Study Skills Strategy

Some common mistakes when revising:

  • Students just read over their class notes or textbook

  • Students listen to their favourite music whilst studying

  • Students study late into the night before

  • Students struggle to remember despite making notes

You need to figure about the best way to REVISE for yourself. It is vital that you have an approach and that you keep practising every year. Becoming better at memorising is a skill and it can be improved.

4 Steps for Revision

Step 1: Organisation

  • Create your Homework & Study Timetable so you know what days and for how long you plan to study

  • Arrange your notes from worksheets, exercise books, textbooks, past tests, and homework that will be used to study from

Step 2: Note Taking

It is vital you use a method of note taking that engages you.

Note Taking Options:

  1. Mind mapping

  2. Summarising:

  • Outline Method

  • T-Notes

  • Cornell Notes (see page 141 of your School Diary)

 

Step 3: Memorising & Recall Activities

A vital step in revision is summarising key content, memorising this and then recalling it.

Memorising & Recall Activity Options:

  1. Memory box – start with a small topic heading and write down everything you remember about that topic on a post it notes or any format you like (don’t give up easily, more you do it the better you get)

  2. Flash Cards – create palm cards to summarise key content and key words into smaller chunks of information to memorise

  •  Practise memorising these by reading them out, and writing out ones you struggle to get right, get someone else to test you

Step 4: Practice Questions

  • The final step is about practising questions you will most likely see in the test

  • Look at the Revision Sheet provided to you, look at your textbooks, and use your class exercise book to find questions, important to use a range of easy to hard questions

Your Study Environment

  • Put your phone on silent and set the timer for your study session (e.g. 20min study 10min break)

  • Sit at your desk or stand at a high desk, it’s good to switch regularly (not lying on your bed)

  • If you like listening to music, put on ‘focus music’ or play it softly in the background

Create your own ‘4 Steps for Revision’.

Print off and keep above your desk at home.

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