Practice can not only get you to Carnegie Hall but can also earn you higher SAT scores. But only a certain kind of practice – the kind where you: meticulously review your performance pinpoint your weaknesses assiduously learn how to fix them In other words, just doing more SAT problems won’t magically teach you grammar rules or how […]
Strategy
Woohoo for Floundering!
Anne Murphy Paul explains productive failure in her article, Why Floundering is Good. She says, Trying to figure something out on your own before getting help actually produces better results than having guidance from the beginning That’s why I ask my students to take a practice test before our first session. And why I spend a […]
Critical Reading Analysis
Erica Meltzer, who blogs over at The Critical Reader, makes an outstanding point about what is being tested in the SAT Critical Reading section. In her post Neutral Tone, Definite Opinion, she says You *are* being tested on your ability to understand the argument [a passage] makes, how the argument is structured and conveyed, and […]
Critical Reading: Dancing Around the Maypole
Did you ever dance around the maypole? You hold a colored ribbon which is attached to the top of the pole and you weave in and out and around the other kids and you end up with a decorated pole. The pole holds it all together It struck me today that it’s a good analogy […]
Which SAT Tests Should I Take?
Parents often want to know which SAT tests their children should take their junior year. Here’s a common* scenario that I recommend to parents: Take the PSAT in October. Results will come back in December Take the January SAT. You can order the Question and Answer Service to see exactly how you answered each question […]
Critical Reading: Hail Caesar!
[Note: this refers to the old SAT. However, the advice on understanding the meaning of words based on the context of the passage still applies.] One of the things test in the critical reading passages is your ability to figure out what words mean based on the context of the passage. As always in this section, […]