Award-Winning Private SSAT Tutoring in Jacksonville

We went over the three types of percentage problems using the equation: Amount = rate x base. 1) Solving for the rate (percentage off). 2) Solving for the base (original price). 3) Amount (sale's price). By connecting the concept to real life examples of shopping, the student understood what she was solving for.

The student and I first went over his paragraph corrections, which was part of his homework from the last Sunday session. He essentially had to go over a particular paragraph and answer a set of multiple choice questions pertaining to certain underlined portions of those paragraphs, for the sake of identifying whether or not certain grammatical errors had been committed. For the first of the two paragraph corrections, he got 6 of the 8 questions correct. The ones that were wrong pertained to punctuation and spelling. In terms of the second one, he answered 5 of the 8 questions correctly, and his incorrect answers dealt with tense and punctuation with regards to quotes. I was sure to ask why he believed his incorrect answer choices to be correct, in order to get a sense of what his thought process was like when completing the assignment. Once that was over, I provided him with 7 different geometry exercises, all based on the mini intro to geometry lesson we had had from that previous Sunday, in order to test his understanding of what had been covered. The worksheets had to do with estimating angle measures via drawings (he had to do the drawings based on given degree measures), angle classification (acute, right, obtuse, straight), identifying lines, line segments, rays, intersecting and perpendicular lines, and points (based on geometry vocabulary and photo description chart), identifying polygons, and identifying triangle types (equilateral, isosceles, and scalene). For his homework, I gave him three more paragraph corrections, to further strengthen his writing skills (especially in terms of consistent tense and comma usage), an essay, for which he would have to time himself and indicate the time started and the time finished, and an information sheet pertaining to the perimeter and area of polygons, as his next geometry evaluations will be based upon these. Also, for the essay, he was instructed that once this were to be completed within the 25 minutes, he would then need to provide a breakdown of his essay according to Freytag's pyramid (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution). All of this due for next Sunday. The next Saturday session will be a vocabulary test, based off of the 100 words we have done together so far, as well as the 14 words he had chosen from his verbal section practice, where he identified those 14 words to have been the hardest on that section (from both the synonyms and the analogies sections).

During this session, the student and I went through the SSAT Verbal flashcards focusing on antonyms. We also practiced test taking strategies, like eliminating obvious incorrect answers and using word parts (i.e. prefix, suffix, and root words) to decipher the meaning of words he is unfamiliar with. After practicing, I assigned him a practice test on antonyms. I also assigned him a reading diagnostic for the next session.

Today the student and I focused on the essay portion of the SSAT. First, I tested her on the vocabulary from last week, which she did very well on. Then, we began discussing what an essay is and its components. Then, we discussed pre-writing, or essay planning. Using a prompt from the study guide text I brought from the library, she and I talked through the stages of prewriting, and she made an outline. Then, I timed her, and she wrote an essay based on the same prompt we used to prewrite. Her essay was grammatically correct and was well organized, but could have used more explanation and specific examples to support her thesis. We discussed those points. Next, we read two sample essays, one mediocre and one good, and discussed the rubric of the essay. Finally, we worked through several short passages in the reading section. She did very well today. I assigned her another essay prompt to write for next week.

The student and I started the session with a review of fractions and ratios. He completed several math practice questions successfully. We then practiced analogy and synonym questions. He is more confident with test strategies for the verbal and math section. We have continued adding to a vocabulary list using words with which he is unfamiliar. We discussed test strategies for the reading comprehension, and we answered the question of the day questions for reading, math, and verbal.

Today the student and I went over her essay, which was brilliant. The only thing it could have used was a bit of proofreading, so I told her to make sure she had time to do that. Then, we went over her reading section, which she only got three wrong on and skipped one. We went over the ones she had trouble with. I told her to make sure the answer is in the passage, and not just a good idea that works. Then, we finished with verbal, going over every question she skipped/got wrong. I introduced the concept of a sentence for the analogies, and she took to it very well. Next week, we'll go over the math, as well as a new verbal practice test I assigned her.