How to Study History Terms for a Test

How to Study History Terms for a Test When you study terms and definitions for a history exam, the best way to make the information stick is to understand your terms in context or understand how each new vocabulary word relates to other new words and facts. In high school, your teachers will cover what happened in history. As you move on to college history courses, you will be expected to know why an event happened and the reasons each event is important. This is why history tests contain so many essays or long-answer questions. You have a lot of explaining to do! Gather History Terms Sometimes a teacher will give students a study guide that contains a list of possible terms for the test. More often than not, the list will be long and intimidating. Some of the words may seem brand new to you! If the teacher doesnt provide a list, you should come up with one yourself. Go through your notes and the chapters to come up with a comprehensive list. Dont be overwhelmed by a long list of terms. Youll see that they quickly become familiar once you start to review your notes. The list will seem shorter and shorter as you study. First, youll need to locate the terms in your class notes. Underline them or circle them, but dont use a colored highlighter just yet. Review your notes and see which terms appeared on the same day or lecture. Establish relationships between the terms. How are they connected?Pretend that you are writing a news report on the event or topic  and write a paragraph that contains three or four of those terms. Your paragraph should contain a date and the names of any important person who might be related to the significance of the events or terms (like a president).Keep writing paragraphs until you use up your terms. You can re-use a term if one term fits well with two or more clumps. This is a good thing! The more you repeat a term, the more youll understand its significance. Once you have finished making and reading over your paragraphs, find a way to utilize your best learning style. Study Tips Visual: Go back to your notes and use a highlighter to connect your terms. For example, highlight each term in one paragraph green, highlight terms from another paragraph yellow, etc. Make a list of significant people and places for each event situated on the timeline. Then  draw a blank timeline and fill in the details without looking at your original. See how much material you retained. Also, try  putting the timeline on post-it notes and paste them around your room. Walk around and actively note each event. Keep in mind that its not useful to memorize a large catalog of notes on a topic. Rather, its more effective to  establish a  connection between the facts.  Think about events in a  logical order to help you understand them, and consider the use of mind maps, a hierarchical diagram used to visually organize information. Auditory: Find a recording device to record yourself as you read over each paragraph slowly. Listen to your recording several times. Tactile: Make flashcards by putting all the terms on one side of a card and the entire paragraph on the flip side. Or  put a question on one side (eg, What year did the Civil War take place?) and then the answer on the other side to test yourself. Repeat your process until every term seems completely familiar to you. Youll be ready to answer individual definitions, long and short answer questions, and essay questions!

WASHINGTON Surname Origin and Last Name Meaning

WASHINGTON Surname Origin and Last Name Meaning The Washington surname is believed to have originated with the English place name Washington, the name of a parish in Durham, five miles from Gateshead, and also of a parish in Sussex, ten miles from Shoreham. The original bearer of this surname could, therefore, have hailed from either of these places. The Washington place name itself is derived from the Old English personal name wassa, which means hunting, combined with the locative suffix -thn, meaning settlement, homestead. Another possible origin for the place name comes from weis, meaning wash, or the shallow part of a river, plus ing, or a meadow or low ground, and ton, for dun, a hill or town.  Thus the place name Washington could have been used to describe a town located on a wash or creek. Alternate Surname Spellings:  WASHINTON, WASSINGTON, WASSINGETON Surname Origin: English Where the Washington Surname Is Found According to  WorldNames public profiler, the Washington surname is most popular in the United States, especially in the District of Columbia, followed by Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama. Outside of the U.S., the largest numbers of individuals as a percentage of the total population are found in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom (most particularly in England). Famous People with the Washington Surname Booker T. Washington - educator and civil rights activistDenzel Washington - American film actorKenny Washington -  one of two black athletes to reintegrate the NFL in 1946 Genealogy Resources for the Surname WASHINGTON Meanings of Common English Surnames: Uncover the meaning of your English last name with this free guide to English surname meanings and origins for the most common English surnames.Washington: the Blackest Name in America: Huffington Post article discussion statistics from the 2000 U.S. census which points to 90% percent of individuals with the Washington surname identifying as African-American, a much higher percentage than with other common last names.Washington Surname DNA Project: The Washington Surname DNA Project originally began as a means for two different Washington family lines to try and determine if they were related through Y-DNA testing. Since that time, additional Washington families have joined the project.  WASHINGTON Family Genealogy Forum: This free message board is focused on descendants of Washington ancestors around the world.FamilySearch - WASHINGTON Genealogy: Search or browse for free access to 1.6 million digitized records and lineage-linked family trees f or the Washington surname on FamilySearch.org, the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. WASHINGTON Surname Mailing List: Free mailing list for researchers of the Washington surname and its variations includes subscription details and searchable archives of past messages.DistantCousin.com - WASHINGTON Genealogy Family History: Free databases and genealogy links for the last name Washington.The Washington Genealogy and Family Tree Page: Browse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the Washington surname from the website of Genealogy Today.Looking for the meaning of a given name? Check out First Name MeaningsCant find your last name listed? Suggest a surname to be added to the Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins. References Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Dorward, David. Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998.Fucilla, Joseph. Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003.Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.Reaney, P.H. A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997.Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.