Date of Award
6-1-1989
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Keywords
achievement tests, analogy skills, antonym skills, college admission, college entrance examinations, context clue, language skills, low achievement, motivation techniques, reading comprehension, reading interests, reading materials, reading skills, sat verbal performance, sentence completion skills, standardized tests, vocabulary building, vocabulary development, vocabulary skills
Abstract
This practicum was designed to improve the verbal skills of English 11 General students taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). The four verbal areas which were targeted for improvement were: (a) antonym skills, (b) analogy skills, (c) sentence completion skills, and (c) reading comprehension skills as wen as overall SAT verbal performance. After pretesting to determine the baseline verbal skills of students in these areas, the researcher implemented a variety of verbal activities in order to improve students' skills in these areas. The 10-week program consisted of class lectures, class discussions, and a variety of SAT practice activities that were done either in an individual or group-work setting. The results indicated overall positive results in analogies, reading comprehension, and SAT verbal performance. It was concluded that the use of SAT practice and familiarization activities can significantly increase student performance on the verbal portion of the SAT. Appendices include sample pretests, posttests, a Prefix/Root Word student handout, and the researcher's SAT preparation recommendation given to English 11 General teachers.