ELA & Math Chancellor's letter

This basically says the tests will be more difficult to pass.... panic now ... thanks Chancellor! Fortunately, Kweller Prep is ready to meet the challenge

 

 

 

 

Essay Tips-- first person

HOW TO APPROACH THE ESSAY

Note: These are just TIPS! Not a comprehensive understanding. You need to work on at least 2 dozen practice essays before you take your ELA!!!

Overall Comments:

            Format – a first-person essay-- The essay should be 4-5 paragraphs long; should include: An introduction, 2/3 paragraphs, and a conclusion. REMEMBER THIS ESSAY IS ABOUT YOU, use “I” instead of you.

            Spatial Awareness – DO NOT cram words closely together, DO NOT space out words too much, DO NOT write too little (leaving many blank lines on the essay), DO NOT write too much (going past the number of line numbers allotted for the essay). Both QUANTITY & QUALITY are equally important for the essay.

            Vocabulary – Use higher-level vocabulary but only if the vocabulary word makes sense to use in the context.  Don’t just use a “big” word for the sake of using a “big” word. You need to actually make sure the word fits into the sentence. Only use higher-level vocabulary that you know the definition of.  SPELL THE WORDS PROPERLY.  Using vocabulary improperly or awkwardly (not the right vocabulary word for the content of the essay) will hurt your essay grade, not help it.

            Contractions – Contractions are shortening words such as cannot to can’t.  DO NOT use them because they are too informal. Again stay away from “can’t”; instead use cannot.

            Sensory Details – Use adjectives/adverbs to describe parts of your essay.  SHOW DON’T TELL method is key.  You need to be descriptive in order to keep the reader engaged, make the reader feel like they are in the essay, experiencing its content rather then just reading it. Know at least 100 adjectives and be comfortable incorporating them into your essay. The graders spend a lot of time grading the essay.

            Figurative Language – Use similes, metaphors, and idioms in your writing to make it jump out at the reader.  There are 3000 students taking the exam, and 3000 essays that teachers may potentially be reading, so make yours stand out from the competition.

            Punctuation – DO NOT use exclamation points or quotation marks.  This is a personal essay-- not a play or story, which means NO DIALOUGUE.  Kids should especially stay away from drawing any sort of hearts or designs or triple exclamation marks to prove a point (!!!) Watch for semi-colons and commas.  Commas are used to separate 2 related phrases that CANNOT stand-alone if the comma was replaced with a period.  Semi-colons are used to separate 2 related phrases that COULD stand-alone if the semi-colon was replaced with a period.  A semi colon (;) is stronger than a comma (,) but weaker than a period.

            Proof Read – You should be able to reread your essay at least twice during the exam. Look out for awkward, unclear sentences, grammar problems, structure and if or not you have followed the tips given to you by Kweller Prep.

STRUCTURE:

            Intro: This should take up 3-6 sentences

                        -Must generalize the topic to a universal audience

-Must answer the essay prompt question

                        -Must NOT let the reader realize that they are reading an essay

                        -Must address the supporting paragraph topics without listing them

            Body Paragraphs: Each one should be 7-10 sentences

                        -Must stay on one SUPPORTING topic; if you start another topic then create a new paragraph

                        -Must refer back to the essay prompt question

                        -Must use the SHOW DON’T TELL method

                        -Use figurative language

                        -Have a clear flow of ideas; Transitions should be smooth from one paragraph to another.  Should have topic sentences and a concluding sentence, summing up the paragraph while relating back to the essay topic.  DO NOT use traditional transitions too much, i.e. for example, in conclusion, one reason is, another reason…

                        -DO NOT be repetitive

                       

            Conclusion:

                        -Must summarize the introduction WITHOUT repeating the same sentences/phrases used in the introduction

                        -Must answer the essay prompt question again

                        -Must NOT let the reader realize that this is an essay and that this is the end of it without saying it outright, i.e. DO NOT use the phrase: in conclusion

                        -Concluding sentence must clearly indicate that this is the end of the essay without saying it outright, i.e. To summarize, Christmas is my favorite holiday and I cannot wait for next Christmas to come quickly enough.

Kweller Prep Yelp Review

Kweller Prep Tutoring and Educational Services  

Category: Tutoring Centers
Neighborhood: Forest Hills

  

 

3/2/2013

I decided to take Kweller Prep at the last minute before the Hunter test and we crammed for 8 weeks of intense review. It payed off My son got accepted to Hunter College High School. The tutors helped ascertain the areas that my son needed to work on. Specifically, we did intense review on essay writing. My son wrote 10 essays every week and it payed off immensely. My son enjoyed the tutors and the challenge of the material that was presented to him. Furthermore, the other children were sociable and attentive during the prep classes. I would highly recommend this for any of the prep classes they offer. The tutors are highly qualified and the atmosphere is conducive to learning.

 

Sample essay-- Success

Although everyone wants to be successful in life, success may not be as beneficial as people hope it will be. In the French film, Le Diner de Cons, Michel is a successful man who invites a so-called “idiot” to a dinner for idiots, and finds out that despite all his success, he is the idiot after all. The Greek myth of Arachne and Minerva also embodies this idea as Arachne uses her skills in weaving to show she’s better than Minerva, yet suffers the consequences. This is often the case seen for people who have had much success in their life, but suffer because of it. 

Michel, the main character in Le Diner de Cons, is a book publisher living in Paris with a beautiful apartment and wife. He is very well-off, and takes advantage of his success, especially by having an affair with one of his clients. Michel invites a man, Francois Pignon, that he thinks is very foolish to a dinner for idiots to be the entertainment for the night. The two never make it to the dinner, and instead embark on a quest to find Michel’s wife who had just left him because she found out he was cheating on her. Pignon is not a very smart man, yet he shows Michel that despite all his success in business, he has not been successful in life because he allowed it all to get the better of him, causing him many personal problems, and he is in fact the “idiot.”

Similar to Michel, Arachne has had a lot of success in her life, being called the best weaver in the world. She believes it also and is very hubristic because of it, mocking the goddess Minerva saying she is better than her at weaving. Minerva challenges the girl to a weaving contest and sees that Arachne is the better weaver after all, however because of the girl’s hubris, Minerva turns her into a spider as punishment for her crime. Arachne may have been a skilled weaver and gained renown for her talents, but the success she found wound up having terrible consequences in the end as she let herself be consumed by it.

Both Michel and Arachne were very successful people with a lot going for them, however the success they had caused them more grief than anything else. Michel’s personal problems stem from his talents as a publisher and cause him to lose his wife and face other consequences, similar to how Arachne, after becoming known for her excellent weaving skills was turned into a spider for bragging about them. Everyone wishes to be successful in life, but sometimes the consequences of achieving great things are not worth it.

Is Kweller Prep Worth it?

Yes! The numbers speak for themselves

-Small classes
-plenty of personal attention
-plenty of practice exams

Try us out ! email info@KwellerPrep.com for more

SAT Essay sample answer

Sample answer SAT Paragraph 1 & 2

Knowledge As a Burden

            The attainment of knowledge has long been a goal that individuals have striven for, be it for the admiration and esteem of others or due to an honest, innate curiosity of the ways of the world. Knowledge, however, also has the power to destroy. Indeed, as the saying goes, “Ignorance is bliss,” and often times it is only once the pursuit of knowledge is achieved that one realizes they might have been better off without it. This notion has been illustrated throughout centuries of great literature, becoming timeless in the process. One work in particular is that of Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex,” which tells the story of a king whose life is utterly ruined once he gains the knowledge of his fulfillment of a tragic prophecy. Another novel in which the concept of knowledge as a burden is especially poignant is that of Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World,” which tells the story of a boy who grows up alienated from his society, with the only thing that keeps him going being the images of a beautiful, distant, other world that his mother has instilled in him. When he visits this other “better” world, however, he finds it utterly repellant, and the knowledge that he doesn’t, in fact, fit in anywhere drives him to suicide.

            Sophocles’ masterpiece, “Oedipus Rex,” tells the story of a King who despairs over the chaos and suffering prevalent throughout his beloved kingdom. When told that it was due to his fulfillment of a tragic prophecy that states that he would murder his father and sleep with his mother, he is at first skeptical, but gradually comes to realize the prophecy’s truth and the fact that it had come to pass. This knowledge tears apart the very fabric of his once joyous life, as he realizes that his dear wife is in fact his mother, and his two daughters the products of incest. Perhaps even worse is his realization that he is in fact responsible for the suffering of his beloved subjects….

Hunter Entrance Exam Acceptance

 

 

To be honest, I went through a really tough time starting Kweller Prep five years ago... lot's of people tried to talk me out of entrepreneurship & the many challenges ahead...

Today, about a dozen kids from Kp received acceptance letters to one of the most competitive high schools in America, and KP & the tutors played a key role in that... Ok so it's been like a roller coaster building up this business, but in the end, it was all worth it ... As Lauren says, her dad was crying when he found out... wow we really played a role in that....

 

contact us at info@KwellerPrep.com