Transcript National Classical Etymology Exam

Complimentary Gift for the
First Twenty Teachers!
How Your School Can Use the NCEE
to Improve Its SAT Scores
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Fifty multiple choice questions
Latin and Greek Derivatives
Online (http://www.quia.com/quiz/2930643.html)
Forty-five minutes
Can be given any day in November, and at
different times during the day
Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals are awarded,
along with downloadable certificates
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Large suburb north of Atlanta, Georgia
One of twenty high schools in its district
2300 students
Upper middle class
Four foreign languages (Latin, French, German,
Spanish)
Very large AP school-wide program
First or Second in the district in all academic
areas except SAT score
580
560
540
Verbal
520
Math
500
Writing
480
460
Verbal
Writing
Verbal
550
540
530
520
510
Verbal
500
490
480
Brookwood Parkview
Mill Creek
Peachtree
Ridge
North
Gwinnett
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Thirty-nine NGHS Latin III students took
the NCEE on November 26th, 2010.
Many of these students took the SAT on
December 4th.
Seventeen won awards on the NCEE.
Those who took the SAT reported that
their recently acquired knowledge
from the NCEE helped them on fiveten questions.
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25-30% of the testing population (125-150
students) can put an academic
achievement on their college
applications
SAT Verbal/Writing scores will rise by
20-30 points on average, with some
gains as much as twice that
Latin Propaganda
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Language Arts students study Latin and Greek
roots August 8th-November 3rd.
LA students take the National Classical
Etymology Exam on November 4th.
LA students take the SAT immediately
thereafter, on November 5th.
NGHS testing population benefits from the
added study (twenty-thirty points on SAT).
NGHS SAT scores improve / NGHS WSA
score improves.
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Complement the LA
vocabulary/root study already in
place, NOT add to an already
packed LA calendar.
Teach roots, rather than words
Teach word construction, rather
than deconstruction
Teach efficiently
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Twenty words of unrelated meaning are
introduced in a list (each week or so)
Differentiated activities reinforce the
meaning of these twenty words
(contextual fill-in-the-blank,
synonyms, etc.)
At the end of each unit, students have
learned fifteen-twenty words to
proficiency
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Lists of related root prefixes, infixes, and
suffixes are introduced
Students observe and define English
words that are based on these roots
Lists that can number into the dozens off
of just a few roots
For example:
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e/ex = out of, from (export)
in = in, into; on; not (import)
de = down, from, away (deport)
re = back, again; anew (report)
con/co = together, with (conscript)
ad = to, towards, near (ascribe)
per = through, badly (pervasive)
cap/cip/capt/cept = take
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except, exception
incapable, incapacitate, inception, incipient
deceive, deceit, deceptive, deception
receipt, receive, reception, receptacle
conceit, conceive, concept, conception,
accept, acceptance, acceptable
perceive, perceptive, perception
What other language features are apparent?
LA Teachers don’t need more to plan
Scripted lesson plans, support from the friendly
local Latin Teacher, and online quizzes
LA Teachers don’t want their instruction
interrupted
Make lessons efficient and brief
LA Teachers and the whole school need to “buy
in” to the initiative
Meetings, meetings, sell, sell
Daily announcements and emails
Find Funding ($3/student + school fee)
- A root is given (with examples) over
the announcements each day.
- LA classes reinforce that root briefly
in class each day
- On Fridays, LA teachers reinforce
the week’s total of roots briefly
- Two weeks prior to the test, LA teachers
increase instructional focus on roots
(Start-Up, Bell Ringer, Warm-Down,
etc.)
- Monday through Thursday before the
test, all LA instruction is focused on
Latin and Greek roots study
- The Exam is taken on Friday
- The SAT is taken on Saturday
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Pre-Planning: Discuss with LA Leads
August: LA Leads discuss with LA dept. and
counselors discuss SAT registration
September (first week): Students register for
SAT (at home school) and reserve computer
labs for the NCEE
October 3rd: Register students for the NCEE
Week of Exam: Implement Instructional
Calendar and train staff for NCEE
Nov. 4th: NCEE (SAT the next day)
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Motivation to earn a better score on
the SAT
Motivation to earn an award for
college application
Economy of effort
Brief period of focus
No threat of failure on the NCEE
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Follow Curriculum “A” or a modified
version?
What grade level do we test?
Do we test all students in the grade or
only certain sections?
What materials do we use?
How do we pay for this?
How do we encourage SAT registration?
550
540
530
520
510
Verbal
500
490
480
Brookwood Parkview
Mill Creek
Peachtree
Ridge
North
Gwinnett
550 12th Grade Students Took the NCEE
 220 Earned Medals
 About 200 12th Graders took the November
SAT
 About 160 12th Graders took the November
SAT AND had taken a previous SAT
(for comparison)
….
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On average, those 160 students increased their
SAT Verbal/Written scores 26 points
The students of the LA teacher who “bought
in” the most raised their scores by 40 points
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Download this presentation and all relevant
docs at
www.yaggyslatin.com/etymology.html
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology
Word Clues: Vocabulary Builder by Amsel
Greene
www.Brainhoney.com