"SAT / ACT / CAHSEE Basics" Resources
This table includes resources you can access to prepare yourself for the basic concepts tested on many exams. Reasoning tests like the SAT test several basic concepts at once (to see if you can pull together all of the concepts to reach the answer) or test simple concepts via complicated sentences (to assess if you can apply the basics to more complex situations). There is nothing new on any of these exams! There are no contemporary applications of the semicolon; the exams just cover the material that you should have learned.
The purpose of this list is to help you refresh--for free--on the basics. To be ready to prepare for the SAT or ACT, you should score 90 percent or better on any of these quizzes. Otherwise, your SAT/ACT prep will be spent remediating you on the basics rather than on teaching you the necessary thinking and strategy skills.
If you do not achieve 90 percent or better on certain areas, either review them on your own or be prepared to spend some of your tutoring time on these concepts.
Abbreviations:
CB = CollegeBoard SAT Prep Book, second edition
ACT = The Real ACT Study Guide
SCM = Saddleback College Matriculation Tests
Activity # Concept (Click on the Link) Notes Actual Problem/s That Use This Concept Date Added Test Section
1 Commas Rules about commas CB 407 #8, 9 / 9/21/10 Writing
2 Commas Quiz on commas 9/21/10 Writing
3 Commas Quiz on commas 9/21/10 Writing
4 Adding Decimals 9/22/10 Math
5 Decimals, Percents, Fractions Converting from one to the other 9/22/10 Math
6 Exponents Practices rules of exponents CB 456 #14 9/22/10 Math
7 Primes Collect 50 stars w/ 90%+ accuracy. Repetitive, noisy game; excellent drill and kill to identify prime vs composite numbers. It's common for test Qs to specify "prime numbers." 9/22/10 Math
8 Linear Equations Practice finding the slope of a line. 9/22/10 Math
9 Order of Op It's sad to miss a problem because you added first and then multiplied. 9/22/10 Math
10 Ratios Many test questions are just like these! CB p.528 #9 / CB 545 #9/ ACT p168 #19 / SCM #1, Q5 / 9/22/10 Math
11 Perimeter 9/22/10 Math
12 Binomials, FOIL CB, p. 396, #14/p.527 #8 9/23/10 Math
13 Binomials, FOIL A few methods, quiz at the bottom CB, p. 396, #14 /p.527 #8 9/23/10 Math
14 Binomials, FOIL CB, p. 396, #14/p.527 #8 9/23/10 Math
15 Basic Equations Building an equation from a word problem CB 396 #7 / CB 457 #16, 19 / CB 529 #14 / CB 543 #1 9/23/10 Math
16 Basic Graphing Reminds you how to find slope-intercept form of a line, etc. 9/23/10 Math
17 Pre-Algebra Fractions Adding fractions, etc. Solve these on paper, just like you should on the exam! 9/23/10 Math
18 Exponents CB p. 529, #11 / ACT p166 #11 9/23/10 Math
19 Single Variable Equations CB, p396 #7, 9/23/10 Math
20 Right Triangles Right triangles, special right triangles CB, p526 #5 / ACT p. 169 # 25 9/23/10 Math, Geometry
21 Area of a Square CB p526 #4, p530 #18, 9/23/10 Math
22 Direct Variation Direct variation CB p527 #6 9/24/10 Math
23 Special Right Triangles CB, p526 #5, 9/23/10 Math
24 Literal Equations Questions like "Solve ah + j = t for h" 9/24/10 Math
25 Graphs of Direct Variation ` 9/24/10 Math
26 Direct Variation Good directions, followed by practice 9/24/10 Math
27 Direct Variation 9/24/10 Math
28 Area Formulas Very clear, graphic explanation of the area formulas. You need to know these! Memorize sector area, too! 9/24/10 Math, Geometry
29 Parallel Lines Quick review of parallel lines 9/24/10 Math, Geometry
30 Equilateral Triangles but use this quiz: quiz Quick review of equilateral triangles 9/24/10 Math, Geometry
31 Triangle Inequality Remember how "the sum of the measures of any 2 sides of a triangle is > the measure of the third side"?
CB 545 #6, 9/24/10 Math, Geometry
32 Triangle Inequality These questions are in terms of letters. 9/24/10 Math, Geometry
33 Triangle Inequality These questions are in terms of numbers. 9/24/10 Math, Geometry
34 Coming! Find the percent of a value, especially in a multi-step word problem. CB 517 #13, 518 # 15, 9/24/10 Math, Arithmetic
35 Circle Parts Review of circle parts. 9/24/10 Math, Geometry
36 Circle Area Circle area, sector area 9/24/10 Math, Geometry
37 Coming! Plug values into a formula and solve for the needed term SCM #1 Q7 9/24/10 Math, Algebra
38 Coming! Which way did the graph move from its original function? CB 547 #14, 9/24/10 Math, Geometry
39 Coming! Average (arithmetic mean) in a word problem CB 517 #11, 9/24/10 Math, Arithmetic
40 Coming! 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
41 Subject/Verb Agreement Coming! CB 409 #12/ CB 410 #23, 28/ CB 472 #20, 22, 25 / CB 533 #15. 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
42 Adverbs Coming! CB 408 #14, 17 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
43 Verb Tense Coming! CB 409 #15 / CB 471 #13, 14. 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
44 Verb Form Coming! E.g.: Changing 'suppressing' to 'to suppress.' Raise/rise. CB 409 #16 / CB 410 #20, 25 / 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
45 Conjunctions Coming! E.g.: Either/or, neither/nor CB 409 #18 / 471 #15 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
46 Pronouns Coming! his, her, their / its,their / me, I CB 409 #19 / CB 410 #26 / CB 471 #12 / CB 472 #28 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
47 Parallel Structure in Nouns, Verbs, etc. Cliffs Notes article on parallelism CB 410 #21, 29 / CB 471 #17, 18 / CB 533 #12, 13. 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
48 Parallel Structure in Nouns, Verbs, etc. Quiz 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
49 Parallel Structure in Nouns, Verbs, etc. You can type in the sentence and see if you got it correct. 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
50 Parallel Structure in Nouns, Verbs, etc. I like this quiz because it has a "none of the above" option that is similar to the "no error" test answers. 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
51 Be-verbs, Helping Verbs Coming! CB 471 #21 / CB 472 #21 / 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
52 Usage Errors Coming! CB 472 #26 / 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
53 Wordiness Coming! Eliminate 'being' from a sentence CB 533 #14 9/24/10 Writing, Grammar
54 Integers! Many problems use the word integers. You must know that INTEGERS = 0 and the positive and negative counting. 9/24/10 Math, Algebra, Pre-algebra
55 Integers, add and subtract Add and subtract positive and negative numbers 9/24/10 Math, Algebra, Pre-algebra
56 Pythagorean Theorem Coming! ACT p.169, #20, 25. 10/2/10 Math, Algebra, Geometry
57 Factoring Polynomials ACT p.169, #23. 10/2/10 Math, Algebra
58 Trigonometry Coming! SOH CAH TOA ACT p.170 #28 10/2/10 Math, Algebra
59 Graphing Coming! ACT p.171 #31. 10/2/10 Math, Algebra
60 Matrix Coming! ACT p.169, #25 10/2/10 Math, Algebra 2
61 Volume Coming! ACT p.166 #11 10/2/10 Math, Geometry
62 Circles Coming! ACT p.166 #11 / p. 169 # 25 10/2/10 Math, Geometry
63 ACT Vocab Quiz Quizlet test for the words found in the story on p. 184 ACT p.184 10/2/10 Reading, Vocabulary
64 SAT Vocab p. 390 Quizlet test for the words found in the SAT sentence completion on p. 390 CB p.390 10/5/10 Reading, Vocabulary
65 SAT Vocab p. 402 Quizlet test for the words found in the SAT sentence completion on p. 402 CB p.402 10/5/10 Reading, Vocabulary
66 Dividing Decimals SCM #1, Q3 10/2/10 Math, Arithmetic
67 Subtracting Decimals SCM #1, Q4 10/2/10 Math, Arithmetic
68 Order of Operations Game This great game makes you think quickly to determine the next operation, an essential skill for algebraic success. (Click Bigger in the top right-hand corner to expand the game screen.) 10/2/10 Math, Algebra
69 Factoring Polynomials Glencoe textbook quiz 2/13/11 Math, Algebra
70 Factoring Polynomials Quiz about factoring concepts, memory tricks, and patterns 2/13/11 Math, Algebra
71 Factoring Polynomials Worksheet and quiz specifically on difference of squares problems 2/13/11 Math, Algebra
72 Factoring Polynomials Worksheet and quiz specifically on greatest common factor (GCF) problems 2/13/11 Math, Algebra
73 Parallelism Errors Explanation, Exercises, and Worksheets 2/13/11 Writing, Grammar
74 Sentence Completion, Test 1 Practice these exercises compliments of MajorTests.com. 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
75 Coming! 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
76 Sentence Completion, Test 2 Practice these exercises compliments of MajorTests.com. 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
77 Coming! 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
78 Sentence Completion, Test 3 Practice these exercises compliments of MajorTests.com. 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
79 Coming! 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
80 Sentence Completion, Test 4 Practice these exercises compliments of MajorTests.com. 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
81 Coming! 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
82 Sentence Completion, Test 5 Practice these exercises compliments of MajorTests.com. 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
83 Coming! 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
84 Sentence Completion, Test 6 Practice these exercises compliments of MajorTests.com. 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
85 Coming! 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
86 Sentence Completion, Test 7 Practice these exercises compliments of MajorTests.com. 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
87 Coming! 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
88 Sentence Completion, Test 8 Practice these exercises compliments of MajorTests.com. 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
89 Coming! 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
90 Sentence Completion, Test 9 Practice these exercises compliments of MajorTests.com. 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
91 Coming! 2/21/11 Reading, Vocabulary, Strategy
92 Simplify radicals with a matching game
93 Essay Prompts and Types SAT, ACT essay 4/4/11 Writing, Essay
94 Essay Prompts and Types Here is his companion YouTube video with some great tips!
Essay Prompts and TypesSAT, ACT essay
4/4/11 Writing, Essay
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