ACT READING
Lesson #3
Working the Steps
Objective
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
1 minute
Student Survey
5 minutes
You need your Manual.
Answer the first 5 questions on page .
Quiz Name: Rhetorical Skills
School Name: Your School
Bellringer - ZipGrade Drill
PRINT Your Name
Rhetorical Skills
Your School Name
112
Bellringer - Reading Review
3 minutes
Genre/Topic
Shorter Paragraphs
Lots of line references/good lead words
Short Answers
Fetch/Reasoning
Easy to Find/Hard to Find
Preview: Read Blurb & Map Questions
Work the Passage: Up Front or As-You-Go
Select and Understand a Question
Read What You Need
Predict the Correct Answer
Use POE
Fill in the blanks based on your understanding of last week’s lesson.
Critical Thinking
ACT’s Book Club
Manual v10.1, p 444
3 minutes
The key to a better Reading score isn’t to read better, but to think better, and that means to think critically. So, begin by thinking about what the folks at ACT think of their own test.
The people who pick reading passages for ACT might just be the same people who pick your summer reading books.
Note: Authors can be fans or critics, but they are always fair and balanced.
Strategy 1: Easy Questions First - SKIM
Strategy 2: Work the Passage - SKIM
Strategy 3: Choose one and GO
Reading Strategy = Easy Questions First
Step 1: Easy Questions First - SKIM
Reading the Blurb is a good way to get some info quickly:
Manual v10.1, p 445
4 minutes
SOCIAL SCIENCE: This passage is adapted from a book about the Settlement House movement. This movement aimed to help disadvantaged people by encouraging relationships among different classes of society.
11. As she is revealed in the passage, Jane Addams is best described as: | 16. Which of the following statements would the author most likely make with regard to Jane Addams’s beliefs and achievements? |
12. It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that at the time Jane Addams was appointed garbage inspector of her ward, municipal governments were: | 17. The information in lines 20-29 primarily deals with: |
13. The main point of the first paragraph (lines 1-12) is that: | 18. It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that one benefit Jane Addams credited to the live craft demonstrations at Hull-House’s Labor Museum was: |
14. In terms of the passage as a whole, one of the main functions of the fifth paragraph (lines 38-46) is to suggest that: | 19. As it is used in line 14, propinquity most nearly means: |
15. It can reasonably be inferred by the statement quoted in lines 75-76 that Addams meant to express her: | 20. In the context of the passage, the author’s statement that Jane Addams “strikingly acknowledged the disparity no proximity could ever bridge” (lines 60-61) most nearly means that Addams: |
= Line # and Paragraph references. These are the ones you can try FIRST.
Step 2: Work the Passage - SKIM
Manual v10.1, p 445
2 minutes
Some things you can do while you work the passage.
Step 3: Select and Understand a Question: Use POOD to determine the best order of the questions.
Step 4: Read What You Need: Find the 5-10 line window for the question and read it, looking for the answer in the text.
Step 5: Predict the Correct Answer: When possible, underline the evidence in the passage.
Step 6: Use POE: Look for wrong answers, including traps.
Right There | Search | Think
Educated Guess
Were going to talk about this one.
Use POE: Trap Answers
Manual v10.1, p 446
3 minutes
This is the correct answer, but let’s take a look at WHY the other answer choices are wrong.
Use POE: Trap Answers
Manual v10.1, p 446
3 minutes
Question: The main point of the first paragraph (lines 1-12) is that:
Strategy: Work Backwards
Manual v10.1, p 447
2 minutes
Out the window
Words out of context
Words out of context, and/or offensive
B
C
Question 12
Manual v10.1, p 447
2 minutes
Out the window
Out the window
F & J are opposites, can’t both be true.
Note: “Social Services” doesn’t appear directly in the passage, but matches the idea of “health and education” in L87-88
In ACT’s Own Words
Manual v10.1, p 448
2 minutes
Question 20
Manual v10.1, p 448
2 minutes
Like the previous question, this is a reasoning question. Look for phrases that mean the same as the bolded lead words not the exact words.
It is worth noting that eliminating 3 answers is a solid reason to pick the one that’s left.
offensive
offensive
out the window
L66-67 match this idea
Now YOU Do:
Manual v10.1, p 448
2 minutes
Your turn to try! Be sure to ID lead words to help you eliminate answers.
Out the window
Out the window/offensive
Out the window
L76-77 again, not exactly the same words, but same idea.
Huh?
Manual v10.1, p 449
3 minutes
Focus on the parts you do understand, instead of on words you don’t know.
Has to refer back to something - propinquity!
Question 19. As it is used in line 14, propinquity most likely means:
Start Easy
Manual v10.1, p 449
5 minutes
Old “since Jefferson”
and “through the ages”
Good - success
“nearness of place and kinship”
nearness
While the settlement house movement may have been
a modern one in 1889, propinquity has permeated American
15 political thought since Jefferson and has influenced efforts to
alleviate poverty through the ages. The success Hull-House had
in combating Chicago's poverty Addams rightly credited to an
intimate knowledge born only out of this nearness of place and
kinship.
Start Easy
Manual v10.1, p 449
5 minutes
Old “since Jefferson”
and “through the ages”
Good - success
“nearness of place and kinship”
nearness
19. As it is used in line 14, propinquity most nearly means:
Take a Good Guess
Manual v10.1, p 450
5 minutes
A minor, intimate success
Take a Good Guess
Manual v10.1, p 451
5 minutes
But they didn’t.
What might come after?
Before:
After:
idealism
pragmatism
Before:
After:
Success of Hull-House
Addams’s astute grasp of human nature
It’s not necessary to know exactly what pragmatism means - it’s more important to know how it relates to idealism.
Pull It All Together - You Do
Manual v10.1, p 452
5 minutes
words out of context
out the window
L44-46
words out of context - “different ethnicities” but no evidence of “ethnic tension”
The Golden Thread
Manual v10.1, p 453
5 minutes
There is no passage because these are general questions. Answer based on what you know from the other questions.
her views on these things are the same
nothing about religion
nothing about public vs. private
Yes! See Q17, Q20, Q19
we didn’t read about this
too much - reform yes, but “overthrow the capitalist system” no
minor detail
EXIT TICKET: MINI CHECK
Turn to page 456 in your book.
Complete the summary page based on what you have learned.
silly, rude, or offensive
Don’t read anything until working a question, then read the window needed to answer it.
Words out of context
Right answer, wrong question
Out the window
Use lead words
from answers to check for proof in the passage.
When the passage or question is hard to understand
I will ace the ACT!