Taking distractors apart
Review sessions spend most of their time on the wrong options many students chose, rather than re-explaining the correct one.
SAT Reading & Writing
Ngô Gia Bảo
Main strength
Takes distractor answers apart: why an option that sounds right is wrong, and what in the passage says so.
- SAT score
- 1540
- Experience
- 4 years
Leads the Reading & Writing half of the SAT, focusing on short passages with reasoning traps and on ruling out the distractor options.
Introduction
About Ngô Gia Bảo
Four years of teaching, leading the Reading & Writing half of the SAT. This paper differs from every English certificate in that it does not measure English level but the ability to read and reason in English — so a student who already has the language can still lose marks steadily here.
Review sessions go into the distractors — why an option that reads perfectly well is wrong, and what in the passage says so. This takes the largest share of the time, because with this question type, understanding why you were wrong is worth more than knowing the right answer.
In the classroom
How these lessons run
Evidence from the passage
Every choice has to point to the line that supports it; an answer picked on instinct counts as not yet answered.
Time split before reading
Each block of questions gets a time target set in advance, and students check that target against what actually happened after each attempt.
Currently teaching
Courses and skills
Programmes taught
- SAT
SAT
The Reading & Writing half: main idea, command of evidence, transitions, and standard English conventions.
Exam practice
Full timed papers, followed by review sessions centred on the distractor options.
Next step
Find the class that matches your current level
Wobridge uses a placement test to work out your current band, then recommends the stage and the teacher that fit your goal.