Vocabulary

Upcoming SAT tests

January 1, 2012
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The next SAT test is scheduled for January 28.  That is only 27 days away!  If you are registered to take this test it is time to buckle down and finish your preparation. 

What should you be doing? 

Sign up for word of the day by Dictionary.com  Pay attention to the derivatives of the word when you get each new word.  Don't worry so much about memorizing the word, although that is a good thing, but try to memorize the prefixes and suffixes of that word.

Review the most basic math formulas and practice using each one a few times.  This includes finding the area of squares, rectangles, parallelograms, trapezoids, circles and triangles.  You will also need perimeter of quadrilaterals and other polygons and the circumference of a circle.  Add to that finding the surface area of cones, cylinders, cubes and pyramids and the volume of those figures are well.  Yes you are provided these formulas at the beginning of each math section on the SAT, but you don't want to spend time shuffling through the pages to find them each time you need to use one and you certainly don't want to have to spend time staring at them to figure out what the letters in the formulas stand for.  The best way to do this is to put each formula on one side of an index card and put at least 2 examples on the other side of the card.

Don't complain about the critical reading.  Yes, everyone knows you aren't interested in the subject matter of each reading; they are boring; they use tough vocabulary.  Remember, the SAT is a measure of how well you will do in college and there will be many times in college when you will be required to read something that doesn't interest you, even in your major subject.

The night before the test don't study at all.  Do something you like to do, but don't go out partying; watch TV, listen to music, read for fun or play video games.  Gather your pencils and make sure they are sharpened.  Be certain you have fresh batteries in your calculator.  Get a good night's sleep and be sure to eat a good breakfast before you leave for the test.  Include some protein in that breakfast to provide you with long lasting energy. 

Most of all, don't panic.  Enjoy the experience.  GOOD LUCK!!

Why do homework?

November 21, 2011
By

The movie “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines” is about about a race from London to Paris in 1910. In the movie a German officer reads a book in order to learn how to fly. It doesn’t work too well for him though, because he crashes his plane into the English Channel.

Some students think that listening to a lecture and doing a few problems in school is enough. But the truth is, students need to practice what they have learned. The practicing serves two purposes. First, it cements the skill in that part of the brain that does things by rote. It makes those skills a habit. But just as important, it also exposes the questions or gaps in the skill, so that the student can go back to the teacher and get further instruction.

I have seen many articles and books written about the subject of homework. As a matter of fact, in the last few years there are many books that are clearly opposed to it. In my experience, students who do all of their homework get far better grades than students who don’t complete it all. And, in addition, the students who do all of their homework are able to study for the larger midterm or final tests in less than half the time of the students who hadn’t done their homework all along. So, the payoff for doing your homework is better grades and less time studying for tests. I think most kids would buy into that option for sure!

When I teach study skills, I work with students that have never put a priority on school or homework. They learn to keep a calendar, make a schedule, prioritize their activities, analyze notes, manage their projects and even how to spend LESS time doing their school work.

Students should be doing homework in every subject, every day. Just because the work isn’t being collected the next day, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be worked on. Fifteen minutes per day, spent working on learning a new concept in science or some new vocabulary has far more worth than 3 hours spent on a project once every other week. Ask your student how they learn a new video game or how they learn to play on the football team. Neither of those things work when “crammed” into long lessons. They both require regular every day practice. Well, so do school subjects. Practice EVERY DAY!

SAT vocabulary in a sports column???

November 14, 2011
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A good new word is temerity. I was reading a sports writers description of the Sunday night football game and he used that word. It’s surely a good SAT word and to see it written in a news story made me happy. So, what does it mean? It means boldness or audacity. In this case the sports writer, Jason Keidel, was measuring the temerity of two different sports teams and came to the conclusion that the winner had more of it. It takes temerity to use an SAT level vocabulary word in a sports column. GOOD WORK!!!

When should I start preparing for the SAT?

October 30, 2011
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I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that question from students and parents alike. The truth is preparation started the day a child learns to speak.

The SAT verbal section is broken down by vocabulary or sentence completions and critical reading. Learning the correct use of the English language starts from birth and I firmly believe that parents, who are their child’s first teacher, can pave the way for success in SAT reading by speaking to their child not in childish jibberish, but in real words and by reading to your child and being an avid reader yourself.

Ideally, from the time a student has reached middle school, they are on track to know whether they intend to go to college. At that point, vocabulary should be the primary focus. Sign up for the Word of the Day from http://www.dictionary.com and use the words daily to help make them part of the regular vocabulary. There is a statistic that says that if you use a new word 5 times in your normal conversations that it will become part of your normal working vocabulary. Keep vocabulary on index cards in a box to show a student how much they have learned over time.

Students who take a foreign language are also at an advantage.  Many words from Latin and French are the parent words of our own English vocabulary.   For example DEFENESTRATE means to throw something out a window.  For those who have studied French the word may look a bit familiar because fenêtre means window.

Join me on journey of new vocabulary every day on my Facebook page Tutoring By Diane.

 

 

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