1.Obtain A Study Guide Try to obtain a study guide of what exactly is going to be on the finals. This will tell you what words, ideas, concepts, diagrams, etc. to study. Instead of reading over all the materials you learned in the class, you can target your main focus on the given topics.
2. Review Previous Tests & Quizzes Be sure to look over your old test and quizzes. Most likely the professor will use the same questions from previously tested material for the final. By looking over your test and quizzes, you’ll have an upper hand and a better idea of what questions will be on the final.
3.Clarify Confusing Ideas and Concepts Now that you know exactly what’s going to be tested on the final, you can look over any ideas or concepts that you may be having trouble with. Look in the textbook, research online, or even ask your professor to help clarify anything that is confusing.
These three tips are quick and efficient. Instead of going through all of your papers and notes, you will know exactly what to study, so it will save you time. Following these three tips will help you successfully prepare for your finals.
This was a guest blog by colleget student, Alex Tran. I would love to hear your secrets for preparing for finals. Share your thoughts below or join the conversation on facebook.com/myreadingsecrets If you liked this post, sign up for my newsletter for more tips to become a better student.
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Avatars Recreate Reports
If you are my age, you remember hand drawn cartoons. You learned that artists would slowly and patiently draw page after page of pictures with a slight change to create movement in the character or scenery. Now the cartoons are made digitally. This blog explains my journey of unpacking how they make current cartoons and how I can use this technology in my classroom.
One of the first cartoon movies was Mars Needs Moms. Here is the movie as the actors created it:
And here is the video as I saw it in the movie theatre:
In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. Creating your own avatar can be fun and allow students to add flare to any boring book report. You can also share avatars and embed them into most social media sites.
Using voki.com I quickly created an avatar to introduce my students how to RELAX after reading.
One of the first cartoon movies was Mars Needs Moms. Here is the movie as the actors created it:
And here is the video as I saw it in the movie theatre:
In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. Creating your own avatar can be fun and allow students to add flare to any boring book report. You can also share avatars and embed them into most social media sites.
Using voki.com I quickly created an avatar to introduce my students how to RELAX after reading.
Figurative Language
Everyone is looking for a fun and creative way to introduce figurative language to their students. Don't recreate the wheel, York Township's elementary teacher, Katie Haun, has done the work for you. Check out the two videos she made for free on animoto.com:
Video One
Video Two
If you are interested in using animoto.com, check out the blog post that explains how to create your own videos in just 5 easy steps.
Video One
Video Two
If you are interested in using animoto.com, check out the blog post that explains how to create your own videos in just 5 easy steps.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
3 Tips for Locating On-line Information
It's 6:08 am Sunday morning and I silently let my yellow lab, Maggie, outside to do her morning business. Before I know it, she is barking wildly and running across the lawn after a black animal. I am not concerned because our one neighbor has two black labs and our other neighbor has a black cat...so this morning run is a common event. I don't want Maggie to wake up my kids so I open the door to quietly bring Maggie back into the house when my sleepy eyes focus on the black SKUNK that is slowly turning around to spray Maggie right in the face.
"MAGGIE get over here right now!" I scream, but she reacted too late. Maggie runs to me sneezing and stinking of major skunk oil! My mind starts asking tons of questions, "Now what am I going to do? I have never had a dog that was sprayed by a skunk before. Should I use tomato juice? Do I need to take Maggie to the vet?"
I decided to do AN INTERNET SEARCH before I drove all the way to the grocery store to buy tomato juice. If you ever smelled skunk, then you know time is a factor for this search. I needed to find the right answers to my questions as fast as I could.
1. Use quotes - I needed to know the best shampoo solution to remove skunk smell so I used quotes to keep the search result focused on certain words in a certain order. I typed in, "how to remove skunk smell from dog" and received 7,000 results but without quotes the search received 64,000 results.
2. Cross check at least 3 sources - I then scanned my results to see if there were any results that had the same answer. Several listed hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. I clicked on the top result to see if the source was credible. Did they have experience removing skunk smell? My first result: 10 tips to remove skunk smell I clicked quickly to a similar result: Get Rid of Things My final result was a youtube video from a dog trainer.
All three results suggested hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap.
All three results suggested hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap.
3. Use the word "and" or the "+" sign - Now I needed more information about how to get the skunk smell out of my house since I let Maggie into the house to do the Internet search. I kept the quotes around, "how to remove skunk smell from dog" and then used a "+" to link the word "house". This controlled my search results to include information for both my dog and my house.
The Internet can be wonderful if you know how to control your search results. Don't spend all day searching the Internet with nothing to show for your hard work. When you're proactive, you find the answers you need quickly and with little effort.
I would love to hear your secrets for locating on-line information. Share your thoughts below or join the conversation on facebook.com/myreadingsecrets If you liked this post, sign up for my newsletter for more tips to become a better student.
PS - The solution worked. Maggie and my house no longer smell like a skunk. Thank you to all those wonderful people who shared their knowledge through the world wide web!
Friday, March 2, 2012
4 Context Clues to Clarify Vocabulary
Psst! Hey! Yeah, you! It’s your brain again. I have a secret tool that will save you a lot of time and stress. It's call Local GPS.
Best of all, this Local GPS tool will prevent you from getting confused while reading. I call these confusing words and ideas, road blocks, because they block the meaning from entering your working memory. Road blocks are those unknown words and phrases that cause you to stop reading and say, “Oh man, what the heck is the author talking about?” Here is a list of road blocks you need to watch out for as you read:
Revisit a vocabulary word when:
• you can’t pronounce the word
• the word is new or unknown
• you are unsure of author’s meaning
Revisit an idea when:
• you are confused.
• you notice you are thinking about other things.
• you can’t create mental images.
• you can’t make a connection.
Skipping over these road blocks isn’t helpful or a mature decision. We are no longer going to let these road blocks stop our thinking! With the help of my built in Local GPS tool we will be able to navigate these road blocks and find a direct, fast, efficient route to the meaning of these unknown words and phrases.
Local GPS is an acronym for the four different types of context clues the author uses to support a reader’s comprehension. To find the local context clues, zoom in to the sentences surrounding the difficult word. Reread the sentence before, and after the word you are trying to understand. The author often uses commas, parentheses, and hyphens to signal definitions, pronunciations, and examples to help the reader build meaning. This is your local context clue because the author’s clues are located right by the word.
The G stands for global. To find the global context clues, zoom out and look at the whole page. Scan the text features (pictures, captions, charts, and maps) to see if they can give you more information. This is called global context clues because you are taking a wide view of the text.
The P stands for prior knowledge. Sometimes the meaning is implied, which means the author doesn’t come right out and say what he means. In this case, you have to look at the text and add meaning to what the author didn’t include. Your schema will help you determine a meaning or clearer picture of the word. Prior knowledge is the third type of context clue because you can use what you already know about this word to build meaning.
The S is the final context clue. Structural analysis is looking at how the word is built. By breaking the word into smaller parts you will be able to decode the meaning. Search for prefixes, suffixes, or root words. Keep in mind working with words is a complex process. Being able to pronounce the word doesn’t mean you know the meaning. Until you know both, the pronunciation and meaning, you haven’t fixed the road block.
Remember, context clues are located within the sentence, on the page, or within your own mind. If you get lost, turn on my Local GPS to help you navigate through the road blocks, gain a deeper understanding of an abstract concept and save time from looking words up on the computer.
Reality Check
You are in the driver’s seat now. Knowing your destination or purpose to read isn’t good enough. You need to know different ways to build meaning by using the context clues on the page to help you figure out unknown words and ideas.
You are now ready to expand your understanding of how your mind builds meaning. The good news is you are independent and free to drive your mind wherever you want it to go. The bad news is your choices may lead you off the road and into a ditch. You must steer yourself over difficult words and through abstract ideas.
Your world is going so fast. Be a rebel and slow down! Once you identify a confusing word or idea, use your Local GPS to guide you to a deeper conversation and understanding of the author’s message. Beware, the more you apply these strategies, the more information you will retain andthe smarter you will become. Avoid the temptation to skip over the words/ideas due to time constraints or lack of effort. This slip of poor judgment will only result in a loss of meaning and a missed opportunity to sharpen your mind’s ability to maneuver around difficult sections of text.
Best of all, this Local GPS tool will prevent you from getting confused while reading. I call these confusing words and ideas, road blocks, because they block the meaning from entering your working memory. Road blocks are those unknown words and phrases that cause you to stop reading and say, “Oh man, what the heck is the author talking about?” Here is a list of road blocks you need to watch out for as you read:
Revisit a vocabulary word when:
• you can’t pronounce the word
• the word is new or unknown
• you are unsure of author’s meaning
Revisit an idea when:
• you are confused.
• you notice you are thinking about other things.
• you can’t create mental images.
• you can’t make a connection.
Skipping over these road blocks isn’t helpful or a mature decision. We are no longer going to let these road blocks stop our thinking! With the help of my built in Local GPS tool we will be able to navigate these road blocks and find a direct, fast, efficient route to the meaning of these unknown words and phrases.
Local GPS is an acronym for the four different types of context clues the author uses to support a reader’s comprehension. To find the local context clues, zoom in to the sentences surrounding the difficult word. Reread the sentence before, and after the word you are trying to understand. The author often uses commas, parentheses, and hyphens to signal definitions, pronunciations, and examples to help the reader build meaning. This is your local context clue because the author’s clues are located right by the word.
The G stands for global. To find the global context clues, zoom out and look at the whole page. Scan the text features (pictures, captions, charts, and maps) to see if they can give you more information. This is called global context clues because you are taking a wide view of the text.
The P stands for prior knowledge. Sometimes the meaning is implied, which means the author doesn’t come right out and say what he means. In this case, you have to look at the text and add meaning to what the author didn’t include. Your schema will help you determine a meaning or clearer picture of the word. Prior knowledge is the third type of context clue because you can use what you already know about this word to build meaning.
The S is the final context clue. Structural analysis is looking at how the word is built. By breaking the word into smaller parts you will be able to decode the meaning. Search for prefixes, suffixes, or root words. Keep in mind working with words is a complex process. Being able to pronounce the word doesn’t mean you know the meaning. Until you know both, the pronunciation and meaning, you haven’t fixed the road block.
Remember, context clues are located within the sentence, on the page, or within your own mind. If you get lost, turn on my Local GPS to help you navigate through the road blocks, gain a deeper understanding of an abstract concept and save time from looking words up on the computer.
Reality Check
You are in the driver’s seat now. Knowing your destination or purpose to read isn’t good enough. You need to know different ways to build meaning by using the context clues on the page to help you figure out unknown words and ideas.
You are now ready to expand your understanding of how your mind builds meaning. The good news is you are independent and free to drive your mind wherever you want it to go. The bad news is your choices may lead you off the road and into a ditch. You must steer yourself over difficult words and through abstract ideas.
Your world is going so fast. Be a rebel and slow down! Once you identify a confusing word or idea, use your Local GPS to guide you to a deeper conversation and understanding of the author’s message. Beware, the more you apply these strategies, the more information you will retain andthe smarter you will become. Avoid the temptation to skip over the words/ideas due to time constraints or lack of effort. This slip of poor judgment will only result in a loss of meaning and a missed opportunity to sharpen your mind’s ability to maneuver around difficult sections of text.
I would love to hear how the Local GPS tool worked for you. Share your thoughts below or join the conversation on facebook.com/myreadingsecrets.
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