Study Skills for High School Students Curriculum

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Study Skills for High School Students Curriculum

Unit 2 – Goal Setting – Chapter Two Goals and Objectives: •

Break down goals into incremental steps

Create visual models for goals

Establish academic goals and incorporate study guide templates to achieve them

Reading and Comprehension Checkpoints: These questions are designed to help you facilitate a powerful in-class discussion based on student reading assignments. The answers are included.

Q: Why is it important to set both long-term and short-term goals? A: long-term goals will help you achieve future aspirations; short-term ones will help you reach the long-term goals

Q: What are some examples of short and long-term goals? A: short: get an A on a test, practice at a sport; long: career, family, friends, finance

Q: Which of the techniques for setting goals, as discussed in the book, are you willing to commit to? Why? What will you gain from this commitment?


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Study Skills for High School Students Curriculum

Powerful Coaching Questions for Chapter Review: Use to initiate discussion after the chapter is read and activities from the book are completed. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

What is the difference between a wish and a goal? How do you decide what your goals are? Why are goals important? Have you ever set an unrealistic goal? What happened? Describe a time you turned a failure into a success. What is the difference between failing and being a failure? What are some healthy ways to deal with failure? What are differences between healthy and unhealthy risks?

Using Handout #5 analyze the four pictures depicting goals. 1. 2. 3. 4.

How are these pictures similar? How do they differ? How do they illustrate different stages in the process of achieving goals? What other images do you see that relate to setting goals?

Journal Topics: Listed below are the suggested journal topics from Appendix D in Study Skills for High School Students. Ask students to journal directly into their books. The objective here is for the students to write as freely and openly as possible. It is not about punctuation, grammar and style. p. 130 “The final goal of human effort is man’s self transformation.” − L. Mumford p. 131 What will you say about your life when you are 90 years old? p. 132 “The value of the goal lies in the goal itself; and therefore the goal cannot be attained unless it is pursued for its own sake.” − A. Toynbee p. 133 How will your education help you achieve your goals? p. 151 Describe what it means to have discipline. p. 153 How will self-motivation influence your life? Additional journal topics: 1. Write about a time when you succeeded at something because you made a goal and committed to it. - Describe what happened. - How did it make you feel? - What did you learn from the experience? 2. Write about a time you tried to pursue a goal but failed? - Describe what happened. - How did it make you feel? - What did you learn from the experience? - Did anything positive come from it?


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Study Skills for High School Students Curriculum

EXPLORATORY Activities: These activities can be used for cursory exploration and to expand upon chapter content. 2. Collaborative Goal Setting Determine a specific distance in your class room that can be spanned by a human chain (two opposing walls, the distance between two chairs, etc). Divide your class into groups. The group size will depend on how long the distance being spanned is. Each group must build a human chain from one end of the space to the other, meeting a set of arbitrary conditions such as only four feet, five hands, two bottoms and one head may touch the floor. All body parts mentioned must be used as directed. Playing with these conditions can enhance creative thinking for the activity, as well as the fun. The teams will race to build their chains. A team wins when they are first to complete the chain and can hold their positions for 8 seconds. To debrief from this activity, ask students how they took the large goal, building the human chain, and broke it into smaller individual goals. Ask them to identify what the smaller/individual goals were (finishing the chain first, balancing on their hands, etc.). 3. Brainstorming Goals – Creating a Goal Wheel Students brainstorm goal possibilities for eight different areas in their lives: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, classroom, school, community and other. Use Handout # 6 for students to analyze the full spectrum of goal possibilities. 4. Sculpting a Goal Collect a variety of random objects and place them in several piles at different tables throughout the classroom. Cardboard cake plates, small plastic cups, pipe cleaners, string, mailing labels, magazine pictures, markers, and thin wire, all work well for this activity. Be creative and gather whatever inspires you! Ask students to review their goal wheels and choose one goal that they are committed to pursuing from their list. Ask them to create a sculpture that represents this goal to them. The sculpture does not need to be literal but must have some connection to the goal, the outcome or the process. After completing the sculptures, have students share their creations and the meaning behind them with the class.


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Study Skills for High School Students Curriculum

RIGOR AND RELEVANCE Activities: These activities encourage students to further explore textbook concepts while allowing for more in-depth classroom discussion. 1. Study Guide Template – See Handout #7 Discuss with students that one goal for you as a teacher is to help students enhance their study skills, thereby helping them succeed in school. Handout #7 is a study guide template they can use for each of their classes to help track their understanding of the assignments, quizzes, mid-terms and projects as they prepare for exams. Provide a copy of the template for each of the students’ classes. Walk them through the template and explain that you will periodically check with them over the course of the semester on how students are using this tool. 2. Six Steps to Setting a Goal – See Handout #8 Ask students to identify a specific goal they would like to focus on for this term. When they’ve identified the goal, ask them to complete Handout #8. This handout can then be used for class discussion, as well as a piece for students’ personal portfolios that will include their writings, etc.


©2008 Handout #5

Study Skills for High School Students Curriculum

“GOALS”


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Study Skills for High School Students Curriculum


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Study Skills for High School Students Curriculum

Handout #6

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” −Mahatma Gandhi Brainstorming Goals − Creating a Goal Wheel Each piece of pie on the chart represents a different area in your life. List all the possible goals that interest you in each area. You are not committing to action here, merely brainstorming possibilities. Here are some examples to help you generate your own ideas. Physical – Get an hour more sleep a night during the week. Limit television viewing to 30 minutes per day.

Emotional – Practice deep breathing techniques when I get stressed before tests. Take time to connect with my parents. Mental − Ask myself three pertinent questions after I read to help process the information. Commit to focusing on positive thoughts as I approach my most difficult subject.

Spiritual – Create ten minutes of silence in my day for reflection. Spend a day in nature each month to connect to the world around me.

Classroom – Participate in group discussions. Come to class prepared to make the most of the day.

School – Help raise funds for the senior class trip. Join the student athletes’ club to help raise money for new field trips.

Community – Volunteer to read to children at a homeless shelter once a month. Become a mentor at the elementary school in my neighborhood. Other −


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Handout #6 (continued)

Goal Wheel


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Handout #7

Study Review Summary History

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Study Review Summary English

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Study Review Summary Science

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Study Review Summary Math

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Study Review Summary Foreign Language

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Study Review Summary Social Studies

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Handout #8 Five Steps to Setting a Goal 1. Write down your goal. Be as specific as possible. Close your eyes as you ponder the following questions: What will it look like when you are successfully accomplishing this goal? What will be different in your life? What will this feel like? Who will witness your accomplishments? What might these accomplishments lead to? (If possible, students will close their eyes as the teacher quietly asks these questions, giving them time to reflect and envision their ideas). Now take time to write the responses you envisioned to the above questions.

2. List three reasons for wanting to attain this goal. Knowing why you want to accomplish your goal will help reinforce your motivation during the process. The more powerful the reason, the more motivated you will be.


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3. Outline the specific steps you must take to achieve your goal. The more specific and incremental the steps are, the easier it will be to tackle the goal. This exercise can be done in the form of a list, diagram, or other visual representations that help you envision what must be done over the next several months.

4. Describe the obstacles you might encounter during this process. How might you handle these obstacles?

5. Create a timeline for yourself. Include deadlines for your incremental steps, along with your overall goal.

6. How will you know when you’ve succeeded?


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Below are some questions to consider during the process:

1. Who is ultimately responsible for you achieving your goal? How can you best focus on problem-solving instead of blaming?

2. Who can help you? Who possesses skills and talents that can help you learn?

3. What resources are available to help with each of your incremental steps?

4. How can you reward yourself along the way? Can you think of appropriate rewards to inspire and motivate you during each stage of the game?


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