First day of the unit--or the second. I tell them that as we cover things, to fill it in so they don't have to do it the nights leading up to the test. Then, when they go to study, to just read it over and take the practice mult. choice I give with it.
I only do study guides for finals (I don't do midterms). Otherwise, their notes and the chapter. I pretty much stick to the same format, so they know by the first or second test what I expect. I do, however, usually do a review, and I usually give them a test breakdown (5 vocab questions, 8 translation sentences, etc.) If it's something new, I usually give them an example of the question. I don't know what you teach, but unless your chapters cover many different topics (say 10), I wouldn't bother with it. The exception to me is history - there's usually a lot of names, dates, and events per chapter, so I'd either give a study guide to narrow it down, or a really good review worksheet to use as a study guide (ex: if the worksheet asks something about George Washington, then be prepared to have at least one question on him)
I agree with Cassie. It's not up to the teacher to make a study guide; that's the students' job. My teen students actually ask for a study guide at the college level. The older students just stare at them in amazement.
I don't either. I do give them a rundown of what's on the test. (That way, 9th period doesn't know any more than 1st period does.) And each class gets a different test, so knowing more than a general outline really doesn't help them at all.
My kids get them, but they just list format, concepts to know, possible essay questions, and terms to know. When I taught CP they caught a more comprehensive study guide with review questions to answer.
I do not give out study guides either. Anything that I taught them is fair game on a test. The day before we go over all the topics that were taught and are included on the test. I also make out 2 versions of each test for each class.
I teach 8th grade US History and I post a study guide on my board and add to it throughout the unit. It looks like this Terms, Ideas/concepts, People, Possible Questions My students are responsible for making sure they have everything from that board written down so they can study. I tell them about 1 week before the test when that test is.
I don't give them study guides, but I do give them a list of possible topics for essay questions. That way they know what they need to focus on. Sadly, they seem to expect that I will give them a study guide that is the exact same as their test, since many of their teachers seem to do that.
I get the same thing! It frustrates me so much that they expect to get something with the questions that they will see on the test.
I gst the same thing especially from my 8th and 9th graders. As I am teaching, I will tell them to write down something that I know is important and put a star by it. I always remind them to go over the starred items in their notes.
I'm given my yearly evaluation forms before my evaluation. I'm told exactly what my principal wants to see and how each thing will be judged. I'm not advocating giving students every question ahead but I do think it is not nearly as odd as one might first think.
I work with a teacher who posts her tests online...the exact same test that she'll be giving in class. You would be surprised how many students still fail the test!
I do not give out study guides for my bi-weekly assessments. However, I do explain what will be on the assessment. As an ELA teacher who does workshop model, my assessments are skill based, based on the mini-lessons from the previous 2 weeks. For each skill, there are 5 questions. I tell the kids that I am not out to trick them, and I am testing myself as much as I am testing them.
I am reading a book by Kelly Gallagher, who teaches HS English. He gives his students the essay question (novel based) that will be the final exam the day they start the book. Over the course of the unit, they step back and look at the question and what they already know can help support their answer. He is pretty impressive, many of his kids are ELL and are reading pretty difficult texts.
I only give real study guides, with practice questions, etc. before my mid-term and final exams. I'm debating this year whether or not to give "I can/I know" statement sheets before tests. My kids are Grade 9 and new to high school, so I'm thinking it might help them focus their studying. For example, my first social studies test will be on Canadian diversity (political, geographical, demographic, etc.) so my "I can/I know" sheet would look like: I can... name all of the provinces/territories and their capital cities (properly spelled) name the different geographic regions of Canada and discuss their similarities and differences discuss the difference between human and physical geography and give examples of each etc., It will give them the topics on the test, but not any particular question. Really, it's just the curricular outcome re-written in a more teen-friendly manner.
I agree that everyone who is being assessed should know exactly what he or she is being assessed on. That's why my kids get a very specific outline of the test. For this week's algebra test, they know that -the first 11 questions are 2 points each, on the properties and +/- integer operations - 6 5 point problems on 2 step equations - 6 8 point problems on more difficult equations w/ parentheses, variables on both sides or like terms. I think it's important that kids have an idea of what they're being evaluated on. That said, the blurb I just typed does NOT tell them the actual questions, just the skills they'll need to answer them. And in preps where I have multiple classes, it gives no one class any advantage over any other, since each class gets a different test.
I like this! Last year, I gave my students the actual questions that they would see on the test as their study guide. I actually had more kids fail the test than passed the test. I do not know what will help. They are 8th graders and think they know everything! They do not study unless told they will have a mini quiz the next day. I need to figure something out to help them study but have not figured out yet what would be the best.
I give a lot of open-book tests at this level, but because the answers can't be found "word for word," I still have some students who can't do it. I'm going to say this again: A lot of people are going to college on the Parental Fantasy Plan.
For my history class, I give "take home quizzes" and I tell the students that it is required homework that will be counted as a quiz grade. It covers everything I MIGHT ask on a test. I do also tell the students that if they do well on the quiz, they are more likely to do well on the test. Math - I don't give a study guide at all. English - I sometimes do a take home quiz - but not always. They do get their essay questions ahead of time though.
Thanks for your replies. However, I figure study guides are just guiding the students on what is expected that they should know - not the actual questions.
These are really helpful ideas I recently gave my students study guides, and was thinking about how I could make the process more effective. I am thinking about making study guide completion a small group or pair activity because a number of them are not reading on grade level, and struggle with organizing their thoughts, etc.
Depends on what I am teaching. For example. I have an 'elements of a short story' handout that I give before we read short stories. I generally don't do a ton of tests, I'm more of a project guy myself. As a grade we may do a study guide for the semester exam.
I just remembered something my co-op teacher did that may be helpful to you. 2 nights before a test, the homework (or part of it) was to come up with 3 questions she might ask on the test. So each student would come in the day before the test with 3 potential questions. She would call on students to ask the questions they had come up with, and then allow the other students to answer them. The students seemed to like it, and it did seem to help. If a student developed question was say, on a topic in a Chapter she had said she was not testing them on, she would just tell them it's not on the test, and maybe still let other kids answer it for the practice. Oh, and if no student touched on an important topic (let's face it, sometimes they'll go for the easy questions), she would ask questions of the class on that topic. This was her review. She would also often practice things during the review, such as practicing translating sentences.
As I borrowed it to begin with, feel free! Besides, my co-op was very much into sharing materials (she sometimes will even mail me stuff she comes across), and she retired this year, so I really don't think she'd mind! :thumb:
