Digital SAT Prep: 4 Tricks to Score Higher on SAT English!

Summary

In this strategic test prep video, Laura Whitmore, an experienced instructor, introduces key strategies for the digital SAT English sections, which are notably different from the paper version. She discusses new question types, such as punctuation with transitions and note-taking questions, and provides tips for subject-verb agreement and comma placement. Whitmore encourages students to subscribe for weekly tips and highlights the importance of practice with the new digital SAT prep app by Preply, set to release in late February.

Takeaways

• 📚 Laura Whitmore is a strategic test prep instructor with over 15 years of experience, helping students score in the 1500s on the SAT.
• 🚀 The digital SAT, launching in March, has significant differences in the English section compared to the paper SAT.
• 🔍 Laura is researching the digital SAT and sharing key strategies to help students excel in the English sections.
• 💬 She encourages students to comment on the types of questions they find most challenging for future video content.
• 📈 The digital SAT includes new types of questions, such as punctuation with transition words, which were not tested on the paper test.
• 📝 Note-taking questions are a new feature of the digital SAT, and Laura advises not to read the notes but to go straight to the question to understand what the student wants.
• 📉 Subject-verb agreement questions are crucial, and Laura suggests using answer choices to identify the correct tense, especially when they are different from the others.
• ✍️ Comma placement can be tricky, but Laura recommends starting with answer choice A and eliminating commas to see where natural pauses occur in the sentence.
• 🗣️ For subject-verb agreement, it's essential to identify the subject and ensure it matches with the correct verb tense.
• 🎯 Laura emphasizes the importance of reading slowly to identify natural pauses for comma placement questions.
• 👍 She encourages viewers to subscribe to her channel for weekly tips, tricks, and strategies for the digital SAT.

Q & A

Who is the speaker in the video?

The speaker in the video is Laura Whitmore, a strategic test prep instructor with over 15 years of experience.

What series is this video a part of?

This video is part of Laura Whitmore's digital SAT series.

What is one key difference between the digital SAT and the paper SAT mentioned by Laura?

The math on the digital SAT is similar to the paper SAT, but the English section is very different with many new aspects.

What type of punctuation question is new to the digital SAT?

A punctuation question with a transition word next to it is new to the digital SAT.

What is the strategy for tackling punctuation questions with transition words?

First, identify the complete sentences and then determine where the transition word fits to correctly convey the contrast or support.

What new type of question is introduced in the digital SAT that was not in the paper SAT?

Note-taking questions are new to the digital SAT and were not part of the paper SAT.

How should students approach note-taking questions on the digital SAT?

Students should skip reading the notes and go straight to the question to find the answer that addresses what the student wants.

What is a common feature of subject-verb agreement questions on the digital SAT?

Subject-verb agreement questions often have verb tenses as answer choices, and the correct answer typically differs in how it is conjugated compared to the others.

What is a helpful strategy for answering subject-verb agreement questions?

Identify the subject of the sentence and ensure it agrees with the verb in number and tense.

What is the main strategy for tackling comma placement questions?

Read the sentence slowly to hear natural pauses and identify where commas should be placed.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Digital SAT English Strategies

Laura Whitmore, a strategic test prep instructor with over 15 years of experience, introduces her digital SAT series focusing on the English sections of the new test format starting in March. She highlights the significant differences between the paper SAT and the digital SAT, particularly in English, and offers to share key strategies to help students score high. Laura invites students to comment on their struggles with the digital SAT English section to tailor future content. She also promotes the Preply app for SAT prep and encourages subscription for weekly tips and strategies.

05:00

📝 Navigating New Question Types in Digital SAT

The script discusses new types of questions introduced in the digital SAT English section, such as punctuation with transition questions and note-taking questions. Laura provides a step-by-step guide on how to approach a punctuation question, emphasizing the importance of identifying complete sentences and using answer choices strategically. She also explains the process of tackling note-taking questions, advising students to focus on the question's requirement rather than reading all notes and bullet points. Laura further covers subject-verb agreement questions, suggesting using answer choices to identify the correct verb form and confirming with the subject in the sentence. Lastly, she addresses comma placement questions, recommending starting with answer choice A and eliminating commas to find natural pause points in the sentence.

Keywords

💡Strategic Test Prep

Strategic Test Prep refers to a systematic and planned approach to preparing for standardized tests, such as the SAT, with the goal of maximizing scores. In the video, Laura Whitmore, a test prep instructor, emphasizes her experience and success in helping students achieve high scores, which is central to the theme of the video.

💡Digital SAT

The Digital SAT is a new version of the standardized test that is administered digitally rather than on paper. The video discusses the differences between the traditional and digital formats, particularly in the English sections, which is a key concept for the audience to understand as they prepare for the test.

💡Punctuation

Punctuation is the use of marks and signs in writing to separate sentences and their components to clarify meaning. In the script, Laura Whitmore provides an example of a digital SAT question involving punctuation with transition words, illustrating the importance of understanding sentence structure for test-takers.

💡Transition

A transition in writing is a word or phrase that connects one idea to another, often indicating a change in thought or contrast. The video script includes an example of how to use a transition word in conjunction with punctuation, which is crucial for clarity and coherence in written English.

💡Note Taking

Note Taking is a skill that involves recording key points from lectures, readings, or other sources for later review. The video mentions 'note taking questions' as a new feature of the digital SAT, which tests students' ability to identify and emphasize differences, a concept that is new to the test format.

💡Subject Verb Agreement

Subject Verb Agreement is a grammatical rule that requires the verb to match the subject in number (singular or plural). The script discusses this rule as a key strategy for answering questions on the digital SAT, highlighting its importance in English grammar and standardized testing.

💡Standard English Conventions

Standard English Conventions refer to the accepted rules and norms of grammar, punctuation, and usage in English. The video script mentions these conventions in the context of grammar questions on the digital SAT, emphasizing the need for test-takers to be familiar with these rules.

💡Comma Placement

Comma Placement is the correct positioning of commas in a sentence to indicate pauses, separate clauses, or list items. Laura Whitmore discusses this as a common point of difficulty for students, providing a strategy for identifying natural pauses in speech to determine where commas should be placed.

💡Contrast

Contrast is a literary device used to show differences between two or more things. In the script, Laura Whitmore explains how to identify and use contrast words, such as 'however,' in sentence construction, which is an important concept for understanding sentence relationships in the English language.

💡Prep App

A Prep App, as mentioned in the video, is a software application designed to help students prepare for standardized tests. The script references a new digital SAT prep app coming out, indicating the growing trend of using technology to assist in test preparation.

💡Practice Questions

Practice Questions are exercises that mimic the format and content of a standardized test, allowing students to familiarize themselves with the test structure and improve their skills. The video script mentions the lack of practice questions for the new digital SAT, highlighting the need for additional resources to prepare effectively.

Highlights

Introduction of Laura Whitmore as a test prep instructor with over 15 years of experience.

Consistent scoring in the 1500s on the SAT and teaching students to achieve the same.

Introduction of the digital SAT series and upcoming changes starting in March.

Differences between the paper SAT and the digital SAT, particularly in the English section.

Invitation for viewers to comment on the hardest types of questions in the English section.

Encouragement for subscribers to stay updated with weekly videos on tips, tricks, and strategies.

Sponsorship mention of Preply, a digital SAT prep app launching in February.

Discussion on the new type of punctuation question with transitions in the digital SAT.

Explanation of how to identify complete sentences for punctuation questions.

Strategy for using contrast words in punctuation and transition questions.

Introduction of note-taking questions unique to the digital SAT.

Advice on focusing on the student's intent in note-taking questions rather than reading all notes.

Subject-verb agreement questions and the importance of recognizing them on the digital SAT.

Strategy for identifying subject-verb agreement by looking for verb tense variations.

Comma placement questions and the strategy of reading slowly to identify natural pauses.

Explanation of how to determine comma placement based on subject-description order.

Closing remarks encouraging viewers to like the video and wishing them luck on the digital SAT.

Transcripts

what's up guys Laura Whitmore here I'm

the honor of strategic test prep and I

event a test prep instructor for over 15

years now I've worked with hundreds and

hundreds of students I consistently

score in the 1500s and I show my

students how to do the same so if you're

new to my channel welcome if you're

returning I'm so glad to have you back

this is part of my digital sat series as

you guys know we have a new test coming

out starting in March and I've been

doing lots of research on the digital

sat and I can tell you guys this the

math is pretty much the same as the

paper SAT but the English is so crazy

different there's so many new things so

in this video I'm going to give you key

strategies that I think are going to

help you score your best yet on the

digital sat English sections now I'm

curious what are the hardest types of

questions for you guys on the English

section I'd really love to hear you know

what you're struggling with it'll help

me create future videos and know how to

help you guys the best so comment below

and let me know how you're doing on the

digital sat English sections and what

you really need help with also if you

are taking the digital sat this year and

you haven't subscribed to my channel yet

what is wrong with you just hit that

subscribe button right now because I'm

going to be coming out with videos every

week with tips tricks and strategies to

help you get ready for this test and you

don't want to miss out

[Music]

thank you

this video is brought to you by preply

the new digital SAT prep app that's

coming out the end of February because

guys let's face it there's not enough

practice questions to go off of for this

new digital sat all right guys so let's

get into the video now the first type of

question that I'm seeing a lot of is

brand new to the digital sat they

weren't really testing this specifically

on the paper test it is a punctuation

question with a transition right next to

it okay guys so I'm in an example this

is a digital sat question and as you can

see I've got uh basically different

punctuation marks they provided me with

semicolons and commas so my first order

of business is I need to figure out

where the complete sentences are so it

looks like they have the word antiquity

to finish this off I'm not going to

worry about the transition word yeah I'm

going to leave that off I'm just going

to go ahead and put a little line there

to separate the first part from the

second part let's figure out what our

complete sentences are they were not the

first in England to adopt the literary

modes of classical Antiquity okay is

that a complete sentence well there's

three things you need for a sentence to

be complete you need a subject they is

the subject

you need a verb were is the verb here

and you need a complete thought not the

first in England to adopt the literary

modes of classical Antiquity that's a

complete thought because when I read

that I'm not going huh or scratching my

head wondering what they're trying to

say I don't feel like they're leaving me

hanging basically so we have a complete

sentence on the first side

now let's figure out the second side so

the second side says some of the most

prominent figures of the earlier

Renaissance period were also influenced

by ancient Greek and Roman literature

that sounds complete to me I've got a

subject some

I've got where is my verb because all

that stuff after the office is

describing more about the subject some

and then I have the rest of the sentence

I'm not going huh what's going on so if

I have two complete senses I know I need

a semicolon to separate those I'm going

to get rid of a and b

okay part one of this type of question

is done part two now we need to figure

out where does the however go let's go

ahead and just like entertain D and put

however after the antiquity

now however is a contrast word which

means the two parts would go against

each other so if I read the first part

and then I read the second part and I

feel like they go against each other

however should start the second part

they were not the first in England to

adopt the literary modes of classical

Antiquity some of the most prominent

figures of the earlier Renaissance

period were also influenced by ancient

Greek and Roman literature those two

sentences actually support each other

they're not going against each other

that means I need to take the contrast

transition and put it at the end of

antiquity because it probably contrasts

with the sentence before it so I'm gonna

pick C

okay guys the second type of question

are the note taking questions this is

brand new to the digital sat there's

none of this on the paper test but I've

got good news for you guys these are

super easy to do

don't read the notes you don't have to

read the bullet points just go straight

to the question and see what the student

wants so it says the student wants to

emphasize a difference in the origins of

the two words okay I'm just going to

look for an answer choice that talks

about the difference in the origins

oh my gosh in a it talks about guerdon

being of anglo-french origin whereas

laodixan oh my gosh I probably just

butchered that laodicean

if you know how to pronounce that

comment below it derives from ancient

Greek well that's talking about the

origins right there I'm pretty confident

it's a I would hold that and read b c

and d what you'll realize is b c and d

have nothing to do with the origins of

the word so the correct answer is a

all right so your third type of question

is a subject verb agreement and there's

a really important strategy for these

now first you have to be able to know

that you're on a subject verb agreement

question they're not going to label that

for you on the digital sat

um what they will do is they'll take a

bunch of Standard English convention

questions which are your grammar

questions and they'll put them together

in a row you'll have a bunch in section

one from like number 22 to number 30 and

then you'll have another group in

section two that's not as large but

it'll be from like number 44 to 50.

they'll all be in a row so when you get

to a question that is asking about the

conventions of Standard English and you

have verb tenses as your answer choices

you are probably on a subject verb

agreement question there's two ways you

can tackle this first you can actually

just look at the answer choices and pick

the one that's different than the others

as far as how it's being um conjugated I

can't think of a better word but anyways

um for instance if I took the plural

plural word they I could say they are I

could say they were and I could say they

have been

but I can't say they is

so since I can't say they is and the

other three are for the same tense the

plural tense I'm gonna go with the one

that's different and I'm gonna pick B

chances are the subject is singular and

needs an is now if you want to be super

sure when you go up into the sentence

you can pinpoint the subject

so it says researchers studying the

Terracotta Army the thousands of

Life-Size statues of Warriors found in

turd near the tomb of Emperor kinshi

Huang of China we're shocked to realize

that the shape of each statue's ears

like the shape of each person's ears

blank unique well what's unique that's

the question because that's going to be

the subject

we're talking about the shape That's

Unique so the shape

of each statue's ears is just extra

information describing more about the

shape and then all of this in between

the two commas is also extra information

we can get rid of that now we're going

to have the subject right next to the

verb the shape is unique sure enough

it's a single subject just like I

thought so let the answer choices guide

you and pick the one that's different on

those

all right the fourth type of question I

want to cover today is comma placement

now comma placement either goes really

well for students or it's really

difficult for students so your main

strategy with comma placement is to

basically start with uh answer Choice a

and X out any come as pretend they're

not there so I'm going to just cross

this comma out

and then you just want to put it into

the sentence and read it to hear where

you pause so if you hear a pause

somewhere naturally that's probably

where the commas need to go here's my

suggestion for you you do not want to

read too quickly and steamroll through

this because you're going to miss the

pauses so don't read like this you know

people 2007 article plant cell biologist

you really show that lipid molecule is

called phosphatidyl another okay do you

see what I'm saying slow down so you can

listen to where you pause so let me read

it and see if you can hear where the

pause is in a pivotal 2007 article plant

cell biologist Yuri Lee showed that

lipid molecules now as you can see I

read right through that with no pauses

and this is because the name or the

subject Yuri Lee is introduced after the

description so if you have a description

and then a name you can probably read

right through it without pausing however

if I put Yuri Lee's name first and then

wanted to describe more about her I

would need the description to go between

two commas for instance sense if I said

Yuri Lee a biologist in the field of

blank see how I have to pause there so

description then subject no pause

subject description commas you need to

pause so anyways the answer to that one

is a

all right guys I really hope that helped

you today listen if you like this video

and you watch it all the way down you

better hit that like button right now

what are you waiting for good luck on

your digital sat I'll see you guys again

soon happy prepping

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