1.

Managing Your Study Time

2. Study Groups
3. Good Listening in Class
4. Taking Notes in Class
5. Becoming a Flexible Reader
 The Ten Study Habits of Successful Students
• Try not to do too much studying at one time
• Plan specific times for studying
• Try to study at the same times each day
• Set specific goals for your study times
• Start studying when planned
• Work on the assignment you find most difficult first
• Review your notes before beginning an assignment
• Tell your friends not to call you during your study times or turn off
your phones
• Call your teacher/another student when you have difficulty with
an assignment
• Review your schoolwork over the weekend
Managing Your Study Time
• Prepare a Term Calendar
+ Record your school assignments with their due
dates and your scheduled tests. Record your
planned school activities.
+ Record your planned school activities.
+ Record your known out-of-school activities.
1. Managing Your Study Time
• Prepare a Weekly Schedule
+ Record your daily classes.
+ Enter things to be done for the coming week from your Term
Calendar.
+ Review your class notes from the previous week to see if you
need to add any school activities.
+ Add any out-of-school activities in which you will be involved
during the week.
+ Be sure to include times for completing assignments, working
on projects, and studying for tests. These times may be during
the school day, right after school, evenings, and weekends.
Managing Your Study Time
• Prepare a Daily Organizer
+ Enter the things to do for the coming day from your
Weekly Schedule.
+ Enter the things that still need to be accomplished
from your Daily Organizer from the previous day.
+ Review your class notes for the day just completed
to see if you need to add any school activities.
+ Add any out-of-school activities in which you will be
involved the next day.
 2. Study Groups

A study group can be helpful when you are trying to learn

information and concepts and preparing for class discussions and
tests.
+ Benefits of a Study Group
+ Characteristics of a Successful Study Group
+ Possible Pitfalls of a Study Group
 Why Study in a Group?
• A support group can "pick you up" when you find that your
motivation to study is slipping. The other group members can be
a source of encouragement.
• You may be reluctant to ask a question in class. You will find it
easier to do so in a small study group.
• You may become more committed to study because the group
members are depending on your presentation and participation.
You will not want to let them down.
• Group members will listen and discuss information and concepts
during the study sessions. These activities add a strong auditory
dimension to your learning experience.
• One or more group members are likely to understand something
you do not. They may bring up ideas you never considered.
 Why Study in a Group?

• You can learn valuable new study habits from the

other group members.
• You can compare your class notes with those of the
other group members to clarify your notes and fill in
any gaps.
• Teaching/explaining information and concepts to the
other group members will help you reinforce your
mastery of the information and concepts.
• Interacting with the other group members can make
studying enjoyable.
Characteristics of a Successful Study Group
• Each group member contributes to discussions.
• Group members actively listen to each other without
interrupting. Only one group member speaks at a time.
• The other group members work collaboratively to
resolve any concern raised by a group member.
• Group members are prompt and come prepared to
work.
• The group stays on task with respect to its agenda.
Characteristics of a Successful Study Group
• Group members show respect for each other.
• Group members feel free to criticize each other but keep
their criticisms constructive. This can encourage group
members to reveal their weaknesses so that they can
strengthen them.
• Group members feel free to ask questions of each other.
• At the end of each study session, an agenda including
specific group member responsibilities is prepared for
the next session.
• Above all, the positive attitude that "we can do this
together" is maintained.
 Possible Pitfalls of a Study Group
• Do not let the study group get distracted from its
agenda and goals.
• Do not let the study group become a social group. You
can always socialize at other times.
• Do not allow group members to attend unprepared. To
stay in the group, members should be required to do
their fair share.
• Do not the let the session become a negative forum for
complaining about teachers and courses.
• Do not allow one or two group members to dominate
the group. It is important that all members have an
equal opportunity to participate.
3. Good Listening in Class
• Listening is a cognitive act that requires you to pay
attention and mentally process what you hear.
• Much of what you have to learn will be presented
verbally by your teachers. Hearing what your
teachers say is not the same as listening to what
they say.
 Good Listening in Class
• Be Cognitively Ready to Listen. Make sure you complete
all assigned work and readings. Review your notes from
previous class sessions. Think about what you know about
the topic that will be covered in class that day.
• Be Emotionally Ready to Listen. Your attitude is
important. Make a conscious choice to find the topic
useful and interesting. Be committed to learning all that
you can.
• Listen with a Purpose. Identify what you expect and hope
to learn from the class session. Listen for these things as
your teacher talks.
• Listen with an Open Mind. Be receptive to what your
teacher says. It is good to question what is said as long as
you remain open to points of view other than your own.
 Good Listening in Class
• Be Attentive. Focus on what your teacher is saying. Try not to daydream
and let your mind wander to other things. It helps to sit in the front and
center of the class and to maintain eye contact with your teacher.
• Be an Active Listener. You can think faster than your teacher can speak. Use
this to your advantage by evaluating what is being said and trying to
anticipate what will be said next. Take good written notes about what your
teacher says.
• Meet the Challenge. Don't give up and stop listening when you find the
information being presented difficult to understand. Listen even more
carefully at these times and work hard to understand what is being said.
Don't be reluctant to ask questions.
• Triumph Over the Environment. The classroom may be too noisy, too hot,
too cold, too bright, or too dark. Don't give in to these inconveniences. Stay
focused on the big picture - LEARNING.
3. Taking Notes in Class
• Taking good notes is a three-stage process in which
there are certain things you should do before class,
during class, and after class. Here are the three
stages of notetaking and what you should do during
each stage.
a.Before Class
• Getting Ready to Take Notes
+ Review your notes from the previous class session before
you come to class. This will help you remember what was
covered and get you ready to understand new information
your teacher provides.
+ Complete all assigned readings before you come to class.
Your teacher will expect that you have done this and will
use and build upon this information.
+ Bring all notetaking materials with you to class. Have
several pens and pencils as well as your notebook.
 b. During Class
• Taking Notes
+ Keep your attention focused on what your teacher is saying. Listen
for "signal statements" that tell you what your teacher is about to
say is important to write in your notes. Examples of signal
statements are "The most important point..." and "Remember
that..." Be sure to include in your notes information that your
teacher repeats or writes on the chalkboard.
+ Write quickly so that you can include all the important information
in your notes. Do this by writing abbreviated words such as med for
medicine, using symbols such as % for percent, and writing short
sentences.
+ Place a ? next to information you write in your notes but about
whose meaning you are not sure.
 c.After Class
• Rewrite Your Notes
+ Rewrite your notes to make them more complete by
changing abbreviated words into whole words, symbols
into words, and shortened sentences into longer sentences.
+ Make your notes more accurate by answering any
questions you had when writing your notes in class.Use
your textbook and reference sources to obtain the
information you need to answer your questions. If
necessary, ask your teacher or other students for help.
+ Check with other students to be sure you did not leave out
important information.
+ Having good class notes will help you to be better
prepared for tests
 Notetaking Tips
• Use a loose leaf notebook for taking notes. You can then remove
pages as needed. You cannot do this if you use a spiral notebook.
• Write your notes on the front side of pages only. This will allow
you to lay the pages side by side when reviewing your notes for
a test.
• Write the date at the top of each page of your notes and
number the pages. This will help you to keep your notes in the
proper sequence.
• Keep your notes for each class separate from your notes for
other classes. You can use different color tabs to help you do
this.
• Be selective in what you write. On average, the speaking speed
of teachers is five to six times faster than is the writing speed of
students. Quite simply, do not try to write everything your
teacher says.
 Notetaking Tips
• Use abbreviations and symbols to increase your notetaking speed.
• Don't be too concerned with spelling and grammar. These notes are
for your use and will not be graded.
• Ask your teacher to repeat something you think you may have missed.
• Use your own words as you write points made by your teacher. Doing
this will increase your understanding of your notes and your ability to
remember the information they contain.
• Write the definitions provided by your teachers.
• Write legibly. You will have to read your notes later on.
• Include in your notes information your teacher writes on the board.
• Stay especially alert during the last few minutes of the class. Teachers
sometime use the last few minutes of a class session to cram in
everything they wanted to cover but didn’t.
5. Becoming a Flexible Reader
•
+ Skimming: the purpose is to quickly obtain a general
idea about the reading material. The Skimming style is
most useful when you have to read a large amount of
material in a short amount of time.
+ Scanning: the purpose is to quickly locate a specific piece
of information within reading material. The piece of
information to be located may be contained in a list of
names, words, numbers, short statements, and sometimes
even in a paragraph.
• Reading for the gist: A gist statement is a summary
containing about 10 words or fewer that identifies the
most important “who” or “what” of a text, and the
most important information about that “who” or
“what.” The gist statement must be in your own
words.
• Reading for details: Paying attention to every single
word and spend time thinking about what each
individual sentence means.
Reading for a deeper meaning.
 KWL Chart
• The KWL chart was designed as an instructional reading strategy
teachers could use to guide students' textbook reading. However,
you can use KWL to help you learn about a topic.
+ K: What you already know about the topic. Complete the K column
by thinking about and writing what you already know about the
topic.
+ W: What else you want to know about the topic. Complete the W
column by writing the questions you want to answer about the
topic.
+ L: What you learned about the topic as you read your textbook and
use reference sources. Complete the L column by writing the
answers to the questions you wrote in the W column. Also, write in
the L column other information you learned as you answered the
questions.
 KWL Chart
Topic: DESERTS

K W
A desert is a dry area of
land that is typically very
hot.
L
Are there any areas of There are areas with
water in a desert? water in a desert that are
called an oasis.
They are found by an
aquifer or an underground
stream. Aquifer is an
underground bed or layer
that yields water.
You'll find more plants
and animals by an oasis
than in any other part of
the desert.
 Improving Reading Fluency
• Do your heaviest reading assignments when you are most alert. A
physical task takes more time to accomplish when you are tired. The
same is true for a reading task.
• Focus on what you are reading. Your reading will be slowed if you are
distracted. Distractions can be external such as a TV playing, or internal
such as worrying about something you have to do the next day.
• Look over the reading material before you begin reading. You can
quickly scan a page by looking for headings, bullet points, and things in
bold. As you do this you may find that there is some text you can skip.
• Avoid reading word by word. Try to read blocks of words. Your eyes can
take in four to five words at a time. Work on expanding the number of
words you can read at a time.
• Don't pronounce each word in your head as you read it. The action of
pronouncing words, even if not aloud, slows you down.
 Improving Reading Fluency
• Use a pen or pencil or even your finger as a pacer. Your eyes and
brain will try to keep up with the pace you set. You can work on
increasing your pace of reading.
• Avoid straining your eyes. Reading with insufficient light, at an
uncomfortable angle, or in bed lying down can result in eye fatigue
that will slow your reading or cause you to stop for periods of time.
Blinking your eyes from time to time can help ease eyestrain.
• Try not to let your eyes stay in the same place on the page for too
long. Move on whenever you find yourself stuck.
• Don't use a highlighter. If you do, you are likely to pay excessive
attention to everything on the page.
• Avoid going back to read something unless absolutely necessary.
Rereading interrupts your reading flow and slows you down. You
can always go back later to review material.
• Focus on key words in the sentences. You can read more fluently
by quickly moving past conjunctions (e.g., and), prepositions (e.g.,
as), and articles (e.g., a).
Building Vocabulary: Using Context Clues to Learn Word
Meaning

• The context clue is usually presented in the sentence

or paragraph in which the word occurs. Sometimes a
visual such as a picture is provided.
• There are six types of context clues used by authors
to help the reader understand the meanings of words.
 Definition context clue
•
The author includes a definition to help the reader
understand the meaning of a word.
In the following example, "tainted" is defined as having
a disease.
The people of the town were warned not to eat the
tainted fish. The local newspaper published a bulletin in
which readers were clearly told that eating fish that had
a disease could be very dangerous. This was especially
true for fish caught in Lake Jean.
 Synonym context clue
The author includes a synonym to help the reader
understand the meaning of a word. A synonym is a word
that means the same as or nearly the same as another
word.
In the following example, the synonym "pity" helps the
reader understand the meaning of "compassion."
After seeing the picture of the starving children, we all
felt compassion or pity for their suffering.
 Antonym context clue
The author includes an antonym to help the reader
understand the meaning of a word. An antonym is a word
that means the opposite of another word.
In the following example, the antonym "eager" helps
the reader understand the meaning of "reluctant."
Joe was reluctant to take on the position of captain of
the basketball team. He was afraid that the time it
would take would hurt his grades. On the other hand,
Billy was eager for the chance to be captain. He thought
that being captain of the team would make him very
popular in school.
 Description context clue
The author includes one or more descriptions to help
the reader understand the meaning of a word.
In the following example, descriptions of President
Kennedy as having charm, enthusiasm, and a magnetic
personality help the reader understand the meaning of
"charismatic."
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, our 35th president, improved
human rights and equal rights for all people. He was a
very charismatic president. People were attracted to his
charm and enthusiasm. His personality was described as
magnetic.
 Summary context clue
The author makes a number of statements that help
the reader understand the meaning of a word.
In the following example, statements about being rude,
showing no respect, having poor manners, and being
impolite help the reader understand the meaning of
"impertinent."
Andrea was a very impertinent young lady. She was so
rude that she talked while her teacher was explaining a
lesson. She showed no respect for other students. Her
manners were very poor. Even her parents thought that
Andrea was impolite.
 Visual context clue

The author includes a picture, drawing, chart, graph, or other type of

visual to help the reader understand the meaning of a word.
 Tips for Remembering
• Try to understand the information you must remember.
Understanding the information will allow you to relate the
information you must remember to what you already know.
• Try to form an association between the information you must
remember and a person, place, object, situation, or emotion.
• Frequently recite the information you must remember or write
it several times.
• If you must remember a large body of information, try to break
the information into smaller, more manageable categories. Then
work on remembering the information in each category
separately.
• Create a graphic organizer for the information you must
remember. It is easier to remember information that is
organized than to remember information that seems to be all
over the place.
 Tips for Remembering
• Try to bring a personal touch to the information you must
remember. Relating the information to something about you
will make it easier to remember.
• Try to form a picture in your mind of the information you must
remember. Visual imagery is a powerful tool for remembering.
• Try to apply what you must remember. For example, if you are
trying to remember the meanings of some new vocabulary
words, use the words in your speaking and writing.
• Test yourself. A good way to do this is to write a question about
the information you must remember on the front side of an
index card and the answer to the question on the back. Use as
many cards as you need. Look at the questions, try to answer
them, and then check to see how you did.
• Try to make remembering a fun activity by creating games using
the information you must remember.