FINAL EXAM STUDY SKILLS PRESENTATION (Condensed) 5/15 & 5/22 - PDF document

FINAL EXAM STUDY SKILLS PRESENTATION (Condensed) 5/15 & 5/22 Erika Hess – Student Family Support Coordinator ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Multiple Factors: All play into how you do on your test  Time Management  Level of stress/anxiety  Comfort level with the material  General study habits  Level of focus  Level of effort  Frame of mind Where to Study (at home): Consider  Clutter-free *Lighting – bright vs. dim  Distraction-free *Sound – fan/window noise vs. music  Have all your notes/books out *Seating – chair vs. pillows  Personalize your space (Not recommended) (Recommended) – Comfy can also work! *Avoid your bed Where to Study (on the go):  Car rides!  Outside!  Teacher review sessions! When to Study?  You have one month to plan!  Create a “study plan” for each of your classes  Plan set review times on calendar  Review at least 15 minutes each session (take a break every 15 minutes)

 Spread out your studying for each subject area  Write what specific activity you will complete  Use different color highlighters for each subject  Check off each activity after you complete it  Post your calendar where you can see it! Sunday Monday Tuesday Wed. Thursday Friday Sat. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Create E E E study plan S S S SS SS SS M M M L L L 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 E E E E E E E S S S S S S S SS SS SS SS SS SS SS M M M M M M M L L L L L L L 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 E E E E E E E S S S S S S S SS SS SS SS SS SS SS M M M M M M M L L L L L L L 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 E E E E E E E S S S S S S S SS SS SS SS SS SS SS M M M M M M M L L L L L L L 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 E E WORLD MATH SOCIAL SCIENCE S S LANG. STUDIES SS SS M M L L (Recommend printing on large paper) ***Make sure to ask your teachers what chapters/packets are going to be on the exam before creating your plan

Motivation:  Don’t forget to check off each activity you compl ete on your calendar  IDEA = “Motivation Jar” - Keep a jar at your study space and put a penny/paper clip into it each time you complete a study session. (Use a glass jar to see your progress)  More pennies = more success! Brain Breaks:  Brain needs breaks to “digest” info  Set a timer - 5 minutes  During brain breaks do :  Take a walk  Dance  Talk to someone  Change locations  During brain breaks don’t :  Watch T.V./play video games  Hop on the computer  Give up Brain Food:  Eat b efore you start your work. Don’t repeatedly allow yourself to go to the fridge during your “brain breaks.”  EXAMPLES  Blueberries  Mixed nuts: peanuts, pecans, walnuts  Chocolate  Avocadoes  Drink water. Have a water bottle on your desk. It helps your refocus and think clearly. After Break:  Before getting back to learning new information, close your eyes and recall what you learned before the break (think of any key people, terms or main ideas).  Try tape recording your “review” sessions after each break. Ta lk out any new information for 1-2 minutes.  Get creative and change your voice to sound like characters or to express how you feel about the new terms/ideas. Peek back at your book/packets if you forgot what you learned. Listen to your recorded review sessions as often as possible.  Time yourself 1 min – draw a picture of what you can remember What to Study:  Use your “final exam” review sheets as guides  Just filling them out or peeking over your notes = NOT good enough  Study the chapters your teacher listed  What materials to study from:  Old chapter packets  Old tests/quizzes  Key vocabulary  Review guides in back of Ch. in the books  Guided questions from each section in the chapter How to Study:  Little by little each day  Pick 1 or 2 subjects to focus on  Focus 15 minutes on studying M-F

 Spend a little more time on weekends  Study alone, w/ parent(s), w/ friend(s)  Attend review sessions  Use teacher web pages  Use textbook websites STUDY STRATEGIES Flashcards:  For vocabulary/key terms  For math problems (write out sample questions) Front = term or math problem Back = definition or answer  Practice  On car rides!  During commercial breaks!  Make online flashcards  www.studyblue.com  www.studystack.com Flip Books:  Create a flip book of key terms/math problems Question Jars:  Cut up slips of paper  Write out chapter ?s from each section in textbook (only use chapters on the exam)  Write out review ?s from ch. packets  Read over the section/chapter  Pull out ?s and review them w/ an adult  Check the book/packet for the correct answer  Add new ?s to the jar each time you review a new chapter

Picture Summaries:  Reread the chapter summary in the textbook w/ a friend or parent  Look it over – > review each subheading review the pictures review key words  Discuss what you remember learning in class  Look up any info/key terms you don’t remember  As a team, create picture/cartoon that represents the chapter  KISS = Keep It Simple Silly (The funnier, the better!) *Add key details (dates, events) *Add speech bubbles  Label drawing w/ the chapter title  Write short 1-2 sentence description of what is happening  Post it somewhere or create a picture review book 60 Seconds to Scribe:  Look at the chapter name  Time yourself – 60 seconds (use timer)  Write any names/terms that come to mind related to the topic  Think of when you learned the info in class  After you are done, check the chapter to see if the terms you listed are mentioned. Circle the ones you got right.  Add any key terms to your list that you forgot  Use the list to play Charades or make flashcards  Can add these to your question jar for random review Memorization Tricks Name Association:  To help recall names of people, associate their name with some type of physical trait. Keep in mind: hair, facial features, age, clothing style.  EX: Christina Hall  “Christina Hall is very tall” – use rhyme  EX: Phil Baker  Has fluffy, white hair- looks like a baker’s hat – use association Mnemonics:  Helps to translate information into a form in which our brains can better understand it. Mnemonics can be lists, poems, acronyms, phrases or pictures in an organized format. The sillier, the better!  EX of acronyms: ROYGBIV (colors of the rainbow), HOMES (great lakes), PEMDAS (order of operations)  EX of phrase: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos (8 planets) Body Part Association:  Use the order/function of your body parts to help you remember info. Your head is the brains of the operation, your eyes observe, your mouth communicates, your hands do the physical work…this type of through process might help you in social studies or science to memorize the structure of government or the functions of cell parts.  You can also use your body parts and move them to help you remember information. Like the multiplication of the 9’s trick using your fingers.  EX of physical form: Use your hands or other body parts

 Ex: Branches of government – Executive- brain- runs the system Legislative – both arms- make laws Judicial – feet – pillars of court Memory Walk:  Take a memory walk using your house ’s layout. Mentally create a path through your house that feels natural to you. Start in whatever room you’d like and make a path, stopping at certain locations and ending up at a set point. Take notice of the items you pass by or touch in the process.  To remember a list of people, picture these people doing certain things as you walk throughout your home.  The sillier – the better!  Close your eyes, practice visualizing the people, events within your home

Object Connection:  When learning new information, pick a random object in the room and pick it up. Connect the term/idea to the object you picked up. Consider its shape, color, texture, weight, purpose and location in the room. EX: Term – “Square Deal” Object – pillow  I chose a pill ow to represent Roosevelt’s Square Deal because a pillow is comfortable and has 4 equal sides. The Square Deal was Roosevelt’s plan to make sure he didn’t favor any particular group of Americans and that all sides (groups) were treated equally. Walk-n-Talk:  When reviewing information, try walking around the room with your notes. When moving around and memorizing information, you are using both the left and right sides of your brain! Image sources: http://www.flashmybrain.com/spanish-flash-cards.php www.tumblr.com http://funin4b.blogspot.com/2012/07/guided-math-book-study-chapter-4-and-5.html www.flickr.com http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/resources/sol/tx/g08h04.html www.hello-ideas.com www.rhl.org www.wikipedia.org