Study Skills

Taking Text Notes

 When to take
Text
Notes

How to take
Why to take
Text
Text Notes
Notes
TAKING
TEXT
NOTES

How to How to
Review Evaluate
Text Notes Text Notes
Where Are You Now?
Answer the questions – Yes or No

 Do you take notes on textbook material after you

have highlighted the chapter or section?
 Do you take text notes when you read the chapter for
the first time?
 Do you read the whole paragraph before you begin
to take notes?
 Do you evaluate your notes after an exam?
 Do you usually copy information from the txt in the
same wording as the author used in the book?
Where Are You Now?
Answer the questions – Yes or No

 Do you recite your text notes when you review for an

exam?
 Do you create maps when you take notes on the
textbook material?
 Are your text notes a good summary of the text
material?
 Do you tend to write down only key words when you
take notes?
 Do you use formal outlining to take notes on your
text?
Calculate Your Score
Where are you now

 Give yourself 1 point for each yes to

questions 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8.
 Give yourself 1 point for each no to questions
2, 5, 9, and 10
 Total your points
 A low score indicates that you need some
help in taking notes on text material
 A high score indicated that you are already
using many good note-taking strategies
 Why to Take Notes

 Promotes Active Reading

– Actively involved – you must write something down
– Decision-making – you decide what is important
– Your own words = format that is easy to study & remember
– Strengthens your memory of the material
 Increases your Comprehension
– Reinforces the important information
– Writing in your words = analyzing the material & relates it to
what you already know about the subject.
– Reading, Thinking & Writing - repetition needed for
remembering
 Why to Take Notes

 Serves as a Comprehensive Monitoring System

– Provides feedback on concentration & understanding
– If you can’t write notes – signal you didn’t understand what you read
 Condenses the Information
– Time saver for studying for an exam
– Able to organize in a way that makes sense for you
 Organizes the Information
– Forces you to structure the material to show relationships
– Mapping allows for visual display to show how the material is
connected
 When to Take Text Notes
 When you first read the chapter
– Can be too time consuming
– May write down more information than you need
 After the Lecture
– If teacher’s lecture follows the text gook closely, you can fill in
information you may have missed during the lecture
– Able to add important information that was not covered in lecture
 At the end of the week
– Good way of reviewing information
– Use lecture notes with text notes so do not duplicate information
 When you prepare for the exam
– Active review session
– Able to condense information to study with
 How to Take Text Notes -
written notes

 Outlining
– Formal
 Refer to the table of contents to set up main headings
 Use capital letters to set up main point
 Example
– I.
 A.
 1.
 2.
 B.
– II.
– Informal
 Informal outlining is more efficient for taking notes
 Use chapter subdivisions for main points
 Don’t have to use every hading as a main point – some combined; others omitted
 No need to use letters or numbers, just indents
 How to Take Text Notes -
written notes

 Block Notes
– Allows to group important details for each heading compactly
– Write heading next to margin; indent slightly
– Separate details by slash or dash
– IF you are a visual learner, this may not be the best method for you –
hard to picture information since it is grouped together
 Modified Block Notes
– More effective by listing important details under each other
– Sometimes too many details to list under just one heading
– Use phrases instead of whole sentences; use your own words
 How to Take Text Notes -
written notes

 Summarizing
– Condensed version of information written in sentence or paragraph
form
– Break down chapter in shorter segments
– Read entire section; think about what author is saying; decide what
you think is important
– Not useful for certain types of information – especially technical or
factual
 Note cards
– Easy to organize information
– Easy to carry around
– On the back of the actual notes, write recall words or questions.
 Forces you to focus on important information & create set of self-test
questions
 How to Take Text Notes
Mapping - visual display of text information

 Line or Wheel Maps

– Provides space to write meaningful phrases
– Visual display of information
 Add lines or spokes that radiate out from a central hub
 Topic in the Center
– Subordinate points on lines that radiate up, down or out from it
– Add supporting details by inserting lines that extend out from previous lines
– Create subheadings as you map the information
 Subheadings organize the information, separate details into easier-to-remember
chunks
 Information can serve as cues to help learn and retrieve the information
– Seem easy to create, also easy to make mistakes
 Don’t turn paper around to create; want to be written horizontally for ease of
studying and reading
 Tendency to simply list all information on lines that extend directly from heading
– If is a few details; fine, but if too detailed need to break down differently.
 How to Take Text Notes
Mapping - visual display of text information

 Hierarchical Maps
– Top-Down display of information
– Form of flowcharts or process charts
 Write main heading/topic at top in a box
 Draw lines to indicate the subdivisions; create box for each
 Further divide into one or more supporting points
– Individual method of taking notes
– Natural progression from main topic to supporting details
Example of Hierarchical Map
(Main Topic)

Chemically
Dependent Youth

(Subdivisions) (Subdivisions) (Subdivisions) (Subdivisions)

Incidence Drug Categories Increase in Use Teacher’s Role

(Points) (Points)
(Points)
(Points) (Points) (Points) (Points)
Youth & Adults 1/3 of High School
Drinking & Drugs
Students
 How to Take Text Notes
Mapping - visual display of text information

 Semantic Webs
– Instead of top-down display; semantic webs radiate from
central focal point
– Four main components
 Core Question or Concept
 Web Strands
 Stand Supports
 Strand Ties
– Color coding may help recall the information
– Uses clusters of information
 Use different colors for different clusters of information
Example of Semantic Map

Category

Category Category

Main
Topic

Category Category

Category
 How to Take Text Notes
Charting

 Graphic Display of information

– Show similarities and differences of related information
– Cannot chart entire textbook
– Break down chapters by section
 Topics, How related
 Create Chart with Categories & Headings
 Matrix
– Chart with rows and columns
– Categories are equivalent to subheadings
 Example of Charting

Categories Examples Short-Term Long-Term

Effects Effects
Stimulants

Depressants

Hallucinogens

Narcotics
 How to Review Text Notes

 Recite your notes

– Review main & supporting points; Recall & recite
headings; Recite details under headings
– If use note cards – carry with your; use all spare time
 Replicate your notes
– Reconstruct your notes
– Work on one column at a time
 Create a recall column
– Use margin to write recall words or questions
– Test your memory using recall cues
 How to Evaluate Text Notes

 Compare your notes with those of a classmate

– May notice information you omitted or unnecessary information
– Get ideas how to organize text information
 Check with your teacher or a tutor
– Feedback
– See how well you are identifying, condensing & organizing the
information
– How to be a better note taker
 Use the T Method
– Go through your information and put a “T” in the margin every time
you find a test question
REVIEW – terms you should know

 Block method  Maps

 Chart  Matrix
 Comprehensive  Modified-block method
monitoring system  Semantic web
 Core concept  Strand supports
 Formal outlining  Summary
 Hierarchical map  T Method
 Informal outline  Web strands
 Line map  Wheel map
 REVIEW – Sentence completion

 You may not want to take text notes as you read the chapter
for the first time because everything seems ______.
 You can edit your _______ notes as you take text notes.
 Some students like to take text notes on ______ _____
because they can carry them around to review when they
have a few extra minutes.
 _____ _____ show the supporting details in a Semantic
Web.
 _____ cannot be used to take notes on entire chapters.
REVIEW – Multiple Choice

 When you are writing a  Which of the following

summary, be sure you
use:
– A. Meaningful phrases
– B. Main ideas
– C. Paragraph form
– D. Recall questions in
the margin
is a top-down method
of taking text notes?
– A. Summaries
– B. Hierarchical maps
– C. Semantic webs
– D. Charts
REVIEW – short answer essay

 Why is note taking more effective than

highlighting or underlining?
 Why do some students have difficulty taking
text notes? What should they do differently?
 How should students review their notes?s
 Reference:
College Study Skills:
Becoming a Strategic Learner
By: Dianna L. Van Blerkom