Do you worry? Don't worry. Use the Cartoons In Your Head! It's Good! SAT, Math, & Reading

Do you worry about math problems on standardized tests?

Try looking at cartoon images and making up your own images for math concepts.  This is one I chose from Microsoft Word images to illustrate the concept of 'absolute value.'  If the frog jumps up to ground level one hop, or if the boy jumps down to the frog one 'frog hop,' the distance is the same. 
I assert that if I plot my frog hops on a graph intersecting at zero, with minus five frog hops to the left on the horizontal line of the ground level, and Zero in the middle, and plus five frog hops to the right on the horizontal axis (called the 'x' axis),

I can intersect a cross axis and label it y.  The 'y' will be up and down like the boy and the frog here.  So, if I mark off five frog hops with plus signs above the zero and five frog hops below the zero on the y axis, I can show where the frog is by marking the minus one frog hop down.

But the number of frog hops up to the boy and the number of frog hops down to the frog will be a positive number.  The distance is the same.  This is how I visualize absolute value.

Can you do a visual for your own understanding of a mathematical concept?

Again, as I say in other columns, the SAT practice questions on the College Board site and the Princeton Review books are excellent sources for ‘target practice’ using questions (and immediate explanations and solutions) for the type of questions in your nightmares. You can learn to be friends with the monsters under your bed by getting to know them and all about what makes them tick.

One tip that I always emphasize is to study with the solutions while you do the practice tests.  Do many practice tests, checking the solutions and explanations every five or six problems so you will not 'learn' incorrectly.  Keep visual images in your brain of the correct form of the questions so you do not have to 'learn' how to do the questions while you are taking the test.

During the last week of study before the test, DO take a test with the same conditions and time length as the real test.  Find someone to proctor for you (maybe a tutor).  Take the test in a room that is not filled with distracting TVs.  A public library is a good choice of place.  Go over the answers, but do not panic if you are not pleased with your performance. 

Your performance on the actual test will improve from what you learn by taking the timed test.  Use the problem areas for information and do some strategic planning for what to do about those areas.  Notice the questions that you missed that you know.  There will be some of those. 

From now until the time of the test I will discuss some of the reasons you miss answers that you know.  By the time you take the test, you will get these correct.  The first reason is something you may feel is 'overconfidence.'  'I know this one for sure.'  That is not really exactly why you miss it.  You are not confident enough to give the ones familiar to you just due when you miss them.

Stay confident about every question.  You have a strategy for every question.  If you know how to do the question, then you do the question; AND you check it, all the way through.  You do not cut it short.  Every question counts one point. 

For example, if you are doing a sentence completion with two blanks; and you find that 'C' completes the sentence with the right connotation for the word to complete the first blank and for the word to complete the second blank, you mark 'C' on your answer sheet; then you notice why A is not correct, why B is not correct AND why D is not correct. 

Questions with two blanks to fill in are based upon the 'best' answer, and they often have two words that fit logically with a word such as 'yet' within the sentence making a contrast necessary.  You know how to do this type of question.  You know that the last answer is to leave it as it is (maybe), and you know that C fits.

• You quickly note the reason that it is 'best.'
• You check each other combination and note reason to eliminate.*
• You make sure you marked the correct number with a dot.
• You move to the next question quickly and follow the same procedure.  You do NOT skip around.

What if you would like to rid yourself of these concerns once and for all? How about starting an SAT book club and beginning with the ‘Big Help, No Sweat, and No Fear Math Book’?

Within a couple of hours’ time on your own, reap amazing benefits from this Sparks Notes publication—also published by Barnes and Noble. Why gather a book club? Why read this at all? Used copies are available from Amazon.com and from Barnes and Noble on-line. You can order new copies from other bookstores for $7.95 plus tax, new. But I even got a used copy along with another order on-line and did not have to pay shipping fees. (Plan a book order with the group or with your family.)Read!)

Your points on standardized tests multiply exponentially when you begin to understand some building block ways to study. You are actually building the skills that the standardized tests are measuring, and you are having fun at the same time. I’m not kidding. Games, book clubs, spelling bees, movies, practice tests together—all of these strategies are fun!

If you wonder how some parents, grandparents, and guardians can afford to pay thousands (and thousands and thousands) of dollars a year to send their children to private school, do you ever wonder why they send their children to private school? If you live in a family that would never send a child ‘away’ to school (like mine), have you ever considered some of the benefits of a boarding school experience?

Now, I did go away to college. I went to the college of my choice, the University of Georgia; and I lived on the campus in Athens, Georgia. I still remember this time of my life as being as good as I ever imagined it would be. I was living only about an hour away from my parents, and I was college age by then. I could drive. But I did not have a car. My cousin went to college at the same time, and she had a Mustang. We traveled together. That is probably why I drive a Mustang today. I connect the car with good times!

I can tell you that the children in boarding schools do get homesick, and they would like to be closer to their parents and siblings much of the time. However, the private schools where children attend school when their parents pay large sums of money for their children’s education and care are nothing like those awful boarding schools in novels (unless maybe you include A Separate Peace).  The school where I worked has beautiful grounds, including a river, and some private schools have swimming pools, tennis courts, and horses.  All of them have dining rooms.  Most of them have drama facilities and productions, sports teams, and lounges with widescreen TVs.

None of this meant much to my student who missed being home in his native island country, but he was glad when he got his diploma (and so was his family).  Too, we read many books in that class!  He and I read The Hobbit aloud. He has many talents and abilities.  Private school with individual instruction or private tutoring uncovered all of his strengths for his own benefit.

The reason parents, grandparents, guardians, and/or mentors are able to talk the students into going to private school (and into going back the next year and the next!) is because the private schools are, in general, more relaxing, individualized places to be than public schools.  As an individual student, parent, grandparent, guardian, teacher, or tutor, however, you can take some of the strategies from these expensive environs and make your own version.  There are ways to take advantage of flexible programs close to universities, cities, and rural areas.  Students develop talents while horseback riding, gardening, and dancing.

How do the private school teachers manage students who have severe problems and issues to make significant progress in short periods of time? It is true that private school programs often turn conditions around for a student to reach individual goals within weeks, months, and high school years.  Can you aspire to do the same without all those resources?

If you do not have the money, the scholarship, or the inclination to find out for yourself by attending private school, visit with me here. Begin to notice what you would like to know and where you do want to be. 

For example, one of the advantages I mentioned earlier is the one-on-one attention.  On this website, I am addressing my reader in this 'one-on-one' conversational style.  When you read, you are 'listening' to the author.  The more you find the books and articles to satisfy your interests and curiosity, the more listening and reading will be a normal way for you to learn.  Meanwhile, you can find an attentive mentor in a number of places.  Due you your interests, you may need more than one.  Be open to the search for mentors and guides.  Some day you may be one yourself!

Another pleasant part of education can be your surroundings.  If you must be in a tight spot somewhere, can you spend some time outside?  Is there a swing?  One of the least expensive and most useful items of furniture I have ever had was a redwood picnic table.  If weather is too unpredictable for outdoor work, can you find a place for a picnic table and the benches?  The table top provides sturdy, wide study and project area.  If not, what about a smooth board that you can take to a chair with arms.  When I was a child, my father would sit in an upholstered chair and put a smooth board across the arms where he would write his engineering papers and draw his diagrams.

Throughout my tutoring, columns, and books, I say again and again that there is nothing like individual tutoring.  What I do not say every time is that you may be that tutor--even for yourself.  I am.  You can extend the dynamics by tutoring someone else or forming a book reading partnership. 
But if you need to have a tutor, and you do not have a way to be with a mentor right now, stay with me here.  Reading is the way to tutor yourself right through every standardized test, every scholarship application, every diploma, every certification...everything you desire.
I will help you.  You are not alone.

The secret is in individual attention, especially in individual attention to designing study according to your personal interests and strengths, while using what we know about learning styles and the brain to develop our different types of intelligence.  Even in private school, the one-on-one tutoring is the strongest element for an individual student.

3 again:

• Building vocabulary is one fast, sure, efficient code-building method to increase points on standardized tests.
• Reading with guidance and groups is another way.
• Understanding the reasoning behind the specific standardized test is another way to add points.

Prediction
When you understand the purpose, you predict with more precision. Prediction is a heavy aspect to reading comprehension. Reading comprehension ability will achieve points for you on standardized tests even when you are reading in unfamiliar subject matter.

Here is how to read--faster than I can write it down or say it in words--to show you what happens in the brain while reading something you 'know' ahead of time on a test.  You can see from this how much easier this is with every word you know and with every concept you know.

Hopefully, you will also see how learning reading comprehension skills, including root words and patterns, can help you to answer questions on an aptitude test (such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, SAT), even when the question does not look familiar to you.

Example:
The following three sentences are from the No Sweat No Fear Math Book.  These sentences are on page 108.  I am a good reader.  I took graduate courses in reading:-)  But when I look at these three sentences, I don't 'see' anything on the 'blackboard' or the 'movie screen' of my mind.
I need an image somewhere!  I take a pen and jot something down. 

When I write, I IMMEDIATELY understand the three sentences by making the pattern I am always harping... (er, I mean 'encouraging) students to use in forming questions and problems in the same style as others.  Here is what I do.  I read the three sentences, and I jot down two fractions that I know are "equal." 

What I plan to do:  Follow the directions of the three sentences to see if I can make the two fractions that I already know are equal follow these directions to 'prove' they are equivalent.
Notice that to jot down two fractions to test this, I managed to recognize the meaning of the following words:
'cross-multiplication'
'fraction'
'equivalent'  (hint: equi = equal)
'product' (answer in a multiplication problem...talk about words used in different ways!)
'numerator' (top part of a fraction...I know this because of the 'd' in the 'down' part of a fraction)
'denominator' ('down' part --bottom part of a fraction)
'vice versa' (turned around the other way)

All that list up there--Look!  Those are the words I noticed when I glanced at the three sentences. 
Here are the three sentences:

Read this out loud or read it 'out loud' in your head:

We already talked about using cross-multiplication to check whether two fractions are equivalent. (Multiply the numerator of the first fraction by the denominator of the second and vice versa, and then compare the two products. If the cross-multiplication products are equivalent, then the fractions are equivalent.

I teach gifted students in English and challenged students in reading. I am not bragging.  I am trying to tell you that this is difficult for me to read, and it is not on a high reading level.  So this is what I do, and this is what I would do if I were working this as a problem on a test.  Do this with me!  I pick up a pen and write –making a drawing of a sample of the images I know from the words. 

Important point:  If I AM taking a test and this is really mysterious, I will mark the best answer to whatever question is posed with a dot to mark the place and move on to something more familiar.  Every question counts a point.  What I am trying to convey here, however, is that I can use strategies to 'attack' this quickly.  These sentences are familiar to me.  I understand them. 

Even so, they are a transition from what my mind usually processes.  I am an English teacher, yet I teach science, math, social studies, and other categories of studies more than the average teacher (or student) because I am a tutor for exceptional children and for students taking standardized tests.

What I want to show you is how I have learned to use my left and right brain in a balance.  These are learned strategies.  My original talents and interests were focused in the literary areas.  I know you can do this transition because I do it all the time.  There is pleasure in it because you actually feel your mind shift into noticing certain things.

What do I know?  I know what “cross multiplication” means. I know what a fraction is. I know the denominator is the number on the bottom of the fraction (‘d’ for down) and the numerator is the number on the top of the fraction (the ‘other’ one from the ‘down’ one).
I know that ‘product’ in mathematics is a term that is different from the meaning of product in a supermarket. What is ‘product’ in mathematics? It is the answer when you multiply!
I know that equivalent is a word that has ‘equal’ in it. I am just going to consider it as ‘equal’ or =.
So when I look at this paragraph, I jot down two fractions that I, personally, know ARE equal:
4/8 and  1/2   
I try out doing what this paragraph says to do.
You will notice that I am a “wordy” person.
What can I do to use only numbers and symbols here? 
Here is something very useful and quick for me.
Maybe I can look at this paragraph that is unfamiliar to me and transform it into something I can recognize how to check something!
I know that 4/8 is equal to 1/2 so can I use this in the pattern of that unfamiliar paragraph? Let’s see.

All of those words and here is what I jot down:  4/8 = 1/2

Multiply the numerator of the first fraction by the denominator of the second and vice versa (the other way around) and
compare the two products (answers).
If they are equivalent (equal =),
then the fractions are equivalent.

4 x 2 = 8 (numerator of the first fraction times the denominator of the second)
Other way around:
1 x 8 (numerator of the second fraction times the denominator of the first fraction) equals = 8
The fractions are equivalent.

Okay, by plugging in  two fractions I KNOW are equivalent, I see that I can prove whether two fractions are equivalent by cross multiplying.  If I can write this out neatly, I can remember a way to prove whether two fractions are equal (or 'equivalent').
Hmm.
This is on page 108 of the No Sweat No Fear Math Book ...The book has a little story line that should yield some vocabulary words, too.

The purpose of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is to measure your aptitude. The definition of aptitude is so close to the definition of intelligence quotient or ‘IQ’ that students (and parents and even educators) begin to imagine that this is a set number that can be measured. The fact is: You have some control, possibly a wide margin of control, over this number.

You remember my general theory is: You are the star of your own story. Nobody else is the judge of your aptitude, your potential. In my opinion, your aptitude may be one of the MAIN areas under your personal control, along with your spirit and soul. Do not give someone else the right to judge your intelligence to any extent that affects your personal opinion of yourself. Take control of the reins yourself and use these standardized tests as part of your portfolio of self-inventory, just one more part of metacognition, knowing what you know.

Private School Teacher Says: Stop Worrying About Standardized Tests -5 Ways to Make SAT and Other Standardized Tests Work FOR You

A Private School Tutor Shares Five Reasons To Welcome Standardized Tests
Just Stop Worrying And Turn Them To Your Own Use

http://www.coolrocketschool.com/    judiethcarol&rocketcat feb 20, 2010 c.
A private school teacher and tutor shares a conversation about the Scholastic Aptitude Test, SAT preparation, reading, reading clubs, standardized tests, relaxation, confidence, self-esteem, gifted program strategies, attention deficit strategies, and general helpful tips for having fun.

This nine times certified teacher says: "I don’t want you to worry any more. It’s just not necessary! You can make these tests work FOR you and NOT AGAINST you. Have some fun. Life is short."

I have nine current certifications to teach school. I have Gifted certification, English, Reading, and Exceptional Education, P-12, certifications.

For many years, I worked in the private sector; and I have my own business.  Though I am trained and certified to work with a variety of learning disorders, the year-long, rigorous training and education I received to achieve Gifted certification has been the most useful in all of my lesson planning and individual plan writing for all of the students in my varied classes, including the one-on-one classes.  Many of the students I tutor are in their homes.  Some are homebound due to a reason preventing the daily attendance of public school.

Some of my classes of one student have been in a private school.  These students were privileged to have individual attention at great expense to their parents, but they did not receive any more attention in their hours with me than I give any other student with whom I spend one-on-one instruction.  They did have around the clock attention and supportive surroundings for education and positive self-esteem.  I will share some information with you about how you can accomplish this atmosphere of support for yourself and others. 

There is no substitute for love and a gracious home for an individual, but there are schools where students can be in a safer, more nurturign environment than some students are in today.  This is true even when the students are in public schools.  Sometimes, parents, guardians, grandparents, and other family members are just too distracted to realize that they have a great deal of power in relation to the welfare of their children in their schools. Before I began teaching, I knew that the students need their parents, guardians, and grandparents in relation to making sure they receive the attention they need.

What I have learned that I did not know about schools is that the placement of each child within the structure of the plans, schedules, and offerings of each school is too much of a 'lottery' for my individual comprehension or tolerance.  I had experience with the randommness of scheduling in a high school while attempting to advocate for students with exceptionalities. Together with a full schedule of teaching, the case managers design and monitor individual education plans, legal documents developed in large, inclusive meetings, also under the management of the teacher/case manager. 

The purpose of the individual plan for students with exceptionalities is to 'level the playing field' to allow students to receive the services and accommodations to succeed in the classroom (ALL of the students).  Therefore, at the same time, the teacher manages the plans for the students who have IEPs, she/he is, simultaneously,  implementing methods to assist every other students in every class.  All students will have the particular attention they need to succeed, even without a document called an "Individual Education Plan" (IEP).

This is what I know I would like to see happen for the students.  As far as I know, most other teachers would like to give each student the particular attention that she or he needs to succeed.  I hope that most of the students want to do well in school and to build self-confidence. I hope parents and grandparents want all of this positive reinforcement and upscale teaching practice in their community schools.

What just happened here in my paragraphs of writing with some precision?  Look at that last paragraph.  I wish I could tell you that the entire community, grandparents, parents, administrators, government officials...Everybody...wants what is best for every student in public (or even private) school. 

I am NOT going to tell you this because I do not even know what goes on in the minds of other people.  Sometimes when I find out some of it, I am not only surprised, I am afraid!  So I won't even go there.  I just want to tell you this:  Nobody (no body, no body, no one, no other person) cares about you as much as YOU have to care about you.  How profound is that?  Well, it took me over half a century to figure it out, and I am still learning some things related. 

I want to help students to get through high school with the courses they need and want and with some courses and outside activities of interest (band, sports, drill team, newspaper, drama, art).  This is a time of life that makes up part of a person's ongoing sense of humor, wit, intellect, interests, loyalties, friendships, and knowledge.  If your mama and daddy and grandmama and Aunt Judy who is a teacher... are not making sure that you get the computer courses you want, the art classes with that cool teacher, and senior advanced placement English, then, who will help you?  Get that person on your side, working day and night for you, pronto!

There is no way to summarize this concept adequately.  I will make the mission an ongoing one.  Here is today's attempt: 

I am not a parent, and I did not think that at this late point in my life that I would use my 'pen' or keyboard to make any parent feel guilty for not doing more.  Parents, in general, do plenty that I cannot imagine doing on a daily basis.  But now that I have spend some days with children, teens, and young adults doing what is on a job description printing out single spaced on page after page after page---I feel I should remind you of your power. 

I think some parents, as feisty as you are in other areas, are still a bit intimidated by your child's view of your coming to their school.  You may not get the response you hope when you make an overture to his or her teachers on the first day or any day afterwards.

Hang in there, please.  Go online and find out what you can about your child's classes and the school.  Do everything you can ahead of time about scheduling.  Understand the scheduling procedures, the credits for graduation, and the application procedures for SAT, college, and scholarships--and even part time jobs.  High schools have college visiting days for the seniors. When your son or daughter is a senior, please make sure to take advantage of days to visit on the campus of a college every month--even one or two that are not first or second choice.  Visit colleges even if you and your son or daughter are not considering college right now. Visit technical schools nearby, as well.

Once you are out of the school system, the resources of the community are not as accessible to you.  They are more accessible than some of us realize, but when you have a child in school, more health, reading, diagnostic, and preparatory resources are available--public and private.  Be an advocate and teach your child to be a diplomatic advocate for herself or himself. 

When I was teaching in a public school in a rural area, I was so willing to help students to do resumes and applications for scholarships.  Only a few asked for my help.  Some students were rude to me when I offered.  The ones who asked were also eager to tell me when they were accepted.  People will help you if you learn how to ask and when you learn how to recognize them.

In my columns, I hope to convey to parents, mentors, other teachers, and to students that you do have some control over these factors, even without the large amounts of money that some people pay for private schools.  Too, there is a time to consider whether one or two years of a particular form of private instruction may remedy a crisis situation.  Sometimes, a few hours of instruction can be a key to finding the way to be in a program for support while in college.  There are small colleges designed to support students who need particular accommodations.  Sometimes, the only accommodation a student needs is the feeling of belonging and safety.  Look to your churches, recreation centers, libraries, and programs connected with local businesses.

For individual students, I teach science, social studies, language arts, and mathematics through middle school to modify the accommodations for students with exceptionalities. For individual students, I have also taught high school levels of environmental science, Algebra, computer applications, and economics, as well as English.  I have experience teaching gifted, autistic, and dyslexic students in ways to adjust the educational syllabus to the learning styles..

In today's terminology, this is called 'differentiated' instruction.  In the classroom, it means that the same concepts may be taught in different ways, with different students working on a variety of projects at the same time.  In communities near universities, you can probably find a private tutor who has training and/or experience in differentiated instruction.  Your tutor can give you help to do hours on your own, with a peer, or with a family member.

I work with many students whose individual educational plans describe their issues in school as including: attention deficit, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, behavioral disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and Asperger syndrome.   Recently, however, I am writing about how to modify instruction; and I work with students as a private tutor, one on one. If you are a tutor, or if you have a tutor, or if you want a tutor, please listen to my columns and send questions.  I have many resources, and I will offer suggestions.

Asperger syndrome is one of the specific diagnoses covering an array of different symptoms, and it has the name of a doctor tacked onto it. This is the doctor who first identified that these individuals, despite their disabilities, are highly gifted in some areas. What throws off the quick identification (even by teachers) of the abilities of the students with Asperger syndrome is their social difficulty.

A person with Asperger syndrome will drone away in a montotone about one subject without allowing interruption and without eye contact. He or she will be compulsive about the same subject, again and again, and appear to have little interest or understanding of anyone else's feelings or interests.  From this sketchy summary (drawing from a Mayo clinic summary), one can visualize a few self-absorbed acquaintances, probably.  But the Clinic's warning is that even though children are generally somewhat egocentric, if a child is this way to the extent of not making friends and focusing on only one area of interest, an evaluation may be in order.

I began this column by mentioning that I teach gifted students, and I mention Asperger syndrome students rbecause my message to students today is gleaned from my own difficulties, as a teacher, to protect and to defend the egos of fragile, sensitive students. As a matter of fact,  most of the students I had in private school were not only 'rich' in the economic sense, they were also talented and nice looking.  But many of them had suffered deeply in public school.  Their suffering was not, as many comedians would surmise, allleviated by their family's income. (I read a joke today in a magazine.  The comedian said that all he asks is the chance to prove that money cannot make him happy.) 

The money does help to find a way to remove the student from a bad situation.  For example, one of my students at the private school was almost blind.  He was teased and left out of things in public school.  In private school, he was left out of nothing.  He had assistance in seeing anything from the computer to the way to the dining room.  He had a driver to the school and to anywhere else he wanted to go.  In my opinion, all of this does not make up for sight; but if I had the money, I would want to do these things to make things better for my child with a loss of sight.

In another class, I had a pretty, blond girl who had been extremely popular in public high school.  She had attention deficit issues, and her inability to concentrate and casual attitude led to some problems in school and in her social life.  When she was in small classes in the private school, she was a radiant influence on everyone around her.  People who never would have been in her little group in high school were her closest friends in private school, as she learned, for example, how to put together a literary magazine in a computer program I downloaded for us to learn together. 

She wrote numerous essays under my tutelage, and we read novels together and discussed them.  She coordinated art work from the art students and poems from the literary students and cartoons from the skateboarding students.  The two boys in my advanced senior English class were always early because she would stay late to talk with me after her class.  What a great influence she continues to be on all of us, and I have not seen her for many years!

There are many stories about teachers improving the lives of students.  Every teacher has more stories about the students who improve the understanding and the values of the teachers. 

When this girl first came to the private school, just being there was like a punishment to her from things going wrong in public school.  But she did have the right attitude from the beginning.  She was making it work.  (I can see her in mind's eye right now.  For our class, she had on the standard uniform:  plaid skirt, navy blazer, light oxford cloth shirt; but she would doff the jacket after writing for awhile and roll up the shirtsleeves.

When she graduated from high school after I left the private school, I got a call from her.  She was doing well in college in another state, a small Southern college, several miles away from Atlanta.  She was understandably proud of herself for getting accepted and for going on an adventure in another state. 

When you have news like this, call a teacher!  I was so happy to hear from her--so happy that she looked me up to share good news!

As a teacher, here is part of what I learned from the pretty, popular, 'rich' girl in private school: She, too, needs a teacher's attention.  I am grateful that her parents were able to send her to a school where I met her when I was working in that environment because I learned from that experience.

If I had encountered her while in one of the public schools where I have taught, I would have run right past her down the street after a fleeing, blind student the size of a football player.  She would be a blond blur in cheerleading attire, and I would not be noticing she needed my teaching attention.
judiethcarol&Rocketcat Feb 2010

Scholastic Aptitude Test - SAT - Questions for Week, Solutions, Practice, Strategies

Hmmmm, I was gliding along on the SAT questions for the day, posting my extra tips along with vocabulary. Then, I hit a math Question for the Day, and I realized this is one involving ‘function.’ I know how to do it, but I use a different style of thinking and processing when I work on a problem such as this one. Even after all these years of shifting the way I think for certain tasks, I still feel the brain ‘wheels’ clicking along, like some gear clicks here and some spins there.

The Princeton Review has some excellent practice areas to to help with this transition. Start with the SAT site after you do a question like this, even when you are getting it right, because you want to make smooth transitions on the test while getting those first questions in another subject area correct.  Make a note to move right into these sections in a supplementary study guide like The Princeton Review, but click through the immediate practice questions on the test, too, watching the solutions on the screen.  Seeing the solution on the screen is supplementary to the guidance in book form. They work together for you.


I feel the surge of pulling out in a different flying machine but still connected to my airplane of literary style (my favorite). I like the way it feels to do this because knowing the way to do it gives me confidence. Making connections to propel skills and knowledge from one content area to another, especially while taking standardized tests, is like being in a James Bond style flying machine. We travel equipped with technology for overcoming obstacles and solving problems as we keep moving forward, moving efficiently forward to ‘home’!


First, I ‘plugged in’ every obvious value I had from the problem itself.

Then, I had to pause to remember: What types of problems use these letters and look like this one? What is the ‘story’ of a function problem? When you finish a problem that gives you this type of pause, supplement the practice right away to reinforce your recollection of the procedure.

I have dozens of other practice books, but I was on the College Board site. I trust this site to coordinate between the question for the day and the adjoining practice questions. This style of practice will meet my first rule of practice: Have the solution available immediately.

I like to tutor with the student to look at the solution immediately after solving the problem or answering the question—as reinforcement for correct answers. Until the answer is in front of us in correct form, we do not ‘study’ it as a visual pattern of what to do with this type of problem.

As we work through to the solution, each step makes sense to us because we are affirming our steps with the corrected version. The solutions and explanations are what we want to keep in the ‘visual’ storage of our brains. We can then use this pattern to understand other questions.

When I went to the College Board site and finished the problem for the Question of the day, there was one step that I was able to do without ‘explaining’ it to myself. You want to ‘explain’ to the ‘inner you’ each step of answering the SAT questions. This is part of thinking the way to get more of the answers correct, especially the ones you know well. This steady stream of ‘explaining’ in your mind as you go through the questions that are familiar to you, as each of the language arts questions are to me, is the same stream of self-‘teaching’ to do as you go through the steps of less familiar questions.

The SAT test is a reading test. You will be able to answer many questions in areas you have not studied so much if you use strong reading skills: prediction, word connections, noticing parallel construction, and logical reasoning. In short: No matter how short the sentence or the problem, there is a ‘story’ to it to visualize and to solve.

So I went to the practice tests right away and clicked through to find a similar problem. The practice test problem number 5 is a function question that is easier to understand because it has the ‘story’ of how many CDs will sell if the price is $10 and how many will sell if the price is $20. It’s easy to see that $20 is two times $10. (Note: The question uses ‘cartridges’ instead of ‘CDs,’ but see what you know in your mind’s eye.)

This is the type of question (the practice question about the projected earnings difference on the sales from $10 each to $20 each) that definitely will appear on the SAT test. As you can imagine, if a little formula is used to figure projected sales comparing how many CDs will sell if they are $10 and how many will sell if they are $20, the seller is probably expecting to sell fewer at the higher price.

How about you? Would it matter to you if a CD is $10 or $20? If you wanted two copies, would you be as likely to buy two for $20 or two for $40?

Right away, though, you see that the answer is not a definite number but an ‘educated guess’ type of thing. Think about it. What if you and your band make a CD, and you promote it to sell at $10 each. You sell a hundred the first day (!) You decide to try selling them at $20 each. There is this formula to speculate about how many you are likely to sell the second day at $20 each.

You can eliminate a couple of the answers if the projected amount of tapes you sell is way more at the higher price. The actual amount of MONEY you take in may be more even if you sell fewer tapes because you are charging more for each one. You can even figure when you will be at the ‘break even ‘ point that you sold enough at $20 to reach the same total money amount when you were selling at $10.

Do you see why this kind of math is a projection and a guessing game? Notice that the figures projected are not just double even though the price is double. That is because you are not likely to sell the same number at the higher price. But your answer is not a guess! It is a specific amount because you are assumed to be using this equation that is taking these variables into consideration! (Are you thinking that some people may even want it more at $20? Maybe you and your band are famous now?

Well, this is the reason that you have to know what to do with a function question BEFORE the test. You do not have time for these soft, squishy feelings about the hard answer you need. When you get this answer, by plugging each number you do know into the correct spots and solving for what you do not know, you should be able to look down and pick out the answer. Before long, we will be glad to see more and more types of questions—as in: “Oh, here’s one I know! I’ve just been practicing this! No problem!”

I need to tell the students and parents why I am confident I can help students to realize how to pick up points in every area of the test. Some of the students may honestly think they are going to have to do as well as they can in a few areas to ‘make up’ for other areas--because they just don’t like other areas (maybe math or science—or even the literary parts, my favorite).

Do NOT think you can skip over studying in areas you do not like or feel a little lost. Every area of the Scholastic Aptitude Test has some predictable parts that you can focus upon. You may surprise yourself by scoring much higher than you imagine in a content area that has been difficult for you. Knowing what to watch for is liberating!

Why is this strategy really good for me to offer you? It is the way that I am able to answer questions correctly in every area of the test --when what I favor are the literary sections. Too, I have no real incentive to study or practice in science, mathematics, or even social studies because I am certified to teach English on every level, including ‘Gifted.’ But I have studied extensively in these other areas, and I have certifications related to each of them.

Why and how do I motivate myself to stay current about what will be demanded of my students in every other content area—including mathematics, science, and social studies? This may be my greatest offering as a teacher if I can convey to you why and how I do this.

You can do what I do, on a mini-basis, and raise your scores—significantly!

There is one huge reason that I can get just about every language arts question correct right away. I teach English on all levels, including Gifted and Exceptional Education. I love to read, and I write. (You should be able to tell me about some errors I make, however, as I write several articles a day sometimes. I really could use a proofreader!)

My first of six reasons I can answer many—perhaps, most--of the questions on different standardized tests –is that the test writers often think of their ‘audience’ in the same way I do. I make up test questions. I am on the test writer’s ‘channel’ in expecting the questions they write for each kind of standardized test. (I often even think I could do better)

So strategy number one, a corollary (or subsection) to the strategy: ‘Know the Purpose of the Test’ is to remember from whom the ‘voice’ and ‘viewpoint’ of the test is coming and to whom (you, the student) the test question is speaking. You try this. Make up questions yourself and put them in the same format of every style you encounter in the practice questions. Even if you do only a few you will start noticing what I mean. This is an empowering exercise!

Let’s look at my top six ways to do well on a standardized test. I repeat these strategies; add to them in subparts; and state them in different ways, but they still boil down to:

1. Learn about the reason for the test. The questions and areas of coverage will follow this reasoning.

For example, the Scholastic Aptitude Test is used by colleges to ‘screen in’ and to ‘screen out’ students for their colleges. Each type of college will have different ways of weighing in the scores.

Each college will have other ways to decide about applicants—including grade point averages in high school, community service or part time work while in high school, and essays. They consider more than the SAT.

Think about this reason and the other uses of the scores, your own reasons for taking the test, and consider this: The College Board will not design such a test so that it will be easy for any one student to make excellent scores.

This is not a test designed for all students to do extremely well. Focus on knowing this for one reason only: Do the parts of the test that you know extremely efficiently and handle the parts that you do not know with a consistent strategy.

Let the knowledge that there will be questions unfamiliar to you be a comfort and not a deterrent. Also: REMEMBER TO GO OVER THE ENTIRE QUESTION AND THE ANSWERS EVEN IF THE DIAGRAM OR DRAWINGS INITIALLY LOOK UNFAMILIAR.

Did you do the question that asked how many sides of the cube were not presented in the two views of the cube?

Look at that question again. That was an easy one. How many times have you seen a question like this in class? I will bet that you have NEVER seen a question like it in class.

Still, when you look at the two drawings of a cube and read that each side of the cube has a different symbol on it, you can realize right away that you are seeing the same side twice for only one side.

All you have to do is to read the question carefully, and then you glance up and count—one, two, three, four, five different symbols. How many sides does a cube have? It is in front of you there, even if a cube IS three dimensional.

It is just a box. Rotate the box around in your head: one, two, three, four sides, five (top), and six (bottom). A cube has six sides! (You don’t even really have to count, but do it quickly on the test to check yourself and to keep your brain comforted. This is part of how to keep a clear path of thinking.

Now, you have seen five sides. You count the five different symbols. You do NOT count the symbol you see twice. What IS that one? It is the same side you have already seen in the picture of the cube to the left. The cube has six sides. You see five different symbols. How many sides are missing in your scenario?

That’s right. You have not seen ONE symbol.

This is the type of question to glance down the list looking for the number one.

Notice that this discussion of the solution is much longer, written down, than the series of thoughts going through your mind to solve this one.

Solve (verb, action), Solution (noun, subject), Strategy (noun)

LATER-Back to the Questions for the Day for this week AND the other FIVE of the ongoing reasons I can solve the different types of questions and so can you!

Hint: We know what the style will be. We know how the writers think. (You know how those detectives say that you have to think like the criminal in order to catch one? Sometimes they even pretend to be one! Well, you have to think like a writer and like a teacher to get all the benefits of why these questions are not daunting to you—ever again if ever before.

But you do not have to promise to be a teacher or a writer—just to learn to think in these particular ways to solve the puzzles before you.

Come back soon. We haven’t finished about the math function question or my easy (easy) tips to learn to figure mode, median, and mean questions without loads of study. You KNOW they will be on the test.

What else do you KNOW will be on the test? When you see a question that asks about ratio and probability, you will just smile and think: I told you so! I knew it! Well, let me just get these points and move on!

By the way, I do teach environmental science, middle grade science, Algebra, and a variety of social studies courses (economics and U.S. History) for individual students. I have Exceptional Ed certification, so I design ways to work with other teachers to get around learning challenges. Guess what helps for students with dyslexia, autism, attention deficit, and behavioral challenges …and many other issues?

Reading, reading, and more reading--including non-fiction, poetry, novels, biographies, art books, drama, sports, animal stories--will raise your score. Writing comes in a close second place. Reading and writing on the computer both count!

Tomorrow: We finish going over this week’s questions and the solutions and move into the second of the six reasons I can solve these SAT questions, and you can, too!

Judiethcarol&Rocketcat

Tuesday's SAT Logic Post Continued and Wednesday's SAT Logic Post Begun

Ten minutes more study now can add points to your score later.  Learning the logic involved will add points to your scores on many other evaluations and assessments.


1. Realize that you may be able to answer reading questions without knowing very much about the subject matter. Today’s question is a visual example. You do not have to know all of the information in this sentence or even the meaning of some of the words to get this answer.

2. USE TODAY’S QUESTION AS A PATTERN: Look at today’s question. This one is not considered to be extremely difficult. Over 80% of the people who tried this question were correct. That is a high percentage. This question makes a good pattern for learning to do this style of question with speed AND care.

Visualize the ‘story’ of the question.

Today’s question includes this sentence:

“Long been isolated from the outside world and perched high in the Tibetan Himalayas, Lhasa is the capital of Tibet, an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China. “

Do you ‘see’ a village perched on snowy mountain peaks?

Visualize the pattern presented in the question and possible answers.

When you read, you are constantly predicting what you are about to read. The more often you know what to expect (in the way of the set patterns such as the style of the Q&A), the less your brain has to notice that part of the task. This clears brain capacity for solving the problem and marking the answer sheet accordingly.

Portions of that sentence are underlined and given a label from A-D. After the period, No Error is underlined and given the label ‘E.”

Look at the question on your screen in the College Board website.

Affirm and practice the parts you can know ahead: Style of the question.

The first thing I noticed when I looked at the sentence was that it was a multiple choice question designed around choosing which part of the sentence was written incorrectly. If I know the sentence is correctly written, I know to choose ‘E.’

I do not have to ‘learn’ this procedure while I am taking the test. This is the way you need to be to do well or to improve performance on a standardized test. Do not wait until you are taking the test to ‘learn’ how to do the different types of questions. This may take only seconds, but it is a procedure that diverts your brain from all the other clues you have to find the correct solution.

I do not have to pause to figure this out. I have seen this style of question over and over.

The second thing I notice immediately is that the word ‘been’ is unnecessary and awkward. This is one type of error that is presented in this particular style, with the underlined portions of the sentence labeled A,B,C,D,…and E for choosing to affirm there are no errors.

Some other types of errors presented in questions of this style are subject-verb agreement mistakes, misplaced modifiers, pronoun antecedent disagreement, incorrect word usage—and more.

A good way to practice this type of question is to make up some sentences and set the question up this way. Then, you will know how to look at the sentence quickly and find the error. Other ways to practice once you have the method down: On the College Board site, there are practice questions. Getting the correct solution immediately is the only way to study effectively.

The 2010 Princeton Review for the SAT will not only include practice questions, but the Review effectively reinforces the strategies offered by the College Board. The Review offers, too, supplementary strategies and targeted instruction in areas always covered on the SAT.

Know What You Know, and Check What You Know

I know the answer is ‘A,’ and I know this is the correct answer immediately. This is not just because I am an English teacher.

Even though I am confident, I quickly look over the other underlined portions. I do not want to miss a point because I rushed. I check the hint anyway, to make sure I am not straying from the purpose of the question. If I take a test, I want to get the ones correct that I know. If a test is timed, I need to pace myself to be sure to reach all the ones I know. Do not stay too long on the ones you do not know.

Know the Score

Answering this type of question correctly counts just as much on the SAT as answering a more difficult question correctly. Each correct answer is one point. If you start skipping questions, though, you MUST have a strategy to put an answer if you can eliminate some of the wrong answers or a way of keeping track of unanswered parts.

Decide ahead of time what to do about questions that you cannot solve.

REMEMBER: You have to answer the answer sheets in the correct spaces. When I am taking a standardized test with an answer sheet, I put a dot in a choice on every answer. Then, if I get time, I erase the ones I do not want to answer at all. But, first, I completely fill in the ones I DO want to answer. You cannot go back to sections of the answer sheet to do this when you are working on other sections of the test. On the SAT, every correct answer is one point.

Every incorrect answer subtracts ¼ (one-fourth) of a point from your score. If you can eliminate answers on a multiple choice, your probability of a correct answer goes up. Still, no portion of a point is taken off for no answer, so you have some penalty for incorrect answers. Of course, when you do not answer at all, you do not gain any points on your score.

Come back later for more about how to learn from this question about other answers.  Also, we will do the same with Wednesday's question.  So, now, go to the College Board site for the SAT, and do Wednesday's Question for the day.  See you later!  Enjoy your day.JudieCarol &Rocketcat

Use SAT Prep Strategies to Promote Logical Thinking and Confidence

SAT Question for the DAY Practice


1. Begin your folder of study materials.

In your word processing program, open a folder of study materials.

Load in a document from February 17, 2010, with the vocabulary: isolated, capital, autonomous. Add the proper nouns: Tibet, Tibetan Himalayas, and Lhasa.

2. Open your day with the SAT question for the Day. You can put a feed from the site onto your tool bar so the entire family can see the logical study guides from ten minutes a day spent here.

If you prefer to spend only five minutes and make this a regular part of your day, do this:

a. Use the feed for the question of the day to go to the question for the day.

b. Use your strategies for that particular type of question.

c. Mark your answer.

d. Look at the hint.

e. Is this your final answer?

f. Submit the answer.

g. Look at the explanation, even if you get it correct. If you are correct, you want to imprint your pattern of success, as well as the confirmation of your knowledge.

Go back to the question and try again, if you made a mistake. This time, use the strategies for this type of question. Notice what works best for you.

Notice that in every type of question, there is a lot of extra information and refined vocabulary.

The SAT practice questions are exactly like the questions on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The practice questions are often, in some cases always, questions formerly used on SAT tests.

Here are the strategies to use later in the day related to the practice question.

1. Take vocabulary words from the question and the possible answers. Write them down. Make PowerPoint cards for the words.

2. Write some of the information in the question in your own words.

3. Notice the exact way the question and the possible answers are presented. This is the way that type of question will be presented on the test you take.

4. Print out a sample of the exact way the question looks, with the labels A-D under the underlined portions, a period at the end of the sentence, then No Error underlined with an ‘E’ label underneath.

5. Use plain paper or index cards and copy today’s question with the underlining and the A-D, and E labels. Use a pen or crayon or magic marker. Make the pattern of the question very neat and vivid. Begin to see this style of question on a blackboard or ‘whiteboard’ in your mind.

Homeschooling or Home Study The Best Education You Can Buy and Manage From A Home Base

Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010



Building A Philosophy To Have The Best Education Money Can Buy

You Can Manage From A Home Base



Differentiated Instruction with Guidance, Resources, and Strategies



For this unit, you need: video: Akeelah and the Bee

Printout from Party City’s donated lesson plan when movie debuted:



Akeelahandthebee.com/education_guides/guide.pdf

You Need A Guide

I teach and tutor one-on-one in many different content areas because I am trained to teach Gifted and Exceptional Education. In summary, my current certifications (nine) are based upon my education in what is now called 'differentiating' instruction. When working with an individual student, as I have done in a private school in Atlanta and in rural homes near Athens, I study the strengths and interests of my student. I work to integrate those abilities into a lesson plan to build upon what she or he already knows, to strengthen that knowledge and skill, and to build upon making connections across the content areas. I use that student’s strengths in every lesson in every subject area.



Your Guide Suggests and Implements Cooperative Learning



For example, if I am teaching a student with the course load of Senior English (British Lit at this school), Economics, Computer Applications, and Algebra I, I have a conference with the individual content area teachers to get their approval to add some elements that can be a grade in more than one course. Again, by example, my senior student wrote a business plan for a business he created in his own mind, a sandwich shop. For his computer applications class, he was assigned the business plan, brochures, opening day flyers, a logo design, stationery, a menu.



One Example of Many Possibilities Multiplying What You Learn



With energy and interest, he created colorful brochures, flyers, a logo, placemats with games for children, and a menu—including a unique name for his store. He even put his logo on a t-shirt to include with his presentation; and he put the entire presentation on disk to present on the computer.



Meanwhile, after looking over some of the portions of his economics lessons and related terminology, as his tutor, I had a conference with his economics teacher. In addition to his written test for the semester, the student was also able to count his project as one of his major grades in economics by writing a presentation explaining a long list of terms including: capital, entrepreneur, labor cost, net income, profit and loss, sales tax (and more). He interviewed a banker about a loan as part of the economics grade.



This was one of several tasks that went across the curriculum in his coursework. The connections helped him to understand and to comprehend what he was reading.



Pay Attention to the Possibilities to Multiply Connections and Guidance

Without a guide to make these connections, however, there is a real gap in the student’s ability to do this kind of connecting on his or her own. In fact, some of the institutionalized ways to do this are faulty. For example, in one school where I taught, students were ‘supposed’ to be taking U.S. History while studying American Literature. This could be quite helpful in understanding both and in doing related projects (as you can do if you are learning on your own or teaching students who need the perspective of a timeline and setting while studying history and literature.)



Sometimes, in connecting what you know, you can understand a question on a standardized test by realizing that there is an anachronism involved. This president could not be speaking on TV because TV was not yet in people’s homes when he was the leader of the United States of America. Realizing these anachronisms (something out of place, timewise—picture building a stage set for the musical Grease and using a beautiful 2010 convertible on the stage as part of the set. That would be an anachronism because the play is set in another time period, long before the 2010 car was produced.



You Can Make the Connections Yourself

This scheduling, decided as desirable by people who were paying attention to connections, of U.S. History and American Literature rarely happened. Furthermore, the teachers did not cooperate to be on the same timeline. This is not the fault of the teachers. They each have a set of standards to be covered during the semester. While differentiating in the classroom and covering standards, there is little time to spend coordinating with other groups. Tomorrow, I will talk about the best and simplest strategy to study U.S. History—some questions easy to predict on many standardized tests, including the SAT, Scholastic Aptitude Test.



Notice on game shows like: Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader that choosing the money or a history question is sometimes when the contender decides on the side of keeping what she has already won. This is because a history question is often an either/or situation in answering. You either know the answer or you do not.



Sometimes you can figure out the answer in math or in language arts. In future lessons, I will show you some advantages you can build in answering history questions, too. But, as a studying strategy, know that social studies questions on standardized tests are the most predictable in topics rather than in specifics, plus you can pick up points reading graphs, charts, and maps.



What Purchases Are Solid For Many Uses in Homeschooling and Home Study of Any Kind?



For homeschooling, a good study guide for a revered standardized test such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, a screening device for college applicants, makes a strong skeleton for building an entire curriculum. During 2010, I favor the Princeton Review. One important aspect of the Princeton Review is the complete description of why the test is designed the way it is and how it is scored. You can get this information at the College Board site; and I recommend doing every Question of the Day and studying a part of this site each time you do the question of the day.



My Grandmother (or Grandfather) Went To College And Never Studied for the SAT

All the baby boomers will say, as I do: We did not know about why the test was written. We did not have practice questions. We did okay. Right? If you are reading this, you may be a student or a parent of a student, and the ‘baby boomers’ are your grandparents.



Life May Not Be More Difficult Now, But the Manuals Are In An International Code Now

We are being truthful about what we did without, but there is no reason for you not to take advantage of what is available to do as well as you can on tests that are used as gatekeepers.



Even if you do not plan to use the scores for college applications, the knowledge you gain from studying for the SAT is helpful with life management. You have to use logical thinking to do well. You have to make connections to what you already know. This making connections—along with making mistakes—is how you learn anything.



Use Advanced Discussion Techniques With Your Children and Friends

Within a classroom of several students, I use strategies to allow the students to choose different types of activities to practice learning new concepts. I even use different strategies of ways to associate the students with each other, so they can combine shared talents and complementary abilities. Some of these methods are the more familiar ways, such as pairing two students to work on a project--and not so familiar ways: the use of jigsaw groups and Socratic Circles.



Life Lessons About Working With Groups Come From Successful Management of Different Group Schemes

Hint: You may get some valuable insight in the techniques of Socratic Circles and Jigsaw Groups to use for Work Meetings. They are designed to be forums of expression and research in a cooperative model, including all without embarrassment or force.



In these models of discussion, there is less emphasis on the ‘team’ working together by all thinking the same thing and more emphasis on the ‘team’ working together by using all the individual expression and effort. In the popular ‘team’ sports imagery used in public school, these discussion models are more like emphasizing that you have a strong passer, a strong defender, a strong guard, a strong kicker, a strong ….swimmer…who finds an entirely different route for everyone. The members of the group do not always play a constant, stock, role.



From home tutoring and homeschooling, many parents and/or guardians, realize the value of changing the approach when a student is faltering in a certain area. For teachers to do this in public school, we have to use strategies that involve groups; or we use specialized instruction from certain teachers (certified as I am to teach Gifted and/or students with a particular learning challenge--such as attention deficit or dyslexia, considered to be 'specific learning disorders' but actually including an array of challenges for an individual.





Life Lessons About Metacognition

For everyone, child or adult, who has some challenges to face, such as a standardized test or a certification test, or even applying for a scholarship or applying to private school, college, or for a particular course, there are some general helpful strategies. These relate to solutions about how to study; how to contain and retain examples, evaluations, and assessments; and how to prove success in education--if only to receive a diploma or to be certified in a certain area.



Building A Portfolio

My homeschooling lesson plans include the directions to keep up an individual portfolio. The portfolio assessment is an excellent way to build on the current success and to plan a desirable goal for an individual. Resources are available by using the Internet because the standards for an International Baccalaureate school, a school meeting some international standards, are easy to understand and to access. Using this type of lesson plan, with the visible growth of a portfolio, helps with far more than the individual course completion. By reviewing the portfolio, an individual begins to see the story and to build the character of the star of that story.



You do not have to be at home for school all of the time to take advantage of some of the private school and public school strategies I will help you to incorporate in your own study at home. The entire family benefits from the positive, creative, and dynamic lessons from the best methods and best practices used by educators today. Fortunately, if you have access to a computer and to the Internet, your resources are limitless.



Tomorrow: What is the top skill to allow confidence, success, and achievement? What can you do, daily, to build upon this personal skill?

To get started with Word Pro Inc's Cool Rocket School Tips, read 10 Terrific Ways to Think Outside Your Socks

How To Use A Movie To Raise Scores on the SAT and Other Standardized Tests

When you watch a movie with a story about triumph and crossing barriers, you notice ways that you can use to achieve personal goals. Movies, like books, provide characters for you to use in your own mind, role playing ways to get around the obstacles that the protagonist, the most dynamic character, faces.




In the movie, Akeelah and the Bee, the first obstacle is Akeelah's attitude that there is really no reason for her to make an effort. She is in a situation that seems, to her, from her viewpoint, to be 'no-win' in relation to doing well in school. She has little support, and when she is able to do something better than others, like spelling, she is ridiculed.



First, Akeelah must be self-motivated. Watching a movie like this one gives us some clues about what to use to arouse our personal interest in winning. What motivates Akeelah? What does she get from all the studying she begins--and finds a way to continue--to prepare for a national spelling contest?



When you find your talent, your gifts, and you begin to develop your individual gifts--whether in academics, team sports, art, dancing, skateboarding, architecture, journalism--the areas of interest to you, people are drawn to you. You are able to find mentors in your field of interest. You are able to learn to work to improve and to share your talent. This 'sharing' is a source of encouragement, and you may find, like Akeelah, that you begin to garner community support. You will also find competitors.



When you find a way to 'compete' with your own personal best, you have found a way to motivate you to make an effort for life. There will always be others who will discourage you, and there may even be others who are better than you are in your areas of expertise. For contests and for winning, there is always another variable. Sometimes that variable can be your own persistence. This characteristic is often called 'perseverance.' Perseverance is one of the greatest gifts a person can have, and this is one you can develop.



The movie is inspiring and motivational. There is a more technical way that this story is helpful to any individual preparing for a standardized test. The study of words and how words are put together is a basic way to use critical thinking to make stronger guesses about what you are reading when the passages or problems include unfamiliar terms. Because so many words in English have Latin or Greek roots, especially words in medicine, law, and science, studying a few words with popular root words, prefixes, and suffixes, sows the necessary elements to decipher many words.



In summary, the more words you understand, especially in origin, etymology, and even pronunciation, the more points you will earn on a test of aptitude, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, SAT, and many other standardized tests. The reason this is true is that the answers are in front of you on these standardized tests; and an aptitude test question writer attempts to put as much educational and useful information into the question as possible. The test measurement is about your ability to synthesize, analyze, and interpret what you read and to apply what you know. Some of the questions on the test will be written in a way that you can get the answer without knowing everything about the question. What will help, always, is to be familiar with the words.



For example, if you have a test question that includes the word 'mortuary,' along with a string of other words unfamiliar to you, but you recognize the 'mort' root word, meaning death; you have a strong clue about the passage. If the same passage includes 'century' and you are not sure about this word, but you know that 'cent' as a root word is one hundred (as one cent is 1/100th of a dollar), you may pick up that the author is writing about a certain century (each one hundred years).



Every root word you learn gives insight into a multitude of words. Too, if you begin to notice that 'in' at the beginning of many descriptive words means 'not'; then, if you see the word 'inaudible,' you may notice the audio as a root word meaning sound (audible-you can hear the sound, inaudible-you cannot hear the sound).

Find the meanings of the root words: phon, mort, cent, and dict. Write some words that come to mind and look up the words. Are the words you thought about related to these root meanings? What about centipede, for example? Can you think of other words with ped related to feet? (What is a pedestrian? Is pedal related?)



Find one root word for several English words. Make a crossword puzzle with clues, at least five across and five down, related to words formed from this root. This is a way to learn several words at one time.

Learning why the words have these particular roots (look at centipede again) helps to build logical thinking.

Make up a word yourself. A new word you make up is called a neologism. Why is this an appropriate name for a new word? What does the root neo mean? What about logo?



Akeelah makes cards for the words. Writing on your cards engages your brain around the word in a different way from keying in the word on a computer. Do both kinds of exercises with words. The more you play with the words, using tiles in Scrabble, crayons on white paper, or graphic explanations—the word with a picture, the more connections you will make to what you already know. Look at images related to terms on Google and Yahoo images. Look at images for words like algebra, history, and loyalty. How would you illustrate such words?


Take a textbook from your classes or from someone else, a family member, and go to the glossary in the back of the book. Make PowerPoint 'cards' for all of the words in the glossary. Start identifying roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Notice the different meanings for the words in different kinds of books.


'Coordinate' is a verb meaning to put things together: She coordinates birthday parties. 'Coordinate' is a noun when it is a point on a graph that you plot from counting on the x and on the y axes. Coordinate is also an adjective (descriptive word) used in grammar to describe: having the same grammatical function in a syntactic structure. Example: Both ‘’got up’ and ‘ate’ are coordinate verbs in the sentence: I got up and ate.



Coordinate (noun) is also a variable in chemistry, physics: a variable used with others to describe the state of a physical or chemical system.

'Plot' (noun) is the short version of a story that you can tell in a few sentences. To plot (verb) the coordinates on a graph, you count where the point is coordinated on the x axis and on the y axis.

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Can you see how knowing more about these words will help you if you come across a passage on a test with ‘coordinate’ or ‘plot’ used in something about math or science—or as a part of a question in the section testing language arts?

(Extra definitions from Encarta Dictionary: English (North America)).

You can learn the ways that root words, prefixes, and suffixes result in several words with some parts of their meaning in common—but other parts of the meaning different.

Making a crossword puzzle with puzzle makers on line is helpful for studying several words at once. Coordinate this exercise with making some graphic cards, too. Using other ways to make the study guides will help you to visualize the word in different contexts and to recognize the word with different prefixes and suffixes.