Thursday, September 29, 2011

English Comp Textbooks.

In another pass through Amazon looking for cheap textbooks, here's what I have found for English Composition.

A Writer's Repertoire - used starting at .08 cents.

The Bedford Guide for College Writers - used starting at $2.35.

English Composition and Grammar: Complete Course - used starting at $7.16.

College English and Communication - used starting at a penny.

The Composition of Everyday Life: A Guide to Writing - used starting at .08 cents.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

World History Study Guide.

THIS is sort of interesting. (If you open it, it may take a bit of time to load. It's a large file.) It's a "note-taking guide" for a common public school world history book. The book can be found HERE, listing as used starting at $8.65.

Or, for a different version, THIS is a note-taking guide for THIS BOOK which is listing used starting at $38.45. (Ouch.) If you click on the chapter links, you are taken to a page that gives the chapter note-taking guide, but also something called "concept connector worksheets," which may spark essay assignment ideas. (Also, FYI the note-taking guides for this book include section summaries which, even without the textbook, can provide good review/study materials.)

I'm not necessarily saying, "Quick! Run out and buy one of these books and then download the study guide!" because, frankly, I would imagine the ink cost of printing out the guide would be quite substantial. However, if you have a student who is very new to self-directed learning and is struggling with what to write in the study journals, this sort of thing may be a way to ease into how to take notes from written materials, and much of the world history studies carries over to the Western Civilization exams, and also the Social Sciences & History exam.

Oh, and one more thought: If you think you may *ever* find a use for these files, download them now and save them somewhere. There really is no telling how long they'll be available.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Note-taking for your Study Journals.

THIS LINK takes you to a short (10 page) "Reading Skills Handbook" that gives tips for reading for study and retention.

Within the document, there is reference to the Cornell Note-Taking System. (Read more about it HERE and HERE.) Using such a system can be very beneficial, especially when taking notes from audio or video files.

The difficulty is in finding the paper. You can PRINT YOUR OWN CORNELL-STYLE PAPER, but there's an ink and paper cost consideration there, or you could ORDER NOTEPADS at about $25 for 250 pages. Ouch!

The least expensive way to use the Cornell Note-Taking System is to modify it slightly to use regular notebook paper. You have two options. Option one involves using your notebook paper upside down, so that the header space is at the bottom, to become the summary area. The other option is to leave the paper right-side up and use the same header space for summary, but at the top, rather than bottom of the paper. In either option, you want to use the margin space opposite the holes as your cue column. Although it is narrower than the recommended cue-space for the system, it provides an area for you to make a quick note or list important terms from your note-taking session, without requiring you to draw new lines on your paper. (You may want to draw a line down the page on the side of the paper that does not have the red line on the margin opposite the holes, if you don't like relying on seeing the line through the paper from the other side.) Your cue column will be either on the right or left, depending on whether you are writing on the front or back of the page. You may also want to consider writing sideways on your cue column, so that your individual words don't end up "cramped."

If you decide to utilize the system, just be sure you remember to save space at the top corner for dating your work and adding a title. (Like "Geology - Igneous Rocks".)

Saturday, September 3, 2011

New links.

Depending on what courses you might be using/following, you may have noticed some new links. We've been adding links for several days now, and will continue to do so through the Labor Day weekend holiday. Thank you to everyone who has recently emailed us with link suggestions. They are much appreciated!