Note-Taking

I am making a radical statement today: Taking notes is a lost art, but a life skill (at least in elementary school).

It is important for numerous reasons and I am full of conviction to teach this strategy correctly to my kiddos. In order to learn new information a person has to gather it together in an organized fashion to make sense of it. When they digest the new material, having a shortened version of decoded notes helps the new information absorb into their brain.

Note taking is for all ages. Third grade is not too young to start taking notes. It should be happening much earlier if you want my honest opinion. I tried to recall my learning experience with taking notes, but to be honest I cannot recall how it began or how it went along the way. All I know is I learned it and use it daily even as an adult. As I grow in my profession, I am note taking more often and depend on those foundational skills of organization so that later I can access the important nuggets of information (learning short hand is important too but with the tech abilities of today’s students, they already have that down pat with their “texting” lingo…yuck!).

Science and Social Studies seem to be the two subjects in which note taking really started to blossom in my eyes as an area of concern. The content is so rich and each detail is uber important. I began jotting down notes on the white board as my students and I read the topics together. This was in efforts  to keep a running record as reference throughout the lesson. I realized that it did little good if I was writing and reflecting on notes from a topic I already had learned. My students were the ones learning this for the first time and they needed to take the notes so that they could digest them.

I made it sound super fun and exciting by letting students know that big boys and girls in college take notes to study for a test (and they always get a 100% because they take great notes!  I went on to add…Yes, they even can use them on a test!  My students lit up like a Christmas tree at the sound of that concept!) I easily sucked them in and began to take notes in a fun way. I made pictures to remember big ideas, taught some short -hand tricks that they found made them “cool” big kids (ex. ∆ = change), and used multi-color to jazz it up and make particular sections pop.

Our current Non-Fiction unit goes extremely well with note taking as I refer to headings and subheadings in organizing our notes. Students see the connection by reading the content during independent reading time and then applying the same structure during Writing, S.S.,  or Science time. I showed students how to reference the book line by line to glean the most important details and write them down in a list like fashion- they appreciate this because punctuation is their nemesis!

I did most of the modeling as students copied from the board, but as the weeks have gone on students are referencing their books more often than my notes, asking to add details they found important to my modeled notes and ….today, taking over the process to model their notes for others in the class.

I now sit in a desk chair, read along with my students and raise my hand to add details. I have a blast and I know my kids sure do too! I helped them develop a skill necessary to become successful in the classroom and they proved just how smart they were in the process. I love watching the growth of my little kiddos. It inspires me to continue learning and growing.

How do you utilize note taking strategies in your classroom?

About the author, Gretchen

I am a teacher trainer and coach. Working elbow to elbow with teachers and teacher leaders to ensure instructional proficiency and student achievement soar lights me up. We have a real need in our nation for strong educators to remain in the field. My blog, book, podcast, courses and instructional materials are geared towards empowering teachers (and those that lead them) to receive the support needed to grow and thrive today, tomorrow and always.

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