LEARN HOW TO INTEGRATE SQ3R-BASED STUDY SKILLS TRAINING INTO YOUR TEACHING
The best time to teach students how to study effectively is the same time you are teaching them science, social studies, technology, economics, and other core courses that use text books. This is an admirable goal for teachers who are dedicated to helping students achieve their maximum academic potential in school. When properly integrated, students learn both the study skills strategy and the content more effectively because they are applying proven learning techniques to information they need to know. As a result, they develop greater confidence and academic skill resulting in higher test scores and grades (GPA).
For example, when you assign a new chapter or section from the book, show the students how to perform a SCOPE to determine the outline for their notes before they begin taking notes. Most students do not know how to take notes effectively or use indentation wisely. They take too many notes which causes anxiety and confusion. Well-constructed outlines are very important because they accelerate the rate and quality of learning. Demonstrate how to separate what’s important from what’s not important in the textbook by changing topic headings into QUESTIONS. Show them how to only take notes on what helps answer the question. This technique of READING is a ‘game changer’ for students striving to succeed.
Review good note-taking techniques with the students while covering the material and demonstrate how to translate sentences into ‘one or two line bullets’. This is one of the most difficult and challenging tasks for students to master in the entire studying process. RECORDED notes need to be concise, clear and short bullets. That means no complete sentences and no verbatim or long wordy notes. Transforming sentences into bullets needs to be modeled many times throughout the year by the teacher and students need to practice it constantly. Homework assignments provide great opportunities to practice and master this skill. There are many other good opportunities for you to integrate examples of the remaining following tasks; RECITING and REINFORCEMENT, into your teaching style.
It’s not difficult to demonstrate the importance of RECITING in the learning process because everyone has learned a prayer, song, poem, speech or lines of a play at one time or another. They know from their own experience that recitation helped them remember the words, sentences, and content. However, when it comes to REINFORCEMENT, most students have never been trained how to use their ‘whole brain’ to store information in their long-term memory and recall it during high-stakes tests. You can learn how to teach that technique from my website.
To learn more about Integrating SQ3R-Based Study Skills Training into Your Teaching, please visit my website and contact me with questions. I am currently scheduling Professional Development Workshops: http://www.21stcenturystudyskills.com/
