ACT Reading: Day 1 Warm-up: Identifying Tone

Directions: Read the passage below and fill out the grid.

*

“I’m boiling with rage and yet I mustn’t show it. I’d like to stamp my feet, scream, give Mummy a good shaking, cry, and I don’t know what else, because of the horrible words, mocking looks, and accusations that are leveled at me repeatedly every day, and find their mark, like shafts from a tightly strung bow, and which are just as hard to draw from my body.” (Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl)Element of Voice How it shapes tone

Diction: boiling

Detail: I’d like to stamp my foot, scream, etc.

Syntax: Difference in sentence length 1st & 2nd

Imagery: a tightly strung bow

Figurative Language: like shafts from a tightly strung bow…

ACT Reading: Day 1 OverviewTest formatLooking over practice test: What

do you notice?Take timed practice testCorrect & scare score

ACT Reading: Test FormatGeneral Information:

•35 minutes to read 4 passages & answer 40 questions• Always in the same order: Prose fiction, Social Science, Humanities, Natural Science

Question Types:

1) Main Idea: of a paragraph or passage (theme)

2) Inference: what is suggested, implied, inferred

3) Detail: facts, people, theories, relationships, etc.

4) Vocabulary: in context w/line reference

National Average: 21

ACT Reading: Practice TestHand out

Practice TestLook over the

test for a few moments

What do you notice?

Questions? Answers? Length? Difficulty? Passages? Topics?

List Class Ideas:

ACT Reading: Practice Test35 minutes

Give 5 minute warning

Correct when done

# correct/40

Scale Score:

(Raw score X 36)/40 = Scale Score

Example: 30 (right answers) X 36/40 = 27 (scale score)

ACT Reading: Day 2Warm-up: read over the citations

used on various ACT reading passages. What do they tell us as a reader? Why read them first?

PROSE FICTION: This passage is adapted from the novel The Men of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor (©1998 by Gloria Naylor).

SOCIAL SCIENCE: This passage is adapted from the chapter “Personality Disorders” in Introduction to Psychology, edited by Rita L. Atkinson and Richard C. Atkinson (©1981 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.).

HUMANITIES: This passage is adapted from “A Poem of One’s Own,“ an essay by Mary Jo Salter The essay was taken from Audiences and Intentions: A Book of Arguments (©1994 by Macmillan College Publishing Company, Inc.).NATURAL SCIENCE: This passage is adapted from the article “How to Build a Baby’s Brain” by Sharon Begley (©1997 by Newsweek, Inc.).

ACT Reading: Day 2 OverviewIndexing StrategyPractice indexingQuestion typesQuestion Stems

ACT Reading Strategies1) See the “big picture” a. Look at passage as a whole b. # of paragraphs c. Size/lines d. Structure e. Dialogue?

2) Read the Citation: “preheat” your brain!

3) While Reading a. Identify main idea and tone b. Identify the purpose of the passage c. INDEX the passage

IndexingFocuses you on the main

arguments of each paragraphBreaks passage into manageable

chunksNotes the major transitions in the

passage

“Indexing” a Passage1) Read the paragraph

* Focus on the main argument or claim

* Main argument = combination of the topic & the author’s opinion on the topic

* Don’t “skim”, but don’t get bogged down in a lot of detail

“Indexing” a Passage

2) Summarize the Main Idea* of the paragraph in your

head, put in your own words

* Narrow your summary to the central

argument/angle

“Indexing” a Passage3) Choose a key word or short

phrase to write in the margin

* Do this before moving on to the next paragraph

* Needs to make sense only to you

* Will trigger your memory when answering the questions

Indexing PracticeSoon the government of the United States and its allies enthusiastically pursued a “peace dividend” slashing military budgets and manpower levels in order to reduce taxes or divert resources to other pursuits. By the late 1990’s sobering international challenges had taken the bloom off, however; the enduring complexities of national security were apparent to many. Indeed, although the stakes were never as high as they had been during the potential life-or-death struggle with the Soviet Union, American armed forces found their operational tempo of deployment to distance theaters and into harm’s way greater than it had been since the Vietnam War.

1. Read

2. Summarize the main argument in your head

3. Write a key word or phrase in the marginPossible Summary:

Governments cut military budgets after the Cold War but eventually realized they were still deploying forces for other challenges.Possible Key Words:“still deploying”

Indexing Practice• Click on the Header above; the link will

take you to act.org. (natural science passage IV)

• Practice more indexing with the sample provided

You cannot see what is going on inside your new-born’s brain. You cannot see the electrical activity as her eyes lock onto yours and, almost instantaneously, a neuron in her retina makes a connection to one in her brain’s visual cortex that will last all her life. The image of your face has become an enduring memory in her mind. And you cannot see the explosive release of a neurotransmitter—brain chemical—as a neuron from your baby’s ear, carrying the electrically encoded sound of “ma,” connects to a neuron in her auditorycortex. “Ma” has now commandeered a cluster of cells in the infant’s brain that will, as long as the child lives, respond to no other sound.

1. Read

2. Summarize the main argument in your head

3. Write a key word or phrase in the margin

After Reading: Guess first, then find answer!

Question Types:

1) Main Idea: of a paragraph or passage (theme)

2) Inference: what is suggested, implied, inferred

3) Detail: facts, people, theories, relationships, etc.

4) Vocabulary: in context w/line reference

• Look for line numbers, key words, and dates within questions

• Use your index to guide your answers

Application:Go to your lowest scoring passage on

the reading practice test

Apply the indexing strategy

Identify the types of questions (main idea, inference, detail, vocab.)

Discuss/partner up

ACT Reading: Day 3Warm-up:

Match! 1. Plot

2. Characters

3. Conflict

4. Theme

A.The problem(s) in a story

B.The sequence of events in a story

C.The main idea/life lesson involved in a story

D.The people in the story

ACT Reading: Day 3 OverviewProse FictionFour pillars of

fictionPractice PassagesFull Prose Fiction

Practice PassageScore & Discuss

Prose Fiction: COSTFour Pillars of Fiction

1. Characterization* How many central characters are there?* From whose point of view is the passage told?* How do the central characters look, feel, and act?* What are the relationships of the central

characters?* What conflicts exist among central characters?* What conflicts exist within the minds of the

central characters?

Prose Fiction: COSTFour Pillars of Fiction

2. Overview (Theme, Big Picture, Main idea…)

* Have a general sense of the passage

* Helps to answer detail & inference questions

Prose Fiction: COSTFour Pillars of Fiction

3. Structure* Observe paragraph sequence &

role* Create your index as you go; 1-2

words

Prose Fiction: COSTFour Pillars of Fiction

4. Tone & Mood* Get a feel for the “voice” elements

* Tone: narrator’s attitude toward subject

* Mood: emotion/feeling the reader receives from the

passage

Prose Fiction: PracticeComplete practice passagesComplete Full Prose fiction

practiceScore & discuss

ACT Reading: Day 4

Warm-up: Define the following elements of non-fiction:

Subject:

Occasion:

Audience:

Purpose:

Tone:

ACT Reading: Day 4 OverviewNon-Fiction PassagesStrategies for

approaching the reading & questionsTypes of passagesSocial Science PracticeNatural Science Practice

Non-Fiction Strategies

1) It’s all in the timing! a. options: do the easiest first

do the hardest first b. Spend about 4 minutes reading c. Spend about 4 minutes answering q’s d. You won’t have enough time to read the questions first then the passage

Non-Fiction Strategies

2) See the big picture! a. Look at the passage as a whole b. Prepare your brain for efficient reading c. Remind yourself of time constraints

Non-Fiction Strategies

3) Zoom in & Preheat your Brain a. Zoom in & read the citation b. Make a brief connection to the topic c. Look for key words in 1st paragraph

Non-Fiction Strategies

4) Clear your mind! a. Remove all mental clutter! b. Remain focused on the passage

Non-Fiction Strategies

5) Identify the main idea and tone a. What is the author saying about the topic? b. What is the author’s attitude toward the subject?

Non-Fiction Strategies

6) Index the passage a. Summarize the purpose and function of each paragraph b. Take brief margin notes c. Refer to index when answering q’s

Non-Fiction Strategies

7) Guess first, then find the answer a. Read question stem & guess b. Identify key words or line numbers in the question stem c. Use your index to help answer d. Eliminate wrong answers; narrow down

Types of Non-Fiction PassagesSocial Science: anthropology, economics, sociology, political science, psychology, business, education, geography, history…

Humanities:art, music, architecture, theater, dance, literary history, critiques, etc.

Natural Science:biology, ecology, chemistry, physics, geology, etc.

Non-Fiction Passages: PracticeComplete practice passages for

Social Science and Natural Science

Score & discuss

ACT Reading: Day 5Warm-up:1. How many passages on the Reading test?

2. How many questions?

3. How much time is given?

4. Why is this important to know?

ACT Reading: Day 5 OverviewApply strategies to sample test

Time: complete each section in 9 minute intervals

Score & discuss after each passage

Discuss & Identify strength areas and weaknesses

ACT Reading: Day 6Warm-up:

List in order your best section to your worst section of

the ACT Reading test.

Passages in test order:1. Prose Fiction2. Social Science3. Humanities4. Natural Science

ACT Reading: Day 6 OverviewTake full timed practice test

Correct & Scale score

Discuss, review, etc.