English - Study and Thinking Skills

General Education _ _ _ _ _ ______ • -*<xm . ~ .IM­

P A R T I -.C O N T E N T U P D A T E

Study and I. S tu d y S tra te g ie s a n d T h in kin g S kills

• Study skills according to Graham and Robinson (1984) are specific abilities
which students may use alone or in combination to learn the content of the

Thinking Skills curriculum on their own.

• Harris and Smith (1986) state that study skills are those that enable a
person to gather information and to organize it in such a way that requires
analysis, interpretation, and evaluation.
Prepared by:
• Klein, Peterson, and Simington (1991) claim that study skills are skills
Prof. Merry Ruth M. Gutierrez and Prof. Ma. Jhona B. Acuna
necessary for acquiring critical information from a variety of texts and
media sources for differing purposes and uses
• Study skills are skills related to gathering and using information.
Competencies:
A. Remembering Information
General: 1. Repetition - saying or writing information a number of times
2. Mnemonics - a technique to remember details such as:
Comprehend written text in English a. Acronyms are words that are formed by combining some parts
(usually the first letters) of some other terms. The term is also
Specific: used to refer to initialisms, which are combinations of letters
representing a longer phrase.
Use strategies to efficiently search b. Abbreviations (from Latin brevis “short”) is strictly a shorter form of
for information and learn from a word, but more particularly, is a letter or group of letters, taken
written texts in English from a word or words, and employed to represent them for the
sake of brevity.
c. Pegwords are words that rhyme with numbers and are used to
Apply study and critical reading skills build associations with the information to be remembered.
in comprehending English texts d. Keywords are familiar words that lead the reader to the new
words to be learned. They can be used to create mental images to
Prof. Merry Ruth M. Gutierrez and Prof. Ma. Jhona B. Acuna remember new words and definitions.

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English - Study and Thinking Skills
C. Notetaking While Reading
e. Rhymes are words with similar sounds usually found in poetry and
songs.
f. Graphic Organizers - are visual representations that show how
information is organized.
B. Underlining/Highlighting
Highlighting and underlining engage the reader to select words, phrases
and sentences, as well as, selecting the most important ideas and details
in a reading. It makes information stand out so that you can find it easily
when you go back to the text to study for a test. Systematically using
different colored highlighter pens can make the review process even
easier. Familiarity with the techniques is helpful to find rapidly what the
reader needs when rereading the passage.
Method for Underlining/Highlighting
1. Mark the main ideas and the major details differently. Underline the
main ideas with a double line, and the major details with a single line.
Or use a different color high-lighter pen for each.
2. Find main-idea sentences. Underline the sentences or parts of
sentences that state the main idea of a paragraph. If the main ideas
are only implied, write your own main-idea sentence in the margin.
Find major details and underline these.
3. Circle key words. Use brackets [ ], asterisks (*), or any other symbol to
mark parts that are especially interesting or important to you.
4. Write notes or comments to yourself in the margin. The margins are
good places to put down your own thoughts as you read. Margin notes
can help you connect ideas from different parts of the selection. They
can also help you connect a passage with other material you have
read, comments your teacher has made, or your own experience.
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General Education
Note taking is the practice of writing down pieces of information in a
systematic way. It involves using your own words and a separate notebook
to condense the key ideas you have marked in your text while annotating.
1. SQ3R (Rowntree, 1976:40-64)
a. Survey - flip through the chapter or book and note the layout,
first and last chapters or paragraphs, look at the headings used,
familiarize yourself with the reading.
b. Question - Ask questions about the way the reading is structured
and think about the questions you will need to keep in mind while
reading. Think about whether or not you think the book is relevant
or if it’s current and if it suits the purpose of your study.
c. Read - read actively but quickly, looking for the main points of the
reading - don’t take any notes - you might want to read through
twice quickly.
d. Recall - Write down the main points of the reading and any really
important facts, and opinions that help support the main points.
Also record the bibliographic details.
e. Review - repeat the first three steps over and make sure you
haven’t missed anything. At this point you might like to finalize
your notes and re-read your notes or write down how the material
you’ve just covered relates to your question or task.
2. The PQ5R Study Method
PQ53 is the mnemonic for an effective student regulated approach
to studying the kind of material assigned every day - textbooks.
Gaining new information and ideas from a variety of different textbooks
demands a balanced and flexible network of study strategies.
a. Preview - Know where you’re going first. You would never plunge
in and try to cross rugged territory if you could have in advance
an accurate map of the region. Here is your mental map of a
textbook chapter: Examine the title. Read the introduction. Glance
Prof. Merry Ruth M. Gutierrez and Prof. Ma. Jhona B. Acuna

General Education
at the pictures, charts, and diagrams. Read the wrap-up of the
chapter— the summary and review questions.
b. Question -Work through the chapter - one manageable section at
a time. A section marked off with a boldface or italic sideheading
is likely to be the right size “bite” for you to digest.
Be a human question mark. Go into each section with a question
in your mind. Turn headings, and sometimes topic sentences, into
questions. These should guide you to the main points.
c. Read - Read to find the answer to your question and other
important content. Unknown terms say, STOP! LOOK UP! LEARN!
Remove these roadblocks. Each pictorial aid is saying, “ This is
clearing up something important." Shift into back-and-forth
reading for pictures, diagrams, and charts. Shift your eyes (and
thoughts) back and forth as needed from the printed words to the
pictorial aid.
Speed up and slow down as needed within the passage. Do stop-
and-go reading. Thought time is needed in addition to reading
time. Reread as often as necessary. Do “stop-and-go” reading.
d. Record -Jot down or mark important ideas. Make the key ideas
stand out in some way so they will "flag” you later. Use any
combination of devices. Jot mini notes on a memo slip to be
inserted between related pages or in the book’s margin. Draw
vertical lines in the margin just to the left or right of important
content. Bracket key ideas. Underline or color-accent selectively.
Now you won't have to reread the entire chapter when you return
to review it later. Make key ideas “flag” you.
e. Recite - Students exclaim, I ’ve read that chapter twice, but
I still can’t remember it.” Solve this problem by using the most
powerful technique known to psychologists - the technique of
self-recitation. As you complete a section or a paragraph, ask
yourself, “Just what have I learned here?”
Prof. Merry Ruth M. Gutierrez and Prof. Ma. Jhona B. Acuna
English - Study and Thinking Skills
Look away from the book while you self-recite, or cover the
passage with your hand or with a convenient card (such as 5”x8”
index card). Can you recite the important points to yourself in your
own words? Now look back at the column of print, whenever you
need to, and check your accuracy. Knowing you’re going to self-
recite when you finish a section forces you to concentrate while
you’re reading.
t. Review - Add a last quick run through. Can you recall the broad
chapter plan? Run through the chapter to recall that plan. Next,
run through it section by section, checking yourself once more on
the main points and the important subpoints. Use your cover card
again. Make some quick reviews later on from time to time. Long
term memory does improve grades,
g. Reflect -As you read a passage, turn on your critical thinking. Ask
yourself: “What does this all mean? Is it true? How can I apply it?”
Reading and reflecting should be simultaneous and inseparable -
built right into every step of PQ3R.
3. Annotating - is a system of marking that includes underlining and
notations. A notation system is used for selecting important ideas that
goes beyond straight lines and includes numbers, circles, stars, and
written comments such as marginal notes, questions and keywords.
Annotations are comments, notes, explanations, or other types of
external remarks that can be attached to a document or to a selected
part of a document. As they are external, it is possible to annotate any
document independently, without needing to edit the document itself.
From a technical point of view, annotations are usually seen as metadata,
as they give additional information about an existing piece of data.
How to use annotation:
a. Underline important terms.
b. Circle definitions and meanings.
c. Write key words and definitions in the margin.
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English - Study and Thinking Skills (•cncral £ducation

d. Signal where important information can be found with key words e. Review On a frequent basis, review your past notes by reciting
or symbols in the margin. and reflecting upon them,
e. Write short summaries in the margin at the end of sub-units. t. Recapitulate After you have reduced, recited and reflected upon
f. Write the questions in the margin next to the section where the your note, you should recapitulate each main Idea using complete
answer is found. sentences at the bottom of the key word column.
g. Indicate steps in a process by using numbers in the margin. 5. Concept maps and Mind maps - The idea Is to map out concepts,
4. The Cornell Method M ------------------------- 8. 5” either as they are found or received or during the Review process in
This notetaking method has I the Cornell or SQ3R method. Mind maps (i.e. hierarchical trees) can
been devised 40 years ago be used to take lecture notes in real time, but more often to organize
by Walter Pauk, a lecturer at « 2 .5 ”* < ---------- 6” --------► concepts into a hierarchical tree. Concept maps allow to visualize
Cornell University. This method c more complex relationships between different concepts. They allow
is used by dividing the paper in E
D . for example to integrate old and new knowledge and to construct a
two columns. The first column 1” O representation of a complex concept. Finally, concept maps also can
O Note-Taking
is used to enter key or cue 3 be used a design tool. For example, after the initial literature review for
Area
words while the second is the o a paper or a thesis, a student may create a conjecture map that relates
notes column (for recording theory to design to observable process to outcomes.
ideas and facts). 6. Charting - is method that helps to summarize the most important
There are six steps to Cornell
4
2” Summaries concepts found in articles and to identify implicit relations (what
note-taking: 1f t concepts go together and which authors). This concept charting
a. Record During the lecture, record as many facts and ideas as technique uses a table with columns representing concepts and rows
possible in the notes column. representing a text.
b. Reduce After the lecture, read through the notes taken and 7. Outlining -is a short verbal sketch that show in skeleton form the
reduce to key words and phrases, or questions. The key words pattern of ideas in text or a draft prepared for speaking or writing
and phrases are used as cues to help recall the ideas and facts. often with main and sub-ideas highlighted by numbers and letters.
The questions are to add clarity to the facts and ideas. It is a form of notetaking that gives a quick display of key issues and
c. Recite Using only the key words, phrases and questions in the cue essential supporting details. It shows indentions, numbers, and letters
word column recite the ideas and facts in the notes column. It is to show levels of importance.
important that you are not just mechanically repeating, but using
your own words.
d. ReflectBasedonthefactsandideaslearnt.re/fecfuponhowthisfitsin
with what you already know, and how this knowledge can be applied.

10 PNU LET Reviewer Pr«f. Merry Ruth M. Gutierrez and Prof. Ma. Jhona B. Acuna
General Education English - Study and Thinki ig Skills
T W O A C C E P T E D O U T L IN E F O R M A T S d. Red slowly the part of the line or sentence that tells yoi what you
want to know.
R om an and A rabic N u m b e r D ecim al N u m b e r S ystem e. Think about the question you were trying to answer.
and Letter S ystem f. Does the information you found answer the question? If r ot, quickly
read the passage again to look for the information you n ;ed.
Title Title g. Jot down the answer to the question you’ve asked.
I. 1. 2. Scanning - involves looking quickly through a text to find a specific
II. 2. word or piece of information. Instead of reading every word in a page,
A. 2.1 readers move eyes quickly, searching for what is needed.
1. 2.1.1 Guidelines for Scanning
2. 2 .1 .2 a. Understand the organization of the material.
a. 2 .1 .3 b. Stay focused on what you are looking for.
b. 2.2 c. Use whatever clues are available to speed your search
3. 2.2,1 d. Confirm your information.
B. 2 .2 .2
1. 2 .2 .3 E. Summarizing - is a method used in stating the main idea and significant
2. 2 .3 supporting details into short, concise statements about the rraterial you
III. 3. have read. Summaries are are full pieces of writing that fit together a
selection’s facts and ideas in readable sentences and paragr; phs which
D. Skimming and Scanning are shorter versions of the original.
1. Skimming - means reading only small parts of a text in order to get
an overview of the organization of the text and its main ideas. When F. Test-taking Strategies
skimming a paragraph or a page, you are searching quickly among the 1. Read to comprehend - concentrate on the main idea of t! e passage
sentences for the answers to your questions. and avoid fixating on details
Here is how to skim: 2. Interact with the passage - predict the topic and activa e schema;
a. Make sure that you know what information you are looking for, ask monitor and self- correct
yourself a question, and look for a key word. 3. Anticipate - read first sentence carefully, it usually gives cl tes of what
b. Move your eyes quickly from line to line and from sentence to is to come
sentence. 4. Relax - plan your time and concentrate
c. When you think you have found what you are looking for, stop. 5. Recall - remind yourself of the author’s main point
6. Understand major question types - testy questions foi ow certain
predictable patterns ________ ______ ______
Prof. Merry Ruth M. Gutierrez and Prof. Ma. Jhona B. Acuna PNU LET Review r 11
English - Study and Thinking Skills
a. Main Idea Questions - ask to identify the author’s main point
b. Detail Questions - check your ability to understand material that
is directly stated in the passage
c. Implied Meaning Questions - deals with the attitudes and
feelings of the writer that emerges behind or between words
wherein favorable and unfavorable descriptions suggest positive
and negative opinions towards the subject
d. Purpose Questions - the purpose of the passage is not usually
stated but implied and is related to the main idea
e. Vocabulary Questions - tests general knowledge as well as the
ability to figure out meaning by using context clues
7. Multiple-Choice and True-False Tests
a. Read all options
b. Predict the correct answer
c. Avoid answers with “ 100 Percent” Words
d. Consider answers with qualifying words
e. Do not Overgeneralyze
f. True statements must be true without exception
g. If two options are synonymous, eliminate both
h. Figure out the difference between similar options
i. Use logical reasoning when two answers are correct
j. Look suspiciously at directly quoted pompous phrases
k. Simplify double negatives by canceling out both
I. Certain responses are neither true or false
m. Validate true responses
n. Recognize flaws in test taking
• Grammar
• Clues from other parts of the test
• Length
• Absurd ideas and emotional words
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General Education
II. R e a d in g C o m p re h e n s io n
A. Critical Reading
1. Recognize the author’s purpose or intent
a. To inform. Authors use facts to inform, to explain, to educate, and
to enlighten.
b. To persuade. Authors use a combination of facts and opinions to
persuade, to argue, to condemn, and to ridicule.
c. To entertain. Authors use fiction and non-fiction to entertain , to
narrate, to describe, and to shock.
2. Recognize the author’s point of view or bias
a. Point of view refers to the opinions and beliefs of the author or of
the reader, and a critical reader must recognize how those beliefs
influence the message.
b. Bias is a word closely related to point of view but tends to be
associated with prejudice, and thus it has a negative connotation.
It is an opinion or judgment that may be based on solid facts or on
incorrect information but leans to one side, unequally presenting
evidence and arguments.
3. Recognize the author’s tone
The author’s tone describes the writer's attitude toward the subject. To
determine the tone, pick up clues from the choice of words and details.
As a critical reader, tune in to the author’s tone by letting attitude
become a part of evaluating the message.
4. Distinguishing fact from opinion
a. Fact is a statement that can be proven true or false. It is an
observation that can be supported with direct evidence and is
something own by actual experience.
b. Opinion is a statement of feeling that cannot be proven right or
wrong. It can be a commentary, position, or observation based
Prof. Merry Ruth M. Gutierrez and Prof. Ma. jhona B. Acuna