Exam time tips!

Exam time tips!
How can you prepare for an exam?
It is the easiest thing in the world to put off studying. Find yourself a place where you can't talk to others, make yourself comfortable, it is almost always easier to sit at a table or desk. Leave your phone in another room, get yourself a nice big drink of something you like, have a treat in another room for when you have done a good half hour of work. Log off Facebook, MSN or Bebo so that you aren't tempted to chat.

Ask yourself, “What do I know?” and “What do I NOT know?”
Study the information you don’t know well. This is harder than the stuff you do know but is more important learning at this stage.
Use highlighters and sticky notes for important points.
Break up your study into small chunks – the brain cannot absorb too many pieces of information at once. Go outside and take a breather between chunks.
Look at the headings so you know what topics are being covered.
Write down the names of topics and the main things you need to cover for each topic.
Highlight keywords for your subject. Make lists of words and make definitions of them. It is important that you read the exam questions carefully and understand them. Learning lots of words related to your topic can help you.
Make new notes for the exams – this is important because if you don’t have good notes to study from, you won’t be able to write good answers in the exam.
Mind maps are a good way to visually represent information so that it is easier to learn. Visit a mind-map website for ideas on how to do this such as bubbl.us but don't do this to put off studying.
If in doubt, ask questions in class before exam. Talk to your teachers. Tutorials are for your benefit you should go if you can.
Study groups – Study groups can be effective. To make the groups work well, make sure you have a plan about what you want to cover so you don’t end up just chatting and wasting your time.
Practice with old/past exams Practice the content and time yourself so you know how much time to give to each question.
Talk about your study, to a friend or to someone at home. Repeating information out loud helps you remember it. Maybe you could have an online chat about a particular area of a subject.
Eat breakfast on the day of the exam and breakfast and lunch if it is an afternoon exam. Hope your exams go well, the library is available for you to use.

The last templar - Raymond Khoury

For FBI agent Sean Reilly and archaeologist Tess Chaykin this is the start of a deadly game of cat and mouse as they race across three continents in search of the ruthless killers and a centuries-old mystery............

'traces of the Da Vinci Code, yet original enough to stand alone, The last Templar plunges us into the mysticism and folklore of the Catholic Church'

Dead until dark - Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself. She has this sort of "disability'. she can read minds, and that doesn't make her too dateable. But then along comes Bill who has a disability of his own: he's a vampire with a bad reputation......

Dead until dark - Charlaine

The wizard of Rondo - Emily Rodda

For all you Deltora Quest fans out there!

Superior Saturday - Garth Nix

This is the fifth book in the Keys to the Kingdom series.

Arthur Penhaligon has wrestled five of the keys from their immortal guardians, the trustees of the Will. But winning the Sixth Key poses a greater challenge than any he has faced before.....

Hunting books

Deer: The New Zealand story - David Yerex
The Bushwhackers: Hunting Adventures on Stewart Island - Dean Taylor
Hunting adventures - True tales of a kiwi hunter - Greig Gaigou

Way ofthe wolf - Bear Gryllls

A plane crash in the wilds of Alaska leaves the pilot dead and Beck's Uncle seriously injured. Alive but shaken, Beck and his friend, Tikaani, must somehow make their way out to find help. But without food or the proper equipment it's a journey that could well be fatal!

Free?

Stories celebrating Human Rights
14 acclaimed storytellers take inspiration from their struggle.
With a foreword by Jacqueline Wilson

Betrayal on Orbis 2 - Pj Haarsma

In this second softwire adventure, Johnny has a new home and a new job on Orbis 2 - one that pushes his softwire abilities to painful limits.

Third transmission - Jack Heath

Agent Six of Hearts is about to see his world torn apart.
He is sealed inside a torpedo, blasting his way towards a warship at 150 kilometres an hour.
His mission: to steal canisters containing a weaponised form of the SARS virus

Deadline - Chris Crutcher

What if you only had one year to live ...... And you knew it?

When Ben Wolf learns his senior year of high school will be his last year, period, he is determined to go out in a blaze of glory......

The Operation series - Joshua Mowll

Operation - Red Jericho
Operation - Typhoon Shore
Operation - Storm City

'The Da Vinci Code meets Alex Rider"

If you loved the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz

then this series is well worth a look!

The last thing I remember - Andrew Klavan

Dazed and confused, Charlie wakes up strapped to a chair in a windowless cell. The last thing he remembers is falling asleep in his bedroom. Now he's aching all over, covered in blood, and, worse, someone behind the door has just ordered his death.
Charlie knows this is no nightmare, what he doesn't know is how he got here and more importantly, how he's going to get out.........

H.I.V.E Escape velocity - Mark Walden

The Higher Institute of Villainous Education is in grave danger. Dr Nero it's leader, has been captured by the world's most ruthless security force. It's up to Otto to save him, but first he must escape Nero's sinister replacement and H.I.V.E. itself. Then Otto faces the Ultimate challenge - to break into M16. Something no villain has ever succeeded in doing.

Three cups of tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

In 1993, after a terrifying and disastrous attempt to climb K2, a mountaineer called Greg Mortenson drifted, cold and dehydrated, into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness he promised to come back and build a school. Three cups of tea is the story of that promise and it's extraordinary outcome.

The battle for Rondo - Emily Rodda

This is another from the best selling author or Deltora Quest

Determined to take control of Rondo, the power hungry Blue Queen has a new secret plan, and a enchanted dragon to help carry it out.

Brainjack - Brian Falkner

It would take a very special person to crack the computer systems of the White House. An expert. A genius. A devil. Someone like Sam Wilson, brilliant teenage computer hacker. But Sam's obsession is about to lead him into a dangerous world........

Catching fire - Suzanne Collins

This is the second novel in the Hunger Games.
Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. In this book Katniss is tested more than ever before.........

Chinese Cinderella: The mystery of the song of the dynasty painting - Aleline Yen Mah

If you enjoyed Chinese Cinderella stories then this one should be good.

Following a serious fall at the river town of Fengjie, 12 yr old CC is whisked away to hospital. Ass she lapses in and out of consciousness, she is haunted by vivid dreams that seem strange - yet somehow familiar.....

The wrong grave - Kelly Link

Anyone might actually dig up the wrong grave.
Everyone knows that the wizards of Perfil eat children when they grow tired of fish.
The faery handbag is huge and black and kind of hairy. Faeries live inside it. I know what that sounds like, but it's true.
Nothing is too weird in this collection of stories: any thing could happen!

The crossing - Mandy Hager

The people of Onewere, a small island in the Pacific, know that they are special - chosen to survive the deadly event that consumed the Earth.

the crossing is the first book in a stunning new trilogy that follows the fate of Maryam and her unlikely companions - Joseph, Ruth and Lazarus. this fast, supensful drama is underpinned by a powerful and moving story about love and loss.

Mama's song - Ben Beaton

Georgina is running away; from her parents, from the mistakes she has made, and from what she is about to become. There is only one person she can really trust. And that's herself.

The poison throne - Celine Kieran

A friend. A father. A kingdom. Which would you sacrifice?
Set in fantastical medieval Europe, The poison throne is a compelling tale of court intrigue, romance and adventure.