Having secured, by class discussion and the work at the board, satisfactory answers to the first six questions, and having assigned the lesson for the next day, the remainder of the hour and, if necessary, the rest of the week should be spent in outlining for the student a method of study.  That very few students of high school age possess habits of systematic study, needs no discussion.  In spite of all that their grade teachers may have done for them, their tendency is to pass over unfamiliar words, allusions, and expressions, without troubling to use a dictionary.  The average high school student will not read the fine print at the bottom of the page, or use a map for the location of places mentioned in the text without special instruction to do so.  He will set himself no unassigned tasks in memory work.  It is the first business of the good instructor to teach the student how to study.  The first step in this process is to impress on the student’s mind that systematic preparation in the history class is as necessary as in Latin, physics, or geometry.  Then let the following or similar instructions be given him:—­

     1.  Provide yourself with an envelope of small cards or pieces of
        note paper.  Label each with the subject of the lesson and the
        date of its preparation.  These envelopes should be always at
        hand during your study and preparation.  They should be preserved
        and filed from day to day.

     2.  Read the lesson assigned for the day in the textbook, including
        all notes and fine print.

     3.  Write on a sheet of note paper all the unfamiliar words,
        allusions, or expressions.  Later, look these up in the
        dictionary or other reference.

     4.  Record the dates which you think worthy to be remembered.

     5.  Discover and make a note of all the apparent contradictions,
        inconsistencies, or inaccuracies in the author’s statements.

     6.  Use the map for all the places mentioned in the lesson.  Be able
        to locate them when you come to class.

     7.  In nearly every text there is a list of books for library use,
        given at the beginning or end of each chapter.  Make yourself
        familiar with this bibliography.

     8.  Read the special questions assigned for the day by the teacher.

     9.  Go to the library.  If the book for which you are in search is
        not to be found, try another.

    10.  Learn to use an index.  If the topic for which you are looking
        does not appear in the index, try looking for the same thing
        under another name; or under some related topic.

    11.  Having found the material in one book, use more than one if
        your time permits.  When you feel that you have secured the
        material which will make a complete answer to the question,
        write the answer on one of your cards for keeping notes.