critical reading for PSAT and youngers as well

[pjssully]

My daughter took a practice PSAT and did great on everything but critical reading. She has one more year before she is a junior, how can I help her raise her critical reading scores?

 

Also, I have 8the grader and 2 5th graders. What kinds of things or curriculum I can I start with to help them as well. I see this as maybe a weak spot in our studies/curriculum.

 

thanks for any and all suggestions.

pam

[hsbeth]

This is my dd's weakest area as well. We've worked through test prep materials, etc. for the last few years and it's come up some. She does read quality literature, which was the top recommendation I received. We also used a strong (IMO) vocab program, MCT's "The Word Within the Word". Would love to hear more ideas as I've got three younger ones to prepare.

[Brenda in MA]

I've found that provided your dc does a decent amount of reading and has a good vocabulary, the best way to increase the CR score is by doing practice tests. Several months before the test that "counts", get the College Board Blue book and have your child take the practice CR sections under timed conditions. Then spend the time to carefully go over all the ones he/she missed and try to understand how the questions are worded. The CB book has 8 or 10 tests, each with 3 CR sections, so there are a lot of tests to work with, and you've got to do a lot of them to really begin to understand how the test is structured.

 

Once you've done many practice tests, it's pretty easy to narrow it down to two choices, and then you've got to study the passage to see what's there and what's not. The correct answer will always be directly supported by the passage. Often, at least one of the wrong answers will be something that sounds reasonable and/or could be inferred from the passage, but it wasn't explicitly stated there.

 

Also, by doing many practice tests, the student will become familiar with the typical "traps", like confusing wording, answers that refer to Passage 1 instead of Passage 2, etc.

 

HTH,

Brenda

[MomsintheGarden]

For your youngers, I recommend following the advice already given here and in the other thread - studying roots and vocabulary, and reading quality literature. I also heartily recommend spelling bee study for 1st-8th graders. Our family has been involved with the Scripps spelling bee since 1993. Our children have learned so much vocabulary from their spelling bee study. Preparing for a competition, even if they don't win or place well, adds an additional level of motivation for them.

 

Here is a sampling of words from the 1st-8th grade Classroom Bee list that they are studying this year for our homeschool bee. This list consists of 50 words in each grade.

1st: some, more, under, tact

2nd: spoil, landmark, handle

3rd: whiplash, disobey, loophole

4th: wordiness, disturbed, upbringing

5th: transfixed, primitive, contrary

6th: receptacle, purification, remedial

7th: succumb, transience, commodity

8th: subsequent, unforeseeable, compendium

9th (provided for more challenge): depilatory, pantheon, grandiloquence

 

Spellers who will compete in the regional bee study Spell It, available at http://www.myspellit.com. This list is a great resource because it contains words arranged by language family and tips on roots.

 

Another great resource for spelling and vocabulary study is hexco.com. We've found their CD drill products to be helpful.

 

Reader's Digest used to hold a Word Challenge contest for middle school students, but I am afraid they don't do that anymore.

 

Two other things that help with critical reading are reading the KJV of the Bible and intensive grammar study. Our children read a chapter of their Bible each day and answer basic comprehension questions from the Bread of Life workbooks. They also do Rod & Staff grammar. I've seen the long-term benefits of these programs in all of my children, from elementary through college.

 

There are other strategies that work well, such as vocabulary workbooks and Latin or other foreign language study. Hopefully more parents will chime in with their ideas.

 

HTH,

GardenMom

[Barbara H]

I have two suggestions:

 

1. Read a variety of quality non-fiction. Target a list that covers a variety of topics: politics, science, history, etc. My suggested sources would be Scientific American, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, etc. This isn't just general read and enjoy it, but very targeted reading where the student marks vocabulary they don't know and they learn those words. They should be prepared to discuss the articles critically. This is not about volume reading. You can pick just a challenging article or two a week and really work on that article. The thing I like about this approach is that it doesn't just net higher critical reading scores, but it can build foundational skills that are really important to have for college.

 

2. Practice tests. Take the test, carefully analyze the results, learn stuff, test again. It isn't particularly fun, but this is probably the single most effective method for raising scores. It breeds familiarity with the format and style of the test and in time it will improve scores. This tends to work best for students to take a student from average/good scores to great scores.

[BakersDozen]

We've done every suggestion here: practice tests, good/great vocab. programs, great literature, etc. I have accepted that this section is my dc's weak one and they will be doing well to get an average score. That's just the way it is. I used to beat myself up over how much they struggled with this yet the fact is, it is a difficult section! I'm OK with an average score now considering my dc score well on the other sections.

[4wildberrys]

It was my sons weakest link on his practice tests also, but when I went back and read the passages, questions and answers, I realized how ridiculous it all was! The answers were subjective, IMO, to the test makers' discretion and I saw my son's logic in his answers. So I decided that for future test taking, we will just continue on our same course of SL curriculum with plenty of test practice before the ridiculous tests....and I won't be adding any silly books or study guides for him to learn to answer the test makers' questions 'correctly'. :glare:

[Muttichen]

1. Read a variety of quality non-fiction. Target a list that covers a variety of topics: politics, science, history, etc. My suggested sources would be Scientific American, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, etc. This isn't just general read and enjoy it, but very targeted reading where the student marks vocabulary they don't know and they learn those words. They should be prepared to discuss the articles critically. This is not about volume reading. You can pick just a challenging article or two a week and really work on that article. The thing I like about this approach is that it doesn't just net higher critical reading scores, but it can build foundational skills that are really important to have for college.

 

2. Practice tests. Take the test, carefully analyze the results, learn stuff, test again. It isn't particularly fun, but this is probably the single most effective method for raising scores. It breeds familiarity with the format and style of the test and in time it will improve scores. This tends to work best for students to take a student from average/good scores to great scores.

 

:iagree:I noticed early on that if the reading was about science, my kids would get all the answers right, but if it was about the emotional impact of discrimination on a Serbian-American woman who grew up in Miami in 1920, they'd get most of them wrong. It all had to do with what was interesting to them and what they could relate to. We've dealt with that by reading and discussing LOTS of non-fiction articles on all kinds of topics with them. Also, work hard on vocabulary! I tell my kids they have no control over the boring readings and confusing questions in the CR section, but they should aim to never miss a vocabulary question.

Edited October 20, 2012 by Muttichen
trying to fix quote