Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

Power Up: English ACT Prep 10-Week Series

Patricia McDaniels-Gomez, Laura Halstied, Teresa Lansford, Michell Eike, Kelsey Willems | Published: January 9th, 2024 by K20 Center

Summary

In this 10-week English ACT prep series, students will build testing stamina and practice pacing while focusing on subject-specific skills. Students will begin by setting personal goals for improving their ACT performance and selecting actions they will practice and revisit throughout the series to encourage a growth mindset. Then students will learn English-specific content, learn how to use the tools needed for taking the ACT online, and practice questions that mirror what is found on the test. Each activity containing ACT-style questions also contains the correct answers with explanations. There is a collection for each subject on the test. These collections are best used alongside one another as each collection shares transferable skills and ACT information that will improve overall student performance. Check out the summaries below for more details about each 35-minute activity.

Resources

In this first ACT English prep activity, students will focus on reflecting on their score from taking the test and setting a goal for a future ACT. First, students review and reflect on test-taking tips from other students. Then students review their existing English scores before setting a goal to... Read more »

Educator Resource

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame 35 minutes

In this English ACT prep activity, students will focus on usage conventions. First, students will identify what is “not quite right” with some poor grammar depicted on memes. Then, students review seven of the most prevalent usage standards through a Card Matching activity. Finally, students apply their... Read more »

Educator Resource

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame 35 minutes

In this English ACT prep activity, students focus on punctuation conventions. First, students identify "grammar fails" with some poor grammar depicted in real-world examples. Then, students review eight of the most prevalent punctuation standards through a "What Do You Meme?" and Padlet activity. Then,... Read more »

Educator Resource

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame 35 minutes

In this English ACT prep activity, students focus on sentence structure conventions. First, students complete a Card Sort activity, matching examples with explanations and the corresponding rules. Then, students apply their understanding of sentence structure and ACT skills through reading a practice... Read more »

Educator Resource

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame 35 minutes

In this English ACT prep activity, students review the content from the past four prep activities. First, students finish going over the answers from week four's reading passage activity. Then, students annotate their collection of Skill Sets Check handouts using the Rose, Bud, and Thorn strategy, which... Read more »

Educator Resource

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame 35 minutes

In this English ACT prep activity, students review the vocabulary and roles of different paragraphs (i.e. introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs), topic sentences, and thesis statements. Students then select the most appropriate transition words, identify roles of sentences, and apply this knowledge... Read more »

Educator Resource

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame 35 minutes

In this activity, students will practice pacing and using TestNav as they take an online practice ACT. This is the eighth activity in a 10-week "Power Up" series for ACT prep. Read more »

Educator Resource

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame 35 minutes

In this English ACT prep activity, students focus on pacing and annotating the online test. First, students complete a guided exploration of TestNav for the English portion of a practice ACT. Then, students practice pacing skills by reading a passage and answering the corresponding questions. This is... Read more »

Educator Resource

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame 35 minutes

In this English ACT prep activity, students review revision and conciseness using the ARMS acronym and practicing with a Quizizz. Students will then practice revision and pacing with an ACT-style passage. This is the ninth activity in a 10-week "Power Up" series for ACT prep. Read more »

Educator Resource

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame 35 minutes

In this English ACT prep activity, students review the content from the past nine prep activities. First, students review skills learned from week nine. Then, students practice questions reflective of the topics still confusing to them using Magoosh. Finally, they end the class revisiting their Goal... Read more »

Educator Resource

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame 35 minutes

In this 10-week math ACT prep series, students will build testing stamina and practice pacing while focusing on subject-specific skills. Students will begin by setting personal goals for improving their ACT performance and selecting actions they will practice and revisit throughout the series to encourage... Read more »

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame

In this 10-week reading ACT prep series, students will build testing stamina and practice pacing while focusing on subject-specific skills. Students will begin by setting personal goals for improving their ACT performance and selecting actions they will practice and revisit throughout the series to... Read more »

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame

In this 10-week science ACT prep series, students will build testing stamina and practice pacing while focusing on subject-specific skills. Students will begin by setting personal goals for improving their ACT performance and selecting actions they will practice and revisit throughout the series to... Read more »

Tag Target Audience

  • Students

Tag Calendar Placement

  • 3rd Nine Weeks, 4th Nine-Weeks

User Group Group Size

  • Whole Class

Tag Intention Or Purpose

  • Action Plans, Analyze, College-Going Culture, Critical Thinking, Self-assessment

Tag College & Career Readiness Framework

  • College Admissions Procedures, College Admissions, Paying for College, Grants, Scholarships and Loans

Tag Related

  • ACT Prep
More
Time Frame

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