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I am a recently retired high school educator who is learning to spend time doing what I want to do. This is a new challenge in its own sense. It's like walking into a buffet and knowing you can eat all you want and not get full or gain any weight and for once you have absolutely no idea what you want. But I look forward to the journey of figuring it out.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Acing The ACT: An elite tutor's guide

Acing the ACT is every student’s dream and Elizabeth King’s book by the same name is a well-written, practical approach to achieving the goal.  “Acing The ACT” is a tool for the student that sincerely wants to better an ACT score by careful studying and learning the tricks and strategies employed by the test makers. In the short time that it took me to go through the guide, I learned many strategies that I am anxious to pass on to my students.
             King breaks the process of studying for the ACT into three categories: memorization, tricky questions, and human error.  Memorization consists of just that, memorizing specific grammar rules and  math formulas necessary for the test questions.  Tricky questions deals with strategies to handle confusing or creative ACT questions that cause the test taker to lose points through failure to completely read a question or place too much weight on the way the question is presented on the page. Finally, human error trains the student to be aware of the consistent errors made while taking the ACT prep tests and learning how to counteract those errors on future tests.  Normally, much studying for the ACT is concentrated on cramming information into the brain to later be regurgitated on the exam.  “Acing The ACT,” focuses on what areas of the test must be memorized data and what areas are pure application and need approached according to how the question is presented.  
            The guide is furthermore broken into four main sections: the English test, the math test, the science test, and the essay. Each section carefully explains the components of the tests, how many questions and how much time is devoted to each area. Following this information, King gives attention to the approach in answering problems in each category.
            Overall, my favorite part of the guide is the clear instruction King has given to all students studying for the ACT.  In one handbook she has compiled a clearly written text that any student may use to better the chances of getting higher ACT scores.  I would recommend this guide to any teacher or student who is sincerely interested in learning how to get the highest score possible on the ACT.
FTC disclaimer: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

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