACT Writing English: Use the answers! SAT Question What’s changing? 15

ACT Writing English: Use the answers! SAT Question 16

ACT Writing English: Read for Context SAT Question What’s changing? 17

ACT Math Example 1: POE 18

ACT Math Strategy: POE + 11 + 9 + 7 + 5 = 45 19

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ACT Math Strategy: POE Don’t overcalculate! 21

ACT Math Strategy: Calculators (Always use parentheses around negatives, fractions, and operations in the numerator or denominator!) 22

ACT Math Reading • There are four passages, each followed by ten questions. • The passages are always in the same order: Prose Fiction Social Science Humanities Natural Sciences • Each passage is roughly equal in length. Play to your strengths! 23

ACT Math Reading • There is no particular order of difficulty. • The questions are not in chronological order. • This section is designed so that most students will not finish. Don’t let that stress you out. Just focus on your target number of questions. 24

ACT Math Reading Strategy #1 • Build Your Own Map • Put a star beside questions with locations (line references or paragraph numbers) • Underline “key words” that you could look for in the passage. • Mark the references in the passage. 25

ACT Math Reading Strategy #2 • Read what you need • Process of Elimination • Use the text 26

ACT Science • 40 questions, 35 minutes • 7 Passages » 3 Experiments (6 questions each) » 3 Charts and Graphs (5 questions each) » “ 1 Fighting Scientists” (7 questions each) • Hardest section of all, timewise 27

ACT Science Strategy #1 • Step 1: DON’T READ THE PASSAGE! • Step 2: Work the figures that you can! • Step 3: Ignore the ones you can’t! 28

ACT Science: Experiments and Charts & Graphs ACT Science • Look for variables and see what’s changing. • Change one variable at a time. • Use Process of Elimination. • For Charts, look carefully at labels and arrows. 29

ACT Science Strategy #1 Go straight to graphic. Look for trends, patterns, variables. Don’t try to understand it. No trends? Skip it for now! 30

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ACT Math Science Strategies we used: • Don’t read the passage information until and unless you have to. • Look for trends in the charts/graphs. • Use the process of elimination. • Always guess, but make it your best guess. • Start with the easiest passages—those that have fewer words, easier charts, and clear trends. 32

Science – Figures Take Notes: Units? Trends? Page 468

Science – Work Questions and Answers Page 469

Science – Work Questions and Answers Page 469