TLDR:
- Split the test up into 4 separate sections (Practice ACT)
- 8 min 45 seconds each section
- Pick a letter (A-F) at the end of time & bubble all the way down
- Take a Break
- Do this 4 total times!
Video Transcript:
If you're in high school leadership or in the classroom a problem that you're facing is how do we help our students reach ACT benchmark on the reading test. What I want to do today is share with you a tool we use at TorchPrep that helps students hit benchmark on the reading section of the ACT test, so that by the end of this video you have a practical tool to use in the classroom to help students reach benchmark on the reading ACT.
I call this strategy the four square strategy. Now, it's called the four square strategy because the ACT reading test is split up into four separate passages. When students take this reading test what typically happens is they get through two passages and then the proctor says, "Five minutes left," and they get a little nervous, and then the test doesn't go well for them. The problem on this is not that students can't read, it's that they can't time themselves.What we want to do with students is help them realize that if we see this ACT reading test as four separate tests, remember four square, four separate tests, then this test becomes a lot more conquerable. What I have students do, very simply, is I have them open up to a reading ACT. I say, "Hey, I'm not going to make you take this whole test, but we're going to split it up into four separate sections." I sit them down and we do passage one, and I give them one fourth of the time of the reading test, so 35 minutes, cut into four, 8 minutes and 45 seconds. I give them 8min 45 seconds to take passage one.
And then, at the end of that time I say, "Hey, whatever answers you have left, whatever you haven't done, pick A or F and just bubble it all the way down." Even if they have 5 left I say, "Pick A or F and bubble it all the way down." Once we finish that passage we take a little break, and then we do passage two, the same thing. And then we take a little break, passage three, a little break, passage four, a little break. This practice takes about an hour, but what it does for students in the end is they realize that they can get through all four reading test passages. That they have what it takes.
And then, when they go grade it, it's remarkable, because now they're not leaving tons and tons of answers blank. They're giving really great guesses, and they're getting to every single question. Every time I do this students scores go up, and this gets students realizing they have what it takes to hit that 22 reading benchmark on the ACT. So, this is our tool, it's what we use to help students hit a 22 on the reading test.
If you have more questions about our strategies to help students improve on the reading test please reach out to us, we'd be happy to help.
Resources:
ACT College and Career Readiness Benchmarks - http://www.act.org/content/act/en/college-and-career-readiness/benchmarks.html
Make sure to check out the rest of our post to find even more ways to beat the ACT and reach your goals in the pursuit of college.
