Fiveable SAT: How to Improve Your SAT Reading, Writing, and Language Score

Taking the SAT soon? Get ready to embark on a journey of knowledge and strategies, as we guide you towards achieving your personal best score. Let's conquer the SAT reading, writing, and language section together! 🤝

💭 SAT Humanities: What's On It?

The SAT Reading, Writing, and Language sections are designed to assess your reading comprehension, grammar, and editing skills. Don't worry, it's not about memorizing facts! These sections involve engaging with passages, identifying errors, and understanding context. By practicing strategies and brushing up on grammar rules, you'll feel more confident in tackling these sections. Remember, it's all about showcasing your skills and expressing yourself effectively. You've got this! 🫵🏻

🍀 SAT Humanities: Tips & Tricks 

♣️ Be Wary of Tricks 

Since the SAT is a national test, it has to "level the playing field" between test-takers. This means that it cannot test students on their understanding of highly complex literature or their knowledge of obscure big words. Instead, the College Board tests simple topics but uses clever tactics designed to trick and confuse students 🤔

The biggest trap on the SAT reading is the classic "two right answers" situation. There are often two answers to a reading question that both SEEM correct, but there is always only ONE fully correct answer. It takes a sound understanding of the question and the text to ultimately decipher the correct answer.  

Learning the types of questions on the SAT reading section, sharpening your critical thinking skills, and applying these skills to actual exam questions through practice is an excellent way to improve your ability to differentiate between the two "right" answers.

🚨 Know Your Weaknesses  

Do you always run out of time? Do you always miss comma rule questions or inference questions? Do you fall victim to the "two possible answers" trap? In order to get your best score, you must be aware of the little weaknesses that cost you points on the test. Correcting these small issues can have a profound impact on your overall performance. 

Having a clear idea of the test scenarios/questions that you struggle with the most essentially provides you with a study path toward increasing your score. For example:

• • ⏰ If pacing yourself on the test is your biggest weakness, then you should spend extra time doing timed practice exams.
• • 🤔 If you struggle with content such as comma rules or inference questions, then it would behoove you to spend your time becoming an expert on comma rules and doing practice inference questions instead of repeating timed practice exams.

💪🏼 Hype Yourself Up 

On this exam, confidence is key! It seems trivial, but self-assurance is so important. Throughout your test, hype yourself up. Convince yourself that you've got this because it's true! 🙌🏼

Often times, students will second guess themselves and change a bunch of answers after they have completed the section, costing themselves a hefty amount of points. Statistics show that your first gut answer is often correct. Unless you can logically disprove your original answer and prove that your new answer is correct, always trust your gut and have confidence in your answers! 

🚫 Eliminate Wrong Answers 

If you come to a question and you don't know the answer, trying to eliminate three of the answer choices is a wonderful strategy. Take a logical approach to every answer and find its flaws. If you can confidently distinguish 3 wrong answers, you have by default found the correct answer. Some possible flaws to look out for include:

• Too specific

• Too broad

• Unrelated topic

• Incorrect/Irrelevant connection These are some common flaws found in SAT reading and writing & language section answer choices. The flaws that ultimately debunk an answer choice depend on the question. 

• For example, if a question is asking about the overall significance or importance of the passage, an answer choice focusing on a specific detail would not be correct, but if the question is asking about a specific detail, then a broad answer choice can be eliminated 🫢 Eliminating wrong answers is a global strategy, meaning it is a strategy that can be applied to any standardized test. Get familiar with other global strategies to help you do your personal best on the SAT! 😄

📖 Find a Reading Technique that Works for You 

There is no one "best" way to tackle the passages on the SAT reading and writing & language sections. Every student's brain consumes information differently, making it impossible to say which approach will work for everyone. The table below explains several reading strategies to help find the best option for you! 

🃏SAT Reading Strategies

🤓 Master Grammar Rules 

To excel in the Writing and Language section, it's crucial to have a solid understanding of grammar rules. Take the time to study essential concepts such as sentence structure, verb tense, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation. Familiarize yourself with common grammatical errors that appear in the SAT, like misplaced modifiers or inconsistent verb usage.

By developing a strong foundation in grammar, you'll be better equipped to identify and correct errors within sentences. Regular practice with grammar exercises and sample questions will reinforce your knowledge and sharpen your skills, enabling you to tackle grammar-related questions with confidence. Even 5 questions a day will help you see lots of improvement! 🪄

👉🏽Want to get started now? We've broken the SAT Standard English Conventions section down for you with tips and practice questions.

🧐 Master Context Clues 

Encountering unfamiliar vocabulary can be daunting, but don't panic! Context clues are your secret weapon. When you come across an unfamiliar word, pay attention to the surrounding sentences. Look for clues such as synonyms, antonyms, or descriptive phrases that provide hints about the word's meaning. Analyze how the word is used within the sentence and consider its relationship with other words. Context clues can come from definitions, examples, comparisons, or even the tone of the passage. 

By leveraging these clues, you can make educated guesses about the word's meaning and select the most appropriate answer choice. Remember to trust your instincts and use the information provided in the passage to decode unfamiliar vocabulary effectively. With practice, you'll become more adept at deciphering context clues and expanding your vocabulary skills.  

There's actually a whole question type in the Writing and Language section that centers around this skill. Check out our SAT Writing and Language: Words in Context for more info about it! 

Here is an example of what a words-in-context question looks like! Image Courtesy of PrepScholar

🥽 Dive Deep into your Mistakes 

When reviewing what you miss on practice questions, it is not enough to simply say "I made a silly mistake" or "I read that wrong" or "I don't know what I did, I'm so silly" and move on. Always ask yourself the "why?" behind what you did wrong. What made you think that was the answer? Why did you read that wrong? What caused you to make that silly mistake? Asking yourself these questions will help dramatically increase your understanding of your performance but also the test itself. 🫡

The College Board designs these tests to trick students so by assessing your mistakes at the deepest level, you will be able to spot these little SAT booby traps and know how to avoid them on future assessments. Also, ask yourself "how" you can fix that mistake and then follow through with appropriate practice (this goes along with tip #2). Understanding every mistake you make will help you avoid it in the future! 

Here's a nice list of what to review after you get back a score from a Practice Test or Real SAT/PSAT:

1. • 🤩 What questions did I get right? Were they all Words in Context or Inference?1. - This question is first because it lets you know what you did right and how awesome you actually did on your test
2. • 💭 What questions did I struggle specifically with? Did you just make stupid mistakes or do you need to work on analyzing the context of the passage?1. - This step is super important and can help you review what skills to refine before your next test
3. • 💪 What sections were your strongest and weakest? Do you need to work on Math or Reading more?1. - This is more of a general question to ask yourself to ensure that you'll do your best on the overall test Try to organize your strengths and weaknesses in a table so you can create a study plan that adheres to them!

🎞️ Improving Your SAT Score

And that's a wrap, eight top tips and strategies to help you reach your goal in the SAT humanities section! Ultimately, only you can decide the best methods and strategies, but hopefully, these suggestions help guide you in your preparation for your next SAT exam! Best of luck on your test, you've got this! Let's improve your current score! 🙌🏼