The sat in exam 5 docx

The first rule to remember is: How you study is as important as how much time you spend studying.. Your Learning Style Another way to make studying easier for yourself is to know how you

 H o w D o I M o t i v a t e M y s e l f t o S t u d y ?

Obviously, you don’t have unlimited time to spend preparing for the SAT How can you maximize the study time you do have? The first rule to remember is: How you study is as important as how much time you spend studying

To study effectively, you need to focus all your attention on the material Your attitude must be: At this moment, in this place, this is the most important thing to me Phone calls are less important right now TV shows are less important My social life is less important I’m studying for the SAT I’m preparing for my successful future

Visualize Your Future

What does your future hold? To a large extent, the decisions you are making right now will determine the answer

to that question Take a minute to think about what you want Maybe the future seems a little hazy to you That’s okay You don’t need to have your entire life planned out yet But some part of you most likely knows what you want out of college, so focus on that for the moment

Let’s start with choosing a school What kind of campus do you want to be on? Large? Small? What are the other students like? What subjects are you looking forward to studying?

C H A P T E R

SAT Study Skills and Strategies

2

Form a visual image of yourself on a college cam-pus If you have a dream college, practice seeing

your-self there Visualizations like this are a powerful tool

They motivate you to work toward your dreams, and

that helps make your dreams your reality

Okay, you know where you want to be, at least in

a general sense Keep that vision in your mind and use

it whenever you are tempted to neglect your study plan

It can be hard to stick to a study plan There are always

other things you’d rather be doing—you may encounter

obstacles, feel overwhelmed at times with the size of the

task, or experience anxiety about your chances for

suc-cess These are all common problems, and you can

over-come them This book will show you how

 H o w t o S t u d y

The key to success in this endeavor, as in so many

aspects of life, is to take things one step at a time

Break this giant task down into manageable pieces

Your first step toward successful studying is to map

out your study plan

First, decide what skills you need to improve upon You may want to take a practice test to help you

assess your strengths and weaknesses Then, write down

each type of question and how well you scored on it

Now you can prioritize your study time Remember,

though, no matter what you score, you will get better

with practice You practice learning to drive a car, to

play soccer, or to play an instrument; and as you

prac-tice, you get better Taking the SAT is no different

The Schedule

Next, take a look at how much time you have between

now and the test date Get out your calendar and decide

what time is available to you for studying Your life

may be pretty busy now, but there’s bound to be some

time you spend on less productive activities (like

watch-ing TV) that you could use to make your college dreams

One way you can help yourself stay motivated to study is to set up a system of rewards For example, if you keep your commitment to study for an hour in the afternoon, you get to watch your favorite television show If you stay on track all week, you get to go out Saturday afternoon This is a game you play with your-self, so you only win if you play by the rules As with Solitaire, it’s not a lot of fun if you cheat And anyway, remember that the ultimate way to win is to excel on the SAT and attend one of your top-choice colleges

Your Learning Style

Another way to make studying easier for yourself is to know how you learn best Are you a visual learner, an auditory learner, a kinesthetic learner, or some combi-nation of the three?

A visual learner likes to read and is often a good

speller Often, she finds it hard to follow oral instruc-tions, or even to listen, unless there’s something inter-esting to watch, too

When a visual learner studies, she can make good use of graphic organizers such as charts and graphs Flash cards will appeal to her and help her learn, espe-cially if she uses colored markers It will help her form images as she learns a word or concept

An auditory learner, by contrast, likes oral

direc-tions He may find written materials confusing or bor-ing He often talks to himself, and he may even whisper aloud when he reads He likes being read aloud to

An auditory learner will want to say things aloud

as he studies He could even make tapes for himself and listen to them later Oral repetition is an important study tool for him Making up rhymes or other oral mnemonic devices will help, and he may like to listen

to music as he works

A kinesthetic learner likes to stay on the move.

She finds it difficult to sit still for a long time and will often tap her foot and wave her hands around while speaking She learns best by doing rather than by observing

– S AT S T U D Y S K I L L S A N D S T R AT E G I E S –

Visual Learner

➧ form images in your mind

➧ use color codes

➧ use flash cards

Auditory Learner

➧ say things out loud

➧ record tapes for yourself

➧ explain things to others

Kinesthetic Learner

➧ write information down

➧ walk or move around as you study

➧ act it out

her remember things Taking notes is an important way of reinforcing knowledge for the kinesthetic learner, as is making flash cards

It is important to note that many people learn in

a mixture of styles, although they may have a distinct preference for one style over the others

Setting

So far, you’ve gathered information You know what you need to learn You’ve thought about techniques to help you absorb what you’re learning Now it’s time to think about where you’re going to study and what kinds

of things will enhance your learning experience

You know that to do your best work, especially when you’re studying, you need to be focused, alert, and calm Your undivided attention must be on the task at hand That means you have to set up your study time and place with a lot of forethought The first thing you can

do is ask yourself: where, when, and how?

1 Where do I like to work? Where do I feel com-fortable and free from distractions?

Find a comfortable, convenient space where you can focus on studying for the SAT without inter-ruptions or distractions

2 What time of day is best for me to study? When

am I at my most alert and focused? Are there

potential conflicts with other duties that need

to be worked out with family members?

If you can, it’s a good idea to set a regular study time and make the people around you aware of your study schedule You can expect more sup-port for your efforts if you let family members and friends know you are working to achieve a goal and that you need to stay focused And, be sure to let them know you appreciate their sup-port when you receive it!

There is one weekly time slot that is the very best time to prepare for the SAT, especially

in the weeks leading up to the test That time is Saturday morning Why do you think that is? Because Saturday morning is the time you will take the actual exam If you practice taking the test and work on improving your test-taking skills on Saturday mornings, your mind and your body will be ready to operate at peak efficiency when you really need them

3 How do I study best? What kind of study atmosphere works best for me?

Each person is different when it comes to study habits: Some people need quiet to concentrate, while others like listening to music; some people enjoy snacking when they study, while others find that food slows them down Is there

any-thing—a picture of your first-choice college, maybe—that will help motivate you to study for the exam? Consider these questions when setting

up a place and time to prepare for the SAT There are no set rules for studying, as long as it is pro-ductive for you

Now that you have a good idea where you will study and what kind of environment you want to create for yourself and you’ve developed some ideas for how to motivate yourself and keep yourself on track, it’s time to learn some more specific study strategies

 S t u d y S t r a t e g i e s

This book will give you a solid foundation of

knowl-edge about the SAT As mentioned previously, you may

also want to get a few good vocabulary building books,

such as LearningExpress’s Vocabulary & Spelling Success

in 20 Minutes a Day and 1001 Vocabulary and Spelling

Questions; some math review books, such as Practical

Math Success in 20 Minutes a Day, SAT Math Essentials,

and 1001 Math Questions; and writing guides like Write

Better Essays in Just 20 Minutes a Day and SAT Writing

Essentials You may also want to consult the College

Board’s The Official SAT Study Guide, which is the only

source that contains actual SAT questions

You will also want to gather some other study tools and use them for your SAT preparations:

■ a good dictionary, such as Webster’s 11th Edition

■ a notebook or legal pad dedicated to your SAT

work

■ pencils (and a pencil sharpener) or pens

■ a highlighter, or several in different colors

■ index or other note cards

■ paper clips or sticky note pads for marking pages

■ a calendar or personal digital assistant

Gather Information

You’re already working on this step For updates about the SAT, you can go to your high school guidance office or online to www.collegeboard.com Using these sources, you can be sure to find out where and when the exam is being offered, as well as how much it will cost

To sign up to take the SAT, you can:

1 Register online at the College Board’s website,

www.collegeboard.com This site also provides several other college-related services

2 Get the SAT Registration Bulletin from your high

school guidance office The Bulletin contains a registration form and other important informa-tion about the exam

3 Call 1-609-771-7600 to speak with a customer

service representative from the College Board

Of course, you also need to find out what kinds of questions you will encounter on the exam You already know a bit about the kinds of questions on the SAT, and Chapters 3, 4, and 5 will talk about the questions in detail and give you more study tips and strategies for answering them correctly You can also obtain printed materials from your high school or www.college-board.com Seek out that information right away— you will need it as you set up your study plan

Create a Study Plan

You have thought about how, where, and when you will study You’ve collected your tools and gathered essen-tial information Now you are ready to create your per-sonal study plan Here are the steps:

1 If you have not done so already, take a practice test You can use the questions in Chapters 3–5 of

this book or take one of the tests in the College

Board’s The Official SAT Study Guide To create

an effective study plan, you need to have a good sense of exactly what you need to study

– S AT S T U D Y S K I L L S A N D S T R AT E G I E S –

1 Take a practice test.

2 Analyze your results.

3 List your strengths and weaknesses.

4 Determine your time frame.

5 Prioritize your study plan.

6 Study!

2 Analyze your practice test results No matter

what your results are, don’t worry about them

Just look at each question as you score it, and for each incorrect answer, ask yourself the following questions:

a Was there something I needed to know that I

didn’t know? If so, write down the skill needed for that question Make a list of the skills you need to learn and devote extra time to study-ing them

b Did I misunderstand the question? The good

news is that, with practice, you will become much better at understanding the SAT’s ques-tion style

c Did I make a careless mistake on the question?

Careless mistakes include transference errors (marking the wrong bubble on the answer sheet) and simple misreading, such as mistak-ing one word or number for another If you are making careless mistakes, you need to work on focusing Again, this gets easier with practice

3 Make a list of your strengths and weakness Use

your analysis of why you missed the questions you missed Now you know what specific math and verbal skills you need to work on, and you know what test-taking skills you need to improve

4 Determine your time frame Decide how much

time you can devote each day and each week to your SAT preparation Be realistic about how

much time you have available—life will go on, with all its other demands Once you know how much time you have, estimate how long you have

to work on each specific task you have set for yourself You may find it useful to break down the three exam sections by question type You may have to prioritize your work in various areas, depending on how much time you have to pre-pare and in which subjects you can most improve your score

5 Prioritize your study plan “Learn everything by

April 1” is not a useful plan The first priority on your study plan should be to go through this book thoroughly so you can absorb the study tips and strategies for the exam Then, set up a realis-tic study schedule based on the amount of time you have left before the exam Rather than trying

to study everything at once, practice one or two subjects or question types at a time

Break It Down

Many people get discouraged when a task seems too big It seems like they will never reach the end That’s why it’s a good idea to break down all big undertakings, like this one, into smaller, more manageable bits Set small goals for yourself, for example, “This week, I will

work on mastering sentence completions.” Sentence

completions is a much more manageable task than

“pre-pare for the SAT,” even though it moves you in exactly that direction Establish positive momentum and maintain it, one step at a time