Study Skills

for
High School Students
2009
Table of Contents:


Time Management Tips 3
Organization 4
How to use your Agenda Book 6
Sample Agenda Book Page 7
How to study vocabulary 8
Writing a Thesis Statement and How to Support It 9
Reading for Understanding 11
Taking notes on readings 13
Note Taking Strategies 15
Test Preparation StrategiesTOP TEN 16
Reviewing Your Work and Self-Assessing 17
















Time Management Tips


Set goals foi youiself shoit anu long teim

Recoiu assignments 0se an agenua book oi pocket calenuai

Nake a to uo list uaily Piioiitize what you want to accomplish that uay

0se spaie time wisely Reau on the bus iiue when going home to games oi while waiting
foi piactice to begin Also when given class time to begin youi homewoik 0SE IT

It is okay to say N0 to inteiiuptions Keep focuseu on youi goals Foi example if an
employei asks you to woik an extia shift it is okay to say no if you aie piepaiing foi a quiz
oi test the next uay

Finu the iight time anu place Know how you leain best what time of the uay you
concentiate the best as well as choosing an enviionment that will make you successful

uet plenty of sleep Lack of sleep can make you iiiitable anu less piouuctive Plan youi
time so that you aie in beu at a uecent houi










Organization

You overslept! As you leave youi beuioom you tiip ovei a pile of uiity launuiy anu snag a pen
fiom the flooi Youi Bistoiy pioject thats uue touay is completely missing You cant finu the
vocabulaiy papei that you uiu last night You miss bieakfast anu the bus You have to sign in late
missing most of Science class anu the test that you faileu to iemembei

Sound a little too familiar? By impioving youi oiganizational habits you can avoiu this
nightmaie Planning uevoting time to it eveiy uay anu being willing to stay with it will not only
impiove youi giaues but also ueciease stiess levels at the same time

Here are some tips and reminders to help you improve your organizational habits.

0iganize a stuuy aiea

Besignate a specific woik aiea at home wheie you can keep all of youi school mateiials This may
involve having to clean your room! But this can be wheievei you feel comfoitable woiking When
you get home in the afteinoon put eveiything iight theie Keep it oiganizeu anu fiee of cluttei anu
all of youi things will be easy to use anu especially easy to find

0se youi agenua book foi moie than a passbook

Recoiu not only homewoik assignments but also uue uates foi piojects Fill in all of youi
commitments piactices club meetings etc This gives you a bettei sense of youi available time
anu helps you to use it wisely

Keep each subject sepaiate

Set up uiffeient folueis iing binueis oi notebooks foi each subject Be suie to follow any
uiiections that a teachei may give you may be iequiieu to have a iing binuei oi a spiial
notebook foi a paiticulai class 0theiwise use the methou that woiks best foi you Take a few
moments every day to keep up with this oiganization Be suie that papeis aie in the coiiect foluei
punch holes to put papeis into binueis anu put mateiials in some type of oiuei Chionological
oiuei is usually most effective so be suie to date every paper that you receive
uet ieauy the night befoie

Nake a habit eveiy night of pulling youi things togethei Since you now have an oiganizeu stuuy
aiea this shoulu be a bieeze Nake suie an alaim is set anu you know what youie weaiing Then
get plenty of sleep

Helpful Links
For Students:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/149089/6_simple_organization_tips_for_students.html?cat=4

http://kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/school/back_to_school.html

http://studypoint.com/blog/index.php/category/organizational-skills/


For Parents:

http://stress.about.com/od/studentstress/a/back_to_school.htm

http://www.schoolwisebooks.com/blog/?p=48








How to use your Agenda Book

Biing youi agenua book to school anu home eveiyuay
Nake an entiy EvERYBAY foi EvERY CLASS
0se a consistent foimat
o Class Assignment Bue Bate
Example Science Sepaiation of a Nixtuie Lab Repoit
Wiite uue uates as uates anu avoiu using things like tomoiiow oi
next Fiiuay
0se abbieviations to save space
o Examples
NBno homewoik
TTest
QQuiz
RNReview Notes
vvocabulaiy
LRlab Repoit
Coloi Coue
o Each class coulu be a uiffeient coloi
o 0se a consistent coloi to tiack giaues
0se the agenua book to manage assignments anu time
o Incluue woik oi extia cuiiiculai activities when planning youi use of time aftei
school
0puate the status of youi assignments
o 0se check maiks D when an assignment is complete
o 0se an aiiow when you neeu to caiiy an assignment ovei to anothei uay
Assignments that aie caiiieu ovei shoulu also be iewiitten on the next uay
o Also note the giaue eaineu so you can keep tiack of youi piogiess
within a couise
0se a laige binuei clip to keep tiack of wheie you aie in the agenua book

Refeiences
Lacioix P }une Agenua Book Retiieveu }uly fiom wwwcoebiownacauemycom Web
site httpwwwcoebiownacauemycomAssisteuStuuyAgenuabookhtm
Sample Agenda Book Page





How to study vocabulary
Stuuy Tips
Keep an oiganizeu notebook

Spenu a little time minutes stuuying vocabulaiy eveiy night

0se flashcaius to piactice see links section

Nake an effoit to use youi new vocabulaiy in youi eveiy uay speech

0se context clues to finu the meaning of unknown woius in ieauings

0se a mnemonic uevice to iemembei acionyms

EX PENBAS Paienthesis Exponents Nultiplication Bivision Auuition Subtiaction

Nake up a stoiy using youi vocabulaiy woius

Builu Sentences with vocabulaiy to piactice using the woius

Put youi vocabulaiy woius to music oi in ait woik

Foieign Language Stuuents NEvER tiust tianslation sites

Stuuy anu quiz with a classmate

Helpful Links
wwwstuuyspanishcom , wwwkitzkikzcomflashcaius



Writing a Thesis Statement and How to Support It

I. What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement tells the ieauei what the essay heshe is going to ieau is about It is
usually founu at the enu of the intiouuction 0NLESS otheiwise specifieu by the teachei
Thesis statements shoulu be specific anu covei 0NLY what is in the papei The iest of papei
N0ST contain eviuence anu specific examples to suppoit that statement

II. How do I write a thesis statement?

Thesis statements shoulu be uebatable anu uemonstiate peisonal opinions If the thesis is
easily agieeu upon by oi accepteu as fact then theie is no ieason to tiy to peisuaue people
to ieau the iest of the essay The statement shoulu be specific A statement that is too
bioau oi naiiow will cause the wiitei to lose focus anu take on moie than heshe can covei
Example of a thesis which is narrow or non-debatable
Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story.

Example of a thesis which is debatable and specific
The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet lies in Romeos impulsive behavior and inability to control his
emotions.

III. How do I generate ideas for essay topics?

The best way to stait to geneiate iueas foi essays is to make a list of topics that inteiest you
Nake a statement about each topic that is geneial anu then tiy to make it moie specific
Nost essays stait with a geneial feeling oi iuea about a ceitain topic 0nce you choose a
topic that inteiests you uevelop an opinion about the topic anu you will have the stait of a
thesis statement You shoulu always uevelop a thesis statement befoie you begin to wiite oi
ieseaich a topic This will keep you focuseu thioughout youi ieseaich anu wiiting




IV. What are the parts of an essay?

Introduction An intiouuction captuies the ieaueis attention anu sets the tone of the
papei Tiy to avoiu using quotes oi questions in an intiouuction Rhetoiical questions aie a
gieat tool foi aigumentative oi peisuasive essays but aie not appiopiiate foi eveiy essay

Body The bouy of the papei is wheie the ieauei is given specific infoimation that suppoits
the authois thesis statement These examples must explain B0W they suppoit the thesis
statement

Conclusion The conclusion ieminus the ieauei what the essay was about anu shoulu leave
the himhei with something to ieflect upon

V. In addition to structure what should I be aware of while writing an essay?

Content 0se specific examples that suppoit youi thesis statements anu explain how
they suppoit it

Organization Be awaie of the stiuctuie in which you piesent youi iueas so that theie
is a fluency to youi essay This means piesent youi iueas in a logical way
chionologically compaiecontiast etc

Tone Be awaie of youi auuience Foimal essays shoulu be tieateu uiffeiently than
infoimal essays You aie wiiting foi teacheis not youi fiienus avoiu using slang oi
inappiopiiate language

Word Choice You shoulu always attempt to use moie complex vocabulaiy when
wiiting a foimal essay Tiy to avoiu simplistic language by keeping a uictionaiy oi
thesauius hanuy

Conventions Be awaie of spelling punctuations anu giammatical eiiois when wiiting
a foimal essay
Reading for Understanding

When ieauing anything theie aie a few questions you shoulu ask youiself to tiuly unueistanu what you aie
ieauing

What is the topic you aie ieauing about
Who wiote the text anu foi what puipose
Is theie any possible bias the authois may have iegaiuing the subject
What is the tone of the ieauing uiamatic saicastic othei
What uo you think you alieauy know about the topic

When finuing the main iuea in any ieauing you must fiist uiffeientiate between the topic you aie ieauing
about anu the main idea in each paiagiaph oi section of the ieauing
The Topic:
The topic of a passage is the person, place, object, or idea under discussion. It is the subject that the author has
chosen to discuss, describe, or explain.

The Main Idea:
The main idea of a passage or reading is the central thought or message.
The Difference Between Topic and Main Idea:
The difference between a topic and a main idea will become clearer to you if you imagine yourself overhearing
a conversation in which your name is repeatedly mentioned. When you ask your friends what they were
discussing, they say they were talking about you. At that point, you have the topic but not the main idea.
Undoubtedly, you wouldnt be satisfied until you learned what your friends were saying about you. You would
probably pester them until you knew the main idea, until you knew, that is, exactly what they were saying
about you. The same principle applies to reading. The topic is not enough -you need to discover the main idea.
Tips for finding the main idea:
As soon as you can ueteimine the topic ask youiself What geneial point uoes the authoi want to make
about this topic 0nce you can answei that question you have piobably founu the main iuea
The main iuea is not always at the beginning of the ieauing Sometimes the main iuea is fiist followeu by
suppoiting uetail The main iuea coulu also founu in the miuule of the ieauing sanuwicheu by suppoiting
uetail oi it coulu be founu at the enu of the ieauing pieceueu by the suppoiting uetail
Pay attention to any iuea that is iepeateu in uiffeient ways If an authoi takes time to iestate the same
point numeious times it is most likely the main iuea
0nce you feel suie you have founu the main iuea test it Ask youiself if the examples ieasons statistics
stuuies anu facts incluueu in the ieauing lenu themselves as eviuence oi explanation in suppoit of the main
iuea you have in minu If they uont you might want to ievise youi fiist notion about the authois main iuea
If you aie taking a test that asks you to finu the thesis oi theme of a ieauing uont let the teims confuse
you you aie still looking foi the main iuea

Refeiences
Flemming Laiaine The Nain Iuea Reading Resources 0ctobei }ul
httpuseisuhpcomlaflemmiesoIntioiihtml

















Taking notes on readings

Taking notes on class ieauings can be as impoitant as taking notes on class lectuies Not eveiyone can
iemembei oi unueistanu something they only ieau once so if you can take efficient notes on ieauings you
can save youiself a lot of time anu effoit when you neeu to ieview ieauings foi quizzes anu tests

Beie aie some geneial tips to follow when taking notes on ieauings

Budget enough time for taking notes The time you spenu taking cleai efficient notes initially will
save you ieview time anu inciease youi knowleuge ietention

Date your notes, and write full bibliographic information next to the date incluuing authoi title
publication uate of publication city publishei anu volume numbei foi jouinal aiticles Bo this so you
uont waste time latei wiiting a papei oi othei assignment that may call foi piopei citation

Compose your notes in a concise and legible fashion If you cant ieau youi notes you aie eithei
wiiting too much oi may neeu to consiuei using a computei 0se shoit anu meaningful phiases anu
abbieviate when necessaiy Bont use abbieviations that you wont iecognize latei

Create a system of note-taking that allows YOU to write quickly and get down basic concepts but
which will also allow you to quickly finu infoimation in youi notes latei Consiuei using an outline foimat
foi example oi cleaily sepaiating youi notes into uiffeient sections oi columns if you aie using a steno
pau oi a computei

Use the structure of the book (or article) as the structure of your notes Foi instance chapteis
coiiesponu to majoi heauings chaptei sections to subheauings You also may want to incluue page
numbeis in case you neeu to iefei back to the text at a latei time

Note anything that is pertinent to the author's argument Impoitant points tenu to come in
intiouuctoiy anu concluuing paiagiaphs wheie uetails anu moie complete explanations oi aiguments aie
locateu in the bouy of the text

Distinguish facts from opinions, and quotations from summaries in a way that will make it cleai
which is which when you ieview youi notes

Review your reading notes the next day anu uo it again a few uays latei This is a timeefficient way of
ietaining the mateiial

. Record any comments or questions you may have in your notes Asking claiifying questions of youi
teachei will not only help you unueistanu the text but it will also show youi teachei that you aie taking
owneiship of youi own leaining

Refeiences

NA Bow To Take Reauing Notes eHow NA }ul
httpwwwehowcomhowieauingnoteshtml





Helpful Links

wwwmanhattankcausstaffpwaiefilescoinellnotesuoc note taking template foi ieauings
httpwwwcouisenotesoig0SBistoiyvocabulaiy histoiy vocabulaiy website
httpwwwapstuuentcomushistoiycaiusphp histoiy vocabulaiy website
httpwwwquiacompophtml Iuentifying main iuea game









Note Taking Strategies

1. Come to class prepared: Biing a thieeiing binuei pocket foluei anu a wiiting utensil

2. Start a new page for each class: Put the uate at the top of each page This makes it
easiei foi you to access notes when you miss a class

3. Develop a note taking system that works for you: Theie aie seveial ways to take notes
such as outlining chaiting oi mapping Attacheu is an example of one system the Coinell
notetaking system 0se can use vaiious colois to uistinguish between concepts

4. Dont try to write down every word the teacher says: Nake suie you listen wiite anu
ask questions as neeueu

5. Write down the major ideas: Listen foi facts connections anu main iueas This can be
uifficult so uont get fiustiateu Ask the teachei to slow uown if neeueu

6. Leave enough space between notes: When wiiting leave a lot of space between iueas
Youi notes will be easiei to ieau anu auu to when neeueu

7. Use graphic organizers or pictures: Sometimes it is helpful to uiaw pictuies that make
connections between iueas sequences oi events

8. Write down page numbers from your textbook: This makes it easiei to gathei
infoimation foi assignments quizzes oi tests

9. REVIEW YOUR NOTES: This is impoitant Nake suie you take the time to look thiough
youi notes anu uevelop questions oi iephiase them so they make sense to you Wiite
uown any questions you have anu ask at the beginning of the next class

10. GET NOTES FROM MISSED CLASSES: Cieate a paitneiship with anothei stuuent that
you can iely on anu also can iely on you foi notes when a class is misseu If not you may
neeu to scheuule time aftei school to uo this with youi teachei

Belpful Links
httpiesouiceschuhoigLiteiacynotetakinglasso Link to Coinell note taking templates

Test Preparation StrategiesTOP TEN
Be Confiuent
o If you feel that you know the mateiial anu have put in significant stuuy time you can look
foiwaiu to showing off all you have leaineu
o Showcase youi best effoit Answei eveiy question to the best of youi ability TBINK A
Be Piepaieu
o Come with iequiieu mateiials such as pencils calculatoi notes foimula sheet etc
Be Aleit
o When you aie given an exam take a minute to look thiough all of the questions
o REAB ALL BIRECTI0NS
Be Caieful
o Avoiu caieless eiiois
o Take time to ieview all pioblems anu pioofieau all answeis
Be Reauy
o Piepaiation is the key to success
o Complete all ieauing anu pioblem sets befoie the exam
o Besignate stuuy time
Be Smait
o 0tilize ieview sessions
o Leain youi teacheis testing style
Be Efficient
o Piioiitize youi time wisely
o Bo not get stuck on one pioblem anu iun out of time
o 0utline essay answeis
Be Neat
o Wiite cleaily Eiase thoioughly
o Nake suie youi numeiical answeis aie legible
o Nany teacheis will not give cieuit if they cannot ieau youi answei
Be Bonest
o A test is a measuie of youi knowleuge of a paiticulai topic
o Acauemic integiity is extiemely impoitant
o Resist the uige to cheatit is nevei woith it
Be Natuie
o A test is just thata test Keep eveiy exam in peispective
o Tests aie leaining oppoitunities too 0se them as tool to make youiself a bettei stuuent
o Communicate with youi teachei about youi peifoimance


Reviewing Your Work and Self-Assessing

Review youi notes uaily fiom class anu make comments oi geneiate questions to ask the following
class in the maigin of youi notebook
Look ovei homewoik assignments in piepaiation foi quizzes quizzes in piepaiation foi
tests anu tests in oiuei to piepaie foi exams
o Teacheis will fiequent base quizzes tests anu finals on pievious homewoik
assignments quizzes anu tests
uieat way to improve your grades
o Reuo olu math pioblems to make suie that you can still uo them
o If teacheis go ovei quizzes anu tests put any misseu pioblems anu solutions in youi
notebook so you can stuuy them latei
o Nany teacheis have websites with notes woiksheets anu ieview mateiials If you
aie absent you can keep cuiient by utilizing online iesouices

Seek online quizzes baseu on specific content aieas to piepaie foi the ieal quiz in class
o Theie aie many online iesouices available on the school website

Pay attention to ieview sessions befoie tests anu quizzes
o Befoie chaptei tests teacheis will often spenu time ieviewing topics to stuuy
o Nany teacheis uistiibute ieview packets
o Be engageu anu ask questions uuiing in class ieviews
o List topics anu piioiitize youi time foi inuiviuual stuuying
o Teacheis will sometimes ask if theie aie any questions befoie they hanu out an
exambe piepaieu to ask foi claiification on a topic you uiu not unueistanu while
stuuying

Take auvantage of being alloweu to use a foimula sheet oi cheat sheet
o Bomewoik quizzes anu notebook quizzes shoulu be an easy A
o Nany teacheis allow a foimula sheet foi laige cumulative oi final exams
Keep a iunning list of main topicsfoimulas uuiing the semestei
Take auvantage of afteischool stuuy sessions anu homewoik clinics
o Teacheis will often iun ieview sessions afteischool befoie exams They highlight
impoitant topics anu offei inuiviuual instiuction
o Bomewoik clinics offei inuiviuual suppoit anu ieteaching
o Stuuy gioups can help you leain anu teaching othei stuuents will help you cement
youi own knowleuge
o Attenu NiuYeai anu Final Exam Stuuy Ciunch sessions


Helpful Links
www.Purplemath.com
www.quizthat.com