Grade 9 recently sat for a test in History. The topic was our current unit, Meiji-era Japan, and the questions were pulled from past IGCSE exams. This was the students’ first real exposure to a test-like atmosphere in IGCSE History and the experience, I believe, was highly instructive.
As one student noted after I handed the tests back, “We really need to know specific details.” Yup.
The History exam does a very nice job of testing students’ higher-level thinking, but quality answers are simply not possible without a strong command of the facts. It’s those facts–the who, where, what, why, and how–that allow the students to support their higher-level statements.
So it’s imperative that our students have strategies for retaining and commanding those details. It’s not enough to memorize; they must be able to explain how those details are connected to the big questions in each topic. In my experience, far too many kids fill pages upon pages of notebooks with facts and then when it comes time to study, they simply read those pages. This is, typically, not a winning recipe. We can do better. For example:
- Re-write notes. Simply by sitting down at the end of the week and re-writing (in neater form, no doubt) the notes from the week goes a long way towards reinforcing the information.
- Flashcards. This classic technique is effective because it requires students to create (thereby reinforcing the knowledge) and provides them with a way of quizzing themselves. Flashcards can be handmade or, as with so many things, there’s a great app for that.
- Discuss it! When students can explain a topic, complete with details, it’s a pretty good sign that they really get it. Encourage your student to tell you about History. Ask them questions, those who, what, where, why, and how kind of questions.
- Talk to the iPad. For those students who are a bit more shy, talking to their iPad (specifically, Dragon Dictation) is another way to quiz themselves. Again, expressing themselves orally is a fantastic test of their knowledge.
- Draw pictures. For those students who are visual learners, rewriting notes as diagrams or pictures can be a big help.