How+to+take+Notes

HOW TO TAKE NOTES - TOP TEN LIST OF FACTS

Purpose - take notes from a textbook or an article by finding the main ideas and writing them down in your own words. This is the key to studying Social Studies. Keep it to about 10 facts or you are either writing too much or not enough. If you can do this, you can write a summary from the notes by adding an introduction and conclusion.

Overview - No matter how long the reading is, condense it down to a list of the 10 most important facts. This means filtering out interesting detail. Here are the steps:

1. Write the title at the top of the page. Here is the first filter; only facts that explain the title belong in the notes.

2. Divide the reading up into "chunks." In the textbook, use the headings. In an article, it depends on the reading - it may be paragraphs or columns. Basically you want about 10 chunks evenly spaced throughout the reading.

3. Read one chunk without writing.

4. Decide what is the Main Idea. Here are the helpful hints: a. repeated words or ideas. If it is repeated over and over, it is probably the main idea. b. bold face type. Important words may be highlighted; try to use them in what you write. c. explain the heading. d. superlatives - "est" words such as the world's first, best, tallest, latest... e. author hints such as "this means..." or "the result of this was..." or they number things.

5. Write the fact in your own words. Be sure you are numbering your facts.

6. Once you are done, go back and read through. If you can tell the who, what, where, when, and why it is important about the title, you have good notes. If you can't, you didn't get the main ideas.