The Score, Issue #12: How to Design Your Own ACT English and SAT Writing Drills
A Step-by-Step Guide to "Creating" Personalized Drills for Highly Effective ACT English and SAT Writing Preparation
Good morning test prep adventurers, welcome to this week's issue of The Score, your weekly beacon in the murky, perilous waters of ACT and SAT preparation.
Long-time readers know I often emphasize the importance of learning to identify question types and mastering their tactics through deliberate practice.
Drills offer an excellent opportunity for doing such practice without depleting the limited supply of official practice exams. Unfortunately, effective exercises are in short supply.
I do my best to mitigate this shortage by publishing new high-quality drills every week. But for ambitious students who want to do even more practice without falling into the “churn and burn” trap, there is a way to 'create' your own effective practice exercises.
Step One: Mapping the Battlefield
To craft personalized drills, you first need to identify question types. Go through an ACT English or SAT Writing section, noting the type for every question. For this exercise, I suggest writing down the type next to the question.
If you’ve learned to correctly identify even 75% of the questions on an ACT English or SAT Writing section, you’re already well on your way to consistently higher scores.
While the purpose of this step is to prepare for the main focus of the drill, it also has inherent value. Going through an entire test section solely focusing on identifying question types strengthens your recognition muscles. As I often stress, if you can't spot the type, you can't zero in on the issue being tested. In the battle against missed test questions, our 'ear' (i.e., intuition) can only take us so far. The true path to success is understanding the underlying structures at play.
You might find some questions hard to categorize, and that's okay. These could be slight variations or even hybrids - a mix of multiple question types. When in doubt, refer to my articles on question types.
If you’re still at a loss on precisely how to categorize a few questions, don’t worry about it too much. Perfection isn't the goal here. If you can correctly identify even 75% of the questions on an ACT English or SAT Writing section, you’re already far ahead of the crowd and well on your way to consistently higher scores.
Remember, as a paid subscriber, you have the ability to post questions in the comments section – I'm always here to help.
Step Two: Confronting Your Foes
Once you've noted the question types, it's time to take down your most formidable opponents. Do all the questions from your most frequently missed type, followed by your second most frequently missed, and so forth. If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably already know which types of questions you’re missing. If not, find out how on my Question Type Inventory page.
Repeatedly focusing on the same question type can dramatically improve your score in a short time. You'll quickly recognize how standardized the questions are, almost like carbon copies of each other. This is when the magic of pattern recognition kicks in.
Remember, your goal is not to look busy but to increase your score!
Occasionally, you’ll encounter questions of a certain type that don’t completely fit the mold. Sometimes, these variations indicate a hybrid question. In other cases, they are just there to throw you off. Regardless, with diligent study of my tactics, drills, and answer explanations, you'll be well-prepared to navigate such deviations from the norm.
Step Three: Reviewing the Mission
Now comes the part where we examine what went wrong with any missed questions. Remember, misses offer a wealth of extremely valuable intel on how to increase your score. You just need to know the right questions to ask. Interrogate each miss as follows:
What are the exact tactics for the question type?
Why exactly is the incorrect answer wrong? What SAT/ACT grammar or rhetoric rule did it violate?
What error did you make that led you to chose the incorrect answer? For example, did you misapply the tactics, overlook key information, or rely on your “ear”?
Why exactly is the correct answer correct? What rule confirms its validity?
Conclusion
The exercise outlined above is analytically rigorous and will require significant time. Productive test preparation isn't about mindless repetition. It's about smart preparation. I know it may feel less impressive than tackling a large number of practice tests in quick succession, but trust me, the approach I teach is actually harder. It’s also more effective.
This “drill” combines directed study, deliberate practice, and focused feedback, the three key elements of test prep that I talked about in last week’s issue of The Score. For that reason, it actually works.
Remember, your real goal is not to look busy but to increase your score. So, continue to “Prep Smarter” by focusing on learning to identify question types, memorizing their tactics, and hammering in those tactics with deliberate practice. Also, treat each wrong answer as an opportunity to learn.
That's all for this week’s issue of The Score. As always, if you have questions or comments, feel free to drop them in the comment section below.
Until next time, keep your pencils sharp and your wits sharper!
~ Dave Walker