Helping Student Prepare
for the PSAT and SAT!
Rae Jean Johnson
How important is the
PSAT?
It isn’t really as important as the mom above suggests,
but the PSAT DOES a) indicate how well students might
do on an SAT and b) determine if students are eligible for
a National Merit Scholarship Award.
Does the PSAT
determine my future?
Students are sometimes
surprised to learn how
important standardized tests
can be. Scores may not
determine whether students
get into heaven, but they CAN
determine if students get into
the university they’d like or if
they will get into the particular
programs that interest them.
What is a good
PSAT score?
• The answer to this depends on
students’ goals….
• National Merit Scholars need a
Selection Index (score) of +200.
• Students need to look at that
schools’ websites for their
requirements for the SAT (they
won’t list a PSAT score!).
Just the facts…
• The PSAT will be given Oct. 12
to all sophomores and juniors.
• The PSAT is similar to the SAT
except there is no essay and
the test is a bit shorter
What’s on the PSAT?
• Math
• basic math, Algebra I and II, geometry
• Reading
• Sentence completion questions, critical
reading
• Writing
• Identifying sentence errors, improving
sentences, improving paragraphs (No
essay – this is on the SAT)
To improve their scores,
students should….
•
•
•
•
Understand test format
Learn and practice strategies
Read challenging texts
Actively study SAT vocabulary
words.
• Practice, practice, practice!
PSAT test format
• Five sections
•
•
•
•
•
Critical reading (25 Min.)
Mathematics (25 Min.)
Critical reading (25 Min.)
Mathematics (25 Min.)
Writing Skills (30 Min.)
• The SAT has TEN sections!
PSAT (and SAT) Rules to
know
• Every section is timed, so
pacing is important.
• Scoring: right – (wrong x .25)
• Students may omit questions
• Pencils are required.
• Calculators are allowed (please
encourage the kids to bring
one!)
Critical reading
•
•
•
•
Sentence Completion
Short passages
Long passages
Dual (either long or short)
passages
Sentence Completion
• Questions are arranged in increasing
difficulty.
• Effective strategies include:
•
•
•
•
Step One: Cover the answers.
Step Two: Speak for yourself.
Step Three: Classify blanks +, -, or n.
Step Four: Use context clues to
eliminate answer choices.
• Step Five: POE!
Practice!
8. The very
thought of her
eating meat was
-----to Lara, who
had been a
strict vegetarian
and animal
rights activist
for many years.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
gratifying
deleterious
pedestrian
anathema
cathartic
Two Blanks –
Twice as Easy!!
• 1. Cover the answers.
• 2. Look at the second blank
first.
• 3. POE that blank.
• 4. Then look at the other blank
at ONLY the answers you have
remaining.
Example
Frederick Douglass’ skills as ___________ were
never more evident than when he spoke
__________, delivering unrehearsed speeches
of unsurpassed eloquence and clarity
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
An explicator ….
An orator …
An obfuscator …
A diplomat …
A rhetorician …
belligerently
cryptically
improvisationally
censoriously
extemporaneously
Long passages
• Read the blurb!
• Speed read to get the general
idea of the passage.
• Answer “fetch” questions first
(vocabulary in context,
antecedents, details, etc.)
• Then answer the “reasoning”
questions.
Dual passages
• Skim the questions to see whether
more can be answered by passage 1
or 2 then begin with that passage.
• Read that passage and then answer
the questions for that passage first.
• POE the answers for the 1st passage.
• Then read passage 2 and answer
questions for that passage.
Math Strategies
• Format:
• Every math section begins with
reference information that includes
things like area of a circle, volume of a
rectangle, etc.
• Questions are arranged in order of
increasing difficulty.
• One section will include grid-in
problems. These are also arranged in
increasing difficulty.
Objectives
•
•
•
•
•
•
Students should be able to…..
Ballpark
PITA
POE
POOD
Pace yourself
Special Topic: Grid-Ins
• Start on the left of the grid.
• DO NOT ROUND!
• Bubble improper fractions
instead of mixed numbers (3/2
would be correct. 1 ½ will look
like 11/2 to the program!)
Math
• Expect to be rewarded for being
wrong! ETS knows how
students will work the problems
and answer choices will include
the wrong answers the kids will
get.
Math: PITA (plug in the
answer)
• The answer choices are
arranged either from least to
greatest or from greatest to
least, so start with C when
plugging in answers!
Plugging in Tips
• Try numbers that make the math
easy (2, 5, 10 usually work well.)
• Don’t worry about picking a bad
number. You can always change the
number and try again.
• Make sure that your numbers satisfy
any conditions in the problem. (If the
question says to use an odd integer,
use an odd integer!)
Try plugging in your own
answer here.
4. Which of the
following
expressions
represents an odd
integer if b is an
odd integer?
A. b-3
B. 2b-3
C. 2b-4
D. 3b-1
E. 3b+1
• Plug in 5
A. 5-3=2
B. 10-3=7
C. 10-4=6
D. 15-1=14
E. 15+1=16
Try ballparking this one!
12.After a sale at the local department
store, the total number of television
sets in private homes in Greene
County rose from 17,800 to 24,000.
By approximately what percent did
the total number of television sets
increase?
A. 16%
B. 35%
C. 50%
D. 65 %
No calculators!
• Use estimates: started about
18,000…ended at 24,000, a
difference of about 6,000. Is
6,000 about 50% of 18,000? No
way! So, that eliminates
answers C, D, and E.
• 6,000 is about 1/3 of 18,000 so
B is best!
Know your own POOD!
•
•
•
•
Personal
Order
Of
Difficulty
POOD
• Know your areas of strength
and START there on the test.
• No one knows where you bubble
first or last!
Writing: Multiple Choice
• Error Identification
• Improving Sentences
• Improving Paragraphs
Error Identification and
Improving Sentences
Understanding the
Questions
• Arranged in order of increasing
difficulty
• Expect 1/5 of the answers to be
E – no error!
• POE the answers EVERY TIME!
Rules to know: Verbs
• Subject – Verb Agreement
•
•
•
•
1+1=2
2+2=2
1+2=2
2+1=2
1 means singular
2 means plural
Rules to know: Verbs
• Subject-verb agreement
•
•
•
•
1
2
1
2
or
or
or
or
1
2
2
1
=
=
=
=
1
2
2
1
The conjunction can be either,
neither, nor, or, not only, but also
Rules to know: Verbs
• Collective nouns – a singular
noun that refers to a group of
people and takes a singular
verb.
• The band (was/were) performing.
• The class (is/are) behaving badly.
Rules to know: Verbs
• Indefinite pronouns as subjects
• These are SINGULAR pronouns:
• Each, everybody, neither, much,
everyone, either, nothing, everything,
everywhere, anyone, someone, no
one, etc.
• Each if the boys (is/are) doing
(his/their) homework.
• Someone forgot (his or her/their)
notebook.
• Either if the options (is/are) fine with
Rules to know: Verbs
• These pronouns can be either
singular or plural depending on
the noun the pronoun refers to
• All, most, some, more, any, less,
none
• All of the pie (is/are) gone.
• All of the students (is/are) asleep.
Rules to know: Verbs
• Parallelism
• Similar grammatical structure
• Keep lists in the same form
throughout a sentence.
• The Halloween part was a great
success: the children enjoyed
bobbing for apples, playing arty
games, and to wear costumes.
Rules to know: Verbs
• Keep verbs in the same tense
throughout the sentence!
• Yesterday, much to the dismay of
his wife, the new anchorperson
has worn a red necktie that did not
match his green suit.
Rules to know:
Pronouns
• Know this chart:
SUBJECT
OBJECT
POSSESSIVE
PRONOUNS PRONOUNS PRONOUNS
He
We
She
You
They Who
It
I
Him
us
Her
you
Them whom
It
me
His
our/s
Her/s your/s
Their/s whose
Its my/mine
Rules to know:
Pronouns
• Use subject pronouns where
subjects go in sentences
• She is going to the store.
• I am going to the store.
• She and I are going to the store.
• NOT…Me and her are going to the
store!
• Which one? This is she/her.
Rules to know:
Pronouns
• Use object pronouns as direct
objects, indirect objects, and
objects of prepositions.
• Sue gave him a rose.
• Sue gave me a rose.
• Sue gave him and me a rose.
• Not: Sue gave him and I a rose.
Rules to know:
Pronouns
• Use possessive pronouns in
front of gerund (a verb + -ing
that acts like a noun)
• Her failing the class is a concern.
• His sighing annoys me.
Rules to know:
Pronouns
• Who and Whom refer to a
person only
• When is used only to refer to a
time.
• Where refers to only a place
• A sentence can use one or you
but only one per sentence
Rules to know:
Pronouns
• A pronoun must clearly replace
only one noun.
• Billy saw Carol and Jane near the
pool and flirted with her
shamelessly. Who???
• They saw their parents at the
school and talked to them until
they got there from the trip.
Huh???
Rules to Know: Parallel
structure
• Keep parts of the sentence in
the same form
• I like to walk, to run, and
swimming.
Improving Paragraphs
• There are three kinds of questions
here
• Revision questions
• How can the paragraph be improved –
organization, adding a topic sentence,
eliminating an extraneous sentence, etc.
• Combination questions
• Best way to combine sentences
• Weird questions
• Split paragraphs
• Join paragraphs
• Adding topics
What’s Next?
• Practice!
• Use resources like 11 Real
SATs, Rock the SAT, etc!