SAT Reading section techniques, strategies & approaches

SAT Reading section

Overview

• SAT Reading Section Test Directions:
  • Students are to answer questions based upon:
    • what is stated" in the text or graphs (explicit meanings, textual and direct comprehension)
    • what is "implied" in the text or graphs (implicit meanings, inference, deduction, identification of author purpose and techniques)
• SAT Reading Test Structure
  • Students have 65 minutes to answer 52 questions
  • Reading test has five readings with 10 or 11 questions each
    • = average 13:00 min per reading passage
    • note: two readings contain 11 questions so may take longer

Difficulty level

• difficulty level is based on the passage and not the questions
  • there can be difficult questions on easy passages, but the bulk of "hard" questions will coincide with difficult passages

Strategies & Techniques

• The test "Directions" instruct students, "After reading each passage or pair, choose the best answer to each question"
• Other approaches include:
  • read carefully and annotate
    • might include summarizing each paragraph
  • previewing questions, then reading and/or skimming
  • "cherry picking" questions and finding them in the text by skimming

Preview strategy

A+ Club Reading Section General Approach – a Suggested Process

Purpose and theory of preview strategy

Purpose

• The Preview strategy is designed to help students:

1. to know as much about the passage as possible in advance of reading it;
2. to identify what is expected of the student to know about the passage

Background

• all learning of new knowledge is built upon application of prior knowledge
  • therefore the more we know about something new to us, the better we will comprehend it
    • ex., we learn about and see more in a movie that we watch multiple times than we did the first time we say it
      • watching it again, we already know what will happen, so we can focus on details and plot intricacies, as opposed to trying to figure it out
  • see Prior Knowledge
• similarly, when taking a test, it is helpful to know what we are expected to know about it in advance
  • by previewing questions, we can
  • furthermore, all questions have information in them
    • ex. "Why is the sky blue" tells us that "the sky is blue"

Quick guide / big ideas

• read introductions for context and preview
• skim topic sentences and key words
• read concluding sentences for author summary/ main point
• preview questions and find information in them
• “keep your thumb” on the questions page while you read the text
  • go back and forth to remind yourself of information in the questions and what you are looking for
  • answer questions as you read (will be out of order)

1. Preview the introduction and apply PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

• read introduction carefully, identifying relevant information in:
• title:
  • the thesis is often in the title for Social Science or Science passages
  • titles usually contain author purpose in comparison passages
• author & publisher
  • Elsevier is a common source for academic articles
  • Nature is a common source for scientific articles
  • Harcourt is a common source for fiction and expository writing
• publication date
• apply your historical prior knowledge for context and themes
  • see the A+ Club SAT Verbal Historical Timeline & Themes

2. Skim passage

• read first paragraph and identify:
  • place, time, theme, thesis, style
• skim rest of text and:
  • quickly read topic sentences
  • identify recognizable information, such as proper names, repetitive words, author style, etc.
  • identify parenthetical information (provides explanations)
  • identify transition words and points
• carefully read the last few sentences or paragraph
  • conclusions identify author purpose, perspective, or big idea
• skim graphs
  • identify source, purpose and content
  • read captions for information

3. Review questions

• do not look at possible answers, as these are there to confuse you!
• use questions for information:
  • identify question expectations and information about the passage
  • every question contains some information about the text
• knowing question expectations in advance of careful reading will focus your reading
  • if helpful, annotate the passage with question expectations, such as vocabulary, line numbers, etc.
• identify paired questions (i.e., 2nd question is to identify source of evidence for the first)
  • identify location of the source information to get an idea of where in the passage the evidence will be
  • paired questions are often on separate pages, which previewing questions will identify them in advance

4. Read the passage carefully & “keep your thumb” on the questions

• by knowing more about the passage from skimming and preview of questions, you will approach the text more meaningfully and with more direction and awareness of question expectations
• flip back/forth to questions as you read
• annotate, mark and otherwise approach the text with “active reading”
• identifying textual purpose and techniques
• answer questions while you read
  • otherwise anticipate answers and textual sources for them
  • maintain time-awareness
• read “out loud” to yourself, even mouthing words if it helps your comprehension

5. Now proceed to answer remaining questions, reading them carefully and fully

• unless you see the evidene directly in the text eliminate for errors not correctness of possible answers
  • each wrong answer contains a specific error(s)
  • the correct answer
• summary or “main point” questions are often best left until last, as you will learn more about the passage as you answer other questions
  • always refer to the concluding sentences or paragraph when answering main point questions
  • maintain time-awareness

Notes

• effective preview of text and questions will yield both more accurate and quicker processing of the text
• preview strategy will vary according to passage type
• transitions and chronologies organize a reading: pay attention to them!
• unlike your typical high school essay, SAT passages DO NOT follow the THESIS - EVIDENCE - CONCLUSION structure
  • instead, these readings more generally follow (fiction excepted):
    • background & introduction of the subject, problem, or argument
    • review origins of the topic
    • develop the topic and how it was been understood, studied, or interpreted by others
    • author approach and testing of the topic
    • draw a conclusion, call to action or summary of topic