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3 Reasons Your Child Should Never Take the SAT Cold

2012-01-27T13:54:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is the first SAT of 2012. Typically, the January test is filled with seniors who started the process really late, or, in many instances those trying one last time to raise their scores before their applications are reviewed. I used the word "typically," because there are still quite a few parents who have their 11th graders take the SAT "just to see how they'll do" before they actually start preparing for it in the spring. Here are three big reasons that this is a BAD, BAD idea:

Reason #1: The SAT is not a test to be taken lightly
The SAT is a “reasoning skills” exam that tests how well students can reason, think critically and problem solve in math, critical reading and writing. Unfortunately, for many students, these skills are not cultivated in their regular classrooms and the SAT questions themselves are not as straightforward as those on the standardized tests that most students are used to. The test also requires physical endurance--3 hours, 45 minutes of testing is draining, especially when your body has no idea what taking a test this long feels like.

Reason #2: All SAT scores are “on the record”
SAT scores typically level off and morale starts to drop after a student takes the SAT three or more times, which means that parents have to be very strategic with timing. Ideally, the best time for most students to take the SAT is in the spring of their junior year. The best test dates are in March or May—after they’ve had at least one semester of Algebra II and before they get bogged down by finals in June. If your child needs to take it again after the spring, use the summer to strengthen weaknesses and then plan to take it again in October before the college application process gets too crazy.

Even though most schools will take the highest scores from each section, lower scores can still stand out and draw undue attention. And while the College Board now allows students to exercise an option called “Score Choice,” where they can pick and choose which scores they want sent to the schools, most schools frown upon this option and ask the student to send all of the scores anyway.

Reason #3: There are ample opportunities to “see how they’ll do” before the taking the real SAT
The College Board has full-length real SATs with answer keys available both on its website and in its Official SAT Study Guide, available for purchase here. These, hands down, are the best ways to “see how they’ll do” on the SAT before taking the real thing. Have your child take the test in a quiet, timed environment where you can serve as the proctor. Follow the times allotted for each section and give a 5-minute break after every two sections. If you’re not comfortable proctoring on your own, you should take advantage of the “free SATs” that several test prep companies like Innovative Study Techniques offer, most often with comprehensive score reports included.

Coming next week: What are the best ways to prepare your child for the SAT?

5 Ways Parents Can Bring History Alive

2012-01-24T10:49:00.007-05:00

Over the weekend, I went to see "Red Tails," the new George Lucas film about the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American military aviators in the US armed forces. There were several children in the audience (including one of my students) watching the movie with their parents. For many students, history, like science, is one just one of those subjects that you can't just read in a book--you have to experience it in order to really appreciate it. Here are five ways to bring history to life for your children:

1. Visit a museum

This one's pretty obvious, but I'm still surprised by the number of people who don't take advantage of all the great things that museums, particularly local ones, have to offer. If you can't get there physically, take a tour of a virtual museum like those offered by the Smithsonian. To see a list of virtual museums from around the world, click here.

2. Get some popcorn and watch a movie
If you have a family full of movie buffs like mine, check out a documentary about a particular event or period in history and watch it together. When I was growing up, I learned so much about the Civil Rights Movement that wasn't taught in school just by watching the "Eyes on the Prize" series on PBS. PBS has an array of other well-made, interesting documentaries to choose from here.
If documentaries aren't your thing, a great alternative is the historical fiction genre. In these works, you get a "twofer"--your children can learn about history and be entertained through a work of fiction that grabs their attention, such as a favorite among my students, "The Count of Monte Cristo." To see a list of the 100 best historical fiction films of all time (most of these are more suitable for older children), click here.

3. Download an app
An iPad app like Virtual Roma takes the user back in time to visit Ancient Rome, which has been reconstructed in a virtual form that allows you to have a “full-immersion” panoramic experience. You can see aerial views of the city, statues, monuments and more as you if were right there. How cool is that?! To see more history apps, click here.

4. Go on a scavenger hunt
Family scavenger hunts allow you to learn about history and have a little friendly competition at the same time. At the "The Museum of Natural Hysteria Scavenger Hunt" inside the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, families can "hunt for dinosaurs, stuffed tigers and giraffes, a camping a flossing bison, live insects, the Hope Diamond and other jewels, mummies, and a charred-bone from a real murder mystery." Watson Adventures offers hunts like this all over the country; to see locations, click here. If you can't find anything close to you, check out this list of internet scavenger hunts at Education World to go on your own scavenger hunt at home.

5. Take a field trip

When you're planning your next vacation, incorporate a visit to a historic site as part of your trip. When I was a child, I loved going to visit Colonial Williamsburg, VA. In the same trip, we could see reenactments of what it was like to live during the American Revolution and head over to Busch Gardens, where we could get a taste of old-world Europe and ride roller coasters. To see a list of the "10 Best Historic U.S. Sites for Kids," click here. Again, if you can't physically visit, consider taking a virtual field trip from the comforts of your own home. To see a list of some pretty cool virtual trips, click here and here.

*This post was originally published at RicheHolmesGrant.com

IST Students Perform a Smart Remix of "Look at Me Now"

2011-09-10T12:43:00.000-04:00

5 Things I Bet You Didn't Know About the SAT

2011-04-26T15:36:00.001-04:00

We thought it'd be fun to throw out a little SAT trivia as students get closer to the final two tests of the school year (5/7 & 6/4). Here goes...

1. An Army Brat
In its original form, the test (then known as the "Army Alpha") appeared in 1901 as an IQ test commissioned by the US Army. It was first administered to college applicants in 1926. By the end of the 1930s, the SAT was used as a scholarship test for all Ivy League schools.
[Source]

2. Time's Up!
The original test required students to complete 315 questions in 97 minutes in the following areas: definitions, classification, artificial language, antonyms, analogies, logical inference, and paragraph reading, number series and arithmetical problems. That's about 30 seconds per question. Yikes!
[Source]

3. What's in a Name?
"SAT" initially stood for "Scholastic Achievement Test"; in 1941, the name was changed to "Scholastic Aptitude Test." Today, its full name is "SAT Reasoning Test." And guess, what?! "SAT" doesn't stand for anything...it's just "SAT."
[Source]

4. Classified Information
Before 1958, only high schools and colleges were able to view students’ scores--not the students themselves.
[Source]

5. A Civil Right
In the early 1960s, College Board officials began visiting testing centers to make sure that all students were being tested under equal conditions. If a school district refused to desegregate, the test center was closed and the tests were given at a local military base.
[Source]

Learn how to A-C-E the SAT at www.InnovativeTestPrep.com!

This Month's Teachable Moment: Number vs. Amount/Fewer vs. Less

2011-03-02T12:58:00.000-05:00

“Number” vs. “Amount” and “Fewer” vs. “Less”: Use "number" and "fewer" when you are referring to things that can be counted individually like "students" and "books." Use "amount" and "less" when you are referring to things that can’t be counted one-by-one like "time" and "money." NOTE that you if you counted increments (things that can be counted one-by-one) of time and money , you would use different words like, "hours," "minutes," "dollars," "coins," etc.

Example: "Each classroom has the same amount /number of students." The correct answer is "number" since "students" can be counted individually.

Example: "I asked the waiter for less/fewer ice in my drink." The correct answer is "less" since "ice"cannot be counted individually. NOTE: if the sentence read, "I asked the waiter for less/fewer ice cubes in my drink," the correct answer would be "fewer" since "ice cubes" can be counted individually.

Now, go TEACH it!

This Month's Teachable Moment

2011-02-11T15:58:00.000-05:00

Mental Mall Math: When the kids want the cash, make sure they can do the math!

Example: What is the sale price of a $250.00 North Face jacket that is discounted by 30%?

A quick way to find the answer is to first calculate 10% of $250.00. In math, "of" means "multiply." To multiply $250.00 by 10%, just move the decimal one place to the left to get $25. Note that you can calculate 10% of ANY number by following the same procedure.

Next, multiply $25 x 3 (look at this as 10% x 3=30%) to get $75. Finally, subtract $75 from $250 to get $175, which is the sale price of the North Face jacket.

Now, go TEACH it!

Get your middle school student ready for college...RIGHT NOW

2011-02-04T00:14:00.003-05:00

We work with students in grades 2-12 (and beyond), and trust me, it's never too early to start preparing them for college. Washington Post writer, Jay Matthews, offers "8 subtle ways to prepare middle schoolers for college" below. To read the entire article, including full descriptions and anecdotes that accompany each tip, click here.

1. Notice what they enjoy doing, and help them do more of it.
2. Make sure your child knows that B’s are fine in middle school and that fun is important.
3. Enroll them in Algebra I in the eighth grade.
4. Insist they develop some practical housework skills.
5. Flavor family trips with a bit of college atmosphere.
6. Encourage children who are curious about the world to take a foreign language.
8. Do everything you can to encourage reading.

[Source: washingtonpost.com]

How far away is our "Sputnik" moment? Well, it depends...

2011-02-02T15:24:00.000-05:00

In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama underscored the importance of American innovation as the first step in "winning our future."   "What we can do--what America does better than anyone else," he stated, "is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We’re the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives. It is how we make our living."   This moment in time, he declared, is "our generation's 'Sputnik' moment."

Ironically, the President's declaration was made just days after Education Week published an article about how poorly US students performed on the science National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP is also known as "the nation's report card."   The report revealed that most students are not performing at a level deemed "proficient" in science and that 12th graders posted the weakest scores compared with their elementary and middle-level peers.   In fact, forty percent of twelfth graders scored below basic. Yes, the same twelfth graders who we send to college, with the hope that they will be capable of creating "the next best thing."

It is impossible to move forward and backward at the same time. Something has to give. The sweeping advancements we want made in laboratories will not occur if we don't make sweeping advancements in classrooms first. If not, the conversation will make a drastic shift from "how" we compete to "if" we can compete while the rest of the world passes us by.

The President went on to say, "Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America’s success. But if we want to win the future– if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas– then we also have to win the race to educate our kids. Think about it. Over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school education. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to ninth in the proportion of young people with a college degree. And so the question is whether all of us –as citizens, and as parents –are willing to do what’s necessary to give every child a chance to succeed."

Well said, Mr. President.   Count me in.

Students are more likely to retake the SAT if their score ends with '90'

2011-01-21T08:56:00.002-05:00

High school students are more likely to retake the SAT if they score just below a round number, such as 1290 v. 1300 (~2090 v. 2100 on the new SAT), than if they score just above it. That's the conclusion of a study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, which found that round numbers are strong motivators.

In theory, this makes sense--if you got a 690 in math, why not go for the extra 10 just to say that you scored in the 700s? In practice, however, sometimes it can be very difficult for a student who's so close to actually get there when they retake the test. Believe it or not, in many cases, it's much easier to help get a 100-point increase for a student who's just starting out than a 10-point increase for a student who has already done 6-8 weeks of hard core prep + the real SAT. This is because most students peak after a certain point (yes, even though each test is different) and once they do, even an increase as small as 10 points can turn into a never-ending quest. Ironically, the study found that, in the end, the extra 10 points don't really matter--students who scored 1390 (on the old SAT) were just as likely to be accepted by admissions officers as students who scored 1400. Go figure?! Check out the entire article here

[Source: Phys.org.com]

A 10-minute Solution for Test Anxiety?

2011-01-17T11:04:00.001-05:00

There may be good news in store for those of you who can relate to the sweating, hurried breaths, blanking out and gnawing angst of test anxiety. University of Chicago researchers found that students who spend 10 minutes before an exam writing about their thoughts and feelings can free up brainpower previously occupied by testing worries and do their best work. If you have the time before an exam, I think that it's at least worth a try. Check out the full article here. To read more about what test anxiety is and other ways to overcome it, click here.

[Source: Education Week]
[Source: Education.com]

SAT Subject Tests No Longer Required at University of California Schools

2011-01-12T09:56:00.000-05:00

The University of California (UC) system recently changed its admissions requirements for students applying this fall and beyond. One of the most notable changes is that students are no longer required to take two SAT Subject Tests--one-hour exams in various subjects (e.g., upper level math, literature, sciences, foreign language) that many competitive schools require as part of the admissions process. Students are, however, encouraged to submit their scores if they want to demonstrate mastery of a particular subject; if they are applying for a competitive major and their preferred campus recommends certain subject tests; or, if they want to use Subject Tests to satisfy "college-preparatory" course requirements.

Here's my take on it: if you are applying to a competitive UC school, take the Subject Tests. Even though they are not "technically" required and not everyone will fall into the "encouraged to take" category, many students vying for slots at places like Berkeley and UCLA still have to take the tests for other top-tier schools and will likely submit their scores to everyone (UC schools included). Hey, I would (just saying:-).

This Month's Teachable Moment

2011-01-06T18:24:00.001-05:00

How do you know when to use "I" vs. "me"?
Many people incorrectly assume that "I" is always correct because it sounds "proper." Not true! The simple way to determine which to use when there are other people in a sentence is to take out the other people and see which makes more sense between I" or "me."

Example: My mother took my sister and me/I to the store.

Take out "my sister" and you're left with "My mother took me to the store" or "My mother took I to the store." In this sentence the "me" makes more sense. Of course there is a more technical way to explain this, but we've found that this way is much easier to remember!

Now, go TEACH it!

Managing ADHD Without Medication

2010-12-11T14:00:00.002-05:00

If you are a parent with a child who has ADD or ADHD, I'm sure you've thought about (or at least been approached about) putting them on medication at least since the initial diagnosis. If so, I'd also like you to think strongly about viable alternatives. Read more here, where AOL Health explores seven med-free strategies that might help kids with ADHD gain focus and control.

What do The Washington Post and SpongeBob Have in Common?

2010-09-20T14:11:00.005-04:00

SAT words! In my never-ending quest to find vocabulary words in everyday life, I did another little experiment: I read one article of The Washington Post and watched one episode of SpongeBob Squarepants to see how many "SAT" words I could find in each. Here are the results (in order of appearance):

The Washington Post
Article: "How Adrian Fenty Lost His Reelection Bid for DC Mayor"
by Nikita Stewart and Paul Schwartzman (9/15/10)

oblivious
constituent(s)
remorse
unrelenting
hone(d)
incumbent
aloof
catapult(ed)
confidant
electorate
anonymity
insurgent
apex
hubris
formidable
insular
fiat
amend(ed)
philanthropist
mantra
advocate
punctuate(d)
candid(ly)
prospective
rail(ed)
peril
unceasing
cronyism
grudgingly
fray
gambit
deride
surrogate(s)
persist(ed)
arrogance
mea culpa

Spongebob Squarepants (unfortunately, I forgot to write the title of the episode):

disclose
paranoia
forlorn
protazoan
masquerade
innocuous
jig
smug
redeem
deranged
astray
runt
scold(ing)

I was not surprised byThe Washington Post, but Spongebob definitely threw me for a loop! The moral of my post? The dictionary is not the only place to learn new words; maybe to look them up, but certainly not to learn them:-) Until next time, happy learning everyone!

Time Magazine & The Case Against Summer Vacation

2010-07-27T21:00:00.001-04:00

This month, Time Magazine argues the case against summer vacation, given the detrimental effects a lack of summer learning can have on students, particularly in low-income households. Read the entire article here: The Case Against Summer Vacation.

[Source: time.com]

Three Fun Summer Learning Activities

2010-06-18T15:29:00.002-04:00

This following ideas were featured in a newsletter I receive from BrainWare/Learning Enhancement Corporation and I thought I'd share them with all of our summer savvy parents. The author is Betsy Hill and the full article is accessible here.

Happy learning, everyone!

1. The “Think and Listen" – A parent and child agree to “think out loud” about a topic of mutual interest: the menu, the weather, world peace, etc. Each person agrees to speak for the same length of time, the listener never interrupting. The “Think and Listen” gives the thinker good practice identifying thoughts and articulating them. Just a few "Think and Listens" can make children more articulate and confident. They are more likely to do well in class discussions and to express ideas that are important to them.

2.  The “Restaurant Review” – Give summer vacations more “mental meat” by writing restaurant reviews with your children after dining out. This is a good way to work cognitive skills such as memory, sustained attention, creativity and prioritizing of values. Those skills will come in handy next fall, when it comes to reviewing for an exam.

3.   The “Visual Scavenger Hunt” – When planning a summer trip, develop a list of things you might see along the road – the kids can help with the research – and give each child a list to check off as they find the items. Include a mixture of common objects, like a stop sign or a gas station, and rarer objects … like a jewelry store, a cemetery, a cactus, a purple flower, a black squirrel …. The mixture of objects will help sustain interest and balance the difficulty of finding one with the feeling of discovering a treasure when something rare is spotted. This simple game strengthens focus, visual discrimination and memory skills.

My Favorite Season is Finally Here!

2010-06-12T23:33:00.004-04:00

Summer is my favorite time at IST! More than two months to help students have fun learning outside of the traditional school learning environment AND make significant gains, no matter where they start! On average, students can lose 2 months of reading and 2.6 months of math over the summer when they're not engaged in any academic activity. The phenomenon is known as "Summer Brain Drain." Over the years, we've discovered thousands of innovative ways to "plug" the drain through our BrainGain series of courses and summer bridge tutoring. How can you not have fun learning when your classes have such cool names as "From My Street to Wall Street," "Books-to-Movie Critics," "Courting the Law," and "Innovator Incubator"?!

Unlike the school year, we don't have to mirror what the teacher is doing in the regular classroom. Instead, we help students review the prior year's concepts (and in some cases, go over what should have been taught) and give a personalized preview of the concepts they are likely to see in the fall. This freedom allows our tutors to move at a pace that is appropriate for each student's individual strengths and weaknesses. We can go back, then skip, leap and jump ahead once the student "gets" it. Often, by the end of the summer, many students are semester or more ahead of the rest of their class by the time they return to to school in the fall. Now, take THAT, Summer Brain Drain! To learn more, visit Summer at IST 2010.

S/T Students: Over-Achievers or Are Some Just Easily Misled?

2010-06-06T23:30:00.002-04:00

"Students in the Science and Technology Program [at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George's County, MD] experience the year-long tension as they endure the stress of numerous AP classes. Long nights, short time for rest, and ridiculous deadlines. The pressure is on."

Read the entire article (written by a savvy student reporter) here, including a quote from Riche:-).

[Source: The Raider (Eleanor Roosevelt High School)/my.hsj.org]

Ideas to Encourage Summer Reading

2010-05-02T00:43:00.001-04:00

Summer reading is an important part of being ready for school in the fall. Try these ideas to get your kids into reading during their summer vacation. Read the entire article (including a quote from Riche:-) here.

[SOURCE: School Family.com]

Morehouse Whiz Kid is Causing a Stir: 13-Year-Old Dominates College

2010-01-20T08:55:00.001-05:00

"At thirteen years of age, Stephen Stafford is causing quite a stir at Morehouse College. Stafford has a triple major in pre-med, math and computer science. Though he loves playing video games and playing his drum set, he is no typical teenager." Read entire article here.

[SOURCE: BV Black Spin]

Children's board games help reinforce lessons learned in the classroom

2010-01-14T11:14:00.000-05:00

"Disconnect the Xbox, uninstall the computer game software and close the laptop. You want your child to have fun but learn at the same time, at a fraction of the cost? Play a board game, experts say." Read the entire article here.

[SOURCE: washingtonpost.com]

The ABCs of Standardized Tests

2010-01-12T00:00:00.006-05:00

With so many standardized tests and acronyms to remember, sometimes it can be difficult to keep up.  We've created this handy reference guide just in case you need a little help! For additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact IST.

ACT (originally "American College Testing," but now is simply known as "ACT"):
Category: College Admission
Summary:  Typically grades 11-12.  Subject-based exam designed to test student's knowledge of content in English, mathematics, reading and science. Learn more here.

CTP 4/ERBs ("Comprehensive Test Program"; often referred to as "ERBs" after the company that produces it, the "Educational Records Bureau"):
Category: Achievement
Summary: Grades 1-10. Battery of assessments designed to provide instructionally useful information about student performance in reading, listening, vocabulary, writing, mathematics, and verbal and quantitative reasoning.  Learn more here.

ECAA ("Early Childhood Admissions Assessment"):
Category: Private School Admission
Summary: Grades PreK-5. Designed to assess student's current level of development, but not intended to predict long range success. Learn more here.

HSPT ("High School Placement Test"):
Category: Catholic School Admission
Summary: Grade 8. Designed to test cognitive and basic skills in the following areas: verbal and quantitative reasoning, reading, mathematics and language. Learn more here.

HSAs ("High School Assessments"):
Category: Achievement
Summary: Grades 9-12. Content-based exams in Algebra, biology, English, government that all Maryland public high school students must take as part of a graduation testing requirement. Learn more here.

ISEE ("Independent School Entrance Exam"):
Category: Private School Admission
Summary: Grades 5-12. Administered at three levels: lower, middle and upper. Designed to test verbal and quantitative reasoning, reading comprehension and math achievement; also includes a short essay, which is not scored. Learn more here.

MSA ("Maryland School Assessments")
Category: Achievement
Summary: Grades 3-8. Yearly exam given to all students in Maryland public schools that tests math and reading achievement under the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. Learn more here.

PSAT/NMSQT ("Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test"):
Category: Pre-College Admissions/Merit Scholarship Competition
Summary: Typically grades 9-11. Practice SAT (see below) designed to measure skills in math, critical reading and writing and determine student's (11th grade only) eligibility for certain merit-based scholarships. Learn more here.

SAT (originally "Scholastic Aptitude Test" and later "SAT I: Reasoning Test," but is now simply known as "SAT")
Category: College Admission
Summary: Typically grades 11-12. Reasoning test designed to measure skills in math, critical reading and writing. Learn more here.

SAT 10 ("Stanford Achievement Test")
Category: Achievement
Summary: Grades K-12. A series of battery tests designed to measure achievement in math, reading, language, science and social studies, in comparison with other students the same grade who took the test at a comparable time. Learn more here.

SSAT ("Secondary School Admission Test"):
Category: Private School Admission
Summary: Grades 5-11. Administered in lower and upper levels. Designed to test verbal, quantitative, math and reading comprehension skills. Learn more here.

WISC IV (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children)
Category: IQ/Ability
Summary: Ages 6-16 and 11 months. Clinical instrument designed to test the cognitive ability of children. Ten required subtests in verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory and processing speed. Learn more here.

*See also: "Standardized Tests: What shoud you know before your child sharpens his #2 pencil"

*See: Testing Our Schools: A Guide for Parents"

Tips for Successful Math Students

2010-01-11T16:56:00.004-05:00

Organization and good note-taking are both important to being a successful math student. As an IST tutor and a math teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, I have noticed a few simple things that help students improve their performance.

The better students have a very organized binder or notebook dedicated only to math. I have seen sub-sections dedicated to warm-up, classwork, homework, tests & quizzes.

Successful students also take diligent notes during class and make comments and note of errors or misconceptions in the margins (i.e. "watch out for negatives," "when you raise a power to a power you multiply the exponents" etc).

It is also good to see students write down the question, steps and answer for any math problem (especially if the homework is from a textbook).

Etymology is Everywhere!

2010-01-07T01:07:00.040-05:00

et⋅y⋅mol⋅o⋅gy [et-uh-mol-uh-jee]

1. the derivation of a word.
2. an account of the history of a particular word or element of a word.
3. the study of historical linguistic change, esp. as manifested in individual words.

Parents often ask me what is the best way to teach their children new vocabulary before they come to IST. I am convinced now, after only a few short hours of a completely non-scientific experiment, that the first step in effectively learning new words is to simply open your ears and eyes throughout the day.

Tonight, I was sitting in church when I heard a man next to me repeat one of the words the pastor said, as if to ask, "What does that mean?" The word was "chasm." It was then that I realized that I had been subconsciously creating a list of the SAT-type words that I heard during the past two sermons.

Later, after I got home, I watched two hours of prime time TV (this is a lot for me!) to see how many more SAT words I could add to the list. Click the link below to see the results...

CHURCH:-chasm
-chicanery
-concentricity
-epiphany
-erudition
-illustrious
-sagacious
-sanctimonious

TV:
-affront
-asinine
-bestow
-daunting
-decadent
-farce
-gadfly
-garish
-morose
-motif
-psychotropic
-usurp

This is a total of 20 words in about 5 hours of just listening to my surroundings. Not bad! I challenge each parent to do this at home by helping their student(s) start a vocabulary journal. Inside the journal, students should keep a running list of new words they encounter each day and in what context. Over the years, I've learned that students retain more words when they have an event or conversation they can relate back to or visualize rather than relying on rote memorization.

At the end the day, students must define the words and trace their origins as part of the exercise. There's a line from the movie, "Akeelah and the Bee," when Akeelah's spelling coach tells her that every big word is made of up smaller words (e.g., prefixes, suffixes, roots). Guess what? It's true! Try helping your student recognize this throughout the excercise. Knowing basic Latin and Greek roots is a virtual necessity on tests like the SAT.

The next day, instruct students to track how many times they use the new words correctly in their regular conversations. Siblings can compete against each other on the way to school, soccer practice or at the dinner table. Try repeating this every day for a month and let us know how it goes. Parents can (and should) start their own journals too!

Teaching Through Relevant Examples

2010-01-04T21:31:00.003-05:00

What do Wile E. Coyote, E.T., and John Legend in common? To everyone except me, the answer is "nothing." But to me, the common thread is that I used each of these as teaching examples in my verbal test prep sessions this week. Each example is a true testament to how well you can facilitate student understanding just by making relevant connections to things that students already know and/or are interested in.

Wile E. Coyote
In the first session, the SSAT question asked my student to select a synonym for the word "wily" from a list of five words. He had no idea what it meant, that is until I asked him if he ever watched the show, "Bugs Bunny." When he told me that he had, I asked him to name all of the characters. When he got to the coyote, I asked him to give me his full name: "Wile E. Coyote." For those of you who don't remember, Wile E.'s main activities involved devising wild (and always unsuccessful) schemes to catch the Road Runner. After thinking about Wile E. and looking again at the answer choices, the student immediately chose the word "crafty." Guess what? He was correct! "Wily" is an adjective that means "crafty or cunning." How many of us knew this when we watched the cartoon years ago?!

E.T.
In another session, the lesson was on the importance of using prefixes, suffixes and roots to decipher the meanings of unfamiliar words. I asked my student if she had had seen the movie, "E.T." She told me that she had, and she even knew that "E.T." stood for "Extra Terrestrial," but she didn't know what the phrase meant. For those of you who are curious, the prefix "extra" means “outside or beyond; the root "terr-" means "Earth"; and the suffix "-al" means "pertaining to." Once I traced the word origins of the cute little alien's strange name, it made perfect sense to her: E.T., by definition was from a place far beyond the earth.

John Legend
In the third session, the lesson was on the multiple-choice writing skills section of the SAT. In the question at issue, the student missed an error that had an adjective where an adverb should have been used. Since many students are rusty when it comes to parts of speech, I went back to the basics. For those who need a quick refresher, here goes: adjectives are used to describe/modify nouns only (e.g., big house); while adverbs are used to modify verbs (e.g., he reads quickly); adjectives (very big house); and other adverbs (e.g., he reads quite quickly). And of course, there's the old trick: most, though not all (e.g, quite) adverbs end in "-ly."

At the end of the lesson, I referenced the chorus of John Legend's popular song, "Ordinary People." It goes something like this, "We're just ordinary people, we don't know which way to go, let's just take it slow-oh-oh-oh." Trust me, you have to hear it to fully get it! After I had my student sing the chorus, I asked him to tell me whether "slow" was an adjective or an adverb and whether it was used properly in this context. He identified "slow" as adjective and then told me that it should have been "slowly," (an adverb), since it is there to modify the verb "take" by telling how. In fact, while my student was technically correct, in the grammar world, it is generally acceptable to use "slow" in a casual context like this. I'm sure John Legend (a UPenn grad) would be proud!