Learn
How to
Revise
SCHOOL EXAM DATES 2016
END OF YEAR EXAMS FOR YEARS 7-9 BEGIN ON MONDAY 6TH JUNE
THEY WILL TAKE PLACE IN LESSONS DURING THIS WEEK AND IF NECESSARY THE WEEK AFTER.
Some subjects are starting before half term but students have been told about this and already done their revision lessons:
Maths 27th May
ICT (week beginning 23rd May in ICT lessons)
RE (week beginning 23rd May in RE lessons)
Geography (week beginning 16th May in Geography lessons)
First a few words for Parents/Carers
What you can do to help your son/daughter:
• Check they have the materials they need – black pens for exams, highlighters, ruler, pencil, rubber, colours, paper or card, blue tack.
• Offer to help them by testing them but don’t force it – some students like this sort of help and others hate it.
• Make sure there is plenty of food around – it can also be an incentive to get them working.
• Encourage them to take breaks – they are all different and while some can study for hours other can only manage 20 -30 minute bursts. Don’t judge just help them to plan their time.
• It is incredibly tempting but try to avoid ‘parent’ comments such as: “What do you mean, you need a break already?”
“I knew all this when I was much younger than you.” “Come on, this is easy!”
NOW READ THE SLIDES THAT FOLLOW. YOUR CHILD (YR 7) HAS SEEN THIS ALREADY AND BEEN TAUGHT THE TECHNIQUES AT THE BACK OF THE POWERPOINT.
Find out:
•
What is meant by ‘revising’ for exams
•
Why we have to do it and …..
•
Different ways of revising for exams
What is meant by ‘revision’(noun) or
‘revising’(verb)
The clue is in the word: RE – VISION RE means to do something again.
VISION involves looking at something
The verb ‘revising’ tells us this is something we have to ‘do’
So ‘revision’ means to look at something again, and doing it again, and again until you know it so well, you do not need to look again.
Like knowing your name, your address etc.
Why do I need to revise?
While you are at school you will have regular exams to check that you are learning – and
remembering - everything you are being taught. When you do exams, you will have to pull the
information and skills from your brain – no notes, books or google to help you!
Exams are sneaky – you never know exactly what will be asked. Therefore you have to learn
everything just in case.
Why do exams matter?
Exams matter because various jobs expect us to have qualifications and to get a qualification you have to take exams.
For example, to do an apprenticeship in the gas and
electricity industries you need at least a GCSE Grade 5 in English and Maths (there are nine grades – 9 is the highest and 1 is the lowest) plus three other subjects.
Most college courses and places of employment expect you to have a Grade 5 in English and Maths.
Universities expect you to have about eight GCSEs all with at least six Grades 5-9. The best universities will expect you to have Grades 8-9.
Why do we have to do exams each year at
school?
We do exams at school because you have to get used to learning and revising lots of information and skills so that you know everything when you get to take your GCSEs.
School exams also help the teachers know which groups to place you in so that the work you do is the right level and speed for you.
Exams help the teachers and your parents know how you are doing at school – checking you are making the right progress for someone of your age.
Can I really learn everything?
We can ALL learn – if we are prepared to make the effort. In his book Bounce, Matthew Syed explains that
what makes someone successful is not talent but practice.
“I can’t do it!” is banned because it is NOT TRUE.
TEN THINGS YOUR TEACHER WILL DO BEFORE EXAMS: 1. Give you a printed list of what you need to revise. 2. Tell you where you can find the information for each
item on the list
-• Your exercise book
• A text book
• Printed notes
• On-line
3. Show you what the exam paper will look like. 4. Explain how much time to give to each
question/task.
5. Give you homework time for Revision. 6. Prepare revision lessons for class.
7. Explain how the marks will be given.
8. Remind you of the Key Words you will need to use in your answers.
9. Show you an example of a top mark extended writing task.
10.Give you a revision booklet containing revision tips that suit their subject and practice questions. 12
So how do I revise?
There are a few things you need to do before you begin: 1. Prepare your time
2. Prepare your space
3. Prepare your equipment
4. Prepare your parents/carers
Prepare your time – Revision Timetable
Plan yourrevision for the free time you have each day and at
weekends.
Make sure you include breaks. Look at what you need to revise and work out a timetable so you cover all the topics you will need in the exams.
Prepare your space
Where is the best place for you to work at home?
You need desk space and some peace and quiet. If you cannot study at
home in a quiet place then there will be a place
available for you after school each day for two weeks before the exams so you can do some revision here.
Prepare your equipment
• It helps to have plenty of pens and pencils and crayons
• You will also need card or paper to make ‘flashcards’ (more about this later)
• Post-its are also very helpful so you can easily stick information round your room or your desk.
• Parents also count as ‘equipment’ as you can use them to test you!
Prepare your Parents/Carers
• Tell your parents/carers what you are doing.
• Show them your revision timetable.
• Ask them for any
equipment you need.
• Ask them to test you.
REVISION STRATEGIES
The next set of slides contains ideas about how to revise – how to get the information or skill into your brain so you remember it and can apply it in the exams.
What type of learner are you?
Most people learn in a variety of ways but in general we can be:
Visual Learners Learn by seeing something e.g pictures,
colours
Auditory Learners Learn by hearing about something or reading it
Kinaesthetic Learners Learn by doing something e.g. making something or moving around while learning something
Most of us use all three types of learning but sometimes a student will learn
Making Flashcards
Lots of people find this helpful for Science, History, Geography, Languages.
1. Cut up pieces of coloured card or paper
2. On one side write down the word you need to know
3. On the other side write down the meaning/information e.g.
4. Now test yourself or ask someone else to test you.
5. You can begin with the word and have to know the definition or begin with the definition and try to remember the word.
ATOM
THE SMALLEST PARTICLE OF AN ELEMENT THAT CAN
EXIST
Making Mind Maps
Design a mind map for each
topic you have to learn. The instructions are in your planner on pages 146-147.
Make sure you use colours and pictures because these help
your brain to remember the information.
POST-IT NOTES
Try using post-its to
summarise the information
you need to learn.
You can place them round your room and then walk round
trying to remember what is on them.
Keep it short and simple as it is easier to remember.
PARTS OF THE BODY
When you have to remember a list of
information or the steps in a process, link each bit of information to a part of the body beginning at the top of your head and working
down to your toes.
Visualise the part of the
body to help you remember the information.
Using Highlighter Pens
Have these handy so you can highlight the key words or important pieces of information in your exercise book as you are revising.
They are also useful for highlighting the key words in exam papers so always
have one handy.
Some questions ask you to do two
things so two different colours can be very useful.
Designing questions to test yourself
When you have to learn a topic, read through the
information and make up ten or twenty questions as you read it. Then test yourself at the end to make sure you
have learnt it properly.
Come back to it later and try the test again.
Make new notes
Just reading through things over and over doesn’t help you learn much. Instead, try making new notes on some paper – ask your parent/carer to get a special book for you to make these notes in. All the supermarkets sell notebooks.
Try using bullet points and underlining or using Capital letters for special bits of
information. Use colours and little drawings as this also helps you remember things.
Make Posters
Try making colourful posters like this one for each topic you need to learn.
Using Youtube
There are lots of great lessons on you tube.
Just type in the topic you are doing and your year group to help you find a lesson on
something you may have missed in class or just not understood very well.
Use BBC Bite Size
This site has lots of programmes and web pages that cover the topics you are learning in every subject.
Try watching a bit then pausing to make your own notes – this will also help you stay awake!
Study with a friend
This only works if you and your friend seriously want to study. But if you ARE serious, it can be really helpful because two brains are better than one!
Try:
• Teaching topics to each other
• Testing each other
• Making circle maps together with all the information you remember on them.
• Creating Mind Maps together in the same way
Walk and Talk – Keepie Uppies!
If you find sitting still very hard then try learning something and then testing yourself on the
move.
One example is to do Keepie Uppies while you recite out loud what you have just learnt.
Learn spellings by throwing a ball to someone and each of you adding the next letter as you throw the ball back (or you can do this against a wall or in the air if you are on your own).
Then go back to trying to learn the next part of the topic.
Take breaks and give yourself ‘rewards’
Research shows that spending ten hours learning something is much less effective than breaking it down into ten, one hour sessions over a couple of months – just like swimming or music lessons.
Your brain prefers you to repeat stuff regularly
over a longer period of time than trying to cram it all in over a short period of time.
Decide what your rewards will be e.g. after 30 mins learning, watch a TV programme, or play a game on the X-box, or chat to a friend.
But stick to your times!
Turn off your phone!
• This is the biggest distraction of all but it is not possible to revise
AND keep looking at messages on your phone.
• Make the decision to put it away for 30 mins or an hour – it will still be there when you are
finished.
• Use your phone as a reward.
Do practice questions
Your teachers will give you practice questions to do. This is one of the best ways of revising because you soon find out what you don’t know.
Make sure you go back and look up the stuff you get wrong – otherwise there is no point in doing the practice questions.
If it doesn’t work, try something else
Don’t stick to just one method if it turns out not to be very successful.
You would be surprised how many people just read their work over and over again even though they have failed their exams previously using this method!
Find a method that works for you
For example:
“For a drama assessment I read my lines over. But I also looked up the play on youtube and watched different versions of it to see how my character had been played by other actors. I got a good mark for my drama so this worked for me.”
