Same Study skills › Start here › AVID and WICOR
What is AVID, and what does WICOR mean?
AVID is a program many schools use to teach students how to succeed in school and get ready for college. Its strategies are grouped under one acronym, WICOR: Writing to learn, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization and Reading to learn. If your child mentions an AVID binder, tutorials or focused notes, this is where it comes from.
- Five groups of strategies, used in every class.
- Organization is the binder and planner. Inquiry is asking good questions.
- Some schools have an AVID class; others use the strategies schoolwide.
Why schools teach it
It turns study skills into a shared language
AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. It began in one San Diego classroom in 1980 and is now used in thousands of schools. The idea is that study skills, like note-taking, asking questions and staying organized, can be taught to every student, not just those who pick them up at home.
When teachers in every subject use the same strategies, students practice them all day. WICOR is the checklist teachers use to plan those lessons.
At the kitchen table
What to say, and what to skip
Say this
Which WICOR letter was today's lesson?
Show me your binder. Where does this go?
OrganizationWhat question did you bring to tutorial?
InquiryWhat did your group figure out together?
Collaboration
Skip this
- Treating AVID as only for struggling students.It's designed for students who can go to college and want the skills to get there.
- Reorganizing the binder your own way.AVID binders follow a set system. Ask your child to show you it.
- Answering their tutorial question for them.Tutorials are about working through your own confusion.
See it in action
WICOR in one science lesson
W and R
Read the lab handout, marking the text. Take focused notes on the steps.I and C
Write two questions, then compare answers with a lab partner.O
File the handout and notes in the science section of the binder.
Most AVID schools check binders and planners regularly, sometimes for a grade.
Free practice sheet
Make a WICOR sorting sheet
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Fridge cheat sheets
Study Skills Fridge Cheat Sheets
Every study skills method in one printable book (59 pages): a cheat sheet page like this guide, plus a practice sheet and its answer key for each, in Classic and handwritten Notebook styles. $8 one time, or all 7 subjects for $29.99. See all prices.
Teacher? This method has a classroom pack on TeachersPayTeachers: an anchor chart, a parent letter and practice sheets with answer keys, $4. See the pack
Parents: tell your child's teacher about this guide
Parents also ask
Is AVID a class or a program?
Both. Many middle and high schools have an AVID elective class, and many schools use AVID strategies in every classroom.
What are AVID tutorials?
Small-group sessions where students bring a question they're stuck on and work through it with peers and a tutor.
What is focused note-taking?
AVID's version of Cornell notes. See our Cornell notes guide.
Does my child have to be in AVID to use this?
No. These are good habits for any student.