|
SAT Success 
With The New York Times Critical Reading and Writing Test-Prep Activities
INTRODUCTION
Why use The New York Times to prepare for the new SAT?
Breadth, sobering, paradigm, insurmountable, erratic, render, scrutiny, disclosure, tussle, assess, aftermath, dispersal…
If you were to skim the front page of any New York Times, you would find a list of “hot” vocabulary words such as these (from the 9/12/05 issue) that your students will need to know to do well on the new SAT.
Reading these words in the context of articles that interest them can help your students internalize their meanings. Not only will they improve their reading comprehension, but your students may even begin to experiment with these new words in their own writing.
Reading The New York Times regularly is one of the best ways students can prepare for the SAT — or for any other standardized language arts test.
The reading level of Times writing is comparable to that of the reading passages found on the SAT. And like the SAT, Times articles span a range of subjects, from politics to sports to technology to the arts to science and health. Every student will be able to find an article on a subject that interests him or her on any day — stimulating thought that leads to quality writing.
How to use this guide to help students prepare for the SAT
This is not a traditional “test-prep” book — there are already many of those on the market. Instead, this is a resource full of imaginative and fun activities that will help your students use The Times to strategically address each section of the new SAT. Chock full of games and cooperative learning activities, SAT Success With The New York Times can be used with any day’s paper.
And though it is geared specifically to the new SAT, this guide does more than just help students “prep” for a test. Reading The Times regularly and doing some of the activities we suggest will help them develop lifelong literacy habits that will enrich their academic and personal lives.
Each reproducible sheet is written directly to the student with step-by-step instructions for how to complete an activity. You might have your students do each activity in order, or you might choose to skip around and assign those activities that target areas in which your students need particular help.
What is the “new” SAT?
The SAT I Reasoning Test (what we refer to as “the SAT”) is a 3-hour, 45-minute test that is made up of Math, Critical Reading and Writing sections and is produced by the College Board. The verbal section of the “old SAT,” phased out in March of 2005, was essentially a reading and vocabulary test. Now, the College Board has added a writing component that requires students to write an essay and answer multiple choice questions about grammar and improving writing.
To find out more about the College Board and the SAT, you can visit the College Board’s Web site, Collegeboard.com, which has information for teachers, students and parents.
Download Free eBook: SAT Success: With The New York Times Critical Reading and Writing Test-Prep Activities
PDF format, 1.7MB, 44Pages.
SAT SUCCESS With The New York Times
A New York Times Newspaper in Education Curriculum Guide
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION PAGE
Why use The New York Times to prepare for the new SAT?. 4
How to use this guide to help students prepare for the SAT. 4
What is the “new” SAT?. 4
What types of questions are found on the Writing and Critical Reading sections of the new SAT? . 5
How is this guide organized?. 5
Section I
SAT General Practice 7
Getting to Know The New York Times . 7
The New York Times Reading Log. 8
Observations, Inferences and The New York Times. 9
The New York Times Vocabulary Log: Sample. 10
The New York Times Vocabulary Log . 11
Rooting Your Way Through the SAT. 12
Greek and Latin Roots in The New York Times. 14
Vocabulary Bingo With The New York Times (Practice). 16
Vocabulary Bingo With The New York Times (Chart). 17
Section II
Critical Reading 18
Sentence Completion Task, Tip and Times Introductory Worksheet. 18
Signal Words. 19
Sentence Completion . 20
Passage-Based Reading: Task, Tip and Times Introductory Worksheet. 21
Passage-Based Reading: Long Passages - Passage Painting With The Times . 22
Passage-Based Reading: Long Passages – Times Quotation of the Day. 23
Passage-Based Reading: Short Passages – Times Write-Around. 24
Passage-Based Reading: Paired Passages – Opposing Points of View. 25
Section III
Writing: The Essay . 26
Essay Writing Task, Tip and Times Introductory Worksheet. 26
Essay Writing: Supporting a Point of View. 27
Ad Lib Essay. 29
Sample Essay Topics. 31
Section IV
Writing: Sentence Errors 33
Identifying Sentence Errors: Task, Tip and Times Introductory Worksheet. 33
Identifying Sentence Errors: Error Mini Lessons. 34
Identifying Sentence Errors: Sentence Races. 35
Identifying Sentence Errors: Word Bank for Sentence Races. 36
Section V
Writing: Improving Sentences . 37
Improving Sentences: Task, Tip and Times Introductory Worksheet. 37
Improving Sentences: Intentionally Misplacing Modifiers. 38
Improving Sentences: Complete That Thought!. 39
Improving Sentences: Extending the Pattern. 40
Improving Sentences: Sentence Skeletons. 41
Section VI
Writing: Improving Paragraphs 42
Improving Paragraphs Task, Tip and Times Introductory Worksheet. 42
Improving Paragraphs: Editor for a Day. 43
Improving Paragraphs: Times Puzzle Pieces . 44
The Official SAT Study Guide
The Official SAT Study Guide—with more than two million sold—just got better!
 |
eBook Categories 
Subscribe to the RSS feed.