1. Study Tips for Elementary Students By: Courtney Cooper

3. Avoid Distractions There were two articles that I found that discussed this topic. The first one included a list of study habits. Throughout this article, many of the tips listed on the next page were mentioned. The second article also discusses the idea of avoiding distractions by also incorporating a list of ideas to keep in mind once you have found time to study. As this article mentions, “it is important to plan for your study time” ( The Ten Study Habits ). This way you will be able to eliminate many distractions that might occur during the process. Avoiding distractions is an important factor when it comes to studying. If you can plan ahead in order to avoid these things, then you will have eliminated the amount of time you must sit and stare at homework assignments, handouts and books.

6. Note-taking This topic was also mentioned in more than one of the articles I chose from. One of these articles states that “you can teach your students strong note taking skills by providing them with note taking templates” (Study Skills). Outlines, for example, can teach students importance of taking notes and what information is important to write down and what is not. One thing teachers do in order to get this message across is to leave blanks in the note-taking outlines for the students to fill out as they go through the class period. Also, outlines will allow students to learn a format of note-taking because throughout their educational career teachers are slowly going to expect them to take notes on their own and their, not the teacher’s notes, will be used to study for tests and quizzes.

7. Things to Consider First of all, when taking notes in school it is important that you use good handwriting. “If you can’t read your own writing a few days after taking notes, they are of little use” (Kizlik, 2010). Secondly, it is a good idea to keep your notes organized. For example, if you have taken notes three different subjects; science, math and social studies, it would be a good idea to keep each subject’s notes in a separate folder or in their own notebook. This will help when it comes to organization which will be mentioned later in the presentation.

8. 1. Why is it important to learn note-taking skills? 2. What were the two things mentioned that should be considered when it comes to taking notes? 3. What is one example of a template that teachers could use for their students? 4. Why must you use good handwriting and keep your notes organized? 5. What are some other ways you have learned or other things you have taught yourself that have to do with note-taking?

9. Organization Organization is important when it comes to studying. If you are disorganized, you will waste a lot of valuable time looking for the correct material or the correct supplies that you need to make the studying a success. Another important reason for organization is that of decreasing students’ stress levels. “Without an effective technique for organizing school work, they [the students] may become overwhelmed” (Pitner, 2009). When it comes to studying, nothing is going to be accomplished is the student is stressed because it keeps them from concentrating. “The article, Organizing Tips That Teach Students Study Skills , is a good resource when looking at different ways a teacher can teach organization.

10. The Color-Code System The color code system is something I learned in elementary school and have used ever since. This method is excellent because it applies to all grade levels. For example, it has helped me not only in high school, as I began taking more and more separate classes, but especially in college. Here is how it works: First of all, let’s say that you are learning science, social studies, math and Spanish. It is Tuesday night and your teacher assigned you a homework assignment in math and social studies. You could simply write down the page number or the problem numbers, but how would you know which was which? It’s simple. You highlight! For example, in your assignment notebook you could write your assignment for math and highlight it in blue. If you do this consistently, over time, you will also remember that blue means math and eventually it will make your studying smoother.

12. Conclusion Throughout my schooling, I have been taught many effective study methods. Overall, I think that it is extremely important that kids are taught how to study. Many teachers that I know of, or that I had during my schooling, simply handed us the material and expected us to learn it before the test. The older you are, the more realistic this would be; however if you have never been taught effective methods on how to study, then this simple task can be somewhat challenging. Following the completion of this assignment, I learned a few new ideas myself. I think that this PowerPoint, after being updated, would be a good tool to use in my classroom. Due to the fact that I want to be an elementary teacher, it is important to me that my students learn effective study methods. Methods that they can use throughout the remainder of their schooling.