SAT Reading Test Preparation
Reading is coachable: No matter what you may have heard, there is some conformity in the nature of SAT questions and answers from year to year. The BrainTrust SAT Writing and Reading Preparatory course normally requires 6-8 hours of specialized instruction, and will improve comprehension, grammar and writing skills. ReadOur primary suggestion for everyone — READ! Far too few students read for pleasure, and their scores suffer when it comes time to take the verbal sections of the SAT. In other words, vocabulary drilling only goes so far. Learning new vocabulary words for the exam itself is great, but seldom will overcome any pre-existing comprehension shortcomings. Because many students either cannot or do not read as much as students in past years, they find themselves distracted and intimidated when called up to examine sentence structure or write a simple essay. We will be able to ease this pressure, in their own home, without fear of wrong answers or peer pressure. 
SAT Exam FormatThe old SAT Verbal section has been renamed Critical Reading, comprised of two 25 minute sections and one 20 minute section. The reading passages cover the humanities, social science, science, and narrative. The "short passages" contain single paragraphs of around 100 words and are followed by one or two questions. The "long passage" section is presented in 450–800 word groupings, followed by some 6 to 12 questions. Reading passage questions ask about the main idea, contextual references, and vocabulary. By helping your student familiarize himself with the SAT format, the point of each paragraph, and how it fits into the overall scheme and structure of the passage, we ensure the student may then deal with the ideas and focus on the passage in its entirety. Many do not know the SAT tests often contain very short, very dense passages, followed by questions requiring answers turning upon a single word. We can teach the student how to approach these issues. Process of Elimination
Focus upon wrong answers: We focus not only upon right answers — but why wrong answers are wrong. There are common patterns. Year after year, the test authors will put foward the same "land mines," which test takers have had trouble negotiating for a generation. We will show the student these when they appear. We let students know we have all been there. Many of us who went on to excel in very demanding graduate college programs encountered concepts in certain classes we found frustrating. We will do what we can to provide positive feedback. One of our basic tenets: This is going to be a joint process. We are not here to do the work for the student. We will work with the student until all the key, fundamental processes are clear, so that by test day the student will feel more than adequately prepared to excel on the SAT Verbal sections. With your BrainTrust tutor's support, you and your child can approach the verbal portion of the SAT with confidence. Learn MoreContact BrainTrust today to discover how our unique SAT Reading test preparation approach can help maximize your child's SAT score. |
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