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When high school students enter your classroom, they have completed several years of homework, research projects, and subject tests. But have they mastered the ability to learn and stay organized?
Teaching study skills to high school students is an important part of secondary education, and these lessons can benefit them long after they graduate. Learn how to instill study skills such as goal setting, time management, and monitoring progress in teenage students. Find classroom resources to guide them (and you) through this important process!
1. Set goals
High school students may have long-term goals, such as going to college and getting their dream job. But do they know how short-term goals can help them achieve them? Demonstrate how to set goals for high school students by having them set goals based on their own study habits.
Every Monday, have students write or discuss their weekly goals in class, including completing all class assignments or getting a specific grade on a test. Include goal setting in the assignment, such as “Complete Chapter 5’s notes” or “Read for 20 minutes without distraction.” Have students reflect on their goals over the weekend or during. How are they doing and what would they change?
Get students thinking about their study habits
Study skills courses for high school students begin with self-regulation and self-assessment. Teach your students how to set goals, stay organized, and take diligent notes with guided resources and graphic organizers.
A guide to student organization, note-taking, and study skills
through lifelong learning
Grade: 7-10
Help high school students overcome procrastination and set achievable goals with comprehensive resources on study skills and executive functioning. This unit provides extensive organizational handouts, study skills self-assessments and goal-setting worksheets to help students succeed in any subject area.
2. Prioritize
One of the most important life skills activities for high school students is prioritizing work. If they’ve been taught to check off their to-do lists from start to finish, now’s your chance to help them prioritize their work!
Assign projects that contain non-linear steps, such as a research assignment that requires multiple sources, or a book report that contains multiple steps. Have individuals, pairs, or the class work together to prioritize the required steps, such as deadlines or time needed to complete. You can mix homework assignments into one-night and multi-week assignments, and encourage students to create similar lists for each night’s assignments to ensure the highest-priority assignments are completed first.
3. Manage time
Do your high school students really know how long five minutes is? How about two days or even a week? Teach teens the value of a minute with time management resources so they become aware of and comfortable with the time it takes to complete tasks.
For your first long-term project, encourage guided time management and set mini-deadlines for students. As the school year progresses, lift these smaller deadlines until students are able to complete projects independently. If they need more support, model time management strategies in class, including how to properly pace themselves during tests and how to complete short assignments in their free time.
4. Improve concentration
With 21st century technology and the distractions of daily life, teenagers are finding it harder than ever to focus on work. Help them improve their ability to focus by creating a distraction-free learning environment in class and breaking down the lesson schedule into smaller tasks.
Challenge high school students to complete shorter, timed assignments to train their attention span over a longer period of time. You can also encourage them to develop healthy habits to improve focus, such as getting more sleep and staying hydrated. You can also avoid over-decorating your study space to minimize distractions.
Train focus skills to ensure student success
How well are your students able to focus on the task at hand? Help high school students learn this important study skill through guided exercises, specialized assignments, and resources that directly connect their focus skills to academic success.
How to Concentrate Better Study Skills Lesson – Middle/High School – Google Slides Options
Consultation points by school
Grade: Grades 6-12
Show students how distractions impact their study habits with resources that focus attention on attention itself! This set of classroom materials includes a learning styles survey, a worksheet on distractions, and a walking gallery poster on internal and external distractions that will be helpful for both high-achieving students and students who struggle to focus in class.
5. Take notes
Asking high school students to take notes while reading feels like second nature, but in many cases, they have never been taught how to take proper notes. Whether you prefer outline note-taking, chart note-taking, or the Cornell note-taking system, taking students through this process can instantly improve their learning experience.
Before assigning the first informational reading assignment, model how to take notes through a whole-class activity. Show students how to summarize main ideas, distinguish important facts from less important details, and have them take notes together on simple reading assignments. Let them practice taking class notes, technical notes, and notes on any other topic in class to develop skills that will ultimately make them better readers and students.
Hone your note-taking skills on any subject
Whether you teach ELA, social studies, science, or any other content-rich subject, taking concise notes is a valuable skill for high school students to master. Add resources and lessons about note-taking to the study skills unit for high school students to show them just how helpful quality notes can be!
Key Note Lesson/Template/Graphic Organizer-High School Study Skills
By Jenn Liu – Participation in Empowerment
Grade: Grade 8-12
Subjects: English Language Arts, Informational Texts, Reading Strategies
Standards: CCSS RI.9-10.1, 2; CCRA.R.1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 10; CCRA.W.4, 5; CCRA.SL.1, 2, 3
Need your students to learn the basics of note-taking? Show high school students how to take focused notes using CCSS consistent resources, including Google Slides, editable discussion questions and assignments, and note-taking templates in print and digital formats.
6. Stay organized
If you’ve ever looked at the average high school student’s backpack, you know that staying organized isn’t a strong skill for many. Help them understand the value of organization through classroom structures that help individuals organize and give them the responsibility to stay organized in all aspects of their education.
A list of upcoming deadlines and assessments is the first step in the organization of instruction as part of a study skills course for high school students. Collect assignments regularly and check student calendars and schedules to ensure they are writing down their assignments. You can even make regular backpack checks part of your classroom exit ticket and reward students who keep their homework neat and organized.
Make organizations part of education
Staying organized doesn’t have to be a chore! Use incentives and classroom feedback to instill organizational skills in students of all learning styles, reading levels, and grade levels. You might even find that your classroom gets tidier at different times!
Study skills courses, high school SPED BTS activities, counselors
Angie Kratzer
Grade: Grades 6-12
Teach high school students to organize their assignments before the first assignment is due. This helpful study skills resource includes a learning style inventory, tip sheet, struggle scavenger hunt, and more to guide students through the benefits and strategies for improving organizational skills.
Organized skills activities and learning skills for middle and high schools
through informed decisions
Grade: Grades 6-12
Standard: CCSS W.9-10.1, 2a, 3, 4; CCRA.L.4, 5, 6
How organized are your high school students? Let them assess and improve their organizational skills with resources including Organization and Study Skills Tips Handouts, Facilitation Tips, Educator’s Guide and Activity Reflection Handouts, all available in color and black and white.
7. Reflect on progress
The reflective process is probably the most important part of a high school study skills course. It allows students to decide which strategies work for them, identify which skills they still need to improve, and directly link study skills and executive functioning to their success in the classroom.
Have them self-assess their learning skills during the first week of school and develop a process for them to reassess these skills regularly throughout the year. Consider assigning a final project that allows students to demonstrate their most improved skills, including higher grades or a happier learning experience as evidence!
More study tips for high school students
Once you’ve taught your teen core learning skills, focus on other concepts that can help them achieve their goals. These study skills may include:
- Ask a teacher or adult for help
- exam strategy
- Set up your work area
- Use flashcards or a numerical review program
- Review your work or find peer editors
- Sign up for peer coaching
- Create a study group
For high school students, the most important study skills are those that fit their learning style. That’s why understanding their learning preferences and needs should be the first step in any study skills course, before specific strategies can be developed.
Make study skills part of your school schedule with TPT
Even if your high school students are teenagers, they may not know how to be students yet. Teaching study skills to high school students can help them become more familiar with their own learning styles and teach them habits to use inside and outside the classroom. Find more high school study skills resources to reinforce these important concepts and help high school students take the next successful step in the rest of their lives.
