Our SAT Tutoring Program in Greater Cincinnati, Mason, and Loveland, Ohio
Tutoring is a natural choice for the SAT for so many students in Cincinnati who don’t have a natural affinity for puzzles. Let’s face it: this test can be a bit tricky, but learning to think through the logical steps behind each question is highly rewarding. Breaking problems down into their simpler parts to see the relationships is really part of life, and the step-wise method Mr. DiSalvo teaches works like a charm for the student willing to learn some English rules, vocabulary roots, basic math formulas and some patience. Our SAT program — a favourite in Cincinnati, West Chester, Mason and Loveland — begins with a brief diagnostic test lasting about fifteen minutes. We then jump into how to handle the problems that formerly seemed impossible, showing students how following the system makes the rest of our lessons go smoothly. By the end of the course we are not just hoping for monumental score increases; we are looking to have produced a careful thinker who can make a lasting impact.
While there are naturally “SAT brains” out there who love puzzles, students don’t just stumble into a perfect score of 1600 by chance. Knowing the fundamental rules of English, math and reading, along with Latin and Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes, gives students the foundation to start down that road. Realistically only a small fraction of students who are capable of a perfect score actually reach it. So how do we give ourselves the chance to climb the percentile rankings? Step by step.
The SAT is composed of two sections: Reading and Writing, and Math, as CollegeBoard describes. At A+ we have found that rather than a booklet-oriented approach — having the student grind through questions and practice tests to be ready for the big day — it is better to be step oriented first, getting down the fundamentals and the focus most students are missing.
1. Underlining
Right away we help students understand the pieces they are working with by underlining each context idea they encounter. Students begin processing these parts and understanding how they fit the whole question. This step is most relevant in reading comprehension, when we isolate ideas we are about to find in the passage. We do the same with grammar questions, except there we are mainly preventing misreadings and using those pieces to classify into the same categories we see in reading questions. We “underline” in a sense on the Math section too, and on the ACT’s Science section, where we focus narrowly on the words that tell us whether we have a main idea or an inferential reasoning question.
2. Classifying
Classifying our types of questions is imperative, because it tells us where and how to look. Is it about the whole passage (main idea) or just a certain part (detecting detail)? Is the question more idea oriented or detail oriented? Main idea, detecting detail and inference questions appear in the reading material, while main idea and inferential reasoning questions occur in parts of the writing material. On the ACT, the Science test — more mathematical in nature — requires students to use detecting detail and inferential classifications to know where to look in the charts, tables and graphs.
3. Go to the Right Part of the Passage
This step isolates the actual pieces we broke down and classified in the first two steps. On the ACT’s Science test the proper charts, tables and graphs are usually where we look. With longer reading passages, we look either at the beginning and end, or somewhere in the middle, based on our type of question.
4. Underlining in the Passage
Isolating the pieces is a big part of getting the right answer. When we underline the parts of the passage matching what is in our question, we prove to ourselves that the ideas we started with and those we found are truly the same. The same process applies when isolating components in graphs, charts and images. Are the pieces basically the same? Are we looking in the right place? That is what we want to know.
5. Predict
Once you have found the evidence, it is time to put the pieces together. What do the ideas in the passage point to? What can we anticipate before looking at the choices? Seventy to eighty percent of the time we can predict the answer before we get there. This improves accuracy and efficiency, both of which matter enormously when you have roughly a minute per question. A similar thing happens on the ACT’s Science section: gathering the clues and patterns in the charts, we assemble them into something coherent that fits the idea we were looking for.
6. Correlate
Finally, we correlate that prediction with the actual choices. While we may only be able to write down our predictions 75% of the time, we can still pinpoint with considerable accuracy what the choices will look like. This is a crucial step. Writing our answer down, even in a multiple choice format, lets us know we are thinking correctly when we see the essence of that prediction reflected in the options given.
The SAT is a good foundation for the ACT. We need to be more careful with each question, so students are in good habits of carefulness by the time they reach the ACT, which is more equation oriented. Carefully laying out the pieces sets students up for success across reading, math and writing alike. This is a big reason students have seen substantial score increases after working with Mr. DiSalvo. Please give A+ Tutoring a call if you would like to schedule a free consultation — limited spots are available, so it is best to call early.
Our SAT test prep is available in Cincinnati, Loveland, Mason and West Chester, Ohio and the Tri-State area. Just call 513-939-9033 for more information.
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