Study on test preparation – The Test Preparation Study was conducted from 2004 to 2008 by researchers at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto,

What Did Teachers Tell Us?

Preparing Students for the Test

We asked the teachers what activities or approaches they would recommend to a new Grade 3 teacher who asked how to prepare for the test. Almost all (99%) of the teachers recommended teaching students strategies for answering multiple-choice and open-response questions. More than 95% endorsed teaching students how to understand the test instructions, having students work on sample questions, discussing examples of good responses to those questions, and helping students get used to working independently. About 85% recommended administering a mock test and teaching students how to handle feelings of anxiety about the test. Less than half of the teachers recommended talking with the students about whether the test was important.

We asked the teachers the reasons for their recommendations. Most teachers felt it was important to teach students how to answer multiple choice and other types of test questions and how to work independently because these skill would be useful not just on this test, but in later grades. The teachers were more ambivalent about activities that were directly tied to the test, such as discussing sample questions or administering a mock test; they were especially wary of talking about the importance of the test.

See also – Teaching Study Skills – what to teach and How to Teach Effective Study Skills

Read the full study here >>>

Effective Study Skills Lesson Plan

Taking Notes Lesson Plan

How to Answer Multiple Choice

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Many schools publish a list of required back to school supplies. These lists are usually very detailed and contain everything your student may need during the school year. These lists can also be too broad and overwhelming in its requirements. While a broad list can help parents get the supplies that are needed for the school year, you can actually overwhelm the students. When trying to focus on teaching your students good organizational and study skills, try to limit the organizational products that are used.

Students always need a backpack to hold and carry all items. Students should be taught to keep themselves organized by always returning their books and binder to their backpack when they are not using the items. You also need to teach your students proper backpack safety, do no allow your students to overfill their backpacks or require them to carry materials that will not be needed on a daily basis.

A three-ring binder is also essential for student organization. Teaching students to manage all their papers in a three-ring binder is one of the first and one of the easiest organization skills you can teach your students. Using a three-ring binder is one of the easiest methods of organization you can teach a student and should be one of the first lessons any student learns. Having students place all their papers in a three-ring binder to keep themselves organized can be the quick and easy lesson that keeps your students energized to learn more study and organization skills.

Finally, remember that student organization should be simple and not involve overly complex products. Creating organization systems that are overly complex or require additional supplies can be confusing to the students. Student organization needs to be kept simple or you take the chance of overwhelming your students and creating a backlash that causes the students to stop using the skills you are coaching your students towards.

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Teachers, especially at the higher grade levels, often assume their students learned effective study skills in prior school years. As a result, students often make it to the college and university level with few study skills and poor study habits, leaving them unprepared for the more rigorous coursework. There are simple, effective techniques, however, that teachers can use at any grade level to teach their students to study.

Two Major Areas

There are two major areas necessary for students to learn, but that are often overlooked in teaching. The first is reading for information, which is essential not only for studying but also for reading portions of standardized exams. The second area is effective note taking skills, which are essential throughout a student’s educational career.

An excellent way of teaching both skills to students is to use the following set of activities, which build on each other:

• Activity 1: Reading for Information. Teaching students how to read for information, as well as improve their reading comprehension, requires short articles and highlighters. Give each student a short informative article, which should be suited to the grade level. It may make it easier for the teacher if all of the students have the same article. Tell the students to highlight the important information in the article. Remind them that important information can include vocabulary words/key words and definitions, numbers that tell sizes or dates, and important people and places.
  • Check their work after they are finished highlighting. If students are having trouble highlighting important information, help them recognize what the important ideas are. Discuss what makes certain information important and worth highlighting.
  • This exercise helps students learn to look for the important information in a reading passage. It also helps the student learn how to study key information without reading the entire article again.
  • See also - Better Textbook Reading Skills and Strategies for Textbook Studies
    
• Activity 2: Taking Notes. This activity requires the highlighted articles from Activity 1 and lined index cards.
  • Students should write the title and author of the article on the first card. Instruct them to put a number on this card, and explain that the number will be put on every other card that goes with the article. The number is a method of keeping the note cards organized by grouping key points together under one master index card.
  • Instruct students to write the highlighted information from their article on the index cards, putting one fact on each card.
  • Teachers can check to make sure students are writing down the main points without copying every word. Discuss writing only key points as a way of remembering the entire statement.
  • Ask students to tell you what they learned from the article, using only their note cards.
  • Explain that students can do this for every class. Note cards can be used to review for tests, and reviewing can include flash cards, card games, or basic shuffling. Encourage students to keep index cards with them in other classes.
  • More information on taking notes – Cornell Method, Split Page Method and Tips for taking better notes
• Activity 3: Outlining Notes. Outlining notes, or taking notes in outline form, is a step up from taking notes on index cards. Once students have had time to practice and become comfortable with the index cards, begin teaching outlining.
  • Provide students with an outline and discuss it with them. Make sure they understand headings and subheadings.
  • Going back to the highlighted article, or using a new, longer article, instruct students to outline the key points of the article. Check to make sure they are following outline format.
    • Another option is to outline an article together, as a class, then assign a second article to be outlined by each student.
  • Pace your lectures so students will be able to practice making outlines. Encourage them to use the outlines in other classes.
  • More on Outlining Note Taking

Knowing how to read for information and take effective notes are necessary skills at every level of education. Reading comprehension is necessary not only for standardized assessments, but also for general reading and studying. With a few simple activities, teachers can help ensure their students have those skills.

More:
Teaching for Retention
Teaching study skills – what to teach
Teaching effective Study Skills

How Parents can teach study skills

Effective Study Skills Lesson Plan
Complete Lesson Plan for teachers includes, Study Environment, Getting Organized, Time Management,

Concentration.

Learn More >>>

Complete Taking Notes Lesson Plan
Comprehensive for teaching students grade 6 – 8 how to take notes, includes, introduction and practice with 3 different styles of note taking (Outline, Charting and Mapping). 3 sample lectures with recommended notes taking answers, crossword puzzle, handouts and complete instructions.

Learn More >>>

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Children are not born with effective study skills, and those skills often are not taught in school. Parents can help ensure their child’s educational success by making sure they develop effective study skills. Unfortunately, many parents are not sure where to start. Two of the most important areas on which parents can place emphasis are setting priorities and organization.

Setting Priorities

If you want your child to treat homework and studying as a priority, then you have to teach them to set that priority. There are several methods that will help you establish homework as important without the frustration of arguments and hurt feelings.

• Be clear about your expectations. Let your child know that you expect homework to be finished, and you expect it to be done well. In the beginning, you may need to check your child’s work to reinforce the point. In addition, make it clear that you expect homework to come first and that it needs to be a priority.
• Get into a routine. Work with your child to set up a specific time each day for your child to study. The idea is to have a specific amount of time each day, preferably at the same time, that is set aside for studying. Keep in mind your child’s age and natural schedule. For example, younger children often get tired soon after dinner, so study time should be earlier for that age group.  See our Post on Making Time in your schedule.
• Pay attention to activities. If your child’s, or your family’s, activities prevent having enough time for homework and studying, cut back on the other activities. This emphasizes the importance of making homework a priority.
• Homework comes first. Do not allow your child to watch television, play computer or video games, or have phone calls or visits with friends during study time.
• Keep necessary supplies on hand. Supplies like pens, pencils, paper, calculators, and dictionaries are necessary for studying and homework. If your child is using the computer to create projects or reports, make sure you have plenty of printer ink and paper. Each item that you have available takes away another excuse for why your child cannot do homework now.  Essential supplies.

Get Organized

Organizational skills are necessary in every area of life, not just homework and studying. You can help your child with study skills, though, by helping them get organized.

• Give your child an assignment book. With an assignment book, your child can write down their daily assignments and check them off as they finish. They can also note due dates for long-term assignments and projects, as well as exam dates. An assignment book is also a good place to set out goals and blocks of time for working on long-term assignments.
• Prompt a daily review. Encourage your child to review their class notes each day. They will not only get a better grasp on the material, but also they will not need to cram before exams. Daily reviews also help to ease the stress of exams.
• Note-taking skills. Teach your child to take effective notes. If you are not sure how, there are many available resources that will let you learn together. Encourage your child to use the note-taking style that is easiest for them. Organized notes are easier to study, and they are easier to use in daily reviews.  Cornell, Outline, Split Page, and Mind Map methods.
• Teach your child to plan ahead. Planning ahead is necessary when studying for exams, working on long-term assignments and projects, and scheduling classes in high school and college. The child that can plan ahead will be better able to break projects into small, manageable chunks. It also helps will working toward short- and long-term goals.

Parents are the first resource for children learning how to study. Setting priorities and organizational skills are easy for you to teach your child, and they will help your child succeed in more than just their studies.

Here is a list of more academic resources for teaching study skills.

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As a teacher, your teaching strategy should always be creative to ensure that your students find learning in school an exciting activity. You can add or incorporate a study skill activity  in every class session. For variety, you can include a unique classroom activity in every class period to motivate and improve your students’ learning capabilities.  This can include a study skills lesson plan and a taking notes lesson plan.

Preparing for various study skills activities can be very challenging as you need to work out imaginative ways to ensure that your students learn from the activity. Each of your class periods should integrate a study skill activity to enable your students to develop their own good study habits. A classroom activity should consider the three factors detailed below.

Effective Study Skills Lesson Plan
Complete Lesson Plan for teachers includes, Study Environment, Getting Organized, Time Management,

Complete Taking Notes Lesson Plan
Comprehensive for teaching students grade 6 – 8 how to take notes, includes, introduction and practice with 3 different styles of note taking (Outline, Charting and Mapping). 3 sample lectures with recommended notes taking answers, crossword puzzle, handouts and complete instructions.

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