Why take notes on the SAT Reading?
From the desk of Best Sat Prep
First of all, why even bother taking notes on the SAT reading section? Can't you just underline as you go, or even better, just remember what you read?
Well, there are a couple of problems with that idea. First, underlining doesn't actually guarantee any additional comprehension or recall. How many times have you underlined or highlighted pages of reading in your history books for school, and then remembered none of that information 5 minutes later? It's very easy to just underline with your brain on autopilot and not remember WHY you underlined any specific information.
Second, memory is not enough on its own. The SAT reading passages are either boring, confusing, or complex, and frequently all three at once. Relying only on your memory will result in a lot of wrong answers due to incomplete comprehension. In my days as an SAT tutor, I've seen dozens of students rely on their memory and actually come to the complete opposite conclusion as the author; the SAT reading passages are expertly chosen to beat up on students whose reading comprehension isn't near-perfect.
Taking notes on the SAT reading passages will not only improve your memory, but will improve your comprehension as well.
Great, so how do I take notes on the SAT reading?
The SAT reading passages, while confusing, also break down very nicely into clear paragraphs with one or two topics each. In other words, the reading passages might use tough vocabulary and confusing arguments, but the structure of the passages is clear.
Use this fact to your advantage by focusing on paragraph-by-paragraph comprehension. Your goal is to figure out the central topic of each paragraph and what the author's opinion is, and then put this into notes.
My notes are always between one and five words of notes per paragraph of reading. Why is this? It forces you to really boil down the paragraph into keywords, and it also checks your understanding of the paragraph. If you can't boil down an SAT reading paragraph into five words or less, you didn't understand it clearly enough, or you're not identifying the primary topic of the paragraph.
When taking your SAT notes, don't worry about complete sentences. Use symbols like question marks and equal signs to shorten the amount you have to write. Don't forget you're under a time limit! On the other hand, as a perfect-scoring SAT tutor, I promise you that it's better to have a solid understanding of the passage and answer a few less questions, than it would be to rush through a passage you don't understand and lose a bunch of points on wrong answers.
First of all, why even bother taking notes on the SAT reading section? Can't you just underline as you go, or even better, just remember what you read?
Well, there are a couple of problems with that idea. First, underlining doesn't actually guarantee any additional comprehension or recall. How many times have you underlined or highlighted pages of reading in your history books for school, and then remembered none of that information 5 minutes later? It's very easy to just underline with your brain on autopilot and not remember WHY you underlined any specific information.
Second, memory is not enough on its own. The SAT reading passages are either boring, confusing, or complex, and frequently all three at once. Relying only on your memory will result in a lot of wrong answers due to incomplete comprehension. In my days as an SAT tutor, I've seen dozens of students rely on their memory and actually come to the complete opposite conclusion as the author; the SAT reading passages are expertly chosen to beat up on students whose reading comprehension isn't near-perfect.
Taking notes on the SAT reading passages will not only improve your memory, but will improve your comprehension as well.
Great, so how do I take notes on the SAT reading?
The SAT reading passages, while confusing, also break down very nicely into clear paragraphs with one or two topics each. In other words, the reading passages might use tough vocabulary and confusing arguments, but the structure of the passages is clear.
Use this fact to your advantage by focusing on paragraph-by-paragraph comprehension. Your goal is to figure out the central topic of each paragraph and what the author's opinion is, and then put this into notes.
My notes are always between one and five words of notes per paragraph of reading. Why is this? It forces you to really boil down the paragraph into keywords, and it also checks your understanding of the paragraph. If you can't boil down an SAT reading paragraph into five words or less, you didn't understand it clearly enough, or you're not identifying the primary topic of the paragraph.
When taking your SAT notes, don't worry about complete sentences. Use symbols like question marks and equal signs to shorten the amount you have to write. Don't forget you're under a time limit! On the other hand, as a perfect-scoring SAT tutor, I promise you that it's better to have a solid understanding of the passage and answer a few less questions, than it would be to rush through a passage you don't understand and lose a bunch of points on wrong answers.
Comments
Post a Comment