“HOW TO SEARCH THE TEXTBOOK FOR THE RIGHT ANSWERS”

1. “HOW TO SEARCH THE TEXTBOOK FOR THE RIGHT ANSWERS”

2. The most important skill in using a textbook is THINKING! You have to know what you’re looking for. You have to be able to readthe words in the question. You have to be able to understand the questions you are asked to answer.

3. 1. The first thing you do is to look on the exercise to see if it tells you where to look in the textbook for the information to complete the questions. If it doesn’t say, look up the name of the title in the index at the back of the book or the table of contents to find the page. Ch.3 OBQ #2 "The New England Colonies“ (pp.78-84) Please include the question in complete sentence answers! 1. What did the Protestant group known as the Puritans want to do to the Anglican Church? 2. Why were the Separatists given their name? 3. What is the name of the Separatist group which left England to escape persecution? 4. What did the Mayflower Compact represent? You could also look in the index for one of the important-looking words in one of the questions to find a starting place.

4. 2. After you find your starting place and before you begin searching for the answers to questions on a worksheet or “open-book quiz”, quickly skim all the pictures and the borders of the pages to see what sort of information is there. This information is easier and faster to read than the regular text and you might come across some of your answers there!

5. 3. Now, go back to your set of questions. A. READ the question—then read it again. B. STOP and ask yourself: “What sort of information am I looking for?” C. CHOOSE two “key” (important sounding) words in the question.

6. 4. START at the beginning of the chapter and look only at the colored headings, highlighted sentences, bold print and underlined words—you might see your “important sounding” words there and then you know where to look for your answer. In every section they use big, bold, red print to highlight the names of major topics. They use bold, blue print to highlight the names of sub-topics. They use bold, BLACK print for important terms and names. Theyyellow highlightimportant ideas or terms.

7. The textbook people practically lead you to every answer for every question they ask. You just have to look for the clues: They give you all sorts of information using maps, pictures, graphs, timelines, etc. that often contain the very information you need!

8. 5. IF YOU DON’T SEE ANY OF YOUR KEY WORDS, start at the beginning of the chapter section and slowly SKIM the text, looking for them. Usually, teachers ask you to find answers in the order of the way the information is given in the book. 6. STOP when you find one of your key words and READ at least two sentences ABOVE and BELOW the words you chose.

9. 7. LOOK back at your question to see if you have found what looks like the answer. 8. IF YOU FIND IT, lightly write in the answer, just in case you have to change it a little. 9. RE-READ the question with your answer. 10. STOP, read it again and ASK YOURSELF, “Does my answer make sense?” “Do I understand the information?” 11. IF SO, move on to the next question. IF NOT, keep trying until you are sure that you’ve found an answer that makes sense.

10. If you don’t THINK about the words you write as answers and just write something in so you can say that you finished the exercise, you are wasting your time! If you’ve written down the right answer but don’t stop to THINK about whether or not you actually understand the information, you are wasting your time, because you won’t remember something you don’t understand when it comes time for the test!

11. Once you learn the “tricks” of finding information in a textbook, it will be much easier for you to be successful!