Ideally, a person develops a college-ready vocabulary long before SAT prep time looms on the horizon. Over many years, a student can naturally develop an SAT-strong vocabulary by reading high-quality material for enjoyment and consistently completing assigned readings at school. Unfortunately, this ideal scenario is becoming less and less common – and by the junior year of high school, some students simply do not have enough time to naturally grow their vocabulary before test day. For these students rote memorization becomes their last resort. The following is a guide to maximizing the benefit of SAT flashcard use.
The Best SAT Flashcards are Homemade
I tell my SAT students to avoid using pre-made cards. When using store-bought cards, they tend to see unfamiliar words used outside of their natural contexts. Therefore, the students don’t really understand how to use the words properly. Instead, students should make the flashcards themselves by looking up the words they don’t know. These words could be taken from the sentence completion sections of sample SAT tests. Each 3”x5” index card should have an SAT word on one side and its definition on the other. Many students find that just the process of hand-writing the words and definitions promotes memorization. When students look up words, it’s OK to use an electronic Merriam Webster’s dictionary or a website such as dictionary.com. However, students need to be judicious when choosing which definition to transcribe. They should ask themselves which definition is most likely being tested by the test maker. It is important to not automatically use the shortest definition or the first one listed.
How to Use SAT Flashcards
I advise my students to review their cards daily for 20 to 30 minutes. When a word is mastered, it should be removed from the original stack and added to a “once-a-week-pile.” As the name suggests, this stack of mastered words should be reviewed once a week. If a word becomes forgotten, then it returns to the daily pile. New SAT flashcards should be added to the daily pile to replace those that are learned.
Words of Caution: What Not to Do
Some students resist making flashcards. They insist on just keeping a list of SAT words. After all, compared with making flashcards, it’s quick and easy to copy and paste definitions into a Word document. However, this approach is inefficient overall. First, a typed list is not easy to manage for word-memorization purposes. The original list of words quickly becomes complicated when content is added, mastered, and set aside for weekly review. Second, after a while, students only remember definitions when words appear in a certain order.
Some students like to use “electronic flashcards” that are available as iPhone or iPad applications. While electronic flashcards might seem time-saving and convenient, they also fall short of their old-fashioned index card competitors. First, students miss out on the learning that comes with physically writing a word and its definition. Second, the electronic device is just too distracting: somehow, SAT flashcards just can’t compete with the lures of Facebook and instant messaging. In sum, making flashcards and memorizing words might seem like a pain, but it’s the best method for quickly building an SAT vocabulary.
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