Vocab

Tip #17 (she says with confidence)

Sentence Completion (aka the Vocab Questions):

On this one, you really should take my advice, because I only got one wrong out of 7 SATs last year (yes, I'm bragging, but my Math score entitles me to brag about my Reading and Writing scores.)

Ok, here's "The Method": Any time you don't know a word, look it up. Period. End of story. Even if you got the question right.** Then, use these words often, even at the risk of using them incorrectly (see The Essential Mistake). I'm a big fan of Wordnick (puts them in context); I'm also a believer in homemade flashcards.

When you're taking the SAT, read the sentence, then jot down the first words that come to mind (even if they're not "the big fancy vocab words"). Pick the word you feel most strongly about (if there are two blanks), and see which one (or two) works in the answer choices.

CROSS OUT WRONG ANSWERS -- as in, put a line through them and get them out of your line of vision. You'll most likely be down to two answers by this point. Then, look at the second word you jotted down and see which of the two answers left works. This is as much about the process of elimination as is about knowing the definitions of the words.

Oh, and one more thing: Beware of the backwards words (i.e. those words that make the answer the opposite of what you're thinking -- words such as "however" or "but," etc.).

**Okay, I know you're not going to really do this (I have two teenagers, don't forget). But, even if you do this 75% of the time -- ok, even 60% of the time.....you will do significantly better.

Doing my best share everything I learned about the SAT last year (7 SATs over the course of 10 months). Check on the SAT Resources and SAT Tips pages for frequent updates.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis

12 Comments | posted February 6th, 2012

Jen

Best advice that teenagers hardly ever take. They like the strategy, they hate the index cards. There might be an online business in that? They could send in word lists and said business would send back documents to print and cut into flash cards. Hmmmm.
- http://www.perfectscoreproject.com Debbie Stier
  
  I believe that exists. I've seen my daughter use something like that.
  
  The thing about the "homemade" flashcards that I find effective is that I'm a believer that the act of hand writing (i.e. putting pencil to paper) is part of the learning process.
  
  There have been studies done on this. Here's a few months old article about from the Atlantic Monthly on the subject http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/04/handwriting-is-a-21st-century-skill/237998/
  
  Also, the other thing I like about the DIY flashcards is that I'd use words in a context that was meaningful to me, personally, rather than someone else's sentence.
  
  Anyway, kids resist...I know I know. I've got two resisters.
  - Jen
    
    I honestly hate flash cards too... I always feel bad when I recommend it to kids, because I know that there's really no part of it that's fun. The only part that's at all fun is actually coming across a word you didn't know before and now do. But even that's pretty fleeting!
    
    My vocabulary went from really pretty good but with lots of words I only knew "by feel" or in context to pretty darn SAT complete after I taught a vocab class (for an official test prep company ages ago) and we were supposed to let them try to "get us" with words every single class. They loved that part -- listening for words during the week, and then bringing them in and writing them on the board. Standing in front of teenagers who hold you responsible for ruining their Saturday morning while they hope you screw up big, is very...motivational!
    - http://www.perfectscoreproject.com Debbie Stier
      
      THAT is an EXCELLENT technique, I think. (i.e. let the students try to stump YOU). I love that idea.
      
      Re the flash cards....I'm an anomaly, I realize. I love them. I keep piles of blank cards all over my house with pens. In my car, my purse, etc. God forbid I run into a word I don't know and there's no card around ;)
    - Anonymous
      
      Oh good! Another SAT tutor who hates flash cards. Maybe I'm not such an anomaly after all. I always tried to make them and use them when I was in school but it's just not how I learn. I would flip the card over to see the definition I didn't remember and immediately forget it again.
      
      I just need to write. I would just keep writing them out and rewriting them in different orders and then see how many of the definitions I could come up with. I know, it's terribly time consuming. But it worked, especially when I was taking French and I had to memorize how to spell the words too. I rarely use this strategy with my students - they would hate me! But I have found that different students need different techniques for pretty much everything on the SAT - even math (that one shocked me).
      - http://www.perfectscoreproject.com Debbie Stier
        
        The only flashcards that work for me are the ones I write myself. pre-printed ones don't work. I need to write them too..and say them and hear them and see them and etc etc etc.
      - Anonymous
        
        Oh, I never bought pre-made flashcards. I always made them myself. I guess that they just weren't my thing.
    - http://www.perfectscoreproject.com Debbie Stier
      
      hi..I'm replying here because the thread got to narrow below.
      
      Handwritten flashcards are where it's at! I was with my very super smart editor the other day, and he told me that for years (DECADES) he has written every word he's come across that he doesn't know down on a flash card and looked it up and he has stacks and stacks of flashcards.
      
      Made me love him ore than I already did!
      
      I <3 homemade flashcards...but then, as my son says, I'm an "anomaly." ;)
Elise

I don't know about your kids but mine are simply too busy! They just work and work on homework. I hate to nag them to do one more thing. I guess my first two did pretty good on the SATs and I only have one more to go! Thank goodness! It's sort of funny though because my two daughters love index cards for their french.classes. Then on the other hand, my son probably only used a dozen flash cards over his entire high school career. Oh well, your post wasn't even really about flash cards...hee hee.
- http://www.perfectscoreproject.com Debbie Stier
  
  Elise, if only I had your kids.....I dream about kids like that. Sure, my kids are busy -- but believe me, they find plenty of time to be busy making plans with their friends. They do work -- a fair amount -- sometimes even a lot. But they are not working and working on homework all the time. Maybe if they were they'd be getting straight A's. They probably get the grades they deserve based on the effort they put in (with exceptions).
  
  And I hate to nag about one more thing myself. Hate it. I was just saying that in fact. I call myself "the enforcer," and I hate having to be in that role all the time. I want to have fun with my kids, not nag them! I want to watch tv and go to movies -- not be the flashcard nagger.
  
  Two things I want to add here:
  
  1) At one point I got so sick of nagging my son about the vocab that I made him flashcards myself (I went through is practice SATs and picked the words I was sure he didn't know) -- and I never once saw him use those, which drove me crazy and made me mad. And then I forgot about the cards -- until the night after he took the SAT (Jan), and I went to go turn the light out in his room, and I saw the stack of flash cards I'd made for him on his night table....all messy, like he'd been studying them. That sort of warmed my heart. Also, one time I was expressing my irritation at having to be the nagger, and he wrote me a really cute apology note on a flash card using a bunch of his vocab words. That one's a keeper.
  
  and
  
  2) We're now into this whole College Tour thing -- which is our new "project." I was so sad when I put away his SAT stuff (not that we know for sure that he's done -- but for now, he is. I'm giving him a break). And then I realized, wait, it's time to take the college tours. So I broke out the Fiske Guide and that 40 Schools that Changed Lives book -- and so we're onto the next....and having a blast.
  
  Our first college tour will be in February during the break, and we are very excited.
  - Elise
    
    YES! I hate, hate,hate being the enforcer! My daughter who is a senior is taking a course called "Senior Science Research Seminar" which is an independent experiment/research project. She had to write a 20 page research paper. I was NAGGING like crazy about her getting the seven page introduction/background section done in November and December. We actually got into a pretty serious argument over it. I felt HORRIBLE! However, it turned out that she had to have the entire paper done by February 4th and she was thrilled that she had so much done already. The "funny" part is that she didn't seem to think that I had anything to do with the fact that she was one of the few kids who actually had a decent paper completed (they are submitting them to a Penn State science symposium) At least when I pointed out my stellar nagging capabilities she didn't argue the fact. She didn't thank me, but she didn't argue...Believe it or not, sometimes they don't even give me credit for nagging! Well, I guess you probably have no problem believing it:) I don't want to have a pin that says "world's best mom", I want to have one that says "world's best nag!!" ha ha ha.
    
    As far as having kids like mine...we just have different things to worry about. I tend to wonder when my kids will burn out. Sigh. The bigger sigh is, will my nagging be the thing that pushes them over the edge? Then there is the never ending battle with the the small number of poor teachers they encounter. My youngest is in ninth grade and you know that's a hard transition...sigh. I actually think she is on the verge of burnout - number one in 8th grade got awards for best student in every subject area except social studies and STILL says she's not good at anything...what do you do with that? She probably IS burnt out and I am just in denial. So, different kids, different problems.
    - http://www.perfectscoreproject.com Debbie Stier
      
      Right...that's for sure. Different kids/different problems. That is certainly the case with my two. My younger one is in 9th grade also....VERY very very very hard year. A girl in her class killed herself last week. We are all traumatized (putting it mildly) by the tragedy.
      
      I often end up back at that Jack Kornfield quote:
      
      If you have the privilege of being with someone at the time of his or her death, you find the questions such a person asks are very simple:
      
      • "Did I love well?"
      • "Did I live fully?"
      • "Did I learn to let go?" -- Jack Kornfield