A simple way that you can boost your study sessions, is to make some flashcards that have your spelling words on them.  To make a flash card, simply write down a spelling word on one side of the card and leave the other blank.  You can use flashcards in a few different ways to help you study more effectively.  Try studying with flashcards using some of these methods:  Glance at the side of the card with the word on it.  Flip the card over and try to spell the word from memory. Have a friend read the word out loud to you.  Try to spell the word without looking.  Have your friend tell you if your spelling was correct. Review your cards anytime to get more familiar with how to properly spell your words. While you can do well studying alone, studying with a friend can give you some extra help.  You can both improve your spelling skills as you work together to memorize the words on your list.  Try scheduling study sessions with a friend to get in some extra practice and make learning your words a bit more fun.  Studying with a friend can allow you both to quiz each other. Both quizzing and being quizzed will give you practice. Try including a fun competition to see who can spell the most words correctly. Mnemonics are mental associations that can be used to help remember things.  You can use basic mnemonic methods to help you remember the correct spelling of the words on your spelling test.  Consider using some of the following examples of mnemonics to help you do well on your test:  You can use acronyms to help with tough words.  For example, the word "weird" could be remembered by assigning a word to each letter.  "Would everyone inside read documents?" could be the saying you use to remember how to spell the word "weird". Try including difficult areas of a word in your mnemonic.  For example, Sep"arat"e is "a rat of a word to spell" could help you remember the tricky middle section of the word separate. The English language is made up of words that were borrowed from many other language families.  Because of this, many of the words in English can be difficult to spell.  However, learning the language of origin for a word can give you some hints when you are remembering how to spell it.  Take a look at some of these examples to get a better idea of how learning the origins of words can help you spell them:  Many English words come from Latin.  In words with a Latin origin, most "K" sounds are spelled with the letter C.  Many "S" sounds will be spelled with an "SC" combination. Words with Greek origins may spell the short I sound with the letter Y.  For example, in the word "symbiotic", the "y" has the sound of a short i.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Make some flashcards. Study with a friend. Use mnemonics. Learn the origin of a word.


Our normal counting system is called decimal, or "base ten." We have ten different symbols for writing numbers, ranging from 0 to 9. Binary is a "base two" system, using only the symbols 0 and 1. If a binary number ends in 0, you can count one higher by changing this to a 1. We can use this to count the first two numbers just as you would expect:  0 = zero 1 = one For higher numbers, you can ignore the earlier digits of the number. 1010 + 1 = 1011. Now we have "1" for one, but we've already run out of symbols! In order to count to two, we need to write another digit. Add a "1" to the front of the number, and "reset" all the other digits to 0.  0 = zero 1 = one 10 = two This is the same rule we use in decimal when we run out of symbols (9 + 1 = 10). It just happens a lot more often in binary because we run out of symbols sooner. These rules will get you as far as the number five. See if you can do it yourself, then check your work:  0 = zero 1 = one 10 = two 11 = three 100 = four 101 = five Now we need to solve five + one in decimal, or 101 + 1. The key here is to ignore the first digit. Just add the 1 + 1 at the end to get 10. (Remember, this is how you write "two".) Now restore the first digit and you get: 110 = six There are no new rules you need to learn. Try it yourself, then check your work with this list:  110 = six 111 = seven 1000 = eight 1001 = nine 1010 = ten Do you see that ten (1010) doesn't look like a "special" number in binary? Eight (1000) is much more important now, because it equals 2 x 2 x 2. Keep multiplying by two to find other important numbers like sixteen (10000) and thirty-two (100000). Now you know everything you need to count in binary. If you're ever confused about what comes next, just work out what happens to the last digits. Here are a few examples to help you out:  twelve plus one = 1100 + 1 = 1101 (0 + 1 = 1, and the other digits stay the same.) fifteen plus one = 1111 + 1 = 10000 = sixteen (We've run out of symbols, so we reset to 0 and write a 1 at the start.) forty-five plus one = 101101 + 1 = 101110 = forty-six (We know 01 + 1 = 10, and the other digits stay the same.)
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Learn what binary means. Add one by changing the last 0 into a 1. Write another digit if all the numbers are one. Use these rules to count to five. Count to six. Count to ten. Notice when new digits get added. Practice with higher numbers.


If you plan on creating an original design, you might want to take a piece of paper and a pencil to sketch out some concept designs. If you plan on using a pre-made image, like one used by your favorite artist, video game, or TV show, you should should find a high resolution copy of the image. High resolution images will result in crisper, cleaner stencils. Beginners might want to stick with simple designs while learning the basics of stencil printing. A simple line drawing or thick, plain, black text will work well for your stencil. This can be easily done on a computer with image editing software, like Adobe Photoshop or MS Paint. You might import an image from online or your personal image library and make some modifications to it with your editing software, or you might use your own original artwork. If you don't have a printer, you can always look into how to make a stencil by hand.  With image editing software, it will be easy for you to move around components of the design until you are happy with it. Text, in particular, will likely require some adjustment for you to get the right placement and size.  Compare the size of your design to your substrate, which is the technical name for the thing you'll be stenciling onto later. This will prevent you from creating a stencil that is too large. Some examples of substrates you might stencil your design onto include: t-shirts, backpacks, posters, towels, walls, folders, and so on. You might want to change your image properties to "Black and white" before printing. This will make it easier to identify the parts you will need to cut from your image to make your stencil. You should print your image in black and white on a sturdy piece of paper, like card stock or posterboard. Depending on your printer, you may be able to cut a piece of white posterboard or card stock down to the size of a normal sheet of paper and use it in your printer as you would normally.  Depending on your region and printer, your standard paper size may vary. Generally, you can expect most printers to accept paper 8.5 inches (21.6 cm) wide. Sturdy paper will result in a sturdier stencil. Using normal paper for your stencil might cause it to fall apart while stenciling.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary --
Brainstorm your stencil ideas. Create your design. Print your design.