Developing Positive Learning Habits and Skills
Diane Fedie
Student Services Coordinator
Mankato State University: Minnesota Intern 1998-99
Carver-Scott Educational Cooperative
Chaska, MN 55318
Description of Lessons:
Developing Positive Learning Habits and Skills is a series of lessons for individual students, small group guidance activities or classroom lessons. The lessons and learning activities are developed from a series of booklets offered from Scriptographic Booklets through Channing L. Bete Co Inc. These activities and resources can be utilized with middle school and high school students to develop and implement positive learning habits and skills for students in their academic classes, future career training and within their future places of employment. Each area involves activity booklet that provides information, activities and suggestions on learning and developing good habits and skills. Learning activity time frames will vary with each students needs and abilities.
The activity booklets utilized include Getting Organized What Every Student Should Know About, Let's Learn About Study Skills and Let's Improve Our Test-Taking Skills. This example of Lessons and Activities will be related to the Get Organized- What Every Student Should Know About. It was generated to focus on 8th and 9th grade students demonstrating weak skills in organization leading to academic failure.
Getting Organized - What Every Student Should Know About
This booklet provides ideas for helping students get organized. Examples of lesson areas include:
Starting With Good Study Skills
Set Goals for Yourself
Learn How To Prioritize
A Good Schedule: Balancing School, Work and Social Activities, Planning Ahead, Making Time for Work and Fun
What If You Still Need Help In Getting Organized?
Example of Lessons and Activities for Starting With Good Study Skills
Lesson 1: Discuss the importance of being organized. Review each student’s current organization and study skills. Evaluate the positive skills that are helping a student to be successful. Evaluate the areas that are keeping students from being successful. Class can brainstorm these ideas and talk about why some are positive or helpful while others distract or make it difficult to be successful. Discuss with students the following activities that you will be working on in class. If possible, have students bring in their current notebooks and planners to evaluate their current skills. Students should be encouraged to continue methods that may be successful for an individual student. Approximate time for activity: 45 minutes.
Lesson 2: Develop with student’s daily planners and notebooks for school use. Approximate time: 45 minutes
1. Organization and Good Study Skills -
A. Use a Daily Planner - Develop with each student a daily planner to schedule assignments, test dates, study time, appointments, and fun time.
B. Use Color-Coded Notebooks - Develop with each student a notebook, using color codes for assignments, homework and notes, for class.
Lesson 3: Approximate time: 45 minutes
C. Keeping your book bag and locker neat. - Students should bring in their own book bags to use when reviewing ways to best organize their personal bag. Students can be given ideas or examples of good inexpensive bags to use. Using a locker for an example, demonstrate ways that students may organize their lockers to help them locate items and stay organized. You can also give an example of an unorganized and organized locker and have them locate items. Hands on experience and demonstrations are easier for students to visualize and utilize. A future class assignment could involve students showing the instructor how they organized their book bags and lockers by actually showing and them to the instructor.
Lesson 4: Approximate time: 45 minutes
D. Setting up a Study Area: Student’s evaluate their current study areas at home and determine what is successful or helpful and what causes distractions or difficulties in completing studies. Give examples or suggestions for setting up a good study area. Keep in mind that some students may have a difficult time setting up good study areas at home due to family situations. Be sensitive to these issues and work with the student to create possible options. Communication with parents may be necessary to assist with this process.
E: Avoid Distractions: Review possible distractions, TV, loud music, telephone, people etc.
F: Take Breaks: Snack, Stretching, walk, length of break etc.
The booklet provides a guideline for teachers or school counselor to provide class or guidance activities related to each area. The booklet may be utilized for individual, small group or class instruction. The information is easy to read and follow for students. The booklets Let's Learn About Study Skills and Let's Improve Our Test-Taking Ability are information and activities booklets that may also be used for individual student, small group or class activities.
Connection to Related Standards
Getting Organized - What Every Student Should Know About directly relates to the Minnesota Graduation: Content Standard Decision-Making Career Investigation.
Educational and Occupational Exploration Competency 5: Understanding the relationship between education achievement and career planning.
- Demonstrate how learning skills are required in the workplace.
- Demonstrate transferable skills that can apply to a variety of occupations and changing occupational requirements
References and Resources:
Scriptographic Booklets. (1996). Getting Organized: What Every Student Should Know About (1998 Edition).South Deerfield Michigan: Channing L. Bete Co. Inc.
Scriptographic Booklets.(1998). Let's Improve Our Test-Taking Skills(1998 Edition). South Deerfield Michigan: Channing L. Bete Co Inc.
Scriptographic Booklets.(1995). Let Learn About Study Skills (1998 Edition). South Deerfield Michigan: Channing L. Bete Co Inc.
For Further Information
Diane Fedie
Student Services
Carver-Scott Educational Cooperative
Chaska, MN 55318
Phone: 612-368-8850
Fax: 612-368-8858
E-mail: dfedie@ties.k12.mn.us