Effective ACT Prep

Fall is hard. While most of us are enjoying the changing foliage and our Pumpkin Spiced everything, high school students in the United States are stressing about the ACT exams coming up on October 28th and December 9th. While there are also exams in late Winter, Spring, and Summer, the October and December tests are the make-or-break tests for scholarships and early admissions for many colleges and universities. With the horryifing increase of college-related costs, it is little wonder my students and their parents are concerned about academic performance. I have worked with students and their families through this grueling season for years now; I see the same self-doubt, panic, and (sometimes) resignation every year. 

Many students will take the ACT more than once. The first time is, more or less, testing the waters and seeing where students' starting points are. The results of this first test are met with either delighted surprise, horror, or indifference (typically by students...not parents). When the potential benefits or consequences start settling in, the stress begins.

What can be done?

ACT Exam preparation is a marathon, not a sprint. An ACT English session the week of the exam will not help. A weekend workshop will not create a big change on its own. There. I said it. 

"You teach these things! They don't help?"

That is not what I said. What I am saying is that "one and done" preparation does not and will not work. On the flip side of that coin is the fact that extremely drawn out preparation without a goal other than an increased score doesn't work either. 

Think about it for a bit. The ACT exam is testing all the academic skill sets students should have developed in their English and math classes during their entire K-12 academic career. The exam tests mathematical analytical thinking; mechanical & rhetorical language application; academic analytical reading (Literary Narrative, Humanities, Natural Sciences, AND Social Sciences); and scientific analytical reading and data analysis. 

The goal is (pardon the cliche) to work smarter...not harder. That first test students take is a goldmine of information about where they are in each of the four disciplines and what needs to be retaught or refreshed. ACT always offers the diagnostic information at the time of registration. While parents do not need to purchase it for every test, it is a wise move for that first exam. Experienced tutors will often ask if students have this diagnostic information. While the data provided by the diagnostic may seem unhelpful to parents as they sift through it trying to see what their students need, experienced, subject-specific tutors will know exactly how to use that information to begin isolating problem areas. 

The most effective approach to ACT exam preparation is actually identifying the skill sets that are weak and reteaching and learning how to apply them. There is a heirarchy of skill set frequency on the exam. When students actually learn how to apply them in order of frequency, students don't simply increase their scores; they become stronger in that subject and develop more confidence. I tell my students to take what they learn in our ACT English or ACT Reading sessions and apply those skills to their written work or academic reading in school. 

One uncomfortable secret about the ACT exam is that it truly does reflect college readiness. It is for that reason that I approach ACT prep for English and Reading as the last opportunity to get students ready for the writing and reading they will need to do during their Freshman year. It isn't just about the exam today. It is about student success tomorrow.

Reading Comprehension - The Ambiguous Name for a Wealth of Skills

"My child's teacher says he needs to work on reading comprehension." 

When parents are told that their students struggle with reading comprehension, the initial response is, "Ok, I will have my child read more." What is not mentioned is that reading comprehension is a sizable collection of skills. Students reading skills are layered and built over time. Think of a puzzle. Every school year, three to five pieces are added to the puzzle. The reading skills are introduced, practiced, and perfected each year to prepare for the following year. There are times when skills are not mastered, and students move on to the next year. It is at this point when issues in reading begin to surface. Many times, parents, students, and teachers may only see a glimmer of a problem the following year. Proficiency begins to lower, but not at an alarming rate.  It is normally two years after the lapse when red flags begin to fly. At that point, students are one to two years behind. Why? All reading skills build on prior learning. Much like a solid building, without a strong foundation, readers will face challenges if their reading comprehension skill sets are weak.

What, exactly, are these skills?

According to Kylene Beers*, the general term, "Reading Comprehension," is an intertwined marriage of five skills: comprehension, vocabulary, word recognition/fluency/automaticity, spelling, and engagement with the text. When students struggle with one of these five areas, all the other pieces of the puzzle are impacted.

What can you, as a parent, do to help your student? What are your child's teachers doing to help? This is the first of a series of seven posts that will help you understand and help your child succeed as a reader. 

Please know that you, like your student's teachers, must be patient and compassionate during this process. Just as your child is a uniquely awesome person in so many different ways, the same is true in regards to the type of learner your student is.  

*Beers, Kylene. When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do. Heinemann, 2003.

Rethinking How We Label Our Students

As secondary teacher, I am constantly confronted with issues facing my emerging readers. At the beginning of the 2018 school year, my students were called either "non-readers" or "reluctant readers"...with a single handful of "avid readers" in the mix. While the argument for choice in reading for obligated texts in the classroom resounds in my head and heart, I had to face the fact that ALL TEXTS were simply obligated texts, even if choice was involved, due to my students' relationships with the act of reading. Such a challenge forced me to think about how we, as teachers (and sometimes parents), label our students and the impacts those labels have on them as learners and people. Such labels also impact how we, as teachers and parents, both interact with and set expectations for our students.

Mentally and emotionally, how does "reluctant reader," "challenged reader," "non-reader," and "struggling reader" influence the choices we make regarding our students? For educators, there are two reactions that happen almost simultaneously when we have students who are introduced to us with any of the above labels. The first reaction centers on understanding the sheer workload and energy that will be required to help that student. For a good, strong educator, a second reaction also takes place; there is a warrior-level challenge that demands victory. That educator has a toolbox full of skills and a willingness to work outside the box. The educator who is able to experience the second response more than likely sees the student as an "emerging reader."

What, exactly, is an "emerging reader?" "Emerging readers" are students who may not have experienced success with reading and have not discovered their "niche" in the vast ocean of pleasure reading. I have had students who, when introduced to graphic novels or creative non-fiction, discovered that they actually love to read. Students would say, with great surprise, "I didn't know there were books like these!" After discovering that they could succeed and find joy within one genre, they were often willing to take the risk of trying "traditional" texts. I had one such student ask me, "Mrs McVay, am I a struggling reader?" With great honesty and compassion, I remember responding, "No, you are an emerging reader." "What is that?" the student asked. "It is simple. You are emerging like a butterfly out of a chrysalis. You are discovering your "thing" as a reader and growing stronger. An emerging reader is someone who will succeed." He did, indeed, succeed that year.

Students who are faced with learning difficulties contend with their own feelings of inadequacy, their parents' feelings of relentlessness/concern/frustration, and their teachers' feelings of pressures to succeed. While parents and teachers strive to keep labels like "reluctant reader," "challenged reader," "non-reader," and "struggling reader" away from their students,  students inevitably latch on to the labels and allow them to define them as both people and learners. Unless we redefine and reform our views of students' relationships and identities with reading, success will be difficult to obtain.

We need to stop seeing our students through the eyes of deficiency. When we see and think of them with "successful" language, we are more apt to take the time to help them achieve because we know that we, too, will achieve. "Emerging" allows our students to grow, become, and discover. That is what we all desire. Not just for them, but for ourselves as well.

Frameworks of Educational Technology

Beauty - the intersection of knowledge, pedagogy, and technology. 

Technology has reshaped the relationship between learning and teaching. Debates concerning this change are irrelevant. The reality is that we, as teachers, have what was once unfathomable at our fingertips. Our students now have tools that can provide immersive experiences that were not possible when we sat in those same desks many, many years ago. It is for these reasons that understanding educational technological frameworks only strengthens teachers’ abilities to effectively meet their students’ educational needs. 

The inter-relationship between content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technological knowledge is known as TPACK. TPACK can only be fully realized when Dr. Ruben Peuntedura’s SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) is an active component of technological knowledge. In order to choose the correct technology to use within a learning segment, teachers must understand what, how, and why they have decided to implement the technology. For example, does the technology substitute, augment, modify, or redefine the assignment or activity? It is only with this knowledge that teachers can effectively integrate technology into the classroom. 

Teachers do not need to be technological experts. What they must have is an openness to play, learn, and step outside of their previously defined learning cultures. Embracing and redefining these learning spaces opens the doors for them to intellectually and emotionally travel with their students to places and ideas once thought impossible.

 For example, studying a Shakespeare Sonnet can be a moving experience if taught by a teacher who lives and breathes poetry, Shakespeare’s England, and the dynamism of language itself. Integrate the use of TouchPress’ iPad app Shakespeare’s Sonnets into the experience, students have the opportunity to see world renowned Shakespeare actors and scholars perform his sonnets. For many students, the experience of hearing and seeing the sonnets performed will reshape how they define Shakespeare’s approachability. By hearing, seeing, and reading along in the text, students see that even though the words are spelled differently, they sound the same. They also avoid the mistake many new poetry readers make because they are having it modeled for them. While modeling is an essential part of teaching, something has to be said for having David Tennant or Sir Patrick Stewart execute the modeling for the day’s sonnet reading. Think of it as having a guest speaker in your class segment. 

TouchPress’ Shakespeare’s Sonnets, if used to the extent of its functionality, can be considered an augmentation (SAMR). When used by a teacher with solid content knowledge and strong pedagogical knowledge, a TPACK at its finest is formed. It does not act as the center of instruction. Instead, it is a vital component of a balanced, thoughtful, and informed educational technological framework.  

New Historicism: a Critical Approach

Pursuing Lost Histories & Examining Tools of Subjugation and Repression

Since the 1990s, New Historicism has been used as the umbrella for both historical and cultural approaches to critical study of the arts. It shares many of the same concerns as Marxist Criticism.

The Key Players

Michel Foucault: The poststructuralist philosopher that many New Historicist pull their understanding of knowledge, power, and subjugation from.

Stephen Greenblatt: One of the founding members of the New Historicist approach. While he coined the term “New Historicism,” he only used it casually.

The Two Main Branches of New Historicism

New Historicism: New Historicism concentrates on top tier hierarchy that involves institutions or power (upper classes, government, monarchy, churches). It draws from political science and anthropology due to its examination of governance. New Historicism is an American construct.

Cultural Materialism: Cultural Materialism concentrates on the bottom tier of social structures (lower classes, women, and marginalized peoples). It draws from economics and sociology due to its focus on commodification, class, and socio-economic structures. Cultural Materialism is a British construct.

New Historicism	Cultural Materialism
Historical	Contemporary
Elite Literary Culture	Popular Culture
Pessimistic regarding resistance	Optimistic regarding resistance
American	British

Key Terms in New Historicism

• Liminal Space: A space or threshold where anything can happen.
• Hegemony: The process of how dominant cultures or groups maintain dominance.
• Body Politic: A monarch’s body is both Natural and Politic, thus the use of third person plural.
• History: New Historicists reject grand narratives and prefer small narratives. 
• Ideology: New Historicists ascribe to post-laconian and post-Marxist ideologies. Recognizing your own ideology is difficult to see because it is the glass through which you see the world.
• Power & Knowledge: Foucault’s model says that “Power produces Knowledge (as discourse)” (Parker 270).
• power regulates, polices, disciplines, & surveils.
• power leads us to internalize it.

Suggested Reading

Baldick, Chris. Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web 24 Jan. 2016. 

Foucault, Michel. “From Discipline and Punishment: The Birth of the Prison.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1490-1502.

Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality: Volume 1: An Introduction. New York: Vintage Books, 1990.

Foucault, Michel. “What is an Author?” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1475-1490.

Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

For a PDF version of this post, check the "Grammar & Handouts" page.

Semicolon

While many people use the semicolon as an emoticon, writers use it between two independent clauses that are NOT joined with a conjunction to show a more intimate relationship between ideas than a period would suggest. The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, removes the mystery from the semicolon, allowing people to get beyond the emoticon and into effective prose. - Rule 6.54

Semicolons with “however,” “therefore,” “indeed,” and the like.

When joining two independent clauses, certain adverbs should be preceded by a semicolon instead of a comma. These transitional adverbs are thus, indeed, accordingly, however, hence, therefore, besides, and, occasionally, then. While a comma typically follows an adverb, it can be omitted entirely if the sentence seems strong without it. - Rule 6.55

Example

The accuracy of Sam’s oboe is never an issue; besides, it is the musician who makes the music, not the instrument.

Semicolons in a complex series.

Separating items in a series that have internal punctuation with semicolons aids clarity. If ambiguity is not an issue, commas can be used instead. - Rule 6.58

Example

The sales for the middle school band fundraiser were as follows: Flutes, $80; Saxophones, $45; Trumpets, $72; Percussion, $102.

The student, with hopes of raising her plummeting grades, complained that she had, on coach's orders, skipped the exam in favor of getting more sleep; that her performance —which had also been abysmal on the field —was due to lack of sleep; and that she had not slept in days.

Semicolons with “that is,” “for example,” “namely,” and the like.

Semicolons may precede expressions such as that is, for example, or namely when they introduce an independent clause. - Rule 6.56

Example

Sean wanted to play the wii U; that is, he wanted to beat the next level in Super Mario 3D.

Patrick didn't like her attitude; for example, she was abrasive and condescending.

Semicolons before a conjunction.

Independent clauses are normally introduced by conjunctions preceded by commas. However, to effect stronger, more dramatic separations between clauses, a semicolon can be used. A semicolon can also be used when the second independent clause contains internal punctuation. - Rule 6.57

Example

Keira wanted to be an alien for Halloween; yet the ninja costume turned out to be just what she wanted.

Laura really wanted to knit the sweater herself; but the time constraints, together with the cost of the wool, convinced her to wait until her schedule was less demanding.

The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010.

For a PDF of this post, please visit the Grammar PDF page.

Cartoonist: Lauren Fishman

To hyphenate... Or not to hyphenate... That is the question.

By far, the most common spelling quandary for writers and editors concerns compound terms. Should we hyphenate, combine into one term, or keep them separated? A dictionary can help with most compound spelling conundrums, and so can these few simple rules from The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition.

Some definitions.
An Open Compound is spelled as two or more words. (Ex. high school and leap year)
A Hyphenated Compound is spelled with one or more hyphens. (Ex. mother-in-law and one-half)
A Closed Compound is spelled as a single word. (Ex. shipbuilder and copyeditor)
A Permanent Compound is a single word that has been accepted through general use and can be found in the dictionary. (Ex. website and worldwide)

Adverbs ending in “ly.”
Compounds formed by an adverb ending in ly plus an adjective or participle (such as funkily dressed and barely composed) are not hyphenated either before or after a noun, since ambiguity is virtually impossible. The ly ending with adverb signals to the reader that the next word will be another modifier, not a noun.

Compound modifiers before or after a noun
When compound modifiers precede a noun, hyphenation usually lends clarity. It is never incorrect to hyphenate adjectival compounds before a noun, exceptions being proper nouns (such as United States) and compounds formed by an adverb ending in ly plus and adjective. When ly compounds follow the noun they modify, hyphenation is usually unnecessary, even for adjectival compounds that are hyphenated in Webster’s (such as well-read or ill- humored).

Multiple hyphens.
Multiple hyphens are usually appropriate for such phrases as an over-the-counter drug and winner- takes-all contest. If, however, the compound modifier consists of an adjective that itself modifies a compound, additional hyphens may not be necessary. The expression late nineteenth-century literature is clear without a second hyphen.

Omission of part of a hyphenated expression.
When the second part of a hyphenated expression is omitted, the hyphen is retained, followed by a space. Ex. eight- and twenty-year loans (multiple entities) but
Ex. a eight-by-ten-foot rug (a single entity) Omission of the second part of a solid compound
follows the same pattern.
Ex. both over- and underfed sharks
but

Ex. overfed and overworked squirrels (not overfed and -worked squirrels)

New Yorker cartoon by Jack Ziegler

Chicago Manual of Style 16th ed., p 372-384. 

Hyphenation Guide for Commonly Misunderstood Words

Category/specific term                          Example                                               Summary of Rule
age terms	a two-year-old a twenty-four-year-old man a group of five- to six-year-olds but ten years old forty years of age	Hyphenated in both noun and adjective forms (except as in the last two examples); note the space after the first hyphen in the third example. The examples apply equally to ages expressed as numerals.
colors	grayish-brown log blue-green water black-and-white photo but his shirt was grayish brown the water was blue green the situation is not black and white	Hyphenated before but not after a noun.
compass points and directions	northwest southeast west-northwest a east-west street the tracks run east-west	Closed in noun, adjective, and adverb forms unless three directions are combined, in which case a hyphen is used after the first.
fractions, compounds  formed with	a half hour a half-hour class a quarter mile a quarter-mile run an eighth rest	Nouns are open; adjective form hyphenated.
time	a four thirty the four-thirty bus a five o’clock call the 6:00 p.m. show	Usually open; forms such as “Three thirty.” “four fifty,” etc., are hyphenated before a noun.
combining forms	electrocardiogram socioeconomic politico-scientific research the practico-inert	Usually closed if permanent, hyphenated if temporary.
phrases, adjectival	an over-the counter medicine a matter-of-fact rebuke sold over the counter her tone was matter of fact	Hyphenated before a noun; usually open after a noun.

Chicago Manual of Style 16th ed., p 372-384.