With March fast approaching and the statewide ACT assessment coming up, I thought I would share strategies for taking the ACT. Sometimes its not just what you know on the ACT, but how to take the assessment in collaboration with what you know. Here are some tips for each section that I have collected and provided to students.
ACT
ENGLISH
Section Tips and Strategies
75 Questions (Containing
5 passages that cover a variety of writing styles) – 45 Minutes
·
You should allot 1.5-2 minutes to skim the
entire passage and 30 seconds to answer each question.
·
Be aware of the writing style (5 types) used in
the passages. Consider the style when
selecting a response.
·
BE AWARE of questions with NO underlined
portion: In responding to questions cued by a number or numbers in a box,
carefully consider the writing decision described. Best to answer these questions when skimming
the passage as a whole.
·
For underlined portion questions
o
First check to see if stated question precedes
answer choices. If so, carefully
consider the writing decision described.
o
Determine what aspects of writing are included
in the underlined portion of the passage.
o
Read the text before and after the underlined
portion to get a sense of the writer’s intent and the passage’s organization at
that point.
o
Do no select a response that corrects one error
but causes a different error.
o
If you are unsure of a response, reread the
section of the passage, substituting the answer choices for the underlined
portion.
o
Do not be afraid to choose “No Change.”
·
ALWAYS
ANSWER THE SAME LETTER WHEN GUESSING.
ACT
READING
Section Tips and Strategies
40 Questions
(4 Passages) – 35 Minutes
·
PACE YOURSELF
·
Do the easy passages first – If one interests
you or something you know well, do it first.
·
Concentrate on paragraph opening and
closing.
·
The topic sentence is often located near the beginning of the
paragraph. Sometimes, too, the final sentence of the paragraph suggests the
main point of the paragraph.
·
You should allow yourself 3 minutes to read each
passage and 30 seconds per question to answer.
·
The 4 passages are separated into four
categories: Social Studies, Natural Sciences, Prose Fiction (passages from
Short Stories/novels), and Humanities
·
Carefully read the passage before attempting the
questions. It is important to read every
sentence than skim the text.
·
Be conscious of relationships between or among
ideas.
·
Underline or make notes about major ideas in the
passage as you read.
·
Answers to some questions will be found by
referring to content explicitly state in the text
o
ANSWER THESE FIRST
·
Some questions will require you to determine
implicit means (What does the author
strongly suggest the existence or truth of)
o
You should refer back to the passage before you
answer any question.
·
Jump around within a set of questions in a
passage to the ones you can answer easily.
DO NOT LEAVE A PASSAGE UNTIL YOU ARE SURE YOU HAVE ANSWERED ALL THE
QUESTIONS
·
ALWAYS
ANSWER THE SAME LETTER WHEN GUESSING.
ACT
MATH Section
Tips and Strategies
60 Questions –
60 Minutes
·
Answer all the questions that are easy for you
and then go back to the hard ones. The
ACT DOES NOT go from easy questions at the beginning to hard questions at the
end.
·
Pace yourself.
Do not spend too much time on any one question. 60 Minutes for 60 questions doesn’t mean a
minute per question
·
Come up with your own answer choice first with the information provided in
the question.
o
This will help avoid being influenced by the
answer choices.
·
If the above does not work, eliminate wrong
answers and plug in answer choices to the equation when applicable.
·
Watch out for the answer choice "cannot be
determined." It is rare and when you see it, it's very likely wrong. It's
almost always wrong in a question that comes with a diagram or for which you
can draw one.
·
Don’t be afraid to use the areas to the right of
the problem to complete figuring and draw diagrams.
·
Avoid Partial Answers – often answers to the
first part of the equation are given as an option. Mark those out if it is an answer for one
step of the problem.
·
A calculator isn't required for any of the
questions, so if your solution
absolutely depends on one, you are probably headed down a time-consuming and
incorrect path.
·
Have a good understanding of MATH Rules and
Basics
·
ALWAYS
ANSWER THE SAME LETTER WHEN GUESSING.
ACT
SCIENCE REASONING
Section Tips and Strategies
40 Questions (7 Passages) – 35 Minutes
·
PACE
YOURSELF
·
Use
the three-stage method (previewing, reading, reviewing) to get the most out of
each science reasoning passage
·
In
data representation passages, focus on what is being measured, relationships
among variables, and trends in data.
·
Don’t
be confused by irrelevant information or technical terminology – most passages
have them and can ALMOST ALWAYS be ignored
o Once you get past the
language, the questions on this test tend to be fairly straightforward and
simple to answer.
·
Read the passage or look at the data presentation
quickly. Do not stop to study in detail
any part that you do not understand.
o Look at the provided
charts to see which factors or variables are represented.
·
Answer the first question in
the group. The first question
in each group will probably be a simple test of understanding.
·
Skip the hard questions. Do not
initially spend more than 30 seconds or so on any question.
·
If the answers are numerical,
use estimation; Calculation takes time.
·
A few key
questions you should ask yourself when reading a science passage are:
o What is being tested?
o Why is it being tested?
o What are the variables?
o What are the factors that stay the same?
·
Base your answers only on the contents of the passage. All of the information you need to know is in
the passage. External knowledge can harm
you.
·
ALWAYS
ANSWER THE SAME LETTER WHEN GUESSING.
GOOD LUCK!!
