Junior cert study advice

NewHolland_53

Hello , I am doing my junior cert this year 2015 ,I would like to ask a few questions as I am extremely nervous about the whole thing.
Firstly I was wondering had any one any advice on how to study subjects such as history and business which involve a lot of learning .History for example I dunno how to study it without forgetting the whole lot again in a weeks time .I have trouble especially with the people in history.
For English I was wondering how to study unseen stuff such as personal writing as I find it particularly difficult ,Could any one give me a plan/storyline that would suit any essay that will come up or do I go into the exam not knowing one.
I was also wondering would it be possible to get 6 As in the JC if I start studying real hard from now until the Exam ,I got 5As 2Bs and 3Cs in mocks if that's any use .I would really appreciate if anyone had a study plan they could send me too.
It would mean a lot if you could reply to this even if it's a small bit of advice thanks.

abutler101

For history/geography/business/science etc, learn something one night then go over it the next night, go over it a week later and go over it again a month later.

When you are learning, pick a chapter, write out notes on that chapter. When you are writing out the notes keep the points short, write them in bullet points under a heading. I can email you some of my notes as an example if you want. When you have written out the notes put them away and write out everything you can remember from them on a sheet. When you can't remember any more look at the notes again. Circle or highlight anything in the notes that you haven't written down on your sheet. When you are revising this chapter again do the same mini test and circle anything you have forgotten again.

Another really good way to study is practicing exam questions and learning of the answers. Particularly for business you need to have the definitions learned off word by word.

For unseen english questions (comprehesions, unseen poetry, drama and fiction), all you can do is practice old exam questions. Plan out your timing in the exam and make sure you can do the question to a good standard in your time limit. For unseen comprehensions you should aim to have three points for each question, each one developed and supported by a quote from the text. Get your technique for reading the text right too, read the questions first, highlight and substitute the key words in the questions, then read the text, highlighting and labelling answers as you go through it. For the personal writing your teacher should give you frameworks for stories and essays. It is easier to prepare the debate speech, the structure is always the same and the topics are very similar are very similar.

Judging from your mock results you should be able to change the B's into A's and maybe even some of the C's into A's or at least B's. 7 or 8 A's would be a really good target. Finally, try not to worry about it to much, getting to anxious won't help you in the exam.

NewHolland_53

Thanks abutler101 for your advice.it seems a very effective way of studying and I will definitely follow it . I am unable to post my email so you could send me notes in this reply as it says I am a new user who can't post urls images .... However

Bazinga_N

NewHolland_53 wrote: »

Hello , I am doing my junior cert this year 2015 ,I would like to ask a few questions as I am extremely nervous about the whole thing.
Firstly I was wondering had any one any advice on how to study subjects such as history and business which involve a lot of learning .History for example I dunno how to study it without forgetting the whole lot again in a weeks time .I have trouble especially with the people in history.

My advice for subjects like this would be to make revision notes on each topic. For example, go through your science book and take out the chapter on Ecology. Write out the important defintions and key facts you need to know about this chapter. Look at your exam papers for past questions on this topic and make sure you can answer them using your revision notes. If you can't add what you need to your notes. Do this for each topic and you'll see improvements quick enough. Don't just copy notes straight from the book or revision guides or whatever though, as you won't learn as well. It's important to write it out in your own words.

For English I was wondering how to study unseen stuff such as personal writing as I find it particularly difficult ,Could any one give me a plan/storyline that would suit any essay that will come up or do I go into the exam not knowing one.

By unseen do you mean like the poems and the texts? If so, then I'd recommend learning some kind of systematic way of looking at the texts and analysing them.

For the personal writing I think it's just best to go in unprepared. Don't try going in with a storyline learned off because it will probably cause more hassle to you on the day. Go in, open that question first and read the different topics. Put them to the back of your head and think about them as you do the other sections. Leave that last and by the time you get to Personal Writing you should have an idea of which topic you identify the most with and have an idea for an essay. Make a quick plan so you know where you're going and start writing. Don't overthink the whole thing.

These are quite good notes for Junior Cert English that might help you:
http://www.aoifesnotes.com/junior-cert/

I was also wondering would it be possible to get 6 As in the JC if I start studying real hard from now until the Exam ,I got 5As 2Bs and 3Cs in mocks if that's any use .I would really appreciate if anyone had a study plan they could send me too.
It would mean a lot if you could reply to this even if it's a small bit of advice thanks.

I think that is highly likely. If you keep the work up in those 5 A subjects, and improve on the 2 Bs there's genuinely no reason you couldn't achieve 6 As.

NewHolland_53

Thanks Bazinga N for all your advice and I will try taking the notes on each chapter like you said and revising them regularly .If you don't mind me asking is it too late now in the year to start from scratch with this technique for all these subjects