Study Skills Note Taking

Week of:  January 13 – January 17, 2014

Theme:  Study Skills:  Note-Taking

 

 

     Date               Announcements            Greeting             Sharing                 Activity

 

Tuesday 1/14 a.m.	This week we focus on a third study skill: NOTE-TAKING	Letter Name Game	n/a	Handout & Discussion
Tuesday p.m.	Let’s put your note-taking skills to the test	Greet Someone You Haven’t Greeted Today	Discussion on how Advisees are taking notes now.	Video & Note Collage
Wed 1/15	Grade Level Meetings	n/a	n/a	n/a
Thursday 1/16	Let’s put ourselves in order the way we’ve learned to put our notes in order	Informal Greeting	n/a	Sequencing Game
Friday 1/17	Advisory Breakfasts	n/a	n/a	n/a

 

                        

 

Tuesday  – a.m.

Greeting - Letter Name Game – Find someone whose street name begins with the same letter as yours.

 

Activity - Handout worksheet on Note-Taking Skills.  Stress that note-taking skills are a primary skill needed for high school and college success.  With just a few tricks, note-taking gets much easier.

 

 

 

Tuesday -- p.m.

 

Greeting – Greet Someone New – greet someone to whom you haven’t said “hi” yet                                 today.

 

Share –     Talk briefly about how students are taking notes currently. 

                   Ask:  “What are your note-taking rules right now?”  As advisees offer                                        their ideas, ask them to write down their tips on the board.  These                                             tips will serve as a springboard for the handout and video that come                            next.

                  

Activity – 1.)  Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVrslRCDZSQ&list=FLKKt4qGy7doE9hRyrDL8FdA

                   2.)  “Note-Taking” activity – hand out the attached chapter section and as a group, outline the section using the technique described in the video, on your whiteboard.  Remember to refer back to the worksheet and use the abbreviations, symbols and structure of indentation.

 

 

Thursday

 

Activity --          Sequencing Game –

1.   This is a silent game. 

2.   All students line up silently in the order that the Advisor specifies.  Start easy:  height (unless you have a super short boy who is self-conscious about his height J); then maybe by birth month; for those who like a challenge: by age. 

3.   Advisees must figure out a communication system that is silent in order to succeed.  It will be interesting to process when frustration happened. How leaders emerged.  How emotions were dealt with (if any arise).

4.   Like note-taking, the job is to take a bunch of information and put it into an orderly and comprehensible format.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note-Taking Tips

 

1.        Notes are for the MAIN IDEAS only. 

-          no need for full sentences

-          Don’t write down everything that you read or hear. Be alert and attentive to the main points. Concentrate on the "meat" of the subject and forget the trimmings.

 

2.   Omit descriptions and full explanations. Keep your notes short and to the point. Condense your material so you can grasp it rapidly.

 

3.   INDENTATION indicates importance/new sections and points.

 

4.   Don’t worry about missing a point. Leave space and try to pick up the material you miss at a later date, either through reading, questioning, or common sense.

 

5.   Review your notes periodically. This is the only way to achieve lasting memory.

 

6.   Have a uniform system of punctuation and abbreviation that will make sense to you. Use a skeleton outline, and show importance by indenting. Leave lots of white space for later additions.

-          Arrow indicates a main idea or section heading.

 

 

-          Underline means a section title (helps you track back to your text if you need more information later.

 

-          Highlight main terms and vocabulary.

 

7. When the instructor says, "this is important" get it exactly and * (mark it). Listen for hints that instructors give as to what will be on tests.
8.  Don’t erase a mistake and don’t black it out completely. Draw a single line through it. This saves time and you may discover later that you want the mistake.
9. Abbreviate – Shortcuts, such as abbreviations, are alternatives to writing everything longhand. Abbreviate only if you will be able to understand your won symbols when you go back to study your notes. Be constantly on the lookout for new and useful abbreviations and symbols to shorten your writing time. This will also increase your listening time.

  


Commonly Used Symbols and Abbreviations:

&	and
No. or #	number
=	equal to, is the same as
b/4	before
ref.	reference
w/	with
>	greater than
<	less than
i.e.,	that is
vs.	versus, as opposed to
e.g.,	for example
etc.	et cetera
Q.	question
b/c	because
w/o	without

*From "*How to Succeed in College" by Gerow & Lyng and "Study Skills: A Student’s Guide for Survival" by Carman & Adams, Jr.

http://www1.chapman.edu/arc/goodnotes.html