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For Educators: An Eight-Week Plan to Prepare Students for the SAT


An Eight-Week Plan to Prepare Students for the SAT
Each week, the junior English teacher will administer at least one timed Writing and Language passage (10-12 minutes maximum). Each week the junior Social Science teacher will administer at least one timed Reading passage (13-15 minutes maximum). Each week the junior Math teacher will administer at least one timed Math assessment (20 questions in 25 minutes). Of course, teachers will need to provide some direct instruction on the SAT ahead of time.
At least once a week the junior English teacher will require students to provide evidence (Khan Academy printout) of completing an SAT Writing and Language activity as a homework assignment. At least once a week the junior Social Science teacher will require students to provide evidence (Khan Academy printout) of completing an SAT Reading activity. At least once a week the junior Math teacher will require students to provide evidence (Khan Academy printout) of completing an SAT Math activity. Having teachers use Khan Academy during class, although it can be helpful, is often disruptive and time-consuming because most school computers are slow or not readily available.
It would be helpful if the school’s Literacy Coach made use of school materials (and materials online—see https://scholarmulhern.blogspot.com/p/helpful-links-for-psat-sat-and-act.html) to create class sets of these mini-assessments for the respective teachers (a total of 24 class sets). SAT books (from different test companies) could be utilized (to avoid making copies). The school’s Literacy Coach could scan the class mini-assessments and keep a weekly record of scores from the different classes, as well as disaggregate the data.
I do not believe it is necessary for teachers from disciplines other than English to teach and practice the writing of SAT essays. The essay is optional for most colleges and it does not factor into the composite SAT score of 1600. In addition, teachers from other disciplines do include writing in their curriculums. Many teachers need to prepare students for the EOCs. Additional interruptions may disrupt flow and continuity of unit plans, which may be harmful to the learning process: “When lessons flow sequentially, always reviewing prior knowledge and then constructing deeper understanding based on new concepts and skills, learning is relevant, organized, and comprehensible” (http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109051/chapters/Lesson-Plans-and-Unit-Plans@-The-Basis-for-Instruction.aspx)




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