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".)

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!

PASS textbooks further update.

The option to request a free copy of the PASS textbooks on CD-ROM is no longer available. A visit to the new PASS site says that free copies are mailed to Florida schools, and other schools may purchase the books.

The individual courses that use PASS books have links to previous editions that you can download for free. I will change those pages to no longer say, "See the main page for information about ordering free copies." as soon as I can get to it.

Earth Science resource.

THIS LINK takes you to a textbook companion website to "Explore the World of Earth Science." It includes animations and interactive lessons ("investigations").

High school math help.

This is a textbook companion site that has practice problems, tests, and video tutorials. It covers Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry, and PreCalculus. Click on the textbook cover and you're taken to the chapter links. The video tutorials are topic specific, so you can find exactly what you need.

FIND IT HERE.

Study resources.

SAS CURRICULUM PATHWAYS has moved out of the Beta stage and into a full launch. This link takes you to the main page, where you can create a free account. This program covers core subjects - mathematics, English/language arts, science, and social studes - and Spanish, as well. Within each subject you will find short activities or audio files on specific topics, such as an interactive tool dedicated to "Exploring Graphs of Linear Systems" in the algebra section.
Whatever course you are studying, you might want to visit the SAS website to see if there are any activities that can help you.

Along the same lines is McGraw-Hill's PRIMARY SOURCE INVESTIGATOR, a program centered on history studies. Simply choose a book title based on which history you are studying (such as U.S.) and then you will be taken to a list of topics with short readings and/or interactive clips.

Inexpensive world history/western civilizations books.

Just like with the science books below, I did an Amazon hunt for history books, for anyone who prefers to have a printed textbook to read. As always, these links are merely FYI. They aren't affiliate links and you don't have to buy anything here.

World History to 1500, 2006 edition, used from $1.20.
World History, Volume II: Since 1500, 2006 edition, used from $3.00.

The World's History, Volume 1 (to 1500), 2005 edition, used from $3.00.
The World's History, Volume 2 (since 1100), 2005 edition, used from $0.36.
The World's History: Combined, 2000 edition, used from $11.99. This is a combined volume of the previous two books. It's actually, (even with shipping), still cheaper to buy the separate, newer books, but I included it because there is, as of right now, one seller selling it new for $18, if you prefer new books.

The Heritage of World Civilizations, Volume 1, 2008 edition, used from $2.00. (There's a 2002 edition HERE starting at $0.08.)
The Heritage of World Civilizations, Volume 2, 2008 edition, used starting at $9.56. (The 2002 edition HERE starts at $0.51.)

Western Civilizations, Volume 1 2002 edition, used from $0.34
Western Civilizations, Volume 2, 2005 edition, used from one penny. (No, really.)
Western Civilizations, Brief Edition (One-Volume Edition), 2005 edition, used from $1.99. (This is the condensed version of both previous volumes, combined.)
Western Civilizations, Single Volume Edition, 2002 edition, used from $1.78. (This is the full version of the two volumes, combined.)

Western Civilization: Brief Discovery Edition, 2005 edition, used from $0.51. This is a different textbook than the other Western Civ books above. (And keep in mind, this "brief" book is over 700 pages long.)

The Western Heritage, 2000 edition, used from $0.98.