Take a practice test of the SAT reading section. Target the areas you have the most trouble with, and create a study plan that focuses primarily on these types of questions.
Purchase a calendar or planner. Determine how many hours per week you can study, and mark down the days and times on your calendar. Also mark down dates you will take a practice test of the reading portion. Routinely engaging with the material assists in your familiarization with the types of questions and format, helping to increase your score.
Write words on index cards to create flashcards. Get these words from your everyday reading, schoolwork or SAT study guides. Increasing your vocabulary allows you to spend less time deciphering meaning from context clues and blindly guessing during the test.
Read all of the instructions, especially introductory material that is in italics. Italicized text may contain important information about how to base your answers.
Answer sentence completion questions before reading passage questions to better manage your time. It takes less time to answer sentence completion questions, and they are worth the same amount of points as reading passage questions.
Write in the SAT booklet. Underline key words, draw arrows to similar themes and jot down the logic you use to make a guess. Writing down your mental notes helps you keep information organized and reduce second-guessing.
Answer all the questions you can about one passage before moving on to a different reading passage. It may be easy to confuse similar themes and content. It is best to answer the questions about a passage while the passage is still fresh in your mind.
Locate context clues when you find a word whose meaning you do not know. Context clues help you rationalize possible meanings of the word that would make sense in the sentence or paragraph.