Grade: Kindergarten Subject: SAT/ACT Skills Unit: Picture-to-Sentence Reasoning SAT: Information+Ideas ACT: Reading

Picture Mistakes to Avoid

📖 Learn

Everyone makes mistakes - even grown-ups! Learning about common mistakes helps us avoid them. Let's look at four big mistakes and how to fix them.

❌ Mistake #1: Going Too Fast

What happens: You pick the first answer without looking at all the pictures.

How to fix it: Always look at EVERY picture before you choose!

🐸 🐸 🐸 🐢 🐸

Don't just look at the first two frogs - look at ALL of them to find the turtle!

❌ Mistake #2: Not Finding the Real Pattern

What happens: You see part of the pattern but miss the whole thing.

How to fix it: Say the pattern out loud to make sure it works all the way!

🔵 🔴 🔵 🔴 🔵 ❓

Say it: "Blue, red, blue, red, blue..." The next one is RED!

❌ Mistake #3: Forgetting to Check Your Answer

What happens: You pick an answer but don't check if it makes sense.

How to fix it: Put your answer in and see if it works!

🌟 🌙 🌟 🌙 🌟 ❓

If you think the answer is 🌟, check: "Star, moon, star, moon, star, star?" That doesn't sound right! The answer is 🌙.

❌ Mistake #4: Looking at the Wrong Thing

What happens: The question asks about color, but you look at shape (or the other way around).

How to fix it: Read or listen to the question carefully!

🔴 🔵 🟢 🔴

If asked "Which COLOR is different?" look at colors, not the fact that they're all circles!

💡 Examples

Let's practice catching mistakes!

Example 1: Spot the Mistake

🐶 🐶 🐱 🐶 🐶

Wrong answer: "The first dog is different."

Why it's wrong: The student didn't look at all the pictures!

Right answer: The cat (🐱) is different - it's in the middle.

Example 2: Spot the Mistake

⬆️ ⬆️ ⬇️ ⬆️ ⬆️ ⬇️ ⬆️ ⬆️ ❓

Wrong answer: "The next one is up because there are more ups."

Why it's wrong: The student didn't find the real pattern!

Right answer: ⬇️ - The pattern is up, up, down, repeating.

Example 3: Spot the Mistake

🍎 🍊 🍎 🍊 🍎 ❓

Wrong answer: "Apple, because I like apples better."

Why it's wrong: The student didn't check if the pattern works!

Right answer: 🍊 - Apple, orange, apple, orange, apple, ORANGE!

✏️ Practice

For each problem, find the right answer AND explain what mistake someone might make.

Question 1

🌸 🌸 🌸 🌺 🌸 🌸

Which flower is different?

What mistake might someone make?

Question 2

🟨 🟦 🟨 🟦 🟨 ❓

What comes next?

How would you check your answer?

Question 3

😀 😀 😐 😀 😀 😐 😀 😀 ❓

What face comes next?

Say the pattern out loud!

Question 4

🎵 🎵 🎶 🎵 🎵 🎵

Which music note looks different?

Did you look at all of them?

Question 5

➡️ ⬅️ ➡️ ⬅️ ➡️ ❓

Which arrow comes next?

What is the pattern?

Question 6

🐟 🐠 🐟 🐠 🐟 🐠 ❓

What fish comes next?

Check: Does your answer fit the pattern?

Question 7

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 🌟 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Which star is different?

Look very carefully - some differences are small!

Question 8

🔺 🔻 🔺 🔻 🔺 🔻 🔺 ❓

What triangle comes next?

Is it pointing up or down?

Question 9: Tricky!

🍇 🍈 🍉 🍇 🍈 🍉 🍇 🍈 ❓

What fruit comes next?

This pattern has THREE parts!

Question 10: Super Tricky!

👋 👋 ✌️ 👋 👋 ✌️ 👋 ❓ ❓

What are the NEXT TWO?

Find the pattern first, then fill in both blanks!

✅ Answer Key

  1. 🌺 (4th flower) - Mistake: Only looking at the first few flowers
  2. 🟦 (blue) - Check: Yellow, blue, yellow, blue, yellow, BLUE - yes!
  3. 😐 (neutral face) - Pattern: happy, happy, neutral, repeating
  4. 🎶 (3rd note) - It has extra notes/is different style
  5. ⬅️ (left arrow) - Pattern: right, left, right, left...
  6. 🐟 (orange fish) - Pattern: plain fish, fancy fish, repeating
  7. 🌟 (4th star) - It's a different style of star
  8. 🔻 (down triangle) - Pattern: up, down, up, down...
  9. 🍉 (watermelon) - Pattern: grapes, melon, watermelon, repeating
  10. 👋 ✌️ - Pattern: wave, wave, peace sign, repeating

🎯 Remember the Four Rules!

  1. Look at ALL the pictures
  2. Find the REAL pattern
  3. CHECK your answer
  4. Make sure you understand the QUESTION

🚀 Next Steps

  • When you make a mistake, ask "Which rule did I forget?"
  • Practice saying patterns out loud
  • Try the Mixed Practice lesson to test all your skills!