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Learning Support Newsletter Spring 2022
Study Skills- 10 point guide for pupils 1.
Study in pairs.
6.
Read the information and then write a short summary paragraph, or even just a sentence, of the key points. Alternatively, you could write down three important questions about the topic you have studied.
2.
Teach somebody else the information- peer tutor it.
7.
Use memory hooks. A picture or a sentence by the mirror in the bedroom or on the fridge in the kitchen. A note on a whiteboard. If you like drawing – draw some cartoons of the key concepts or characters in the narrative you are studying. Or make a model out of plasticine.
3.
Create a mind map with the key words.
8.
Sometimes get rid of all the IT - computers and phones. Just work with pen and paper on a bare table . Hard copy information only!!
4.
Make the information you want to learn into a story.
9.
Look for film clips on the Web. Put in the key words as information. BBC Bite Size is an excellent source.
5.
Make a sound recording of the information you want to learn.
10. Look at questions from past papers.You will find lots of help and information on Firefly for each subject.
Teacher Tips: Spelling Why does spelling matter? • • •
Entry to the social/political elite. In context of teaching English or any school curriculum subject, people who are worried about their spelling are likely to be inhibited in what they attempt to write. Freedom to write and experiment with language is based around being a good speller.
It is only when we have achieved machine like spelling that is automatic, predictable and infallible, that we are free to write with confidence’ Fred Schonell (1942) Learning to Spell – What good spellers do: • • •
But • •
Good visual memory from what they have seen in print Secure motor movement memory Good aural memory
They are often lazy about spelling strategies because they don’t often need them. They are not obvious or natural teachers of spelling to others.
Key intervention strategies for improving spelling • • • • • •
They need to be individual. Show pupils a range of strategies and let them experiment. Build up an intervention around the student’s preferences. A method you like might not suit your students Try to teach spelling though words that your student needs to use for real writing assignments. A word learned needs returning to beyond one spelling test