Study-Skills Activities
Take Note
Note taking is one of the most powerful ways for you to learn information and improve your thinking. This activity will allow you to practice.
Your Turn Read the note-taking tips on page 128. Then, during the next class lecture you attend, take notes using those suggestions. Afterward, reread the tips and decide which two were most helpful to you.
Logging Your Learning
A learning log deepens your thinking, helping you to reflect on your course work and explore new ideas. Use this activity to experiment with learning logs.
Your Turn Choose one of the learning-log strategies below and use it to write a learning-log entry about one of your current classes. Choose another strategy and use it to write an entry for another class. Which strategy worked better for you? Why?
Learning-Log Strategies
Predict | Predict what the new ideas will lead to or what you will learn next. |
Summarize | Summarize what was covered in a lesson or class. |
Evaluate | Evaluate its importance and meaning. |
Ask | Ask “what if?” or “why?” about a subject you are studying. |
Debate | Debate ideas by creating a conversation between you and another person. |
Connect | Connect an idea to something else you already know. |
Argue | Argue for or against ideas or beliefs discussed in class. |
Self-Assessing
This activity helps you self-assess your test-taking skills.
Your Turn Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (never) to 5 (always) for the following keys to test taking. Which do you most need to improve?
- Keep up with daily work.
- Know about the test.
- Study for the assessment.
- Come to the test prepared.
Understanding Assessment
Think about the assessments you will face soon—project assessments, quizzes, tests, finals, and exit/entrance exams. This activity will help you prepare for them.
Your Turn Choose an upcoming assessment and write down its success criteria (see page 132).
- What rubric will be used to assess a project?
- What information will be covered on the test?
- What kinds of questions will be used?
- How will your performance be scored?
- What weight will the test or its different parts hold?
Analyzing a Prompt
A writing prompt on an assessment has the same five components as any communication situation. You can use the communication situation to analyze the prompt.
Your Turn Analyze the following writing prompts by identifying the sender, message (including its topic and purpose), medium, receiver, and context of each.
- Different assessments do different things. Some show how much you are learning. Others help you exit/graduate from a school or enter another school. Decide which type of assessment is most important to you. In an essay, explain the assessment and why it is the most important.
- Note taking and learning logs give you a way to record and think about what you are learning. Do you take notes? Keep a learning log? In an essay, describe your note-taking and learning-log habits. Tell what changes you could make to improve your work.
- Developing study skills is called “learning to learn.” If you improve your learning skills, you improve your performance in every class. Which study skills do you feel are most important for success in school? Which study skills are critical for learning outside of school? Write an essay that explains your answers.
Planning Your Response
Even though you have a limited amount of time to respond to a writing prompt, you ought to use the first five minutes to make a plan. The following activity will help you do so.
Your Turn Choose one of the prompts above. Consider how you would respond to it. Then make a plan by writing a thesis statement and listing supporting details. Finally, write your essay.