INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Create a concise objective that summarizes the subject matter, skills exercised, and learning goals. Define the skills students will develop with measurable, actionable verbs. Include details that tailor the objective to the subject matter of a specific unit or assignment. A strong objective for a unit would be, "Students will identify and describe the key players and events of the Second World War's European and Pacific theaters." A strong objective for a project could be, "Students will analyze the wartime strategies of 1 Allied or Axis nation." Weak objectives would be, "Students will learn to communicate clearly," or "Students will understand the causes, players, and events of World War II." The first example isn't specific, and "understand" isn't as measurable or actionable as "identify," "describe," and "analyze." Break up the learning objective into specific criteria that students should meet. Use simple, age-appropriate language for these and other descriptions. List these concepts or skills in the rubric's first column. Key concepts or skills could include subject knowledge, comprehensiveness, organization, use of reliable sources, and spelling and grammar. Develop at least 3 performance levels for each key concept or skill. Include details that relate to the specific concept or skill instead of generalizations, such as "Advanced" or "Proficient." Assign points for each performance level, and list levels in rows to the right of each concept or skill. Performance levels for a subject knowledge category could be: 3 points: Student demonstrates accurate, detailed knowledge of the nation and its wartime strategies. 2 points: Student identifies and explains key information, but omits some details. 1 point: Student presents basic facts with little detail throughout. 0 points: Student provides inaccurate information and omits basic facts. Giving students a rubric ahead of time lets them know exactly how you're evaluating them. Additionally, show them past projects, papers, or tests so they know what various levels of quality look like. For younger students, use age-appropriate language to teach them about rubrics. Simplified key concepts and performance levels can help them learn how to meet expectations. Simpler performance level descriptions for young students could be: Student can name the 7 continents with no hesitation. Student can recite multiplication tables for the numbers 1 through 10. Student always writes their tasks in their assignment pad.

SUMMARY: Define a specific learning objective for each unit, test, and project. Identify the assignment's key concepts or skills. Create clear standards instead of vague, general guidelines. Provide examples of excellent, good, and unsatisfactory work. Adapt rubrics to students' age level.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: four weeks before surgery. If you smoke, it recommended that you quit at least four weeks before your surgery. As quitting smoking may be difficult for some people, you may want to try quitting as soon as your surgery is scheduled. If you quit early enough, you can ease off the cigarettes by using a nicotine gum or patch. You should discontinue use of these between one and four weeks before surgery, as nicotine may interfere with the surgery. Get rid of all cigarettes in your house, car, and office to reduce the chance that you will start smoking again before the surgery. To improve your chances of success, join a stop-smoking class for support and tips. It is important that your doctor knows all the medications you are taking before you have the surgery, including supplements and over-the-counter medications. Some medications will need to be discontinued up to a week before surgery as they may interfere with anesthesia, blood clotting, or any medication that may be given to you after surgery. NSAIDs such as Motrin, Aleve, and Ibuprofen should be stopped up to one week before you have surgery. If you take aspirin for a heart condition, talk to your doctor to determine if you should keep taking it or not. Acetaminophen is acceptable to take. Blood-thinning medications such as Heparin, Pradax, or warfarin (Coumadin) may need to be discontinued until you are healed from your surgery. Herbal medications and supplements can also interfere with surgery. Let your doctor know of all supplements, herbal remedies, and treatments that you use. If you are having a laparoscopic myotomy, your doctor may advise you to go on a liquid diet up to three days before your surgery. This means that you can only consume clear soups and broths, juice, jello, Gatorade, and coffee or tea without milk. You may not eat any solid foods. If you are having a Cricopharyngeal Myotomy, you may be able to eat until midnight the day before you have surgery. Always check with your doctor first. Some swelling and pain may be normal around the incision site, but most diverticulectomies and myotomies are non-invasive surgeries. You should heal within a few days. If you experience the following symptoms, seek treatment immediately. A fever higher than 101.3F (38.5C) Chills Difficulty breathing Yellow pus coming out of the incision site A bad smell from the incision site Worsening pain You may be placed on pain medications after your surgery. For the first several days while you are on these medications, you should not drive or work. Ask a friend or family member if they can care for you during this time. After the surgery, you may not be able to eat solid foods until the incisions heal. During this time, you may have to go on a liquid diet, or you may have to soften your foods by pureeing or blending them until they are a slurry. Good liquid foods to consume during this time include beef broth, smooth applesauce, juice, popsicles, and Jello. Do not drink alcohol until you have fully healed.

SUMMARY: Stop smoking Discuss your medications with your doctor. Start a liquid diet. Inform your doctor if any complications develop. Take medications as directed. Maintain a liquid diet while you heal.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: If you can replicate what you were doing when you were studying you will help your brain to remember what it was you were studying. For example, if you were chewing a particular flavor of gum while you were studying, you should chew that same flavor during the exam. One of the best things you can do is actually study in the room, in the desk, where you will take the exam. Studying with friends makes the job seem easier and not so tedious. Just make sure that the friend you study with will actually help you, not just play around and waste your time. If you can, take a little time to explain certain things that you are studying to your friend, or have them quiz you on the things you need to learn. You'll be more likely to cement the facts in your head and recall them for the exam. Mnemonics are simply memorization techniques that can help you while you're studying. You can use acronyms to help you, chaining ideas together, or keywords (especially helpful for languages). Acronyms: this is basically a combination of letters, each of which stands for an idea that you will need to remember. For example, the FOIL method in algebra stands for First, Outer, Inner, Last, designating how you're supposed to do an algebraic problem. Chaining creates a story where each word or idea you have to remember cues the next idea that you have to remember. Keywords: for each foreign word you have to remember, pick an English word that sounds like it. Then you'd visualize an image that has both the English word and the foreign word in it. For example: "cabina" is the Spanish word for phone booth. Imagine a cab trying to fit inside a phone booth. You'll be able to recall the image, which will lead you to "cabina." If you visualize a successful outcome, you'll be more likely to actually have a successful outcome, than if you're neutral or negative in what you say about how well you're going to do on the exam. Tell yourself that you will do great. Be confident and don't lose hope.

SUMMARY:
Do something specific while you study that you can copy during the exam. Study with a friend. Use mnemonics to help you remember key concepts. Stay positive!