How to Take Good Notes

Mr. McGregor's Guide:

How To Take Good Notes

INDEX

Setting up your paper

List and Summarize

Things to Look For

Important Details

Repetition

Things I Don't Know

What Does That Look Like?

Setting Up Your Page

Include the Course Name, Date and Topic at the top of your paper. This way, when you go back and read over your notes you will be able to pinpoint exactly what each page contains.

List and Summarize

List and Summarize

One of the biggest mistakes people do when making notes is to try and sumarize everything they see or hear the teacher say. This is a near impossible task! Some teachers talk a lot, too much and too fast. YOU DON"T NEED TO SUMMARIZE EVERYTHING!

1990

Think back to the days where you practised for the OSSLT. Remember, a summary is just identifying the "main ideas" not every single detail. Think about what parts of the speech/book/play/lecture/movie/etc you think are most important and list them.

2000

Notes don't have to be perfect. There's no need to write out everything in perfect sentence form. You can always go back and rewrite your notes later.

2010

2020

Ask yourself what aspects of the piece you think are most important for you to remember, and jot them down.

Things To Look For

What do I need to Write Down?

Things to Look For

65%

When you are reading something for class, look for specific things that stand out from the page. - Bold Print - Headings - Statistics - Hilighted Areas - Charts/Graphs - Anything Else That May Catch Your Eye

Of Students Say They Don't Know How TO Take GOod Notes.

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Repetition

Say That Again!

Repetition

If a point is written down more than once, it's usually something of importance. Often times authors or speakers will repeat important information they want you to remember. So, if you see or hear something more than once, it's probably a good idea to write it down. For example, Martin Luthor King Jr's famous speech, I Had A Dream repeated several words and ideas, especially his dream that racial equality could exist. This was a very powerful speech. The repetition of main ideas made it difficult for the audience to forget.

Important Details

How Do I Indicte the Most Important Ideas?

Important Details

When you write notes, make them easy to read. If there is a lot of infomation written down, it can be difficult to decipher what you want to remember. - Skip spaces between points - Hilight the most pivotal pieces of information - Use circles or stars - Use bullet points or dashes Remember, they are YOUR notes. There is no right or wrong way to write them down.

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Things I Don't Know

What Does That Word Mean?

Figuring It Out!

Things I Don't Know

Write down the words and phrases that are foreign to you and later on, go back and find out what they mean. These are your notes, so a list of unknown words are for your eyes. Don't be afraid to go look them up. Dictionary.com is a great source for quick definitions. Use it!

It is not uncommon to read new or dificult words and phrasrs. One of the worst things you can do is to forget about them. Sometimes understanding one single word can change the way you read or perceive a document or something you're hearing.

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Sure, But What Does This All Look Like?

The Following Is A Template To Use When Taking Notes.

Note Taking Template

This is a note taking template that can be made very quickly and easily. You can print a version like this, or simply make your own by adding lines to any piece of paper. Notice the summary section at the bottom. This is for you to summarize the entire lesson or note. The other spaces are for point form notes that will help you focus those main ideas we discussed about earlier.

Let's Try It Out!

Read the passage on the next page. Then, use the note taking template and turn the short excerpt from the article into a note.

Short Excerpt From An Article on Vaccines

Vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases, before they come into contact with them. It uses your body’s natural defenses to build resistance to specific infections and makes your immune system stronger. Vaccines train your immune system to create antibodies, just as it does when it’s exposed to a disease. However, because vaccines contain only killed or weakened forms of germs like viruses or bacteria, they do not cause the disease or put you at risk of its complications. Most vaccines are given by an injection, but some are given orally (by mouth) or sprayed into the nose.

Your Notes May Look Something LIke This:

Remember, it's ok if your notes are different from someone else's!

That's It!

The most important part to remember is that you know what works best for you. The more practise you have at taking notes, the better, and quicker you will get. Focus on what you tihnk are the absolutely most important ideas you are learning. The rest will follow. Good practise is to rewrite your notes when you have a chance. This will help you remember those key facts and points for assignments and tests. Good Luck! Yes,