Effective Note-Taking 101

1. Effective Note-Taking 101 Adapted from Walter Pauk’s How to Study in College

2. “The Cornell Note Sheet” • The center of the page/mainarea is where you take your notes. • The “cue column” is the 2 ½ left-hand margin. • The summary and vocabulary area is the 2-inch row at the bottom. • The top center of the page is the title of the lecture/class • The top left corner is for the date • The top right corner is for the number of pages dedicated to the specific lecture (ie: 1/4pps)

3. Both Areas Should Remain Blank Until After You’ve Finished Taking Notes • The largest area is where you take your notes. And it is flexible enough to accommodate most note-taking formats. (I.e., lists, paragraphs, etc.) • The cue column (on the left) will be where you write your clarifying questions • The space at the bottom will be used to summarize your notes and for unknown vocabulary words

4. 1/3 September 4, 2007 Intro to youth work & note taking Cue column Body of notes Summary and vocabulary words Vocab Cue

5. Sample September 4, 2007 Intro to youth work & note taking 1 pg What is the main goal of CMNT? The goal of the Cornell Method of note taking is to create a study system. The system is designed to organize information in a way that is easier to breakdown and use as a study tool. Users will find that the three parts helps them find important information more easily and that they have a pre-made study guide. The parts include: 1. Using less space per page 2. Using the cue column as a study guide 3. Using the summary section to capture important information List the three parts of the process: 1. 2. 3. CMNT= Cornell method of note taking The three parts of the cornel method of note taking (CMNT) helps organize information thereby creating a pre-made study guide

6. Some Possible Note-taking Formats • Sentences:Express important ideas in your own words • Paragraphs:Group related ideas into a block of text (highlight related ideas) • Lists:A heading or label followed by a group of items beneath it

7. Clarifying Questions(left-hand side of the page) Some Clarifying Questions/Cues are: • Who? • What? • When? • Where? • How many? • List? • Define… • (also consider, geography, location, relevance,…)

8. Marking Your Textbooks • With textbook assignments notes can be written directly in the book • The textbook’s outside margin becomes the “cue column”. The bottom of the page becomes the “summary area”

9. Some Effective Ways to Mark a Document You are Reading • Circle dates • Enumerate (1, 2, 3…) • Underline key phrases, names and locations • Define vocabulary in the margins • (then make a flash card of the word to practice while on the train, in between classes, etc.) • Summarize key concepts in the margin at the bottom of the page

10. The Advantages ofTextbook Marking • You can mark important words, phrases, or sentences instead of writing them out • Your textbook notes and class notes are complementary and can be used as a ‘unit’ • You can refer back to specific parts of the text and will have your notes there as a reminder in case you need clarification • You can then transfer key ideas into your own words in your notebook

11. USING FLASH CARDS TO SUCCEED! One vocabulary word and example per card: “GRANT”

12. USING FLASH CARDS TO SUCCEDE! Definition/Description • A written request for money given to an organization, usually for a specific purpose. • The After School Corporation (TASC) gave a grant in the amount of $75,000 to the Lincoln square Business Improvement District to run an after school program at Martin Luther King HS.