Note-taking SkillsNote-taking SkillsNote-taking SkillsNote-taking SkillsWHO-WHAT-WHEN-WHERE-WHY-WHO-WHAT-WHEN-WHERE-WHY-

HOWHOW

takes notes?• Students who want to remember

new information• Students who want a good study

tool• Students who want to be successful

learners• Anyone who is trying to learn

something new

are class notes?

• A record of the important information the teacher spoke

• A record of the important demonstrations or models the teacher used

• A record of the notes the teacher put on the board

• A record of what connections you made to the information

do I take notes?

• When the lesson contains new ideas and information to learn

• When it is important to be able to remember information being presented

do I take class notes?

• In your class notebook in any class• On a handout provided by the

teacher• In your journal or log book

take class notes?• They provide important information for

you to know for an exam• They can be a very helpful study tool to

review new information• The act of taking the notes may help

you remember the information• They are a method for mastering

information

do I take notes? There are many forms of note

taking. The important thing to remember is that these notes are for you. Make them your own, to fit how you best remember and learn new information. The following slides will help you get started taking helpful class notes.

Organization of Information

• In the center of the top line write the topic of the lesson.

• Divide your paper into two columns. (The left column should be 1/3 of the paper and the right column 2/3 of the sheet.)

• Write the Subject in the upper left corner.• Write your name, the date, and your homeroom

teacher’s name in the upper right corner

Check out the next two slides to see a template and an example.

SubjectTopic

Name Date HomeroomMain

Ideas

Vocabulary

Words

Questions

End of Lesson

Summary

Details

Definitions

Facts

Examples

Charts/Graphs

Drawings/Diagrams

Write down questionsThat come to mind

Write in

the answ

er

once you find out.

Put in examples to makemeaning of the new vocabulary

or concept.

Use abbreviations when you can.

Summarize what you learned in the lesson. Put it in your own words.

You do your summary at the end of each lesson. If your notes are 2

pages you will have a summary only on the second page.

Labeled drawings are great

ways to record what you are

learning.

All the circled information remind

me that they are examples of

quantitative observations. Circles,

underlines, highlighting, stars and

arrows can indicate important

information and connections.

Skipping lines can help you see

where a new idea starts.

Creating study

questions over the

material is a great way

to study your notes.

Those questions can

also be written in the left

hand column.

Make connections to previous learning

Notes as a Study Tool• Now that you have your notes organized into

2 columns, they can really be an awesome tool to study with.

• If you take the right edge of the page and fold it over to the right edge of the first column, you have all the main ideas and vocabulary showing but not the details.

• Now you can look at the vocabulary words and see if you remember the definitions.

• Once you have thought about it you can then just open up the page and check your answer.

Now you are ready to start

taking and using your notes!