Chapter 10 Taking Effective Notes Successful note taking

Successful note taking requires • • Preparation A system Quick, efficient information gathering Tying

Don’t just start taking notes. Get ready to take notes by • Preparing for

How to be in the right reading mind set • Get to know your

Getting acquainted with your textbook and its authors • Buy or acquire the book

Why you should survey each assignment • Surveying creates a background • Surveying limbers

Steps in surveying an individual assignment • • Think about the title Read the

How to prepare for an upcoming lecture • Look over the syllabus: You’ll get

Taking notes systematically • The Cornell System for lectures or separate textbook notes •

The Cornell System • Trusted for almost fifty years • Used throughout the U.

• The cue column is the 2 ½ lefthand margin. • The summary

Both areas should remain blank until after you’ve finished taking notes • The cue

Some possible note-taking formats • Sentences: Express important ideas in your own words, telegraphically.

Marking your textbooks • With textbook assignments, notes can be taken directly on the

But what about the note-taking area? • You can’t really take notes in your

The advantages of textbook marking • You can mark important words, phrases, or sentences

The disadvantages of textbook marking • Overmarking can be difficult to undo and can

Using reciting to encourage active textbook marking • Don’t just mark as you read

Marking electronic texts • Webpages: Change your Page Setup margins and print the pages

How to gather information for your notes or markings • • Be inquisitive Follow

Being inquisitive means asking questions • Ask questions to unlock meanings: Asking questions promotes

Following the signs leads to comprehension • Pay attention to intonation: Spoken or written,

Intonation can have a dramatic effect on meaning Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All

Intonation in lectures • Volume: Change in volume often signals important ideas. • Pauses:

Intonation in textbooks • Boldface: Often signals a heading, subheading, or other important word

Organizational patterns aid you in navigating through a lecture or reading • • •

How to record your notes efficiently • Use the modified printing style: More legible

How to deal with special cases • When you can’t attend a lecture: Have

How to pull everything together • Overview your reading assignment after you’ve finished it,

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Chapter 10 Taking Effective Notes

Getting acquainted with your textbook and its authors • Buy or acquire the book as early as possible • Survey the book from cover to cover Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 5

Steps in surveying an individual assignment • • Think about the title Read the introduction and summary Look over headings and subheadings Note any information set apart from the text • Glance at the visuals Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 7

How to prepare for an upcoming lecture • Look over the syllabus: You’ll get a big picture sense of where the lecture and the course is going. • Review your notes from the previous lecture: The latest lecture often rests on the ideas of the previous one. • Do the assigned reading: Readings can often provide advance organizers that make the lectures more meaningful and memorable Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 8

The Cornell System • Trusted for almost fifty years • Used throughout the U. S. and the world • Based on a simple principle: wide margins Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 10

Both areas should remain blank until after you’ve finished taking notes • The cue column will be home for clarifying questions • The summary area will be used to distill a full page down to a sentence or two • The largest area is where your note-taking occurs. And it is flexible enough to accommodate most note-taking formats Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 12

Some possible note-taking formats • Sentences: Express important ideas in your own words, telegraphically. • Paragraphs: Group related ideas into a block of text • Definitions: Follow the term/explanation format. • Lists: A heading or label followed by a group of items beneath it • Drawings: Use illustrations or diagrams to more readily convey relationships • Combination: Most notes will use a mixture of notetaking formats Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 13

Marking your textbooks • With textbook assignments, notes can be taken directly on the textbook page • The textbook’s outside margin becomes the cue column. The bottom of the page, the summary area. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 14

The advantages of textbook marking • You can mark important words, phrases, or sentences instead of writing them out. • Your markings and your textbook travel together as a unit • The source of your markings and jottings is right there in case you need clarification Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 16

The disadvantages of textbook marking • Overmarking can be difficult to undo and can make your markings less valuable. • Any code or abbreviations you use may be difficult to decipher later. • Textbook marking doesn’t require the same level of concentration as taking notes. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 17

Using reciting to encourage active textbook marking • Don’t just mark as you read • Read a paragraph at a time • Recite the main idea of the paragraph in your own words Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 18

Marking electronic texts • Webpages: Change your Page Setup margins and print the pages out. • PDF files: Set your paper size to B 5(JIS) and print out on regular paper • Presentation slides: Choose the software’s notation setting and print out or annotate the slides onscreen • Word processor documents: Reset the margins and print out or place text in a table and then add a new column for your jottings Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 19

How to gather information for your notes or markings • • Be inquisitive Follow the signs Record efficiently Deal with exceptions and special cases Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 20

Being inquisitive means asking questions • Ask questions to unlock meanings: Asking questions promotes concentration • Ask questions silently and out loud in a lecture: Ask yourself; ask the instructor • Ask questions as you read: Turn headings into questions. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 21

Following the signs leads to comprehension • Pay attention to intonation: Spoken or written, intonation provides clues. • Recognize organizational patterns: Knowing the pattern makes things easier to follow Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 22

Intonation in lectures • Volume: Change in volume often signals important ideas. • Pauses: Pauses serve to set certain ideas apart • Cadence: A speaker’s cadence can tip you off to things like lists Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 24

Intonation in textbooks • Boldface: Often signals a heading, subheading, or other important word or term • Italics: Places emphasis on a word or phrase • Underlining: Works like boldface or italics • Bullets: Set off items in lists Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 25

Organizational patterns aid you in navigating through a lecture or reading • • • Movement patterns Importance patterns Causal patterns Comparison patterns Logical patterns Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 26

How to record your notes efficiently • Use the modified printing style: More legible than cursive, faster than printing • Take notes telegraphically: Leave off unessential words • Take notes selectively: Only jot down or mark the most important information. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 27

How to deal with special cases • When you can’t attend a lecture: Have a friend record it for you. • When the lecture speaks too quickly: Use the two-page system • When an assigned book is supplemental: Survey it efficiently Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 28

How to pull everything together • Overview your reading assignment after you’ve finished it, rereading some of its key elements • Pay extra close attention to the last few minutes of a lecture. And when you leave, take a moment to visualize the lecture and replay its main ideas. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10 | 29