Note-Taking Tips
In history, as well as in most science, history, and math classes in high school and college, you will have to take lots of carefully-written, well thought-out and neat notes in order to have the most academic success.
Take the notes immediately when they are assigned and then study your notes so that you can make connections during class. Note-taking is really important; notes help you do well on quizzes, tests, and in-class activities.
Taking notes is NOT about copying the book!
It’s more about summarizing the most important information in your own words AND about making that information stand out to help you do your best on assignments.
You will then also make note of any important technical/vocabulary terms, time periods or years (and what that time represents), and people. Be sure to write out why the time period and/or person was important! Use a red pen to put a box around important years, time periods, and people, but only underline & highlight important vocabulary and technical terms in your notes. This will help you find that information quickly and easily when you study and/or have open-notes quizzes.
Make sure your notes are NEAT and SKIP A LINE and bullet after each small chunk of information. Sometimes concise sentences are best, but charts, lists, or graphs are better for organizing certain other information. Graphic organizers also make it easier to see connections between ideas, especially comparisons, contrasts, advantages, and disadvantages. We will use graphic organizers a lot in this class!
Taking notes is about reading, thinking critically, and writing down your conclusions. It is also about expanding your technical vocabulary and knowledge base.
Here are some essential tips for notes from books/textbook:
1) Read the introduction carefully. It will usually tell you what you will learn about in the chapter. Jot down only the chapter purpose, important facts, and essential vocabulary from this section.
2) Section headings and subtitles are important! Be sure to write each section number and title before you take notes on that section. Be sure all words in any title are capitalized and highlight each heading/subtitle.
3) Take notes on all words and information in bold, ALL CAPS, italicized, in a color other than black, and anything in parenthesis or brackets!
4) When noting vocabulary terms, copy the definition from the text, but then be sure in the next sentence to tell what the word means in your own words.] You can also draw a picture or sketch that represents the term or that helps you remember what the word means.
5) Don’t forget to look at the pictures and read the caption for each one. These provide important ideas and details. Some quiz and bonus questions will come from the pictures and the information in their captions.
6) Do not write long paragraphs when taking notes. Chunk information into small sections of four lines or less. Chunking will make information easier to find during a quiz or study time. Skip a line between chunks…
7) Be neat! Neatness and proper spelling are important and DO affect your final score/grade. Seriously, what’s the point of taking notes if you can’t read what you wrote or you spell the answer incorrectly on a quiz and as a result get the answer marked wrong?
8) Use a consistent pattern of bullets, spacing, and colors to help you keep your notes organized.
9) Keep all your subject-alike notes together (in a spiral composition book) and do not tear out any of the pages! We have a lot of notes to take; you will need all of the pages.
LECTURE, BOARD, & VIDEO NOTES
When I give lectures, I’ll often expect or ask you to take notes. When I write things on the board, I expect that you will copy the notes. And when I show informational videos, yep, I expect you to take notes on these, too!
Here are some important things to remember about lecture, board, and video notes:
1) Listen for repetition! If a teacher says something twice or more, absolutely be sure to copy it in your notes and put a red star next to it. That information will usually be on a test or quiz.
2) Draw it! If a teacher goes through the trouble of drawing a chart or graphic organizer on the board, neatly copy it! You will definitely see the information again. It is probably really, really important! Be sure you know why the information is important and/or its purpose and connection to what you’re studying.
3) Technical terms. If a teacher uses a vocabulary or technical term and then defines it, you are nuts not to write it in your notes! As a matter of fact, you should underline the word with red pen and highlight the word and definition. You will be responsible for knowing the word, its definition, and how it’s related to what you are studying!
4) Videos are fun! Teachers show informational videos to reinforce what you are already studying. Write down important dates or time periods, names and people, and concepts while you are watching the video. If you see connections to what you are already studying, write what you noticed in your notes. If you are watching a movie, try to see how the movie is connected to what you are learning in class. Jot down in your notes what you noticed; it will come in handy for class discussions and maybe on tests.
REALLY IMPORTANT: If the teacher pauses the video to repeat what was said OR to discuss a concept, definitely write those things in your notes. The teacher is basically showing something that will come up in an assignment, quiz, or test! J
NOTE TAKING QUICK GUIDE
MAKE SURE YOUR NOTES FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES
I GIVE OPEN NOTES QUIZZES!
To do well on open notes quizzes, you MUST take notes immediately when they are assigned for homework. Be sure to follow the format that I am teaching in class. Here’s a summary of them:
1) Always write title of the chapter and HIGHLIGHT it. Capitalize the title.
2) Always note the purpose of the chapter. You can find this in the introduction section.
3) Always write the section # and title, and then yep, highlight it.
4) Read each section and summarize the IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Read and analyze!
5) Skip lines between chunks of information. Use ALL of the space between the red margins; only indent to bullet or dash information within a subject.
6) Write the names of important people and why that person is important. PUT A RED BOX AROUND THE NAME underline and highlight why the person is important.
7) Write important dates and time periods and why that time was important, then PUT A RED BOX AROUND THE TIME and highlight why it was important.
8) Write the names of important places and geographical areas and tell why that particular place was important, then PUT A RED BOX AROUND THE NAME OF THE PLACE.
9) ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS take notes/copy anything that is bold, in italics, a different color, in parenthesis or brackets and/or in ALL CAPS!
10) Copy vocabulary definitions and technical terms exactly as they are in the book and then write what the word or phrase means in your own words. Be sure to underline and highlight the technical or vocabulary words or phrases and definition so you can find them easily during open notes quizzes and when studying for tests.
11) Look at the pictures and captions on the pages that you are assigned. Be sure to take notes on important information from the captions. Ask yourself how the picture and caption are related to what you are reading.
12) Review any maps or graphic organizers. Try to see how they are related to what you are reading and studying in the chapter.
13) Anytime you see a superlative (longest, tallest, fastest, and etc.) be sure to note it.
14) Create titled lists when presented with a list of information. Highlight your list title.
15) If you want, color code your highlighting to find important information faster! J