I had a good class just now with Yeunsu. I feel that she has learned a lot.

Students in the 500s are still "putting the passage together," I learned. I also learned that the best way to help these kids with the passage is often to ask them to find and paraphrase the main idea in the paragraph, then to find and paraphrase the main idea of each supporting paragraph (almost always the first sentence), and then to discuss how each sentence of the supporting paragraph relates to the main idea. Ask "why" several times (the old Toyota rule). Correct their comprehension as they go along. As you do this, begin to work on the old hypernym/hyponym idea. If you can, copy some stuff from the More Reading Power book and use it to help them understand macro organization.

400s: Mastering the Topic
500s: Mastering the Main Idea (Arguing For)
600s: Mastering the Main Idea (Arguing Against)
700s: Mastering Subordinate Information

Here are Yeunsu's steps:

Reading:

1) Find the main idea in the first paragraph.
2) As you read, make sure you understand how the main idea (pretty much always the first sentence) of each supporting paragraph connects to the main idea of the first paragraph.
3) Use the first sentence of each paragraph to help you read actively. Ask yourself how each supporting sentence relates to the main idea sentence.

Questions:

1) Find the *reference* in the passage. Remember: it may be a treasure hunt!
2) Make sure you understand how the reference connects to the main idea (first line) of the paragraph.
3) Thinking critically about paraphrases (hypo/hypernyms), eliminate answer choices. Remember: don't eliminate whole answer choices; eliminate words.

I would also like to do a section on comparison/contrast, cause-and-effect, etc.

The Norton Reader is super-powerful for SAT prep.