Getting Ready for the ACT

What is the ACT A test designed to test how college ready you are. First administrated in 1959 Used as a fair way to judge all students on a numerical level. Main goal of the ACT is to allow secondary institutions to assess, evaluate and enhance student learning. A great way to rank schools and students applying to the schools. English is 75 questions Math is 60 Reading is 40 Science is 40

What is the difference between ACT and SAT ACT is built to measure what you have learned during high School. SAT is an aptitude test. Testing reasoning and your verbal abilities ACT has multiple topics. English, Writing, Math, Reading, Science SAT has a “Guessing Penalty”

Test Taking Strategies Difficult questions are worth the same as easy questions. If you don’t answer all the questions you get an average score of what you answered. Do not waste time reading the directions Budget your time POE -Process of Elimination

Test Taking Strategies Read all the answers If one answer looks good do not skip reading the other answers they might be better. Ignore all distractions Do not allow others who finish first to distract you

Test Taking Strategies WRITE IN THE TEST BOOKLET. Carefully read all the questions and understand what it is asking you. When all else fails guess. Relax. This is the most important thing, when you are stressed you are most likely to rush and pick the wrong answer

English portion of the test Read the answers carefully to understand the subtle differences between them. Trust your ears, if sounds weird it is probably wrong. “When in doubt, take it out” often the answer is the shortest choice, because they test for redundancy, verbosity, and irrelevance Come up with your own answer before looking at the answers, then test your answers against the choices.

English portion of the test Be careful of questions that have “not” or “except” Be aware of connotations Re-read each sentence to your answer before you select it.

Math portion of the test Know that questions often grow in difficulty as you get closer to the end. Figure out quick ways to solve problems to save time, try not to use traditional methods. Do the easy questions first, skip the harder ones for later. Make sure to understand what the question was asking. Avoid calculations and work with big numbers

Math portion of the test Only use the calculator to do quick work For word problems build and equation to solve

Reading portion of the test Quickly skim the passage to figure what the general idea is Sometimes you do not need to read the entire passage to answer the question Answer question that do not require you to read, then do the reading questions When reading science and social studies passages focus on the main idea, not the many details For literature and humanities arts passages, focus on the development voice of the narrative

Reading portion of the test Write in the booklet, underline the main idea of the passage. Do not pick the first answer that sounds good. Don’t pick and answer because it sounds familiar.

Science portion of the test Look at the questions before looking at the experiments Have and understanding of how to read graphs and charts Focus on the main ideas of the charts and experiments before the extra details Look for patterns such as extremes critical points and variations. Develop your own strategies for the different types of passages, Data representation, research summaries, conflicting view points.

Scoring the ACT Your test is not scored based on how many you got wrong. The number is converted into a scale score, this allows all the test no matter the amount of questions to have the same range. The highest score is 36. the lowest score is a 1. In 2001 the average score for the ACT is a 21. only 12,000 students who took the test that year got a perfect 36

Subscores The seven subscores break down the English,math,and reading scores into more specific subject-area scores. These scores are made up of the questions on each test that apply to that specific area. Two subscores are reported for the Reading Test:a social studies/sciences reading skills score and an arts/literature reading skills score

Subscores Two subscores are also reported for the English Test:usage/mechanics and rhetorical skills. The Math Test includes three subscores:pre-algebra and elementary algebra,intermediate algebra and coordinate geometry,and plane geometry and trigonometry. There are no subscores for the Science Reasoning Test;only the main score is reported.

Getting ready to take the test Know how you learn. Which way is the best way you learn. Visual- visual learners learn best by seeing. Using pictures using colors in your notes, as you read mark the passage up with your pencil to help you understand. Auditory-learns best by listening. People like this would rather listen to a lecture than to read the book. Kinesthetic- these people learn best by doing. You benefit better by doing the work than listening or seeing a it done.

Strategies for multiple choice test Multiple choice questions have three parts Stem- the question Options- the answer choices Distractions- the incorrect answers

Strategies for multiple choice test Best ways to attack the stem Circle key words Immediately cross out all answers you know are incorrect Beware of distracter techniques, there are look a like options that confuse you to choosing this answer. Read the stem carefully Beware of the absolutes,