Throughout my 11 years of teaching, I have developed effective strategies to help my students increase their SAT vocabulary. Moreover, I teach them systematic test taking skills to handle SAT sentence completion, reading comprehension, and grammar questions. I am now offering SAT preparation workshops/tutorials to illustrate all these strategies and skills through working with my students on lots of examples of SAT test questions. In addition, I will also address how to write effective SAT essays with composing strategies and essay templates.
I. Powerful ways to build SAT vocabulary (50- 100 words a day)
through the association method:
Synonyms
antonyms
similar spellings
roots, prefix, suffix
categories
making sentences
A SAT word list of 1000 words is compiled for your convenience. You will learn those words in groups rather than one by one.
For example, below is a group of synonyms with the meaning ”using too many words”:
Loquacious circumlocutory prolix
Garrulous verbose voluble
Longwinded periphrastic
Using the association method above (the details will be covered later), you may learn and memorize these words in just a few minutes. And you may learn up to 10 groups of words a day! It is amazingly effective!
2. How to approach SAT sentence completion questions quickly and effectively?
Identify transitional words (e.g. but, however, though)
Identify key words (the predicate), synonyms, and antonyms
Identify the logical relationship (consistent VS opposite) between parts of the sentence
Pay attention to the tone (negative VS positive adverbs) of the author
Pay attention to collocation of phrases
Use prior knowledge of the subject matter and common sense
Eliminate wrong answers
For example…
3. How to approach reading comprehension quickly and effectively?
Read the first and last sentence of each paragraph to identify the main idea
Identify the key words in the first and last sentences
Identify the logical relationship between key words, sentences, and paragraphs
Simplify the main ideas and the wording through paraphrase
Subject+predicate= main idea
Double negative=positive
Delete distracting supplementary information
(e.g. attributive clauses)
Pay attention to transitions, names, time, and subjunctive mood
Identify the locations of the question prompts and answer choices in the passage
The correct answer is usually a paraphrase of the main idea or a sentence in the passage
For example…
4. To approach the SAT grammar questions, it is helpful to refer to a list of 18 types of common grammatical errors: 1: Unclear Sentences; 2: Fragments; 3: Run-ons; 4: Comma Splices; 5: Verbs; 6: Singular/Plural; 7: Subject-Verb Agreement; 8: Noun-Pronoun Agreement; 9: Word Order; 10: Prepositions; 11: Articles … For example…
5. The SAT essay preparation workshops/tutorials will cover such topics as:
essay templates, prompt analysis, formulating arguments and using examples ( through brainstorming, freewriting, content development, organization, outlining, drafting, thesis statement, topic sentences, introduction, conclusion, critical thinking,) using synonyms, sentence structure and variation, grammar, and word choice.
II. The SAT workshops/tutorials last for 8 hours in total for the reading part and 8 hours for the writing part. The hourly rates can be anywhere between $65 to $85, depending on the content and your needs.
If you come together with a friend to join the SAT preparation workshops,
both of you can receive a 10% discount for tuition.
For a group of 3 people, everyone gets a 15% discount.
As an experienced instructor (Ph.D.) from New York University,I usually conduct the workshops/tutorials at Queen's library in Elmhurst, Queens. I achieved a score of 710/800 (98% or top 2 percent) on the verbal part of the GRE.
For further information, please email Mike at yx269@nyu.edu
Also, please check these out:
My workshops on speed reading and academic writing
http://www.alivenotdead.com/ucyh/Approaching-a-New-Subject-profile-1306579.html
Photos of workshops conducted at Colombia University in Feb. 2011:
http://www.alivenotdead.com/ucyh/Photos-at-Workshops-profile-1385160.html
Photos taken at academic conferences:
http://www.alivenotdead.com/ucyh/Academic-Conferences-profile-1385521.html
A list of my workshops/presentations on my web page :
http://papertalks.org/p/c/Teams/EditorView_C.aspx?AccountPk=160
Thank you！
