preparing for the critical reading and writing skills on the psat september 30, 2012 through october...
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![Page 1: Preparing for the Critical Reading and Writing Skills on the PSAT September 30, 2012 through October 11, 2012 D. Sibley, September 2012](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022082709/56649d135503460f949e6f7a/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Preparing for the Critical Reading and Writing Skills on the PSAT
September 30, 2012 through October 11, 2012
D. Sibley, September 2012
![Page 2: Preparing for the Critical Reading and Writing Skills on the PSAT September 30, 2012 through October 11, 2012 D. Sibley, September 2012](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022082709/56649d135503460f949e6f7a/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
D. Sibley, September 2012
PSAT Test Format taken from Barron’s PSAT/ NMSQT, 2012
• The PSAT/NMSQT is preparation for the SAT, and is generally given in October. It differs from the SAT in that it is shorter (2hours and 10 mins.).
• Sec. 1- Critical Reading 25 mins. 24 questions• 8 sentence completion• 4 short-reading comprehension• 12 long-passage reading comprehension• 1 min break• Sec. 2-Math 25 mins. 20 questions • 20 multiple choice• 20 questions• 1 min. break
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D. Sibley, September 2012
Passive vs. Active Reading
Passive• Leisure reading• Skimming for ideas
Active• Reading for content• Engaging with the text• Using prior knowledge• Taking Notes
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D. Sibley, September 2012
Active Reading
• Preview the reading material• Estimate the length and level of difficulty• Clarify your purpose for reading• Activate prior knowledge
Rhetorical
Triangle and Reader
Response Theory
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D. Sibley, September 2012
PSAT/NMSQT Test Format• Sec. 3- Critical Reading 25 mins. 24 questions• 5 sentence completions• 4 short-paragraph reading comprehension• 15 long-passage reading comprehension• 5 min. break• Sec. 4- Math 25 mins. 18 questions• 8 multiple-choice• 10 student-produced response (grid-in)• 1 Min. break• Section 5- Writing Skills 30 mins. 39 questions• 20 improving sentences• 14 identifying sentence errors• 5 improving paragraphs
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D. Sibley, September 2012
Using Context Clues to Help Define Words and Phrases and Build Your Vocabulary
Let’s look at the Types of Context Clues
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D. Sibley, September 2012
Definition Context Clues
• You will see questions on the PSAT that may ask you for the meaning of a word and the passage may contain a definition of the word you are being asked to define. For example:
• “A distinctive perspective is central to the discipline of sociology, which is defined as the scientific study of human social activity.”
• “Words take on meaning from their context, that is, they are used in conjunction with other words in the sentence and surrounding sentences.”
• “Like terms are terms that have the same variables with the same exponents.”
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D. Sibley, September 2012
An Example Context Clue
• You may encounter a question that asks for the meaning of a word, and several examples of the word are included in the passage to help lead you to a definition:
• “Macionis helps us understand the term subculture. Teenagers, Polish-Americans, the homeless, and “southerners” are all examples of subcultures.”
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D. Sibley, September 2012
An Explanation Context Clue
• Some passages may include an explanation of the term to help you define the term.
• “The psychologist set up the experiment to test the rat’s adaptability; he wished to see how well the rat adjusted to the changing conditions it had to face.”
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D. Sibley, September 2012
An Opposite Term Context
• You may find the opposite meaning of a term included in the passage that may help you define the term:
• “ In general, people emigrate to from countries where they have limited prospects for earning a living, and they migrate to countries where they believe that economic opportunity awaits them.”
• Most birds of prey hunt by day; owls; however, are nocturnal.”
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D. Sibley, September 2012
A Punctuation Context Clue
• Sometimes, writers use punctuation marks (dashes, colons, parentheses, or commas) in a passage to lead readers to the definition of a term.
• “A composer often provides a marking for tempo, or overall speed, to help convey the character of a composition.”
• “In a sense, there is no single cause for war, but a myriad.”
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D. Sibley, September 2012
Using Parts of the Word to Help Define It
• We add prefixes and suffixes to root words to change word meanings, or make new words.
• When you are taking the PSAT, you can look at the root word to help you determine the meaning of a word, if the passage does not include context clues
For example, lets look at the word perihelion • Peri from the Greek meaning near and helios from the Greek
meaning the sun, so the perihelion is the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid or comet where it is nearest to the sun. (taken from Wikipedia)
***Obtain a list of common root words, suffixes, and prefixes.
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D. Sibley, September 2012
Using the Dictionary to Help Build Vocabulary
• You may be required to define a term that does not include context clues in the passage and cannot be defined by looking at its root word, prefix, nor suffix.
• It is important to get a list of words commonly used on the PSAT/SAT (high-frequency words) and learn their definitions. You can go to www.collegeboard.com to get words and their definitions daily, or you can obtain a list from the website.
• I would suggest putting the words and their definitions on flashcards the old-fashioned way, or create electronic flashcards, and make a game of it!!!