ACT Preparation Program

Individualized ACT Prep

Northwest Reading Clinic, Ltd provides quality ACT preparations for all ages.

Who?
First-time or repeat ACT test takers, including students with learning disabilities and ADHD

What?
Unique confidence building test taking strategies and content area skills

When?
Flexible schedule, including evenings and weekends.

Where?
Virtual

How?
Presented 1:1 in five two-hour lessons for a total of ten hours with minimal homework time.

Why?
Because Ruth Harris has three master’s degrees in education and special education, as well as a license as a Reading Specialist. She has taught all grade levels, including University of Wisconsin-Stout students. With her charismatic personality she has inspired students for decades.

What’s in the ACT?

The ACT Assessment is a standardized college entrance examination that measures knowledge and skills in English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning, and the application of these skills to future academic tasks. It also offers an optional writing test which is a 40-minute essay test that measures your writing skills in their handwriting and must be signed up specifically for it. Many colleges and universities are now requiring it.

The ACT consists of four multiple-choice tests. High school students take this exam as part of their college entrance requirements. We provide one-on-one ACT preparation tutoring services.

The ACT English Test consists of five passages of non-fiction prose. Each passage contains 15 questions about how it’s written. Some questions ask you to choose the selection that best rephrases an underlined portion of the passage, and others ask about the passage’s overall organization.

The ACT Mathematics Test is designed to test your knowledge of the basic facts and skills taught in most high-school math programs.

The test utilizes various problem types, including word problems, problems that involve reading and interpreting graphs and charts, geometry problems, trigonometry problems, and a few straightforward arithmetic and algebra problems.

The ACT Reading Test includes four passages; one is a fictional narrative, and the others are nonfiction discussions of topics from the natural sciences, social science, and the humanities. A group of questions designed to test how well you have understood each subject follows each passage.

The ACT Science Reasoning Test includes seven passages containing several kinds of science information:

• Data presented in the form of graphs, tables, charts, or diagrams
• Descriptions of experimental studies and their results
• Presentations of differing theories or hypotheses about particular scientific questions that require you to understand and interpret the information presented

How Should You Prepare for ACT?

Whether you’re a junior taking the ACT for the first time or a senior taking it for the third time – whether your G.P.A. is high or low – preparation is the key to being successful on the ACT.

Not only will ACT preparation provide you with skills and strategies, but it’ll also relieve your test anxiety because you’ll know what to expect from the test and yourself. Fear of the “unknown” and not having a plan can cause test anxiety.

Preparation begins with filling out the ACT application form. There’s a section that you can fill out and pay a nominal fee to receive a “printout” of the test questions, your answers, and the correct answers on the December, April, and June tests.

Since it’s very common to take the ACT more than once, this information can help you make an item analysis and target specific areas to remediate.

What about guessing on the ACT when you don’t know an answer or will not be able to finish a test section in the time allowed? It pays to guess! Don’t leave any answers blank. You’re not penalized for guessing. Therefore, the pacing is important.

Always leave the final five minutes of each test to “guess” at all unanswered questions. And what should you guess? “B” is the most common answer on multiple-choice tests. “C” is a close second. Trust your instincts on multiple-choice questions. Your first response is usually correct. Resist the temptation to change your first choice.

It’s helpful to read the questions first (not the choices) on the Reading test. This is a proactive strategy that helps you to focus and avoid rereading. Active reading will also maximize your concentration. That means you should use your pencil to underline, circle, number, and more right in the test booklet on the Reading and Science tests as well as mark the key words and numbers on the Math questions.

Another strategy that works is that when you come to a difficult-to-pronounce name, place, foreign word, or term, don’t take the time and energy to try to pronounce it. Just substitute the first letter of the word or a simpler word. This can be especially helpful on the Reading and Science tests.

Don’t forget the process of elimination strategy, especially on the Math test. Estimation, rounding off, substitution and common sense can solve many of the math problems even if you forget or don’t know the formula.

Use your calculator judiciously on the Math Test. It may take you more time than needed. Remember, the Math test is a multiple-choice test; you don’t have to be as exacting as on an open-ended math question.

How should you prepare for the ACT? The Northwest Reading Clinic Ltd offers 1:1 test preparation, including specific strategies for each section involving necessary basic skills, analysis of questions and answer choices, and timing or pacing. Call us at (715) 834-2754 now!

Other Services Include: Learning Disabilities, ADD, Dyslexia, Executive Skill Functioning, Asperger’s Syndrome, Math Instruction, Writing Instruction, Spelling Improvement, Study Skills/Test Taking, GED/ACT/SAT Preparation, Memory Training, Socialization Skills, Self-Concept Enhancement, Motivation and Gifted and Talented Enrichment, Home Schooling Consultations.