English Night
Oct. 15th, 5:30PM
English Dept. Faculty
 9th Grade Teachers
 Dr. McKinnie, Ms. Smith-Wellington, Ms.
Fitzgerald, Ms. Bailey
10th Grade Teachers
Ms. Keys, Ms. Gibbs, Mr. Whitehead,
Ms. Pearson
11th Grade Teachers
Ms.Laney, Ms. Gibbs,
Mr. Young
12th Grade Teachers
Ms. Wesley, Mr. Smith, Ms.Vaughn
ACT Vocabulary
 Purpose of Expanding Vocabulary
 Focusing on vocabulary has a multi-fold purpose:
 · It prepares students for standardized tests by
giving them exposure to words that they may come
across while testing.
 · Increasing vocabulary enhances comprehension,
therefore improving reading skills overall.
 · In writing, students will be able to use an array of
words to convey their ideas.
 · In a competitive workforce, a wide vocabulary will
give students the ability to clearly articulate their
thoughts and converse with anyone in various
environments. In effect, the student’s self-confidence
will increase.
ACT Vocabulary
Family Involvement
 Expanding a student’s vocabulary can be an interactive
family project in which everyone participates. Families
can become engaged in the learning process through
various means:
 · family word of the week
 · vocabulary games (computer, skits, vocabulary
taboo)
 · daily assistance with vocabulary lists
 · family reading time
 · Family Word Wall
ACT Vocabulary
Please visit http://dynamo.dictionary.com. The
site contains interactive games that address
student vocabulary.
http://www.blevinsenterprises.com/Learning_St
ations_Handout.pdf
http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/reading.htm
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/lang_elem
.htm
English Section of the ACT
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A Microscope in the Kitchen
I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by the back door; hipwaders hanging in the closet; tide table charts covering the refrigerator
door; and a microscope was sitting on the kitchen table.
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1. A.NO CHANGE
B.waiting, by the back door,
C.waiting by the back door,
D.waiting by the back door
 2. F.NO CHANGE
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G.would sit
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H.sitting
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J.sat
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75 questions to be answered in 45 minutes
Reading Section
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Abshu was put into a home that already had two
other boys from foster care. The Masons lived in a
small wooden bungalow right on the edge of Linden
Hills. And Mother Mason insisted that they tell anybody who asked that
they actually lived in Linden Hills, a more prestigious address than
Summit Place. It was a home that was kept immaculate.
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4.The fourth paragraph (lines 31-37) establishes all of the following
EXCEPT:
F.that Abshu had foster brothers.
G.that the Masons maintained a clean house.
H.how Mother Mason felt about the location of their house.
J.what Abshu remembered most about his years with the Masons.
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40 questions to be answered in 35 minutes
ACT Practice
 http://www.actstudent.org/ind
ex.html
Pre-Common Core
Classroom
 Identification of literary terms in a text
 Superficial reading of text (identification
of plot, character, and setting)
 Summary of nonfiction texts
 Opinion-based essays (no evidence)
 Correction of elementary grammatical
errors (comma splices, run-on
sentences)
Annotation
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Summarize
Make Predictions
Formulate opinions
Make corrections
Ask questions about events or characters
label literary elements
Reflect (talk to the text)
Record reflections
Common Core Standards
 Close-reading of fiction and non-fiction
texts for evidence
 Analysis of how literary and rhetorical
elements create meaning
 Use of evidence to support opinion in
writing
 Correction of higher-level grammatical
errors (parallelism, agreement)
Close-Reading
 Three areas determine the effectiveness of a
student’s ability to closely read a passage: text
(structure, style, diction, etc.), learner (literacy
and language knowledge, background
knowledge, motivation, interest), and context
(setting, school norms, purpose, peer
pressure). The following method seeks to
address problems with the text and learner.
Close-Reading Steps
 Paraphrase any part of the text you do not understand.
 Identify literary elements (underlined within the sample)
 The Odd Diction
 Determine Denotation and Connotation of literary elements and
diction ( identify to
 the left of the sample)
 Definition
 Root word
 Context clues
 Public (general) and Private (personal(writer and reader))
associations
 Identify patterns and relationships(cause and effect) between
literary elements and ideas
 Identify dominate ideas created by steps 1 through 3 (identify to
the right of sample) to determine the meaning of text.
Testing in 2013-2014
 There will be no changes to the ELA TCAP’s
and EOC’s for the 2012-2013 school year.
They will remain the same and continue to
test the Tennessee Diploma Project (TDP)
standards. However, we believe that by
beginning to incorporate the key shifts of
the Common Core State Standards for ELA
into their classrooms, teachers will be able
to support student achievement on current
state tests. In the 2014-2015 school year,
PARCC assessments will replace the TCAP
and EOC’s for ELA in grades 3-11.”
Testing in 2014-2015
 PARCC Test
 Grades 9, 10, 11
 Characteristics of the Test
 Close-reading of a passage
 Multiple choice questions
 Analytical essay using evidence from
passage
End-of-Course (EOC)
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English One( 9th Grade) May 2nd
English Two and Three (10th and 11th) May 5th
Sample Tests
(http://www.tn.gov/education/assessment/doc/
AYPEOCeng2-IS.pdf) and Practice Test
(http://www.tn.gov/education/assessment/doc/
EOC_EngII_PT.pdf), which both can be found
here:
http://www.tn.gov/education/assessment/sec_s
amplers.shtml
Continued
 PSAT 9th, 10th,11th Grade Oct. 19th
 ACT 11th Grade Mar. 4th
 TCAP Writing Assessment, Feb. 3-7 (11th
Grade) and Feb. 24-27 (9th Grade)
Reading Plus
 Reading Program
 Based on student skill level
 login.readingplus.com