Private Tutor

Gr 10 Up—Students can follow Amy Lucas as she teaches them about the 19 most common grammar errors that are made in the Writing section of the SAT. She claims that those who avoid these mistakes will receive a perfect score on that part of the exam. The accompanying workbook very closely follows the material presented on the DVDs. There is a lecture, followed with a practice drill and a review. Different question types are presented, and special techniques for answering them are discussed. Lucas runs through each section very quickly, but she has an expressive style that should hold the attention of students. The DVDs are divided into seven chapters: sentence corrections, parts of speech, verb errors, pronoun errors, grammar rules, paragraph improvement, and essay writing. The instructor offers simple tips such as avoid "being" and "having" and always go for "simple and concise." All incorrect responses are explained clearly. There are easy-to-follow tips for writing the essay as well as sample essays that received high and low scores. Students looking for a comprehensive review of the Writing portion of the SAT will find this program very helpful, especially since they can select specific areas in which they need improvement.—Ellen Frank, Jamaica High School, NY