ACT PREP

2024 - 2025

 

Contact the Instructor

Call / text at 314.690.1405 or send me a message at my e-mail address (preferred).

Fall 2024 - Spring 2025 Resources

December 7, 2024:

December 14, 2024:

Summer 2024 Homework and Resources

This year’s recordings are posted here, and 2023 recordings have been posted here.

Schedule

  • See the homework here

  • English: Monday, June 3, 2024 @ 7:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

  • Reading Comprehension: Tuesday, June 4, 2024 @ 7:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

    • Selected passages for this day can be found here.

  • Science: Wednesday, June 5, 2024 @ 7:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

    • Selected passages for this day can be found here.

  • Math: Thursday, June 6, 2024 @ 7:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

  • Math: Friday, June 7, 2024 @ 7:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

    • Selected questions for thsee two days can be found here.

  • Official ACT: Saturday, June 8, 2024

 

Self-Paced Math Curriculum

STEP 1: DOWNLOAD / PRINT ACCOMPANYING HANDOUTS TO PRACTICE

STEP 2: COPY ANSWERS TO SELF-GRADING GOOGLE QUIZZES TO TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

FAQs

What should we expect the first time taking the test?

I encourage students to have no expectations.

I cannot tell you how many students tense up during their first time taking the test. For one example (of many), a junior came to me last semester after taking the course. She was disappointed because she received a 23 on her first test administration. She started with a 22 before the course. On the very next ACT, she received a 30. The 30 was more in line with her true potential; the 23 was probably a result of first-time-test-anxiety. This happens; it is normal! Go in with no expectations!

What are some additional resources?:

Taking official ACTs (and review, see below) is the most important way to improve. I have an entire folder of official ACTs here. Print these tests out and begin working through them. While the ACT is standardized, it is fairly reasonable to say that, the more recent the test, the better an indicator it is of your test day score.

I do not typically recommend or endorse any particular strategy guides and, with the folder I have given above, you have more than enough tests to work with. However, a few resources you might consider are the following. With the exception of the official ACT Prep Guide and the ACT Blog, I have no familiarity with the following, except that I have heard good reviews.

ACT Math Resources: math is typically the subject that students struggle on. Luckily, there are so many great resources out there to help with this.

How should I review?:

Taking tests is important, but it must be paired with solid review. When most students take a test, they simply (1) go to the back of the test; (2) look at the answers; (3) compare it their own answers; and (4) either congratulate themselves or berate themselves on getting a question wrong. Don't fall for this cycle! When you review, ignore the answer key initially. Go through the entire test, understanding which questions were difficult, which ones you guessed on, which ones you know that you got right, etc. After this, and only after this, should you go to the answer key. This will help you walk through the thought process that you would need to correct to improve. Your goal in taking the tests in not to just test yourself; it is to rewire how you think about this test. Review first. Look at the answer key later.

Review Advice for English: English is (mostly) about grammar rules. When you review, think about the following questions:

  • What is the question about (tip: look at the differences between the answer choices)?

  • Do you understand what every punctuation mark, if provided in the answer choice, does? If so, how is that punctuation mark functioning (or not functioning) in the answer choice?

  • Is this question a grammar or rhetoric question? How do you know? What is your strategy for answering either question? Did you carry that strategy out?

Review Advice for Math: Reviewing math is very similar to reviewing English. When you review, think about the following questions:

  • What is the "math" word provided in question (area, perimeter, ratio, etc. etc. etc.) and how does this impact your understanding of the question?

  • Are there any formulas that you did not know and/or did not understand how to utilize?

  • For word problems, what information was relevant? Why or why not?

Review Advice for Reading: for this section, there is not a whole lot of strategy occurring. Instead, it is about practicing the few strategies you have. When you review, think about the following questions:

  • What is the author's opinion in the passage? How do you know? What lines demonstrate the author's opinion (if there is one).

  • What is the passage map / how does the author organize the passage? What is your evidence that the author is organizing the passage this way?

  • What is the question type for every question - is it detail or inference? How do you know? What words/phrase signal that this is a detail / inference question?

    • Detail questions: what line number specifically states the answer?

    • Inference questions: what line number did you find this answer at? Is the answer explicitly given or merely implied? How do you know it is implied?

  • What was your process for answering every question? Did you select for detail questions and eliminate for inference questions?

  • What words/phrases make inference answer choices incorrect?

Review Advice for Science: for this section as well, there is not a whole lot of strategy occurring. Instead, it is about practicing the few strategies you have. When you review, think about the following questions:

  • If there are multiple experiments provided, what are the differences between the experiments provided?

  • If there are multiple trials in the experiments provided, what are the differences between the trials?

  • Is there anything in the passage itself that is worth noting? Why or why not?

  • For questions with multiple parts (which is the majority of questions), how did you break down the question into multiple parts?

  • What was your process for answering every question?

I hope this is helpful! Feel free to contact me for further help!