Active Reading for the SAT and ACT

“My mind wanders whenever I start a reading passage on the SAT,” a student

says. “I have to go back and reread passages because I wasn’t paying attention.”

“My biggest problems occur when I get to the questions,” another student comments. “That’s when I realize that I’ve missed parts of the big picture – the main idea, the supporting ideas, the tone, the author’s outlook, whatever the question is asking me to evaluate.”

How can you avoid pitfalls like these? Lots of experts recommend “active reading.” Books and blogs have been written about it.

So what is ACTIVE reading, and how can you use it when you are tackling the reading passages on standardized tests?  Here are some pointers from Creative Dimensions.

• Be sure to read the questions as carefully as you read the passage. “After all, the correct answers are found in the questions – answers that the student must then find in the passage,” says Dr. Andrea Blumenthal of Creative Dimensions, who notes that by the time many students get to the questions, they feel too rushed to read carefully enough to understand what is being asked. They need a plan to eliminate the wrong answers.
• Engage the test by marking it up with a pencil while you are reading. (Some students also use their pencils to move their eyes forward as they read, and use speed reading techniques.) Circle and/or underline important words, phrases, and concepts – and note them in the margins. These elements must be guided by the main idea. Just be sure not to mark everything, because the main points have to stand out.
• Understand the most common structure of reading passages. In virtually all passages (except some narrative and expository passages, see below), you will generally find the main idea in the first paragraph. (Underline it!) Then a statement in each of the following paragraph will relate to that main idea by supporting it, providing evidence, or refuting it. Find those statements, underline them, and understand their relationship to the main idea. Many of the questions will hinge on those relationships.
• Remember, a different reading approach is needed for narrative or expository reading passages. Often in these passages, there is no “main idea” in the first paragraph, nor are there points that support that main idea in the paragraphs that follow. The questions that follow such passages will often ask you to determine the tone of the text (“The author’s viewpoint could best be described as . . .”) or will ask you to make inferences from the text (“The author of the passage would probably agree with all of the following statements except . . . “) Your Creative Dimensions verbal tutor will explain specialized strategies to you.

A Meeting of the Minds

Think of the test as an encounter between your logical processes and the logical processes of the author. Learn to engage in these processes while you read:

1. Identify the main idea (and underline it).
2. Pinpoint the kind of argument or narrative that the author uses to communicate the main idea.
3. Learn to detect inferences – unwritten meanings that are found “between and beyond the lines.”
4. Underline words that stand out because they are emphatic, funny, ironic or negative. They are your clues to the author’s attitude and the tone of the passage.
5. Spot and underline relevant details and statements, which usually stand out from the surrounding text.
6. Underline statements in italics or quotations marks. More than 90% of the time, you will be asked about them.
7. Make sure to read the italicized intro (blurb) if there is one – and underline important information.

Practice, Practice . . .

By applying the strategies that your Creative Dimensions tutor will explain, you can master the art of active reading for the SAT and ACT! Get ready to tone your thinking muscles – and watch your test scores rise.

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