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 sometimes excepted):

1. background & introduction of the subject, problem, or argument
2. review origins of the topic
3. develop the topic and how it was been understood, studied, or interpreted by others
4. author approach and testing of the topic
5. draw a conclusion, call to action or summary of topic