How do you study?

• Write down what you do when you read your textbook.

Exploring a Textbook Objectives

• What is inside a textbook?

• Identify reading aids in a textbook • Understand how to use reading aids for more efficient learning

Reading Aids found in a Textbook • Table of Contents —a listing of the chapters in a book • Captions and Pictures —Photographs, diagrams, charts, and the words that explain them • Glossary —a list of special and difficult words and their meanings • Headings —a statement of the main idea in a section of a chapter (Read these first!) • Index —an alphabetical listing of the subjects in a book • Chapter Review & Summary — goes over the important points of a chapter (Read before and after!) • Questions and Vocabulary —located at the end of the chapter (Read before and after!) • Objectives —lets you know what you will be learning

Time Management Objectives

1. Analyze how your study time is being used 2. Recognize poor use of time 3. Brainstorm ways to correct poor time management skills

Discussion Questions

• How many of your parents have an appointment calendar?

– What kind of things do they write on the calendar?

• How many of your parents make lists? – What kind of lists and why?

• How might a study schedule be helpful to you?

• What problems might you avoid if you wrote down your assignments on a calendar?

Time Management Survey

• Complete independently • Quiet reflection

8 Tips for a successful study schedule

• Study in a quiet place with the TV off.

• Plan to use “dead time”—short periods which are normally wasted.

• Build short breaks into your study schedule.

• Study during daylight hours, if possible.

• Review every subject within 24 hours.

• Prioritize your assignments.

• Estimate the amount of time each subject will take and set time goals • Allow enough time for sleep and leisure activities.

Time Management Problems and Solutions • Create a problem with your partner.

• Another partnership will develop a way to solve this problem.

• Sample…

Remember these Time Management Tips!

• A test usually has a higher priority than other assignments.

• School assignments should have a higher priority than personal plans.

• Assignments you have to hand in have a higher priority than assignments that do not get collected by your teacher.

• Assignments due soon have a higher priority than assignments due later. (Use a calendar to keep track of when assignments are due.) • Subjects in which you are doing poorly have a higher priority than other subjects.

• You will learn more and remember better if you review a subject every day rather than wait until the night before a test.

Three Stages of Memory

• Acquisition – “getting it” • Storage – “keeping it” • Retrieval – “recalling it”

Three types of Recitation

• Oral Recitation – say it out loud.

• Note-taking • Highlighting or Underlining

A Quick Summary of SQ3R

• Look Material over before reading it.

• Do something “ Active ” immediately after reading.

• Review the material

regularly

.

1.

2.

Read the short article about Turtles and Tortoises.

Take notes on what you’ve read.

Note-taking Objectives

• Take useful notes from textbook material and discussion during class • Create your own abbreviations – They will stick with you!

Turtles

Hard protective shell No teeth Limbs are flippers Live in sea

Tortoises

Hard protective shell No teeth Front legs used for digging Live on land Lay eggs on land Stocky hind legs

Turtles Tortoises

Turtles and Tortoises I.

II.

Turtles A. Hard protective shell B. No teeth C. Live in the sea 1. Limbs are flippers D. Lay eggs on land in the sand 1. Young turtles return to the sea after hatching Tortoises A. Hard protective shell B. No teeth C. Live on land 1. Front legs used for digging 2. Stocky hind legs

Cornell Note-taking

How are turtles and tortoises alike?

Where do turtles live?

What do turtles’ legs look like?

Where do tortoises live? What do their legs look like?

Turtles and Tortoises I.

II.

Turtles A. Hard protective shell B. No teeth C. Live in the sea 1. Limbs are flippers D. Lay eggs on land in the sand 1. Young turtles return to the sea after hatching Tortoises A. Hard protective shell B. No teeth C. Live on land 1. Front legs used for digging 2. Stocky hind legs Free Online Graph Paper / Cornell Note-taking Lined

• Read the article entitled “Cockroaches”. Underline important information. Write questions in the margin.

What are some experiences you have had while taking tests?

Hot Tips for Active Test Preparation

• Organize your notes and handouts • Keep up with notes and assignments • Schedule daily and weekly reviews • Use oral recitation (triple strength learning) • Make flashcards • Use SQ3R • Use Cornell (double column) note-taking • Highlight key ideas (words & phrases) • Get enough sleep • Think positively!

Discussion Questions

• What types of items have you seen on teacher made tests?

– Which of them do you find most difficult?

• What do you think is the number one cause of mistakes on a test?

• If someone asked you whether or not it was wise to go back and change and answer on a test, what would you advise?

• Have you ever “run out of time” while taking a test?

– How could you prevent this in the future?

Test Taking Hints

• True/False • Multiple Choice • Matching • Short Answer • Essay

Practice Time!

• Let’s put our test taking skills to use as we take the following test together.

Listening Skills Objectives

• Listen with increased accuracy and attention • Active listening strategies • Follow directions more accurately

To make your listening skills better, you need to practice!

Being a good listener takes a lot of practice. Practice the following tips: • Stop what you are doing and face the person speaking.

• Think about what he/she is saying and ask him/her questions when you can.

• Ask yourself if you understand what he/she is talking about.

Summarizing Objectives

• Write a summary sentence from a short passage • Retell what you know in your own words

Summarizing Tips

• Before writing a summary, try telling someone what you read or what you understand about a topic.

• Make sure you use your

own words

.

• You can quote a sentence or use specific vocabulary/terms and their definitions, but most of what you write should reflect your own speaking and writing style.

Chunking

• Chunking information helps our brains to remember large amounts of information that are packed in small, easy to store packages. It is part of the encoding process that gets information into our long-term memory.

• Example: 235154825 Think: (235) (154) (825) Now you just have 3 groups to remember instead of 9 numbers.

Make up your own test

• Include the same types of test items that your teacher usually uses, such as true/false, multiple choice, matching, short answer, and essay. • After you make up your own test, take the test. You’ll be should get a 100% on your own test!

Use a recording device

• Use a tape recorder or some other device that can record your voice. Record your notes and listen to them. Ask questions on the tape, then pause and give the correct answer.

Acronyms

• Use the first letter of each word to make one word that is easy to remember.

• Example: HOMES This word helps you to remember the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.

Method of Loci

• Try to imagine words or pictures located at different places in the room. Then look at those place and try to remember what you put there.

Mnemonics

• Use the first letter of each word you need to memorize and make a sentence that uses words that begin with the same first letters.

• Example: My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.

(The planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, & Pluto)

Keyword Method

• Think of a word that sounds similar to the word you must remember. For example, the word “peckish” means hungry, so think of birds pecking at seeds they are eating.

• “Cumbersome” means very large or heavy and hard to handle. Think of trying to carry a large

cucumber

through a doorway.

Play Memory

• Make a set of flashcards with words and a set with definitions. Spread them out on a table face down and try to play “Matching” or “Memory.”

Visualize

• Draw pictures to go along with your notes.

Use Music

• Turn your notes or words into a song set to a familiar melody. You could also just create a rhyme, rap, or poem.

Imagery

• Think of the things that you need to remember in relation to your body. • If you have to remember parts of the cell, – Think about a nucleus sitting on top of your head – Cell wall keeping you locked in your room; cytoplasm oozing out of your ears; mitochondria attached to your back like a backpack.

Organization

• Look for relationships and make a chart or web. Organize the list to help you remember the words: • Dog, spoon, apple, saw, parrot, fork, pear, hammer, knife, cat, orange, screwdriver.

Apple Pear Orange Hammer Saw screwdriver Dog Parrot Cat Spoon Fork Knife

What’s your Favorite(s)?!

• Create own test • Use music • Create drawings • Mnemonics • Remember key words • Play game of “memory” with flashcards • Method of Loci (location of something in room to help you remember) • Other