How can I revise???

1. How can I revise??? • Your revision guides from PSE – USE THEM • Making it stick • Using mind maps • Ten top tips

2. Start early– don’t leave it for a rainy day • Remove all distractions • Get someone to motivate you • Think of how satisfied you will feel in August • Start by doing a little – try revising in short chunks this weekend

3. Week beginning: Monday 24th October

4. Revision tools - Tricks of the trade • A3 plain paper • Highlighter pens • Post-it notes or cards • Marker pens; glue sticks, scissors • Coloured pens and paper • Files and folders, filing box for organising • Timer (egg timer, alarm clock etc) • Revision timetable • A quiet work space

5. A Visual Learner? – using your eyes • You are good at remembering things visually – you remember a picture of what you see when you read the page • Try notes or equations on bits of paper – colour them in – add curly bits, trees, animals, anything that makes it stick • Look over notes once a day – remember pictures. In the exam you will ‘see’ the paper and remember • Use mind maps or spider diagrams

6. Or an auditory learner? – using your ears • You are good at remembering sounds • Music can help you • Say things out loud to help you remember • Use songs, rhyme to help you remember • X = ??

7. Or a kinaesthetic learner? – doing this to learn • Your mind works best when your body is active – you are doing things • Do write things out as you revise – make notes, highlight, create jigsaws, cut and paste • Moving around and actively doing things as you work will help you remember

8. My advice • Do all three and see which works for you • Anything which makes it stick is worth doing • Get yourself motivated

9. If you revise something tonight, by tomorrow you will have forgotten some of it So take a quick look to ‘top up’ your memory Do this again in a week’s time, and keep ‘topping up’ until the night before the exam THIS IS NOT TIME CONSUMING It is satisfying and comforting because you find stuff looks more familiar each time you look at it Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

10. Look, Cover, Write, Check • A familiar spelling technique • Read it – hide it away – write it out – check to see if you got it right • Useful for spellings, diagrams, equations, lists of facts, dates etc

11. Highlighting • Go through your books and files and notes highlighting key words and ideas • This makes revision easier because the act of ‘scanning’ aids revision. • Do this with all hand-outs you are allowed to keep! • Personalise your handouts using highlighters and simple drawings – that way it will be yours in your memory

12. Use flash cards • My favourite revision tool – helps to summarise • These can help you remember quotations, facts and equations • Put main ideas on one side and all the main details you need on the other • Look at them whenever you have a spare moment (lunchtimes, break times, registration, on the bus etc)

13. Question and Answer technique • Dull facts on one side: • Extracting metal from an oxide needs a reaction • Metals higher than carbon in the reactivity series need ‘electrolysis’ • Metals lower than carbon can be extracted using carbon, because carbon can remove oxygen from metals which are less reactive • Order. K, Na, Ca, Mg, Al, C, Zn, Fe, Sn, Pb

14. Questions on the other side • What needs to happen to extract metals from oxides? • What is used to extract metals higher in the r-series than carbon • What is used to extract metals lower than carbon? • What is the order of the reactivity series?

15. Make jigsaws • List things on a sheet of paper, cut the paper out then sort it – e.g. plots in your English set texts; key quotations; processes in science and geography • Useful to put things in order • Use post-it notes • Making and using helps you to remember

16. Identify your strong and weak areas • Go through your books. Put green blobsbeside stuff you’re happy about. • Put red blobsbesides bits you’re not sure of or find more difficult • Work on the red bitsand ask your teacher about them. • You can also do this by highlighting parts

17. Work with someone else • Some say that two is better than one • ‘The best way to learn is to teach’ • If you can explain things to somebody else then you know you have got it straight yourself

22. Start now – 3-6 weeks Use your revision plan Organise yourself, your notes and your books Find the best place to revise – comfy, well-lit, quiet. Keep all materials – pens, books, paper, guides within easy reach Choose the revision methods that suit you – try things out Take regular breaks Keep healthy – make sure you eat well and get enough sleep. Exercise regularly; you’ll feel refreshed Set yourself achievable targets and reward yourself when you reach them Try past papers – questions; key words; layout of paper, timing etc Ask for help if you need it Ten Top Tips