Revision Skills Evening Thursday 8th November 2012

Aims… To build your child’s confidence, increase their motivation and help them to acquire the good learning habits which will lead to SUCCESS in their final exams To give you and your child the opportunity to discuss revision and the various strategies to promote and support such independent study time

Last 6 months crucial- how do we make them count?

Discuss the ‘top 5 things’ that you feel are the starting point when planning revision.

Key tips to starting revision Decide on the style of revision timetable you want Plot in your exams first Using the subject revision checklist start to plot in topics you must cover before the exam Plan fun things too!

Example timetable EnglishMathsScienceHistorySpanish Sat 9 th Paper 1 Writing to argue, persuade and advise 9-10am 12-1pm Revise the P3 Topic on Stars and Space 3-4pm Medicine through Time Women in Medicine Sun 10 th Afternoon off Mon 11 th 4-5pm How Science works on SAMLearning 7- 8pm Revise vocab for the environment topic. for the school Tuesday 11 th Revise key themes and plot in Lord of the Flies am 6-7pm Quadratic expressions Maths CD Test pm 12-2pm Using different source types

Key tips to starting revision Know how many papers there are for each subject: Where? When? How long? How many questions? Marks given. Coverage?

Follow on Organising a work place What is your work area like at present at home? Key factors to consider: De-junkingResources LightChair? AirTemperature SpaceWall space

Other factors to consider Distractions? Music Water High energy foods Sleep Exercise (Brain Gym?) Share goals with someone else- it will help you achieve them!

Brain Gym is a collection of special activities designed to ‘switch on’ the left and right brain for better learning and co-ordination.

Practical/ doing? Visual? Auditory? Kinaesthetically/ with others? How do you want to work/learn?

Which way do you learn best? 2 minutes to discuss

Ways to revise to suit me Visual learners- learn by seeing Represent the main facts/ concepts on a diagram or a timeline Use highlighters Trace words in the air Use flashcards/ post its

Auditory learners- learn by hearing Work with someone read aloud Discuss Try reading to yourself ‘under your breath’ Devise questions to ask about the text and then question a friend about them Make up a role play

Auditory learners- learn by hearing Experiment with saying keywords out loud (emphasise the different parts of the word, using different voices) Tape key points and play back Make up a mnemonic to remember important facts (NESW)

Other top tips to help Come up with acrostics- an invented word with a first letter cue. E.g. 5 factors that explain Hitler’s rise to power Political manoeuvring , Depression, Weimar weaknesses, Nazi’s tactics and Hitler’s leadership Please don't whine now Hitler!

Kinaesthetic learners- learn by doing Go for a walk or move around as you read the text Write down the main points on card and then order them in a logical order or match up to definitions Use ‘post-its’, assemble them on the wall in different areas. Make up actions to go with key words.

Final top tips Mind read examiners (consider recent questions asked) Look at mark schemes Self mark/ peer mark Do Quizzes/ tests Use SAMLearning/ VLE

Tell me- I’ll forget. Show me- I may remember. But involve me and I will understand.

Retention rates Lecture- 5% Reading- 10% Audio- Visual- 20% Demonstration- 30% Discussion- 50% Practice by doing- 75% Teaching others- 90% Source: National Training Labs, Bethel, Maine

Any questions?