1. Summarizing & Note-taking
Reading, Listening & writing to Learn
Session #1
Note-Taking Overview

2. The Why?
Studies show that your achievement will increase by 34% in all content areas.

3. Let’s Learn Like Historians
Seek to “discover” history.
Read like witnessing the event.
Read like a lawyer making a case.
Ask the purpose of the text.
View text as man-made with a view of events.
Assume bias in text.
Consider word choice and tone.
Compares text to judge different, perhaps opposing accounts of the same event or topic.

4. Taking Notes Taking more notes is better than fewer notes.
Writing down every word my teacher tells me to write down is ineffective because it does not allow time for me to process the information.

6. Which strategy will work best for you?
Cornell Notes
Note-Taking System for Learning
T-List
Graphically-Organized Notes

8. Name:
Date:
Class Period:
Cornell Notes
Write your name, date, class, and period in the upper right hand corner (see above).
Write the topic of the notes (ex. WWII, Cells, Nouns, etc.) on the top line (see above).

9. Cornell Notes Page setup
Name:
Date:
Class Period:
Cornell Notes
Page setup
Draw a horizontal line about five lines up from the bottom.
Draw a vertical line down the page about one third of distance from the left.

10. Cornell Notes Key words & ideas Main Idea
Name:
Date:
Class Period:
Cornell Notes
Key words & ideas
Important dates/people/places
Repeated/Stressed Info
Ideas/brainstorming written on board / overhead projector
Info from textbook/stories
Diagrams & Pictures
Formulas
Main Idea
Key Question (after notes are completed)

11. Student Example

12. Cornell Notes Helpful Hints for Straight A Notes Abbrev. , Paraphrase.
Name:
Date:
Class Period:
Cornell Notes
Helpful Hints for Straight A Notes
Abbrev. , Paraphrase.
Use symbols (arrows, circles, underlining) or highlighting to emphasize important ideas and relationships.
Skip lines between ideas.
Within 24 hours, review notes and develop study questions on the left side.
Be aware of teacher clues.*

13. Teacher Clues How do I know if what the teacher says is important?
Name:
Date:
Class Period:
Teacher Clues
How do I know if what the teacher says is important?
Repetition or stressed inflection
Voice gets louder/softer or faster/slower
Writing on the board or overhead
“This will be on the test.”
Gestures (hand/arm movements)
“This is important.”

14. So, what about the bottom of my paper?
Name:
Date:
Class Period:
So, what about the bottom of my paper?
What belongs in the bottom space?
Summary - review notes as soon as possible after class and write a summary in your own words about the main ideas. Are there any gaps in your understanding? (see next point)
Questions for the teacher.
Doodles - down here they won’t get in the way of the important stuff.
Summary, questions, doodles

15. Name:
Date:
Class Period:
Abbreviation Exercise Abbreviate the following lines so they still make sense
Hippocrates, a Greek who is considered to be the Father of Medicine, was born on the island of Cos in 460 B.C.
George Washington was not, in a sense, America’s first president.
Mark Twain fell in love with Olivia Langdon. They married in 1870 and moved to Hartford, Connecticut.

16. Abbreviation Exercise Possible Answers
Name
Date
Class
Period
Abbreviation Exercise Possible Answers
Hippocrates (Gr.) Father of Med b.Cos 460B.C
G. Wash. Not Am’s 1st Pres.?
Twain - Olivia Langdon m to Hart Conn

17. Note-Taking System for Learning

18. Title
I. Main Topic
A. Important Subtopic
1. Detail
a. Sub-detail
b. Sub-detail
c. Sub-detail
2. Detail
3. Detail
B. Important Subtopic
Main Topic
Recording
Write down the main ideas and supporting details in outline form.
Leave space between the main ideas as needed for future notes and additions.

19. Organizing Read through notes.
In the left margin, create labels in the left margin that identify the main topics included in the notes.
Highlight and/or label according to categories you create or use one of these:
Social
Political
Religious
Intellectual
Technological
Economic
Art
Competencies:
History
Geography
Government
Economics

20. Organizing
Highlight and/or label according to categories you create or use one of these:
Social
Political
Religious
Intellectual
Technological
Economic
Art
Competencies:
History
Geography
Government
Economics
Description
Illustration
People
Significance
Author
Place and Time
Prior Knowledge
Audience
Reason
The Main Idea
Geographical
Speaker
Occasion
Purpose
Subject
TONE
Style
Wordy
Objects
Relationships
Details
Your Position
Overview
Parts
Title
Interrelationships
Conclusions

21. Organizing
4) Write any questions you may have and/or things you would like to know more about in the margin as well.
5) Add to your notes information from other sources (text, other books, primary sources, lecture, etc.) about the same topic.

22. Studying Use your notes to study.
The labels and information in the left margin provide a summary and overview of your notes.

23. T-List
Main Ideas
Details

24. T-List
Organize the main ideas and details of the SS lesson on the chart below:
Main Ideas
Details
List main ideas or key concepts.
Use only two or three words.
Record the corresponding details that support the main ideas.
Include vocabulary words and explanations for those unfamiliar words to you.
Write in your own words – do not copy.

25. Graphically-Organized Notes

26. Timeline (Chronology)

27. Sequencing

28. Event/Characteristics
(Descriptions)

29. Cause and Effect

30. History Frame
CONTEXT
SOMEBODY
WANTED
BUT SO
IN THE END

31. Buckets

32. (Compare and Contrast)
Venn Diagram
(Compare and Contrast)

33. Central Idea & Supporting Details

34. Claim, Evidence
& Reasoning Stool

35. Historical Character Map

36. Foldables

37. Technology Tools