NOTE-TAKING
Collecting valid, useful, and accurate information on your topic is important; being able to access this information in a variety of manners so as to present it in essay format is equally important. As an 11th grade team, we have determined that the most useful format for student's to collect research is via note cards.
Note-taking is important for several reasons:
In the most general terms, good notes create an essential record of useful source information in the form of direct quotes, paraphrases, or summaries, and a record of the connections, ideas, and questions you generate as you engage with your sources. These parallel records—the source material and your responses—work together to create the core of your research paper. Clearly, taking notes is not optional if you hope to conduct effective research and write about it well. Of course, even though note-taking is required, you do have significant control over the process. When and how you take your notes will determine their worth to you.
There are at least two schools of thought about when to begin taking notes. You should think about what kind of reader you are and how many activities you can handle at once, then choose the method that works best for you.
You may be a person who likes to warm up to a project before beginning it or who absorbs material best when there are no added distractions or other simultaneous tasks to complete. If this is you, you may choose to read your source material thoroughly before you record notes. Print or photocopy your resources, then find a quiet place to read. In your first read through, you might want to use a highlighter to point out things that you want to revisit later. If the material is too long to copy or print, keep a notepad and pen nearby to jot page numbers of particularly useful information. Make sure you understand concepts; if not, use reading strategies before moving on. After a thorough reading, you’re ready to go back and take notes on the points that you need for your research. One warning if you choose this method: a lot of people use reading as an excuse to avoid the daunting task of writing, thinking that if they read just one more article or book, everything will fall into place. You cannot become a complete expert on your topic before you start writing. At some point, you will have to decide that you have enough information to begin and that you can fill in any gaps later.
Reading Strategies
You may be a person who likes to jump into projects quickly, who thinks a lot while reading, or who absorbs material best when writing about what you read. If this is you, you will probably want to take notes while you read your resources for the first time. If you read your sources first, then go back to take notes, you will waste time because you will, in essence, read everything twice. You may also lose the interesting connections and reactions you have when you first read. Instead of making your research a two-step process, combine the steps. You’ll keep your thinking fresh. One warning if you choose this method: you will need to do a lot of work when you are locating your sources to make sure that they are the best options for your paper. Otherwise, you will waste time taking notes on resources that are not useful or productive. Spend time reading tables of contents and abstracts of articles, reviewing indexes and appendices, and skimming resources before you add them to your list for note-taking.
How you take notes is up to you, unless your teacher requires a specific kind of notes. If the choice is left to you, the options are pretty much unlimited; your personal preference can determine your note-taking style. As you engage in more research projects, you will develop your own style, or make adjustments to an established method, so that your notes will work most effectively with your unique way of researching and writing. If your teacher is requiring a specific style, you’ll have to follow it.
One of the most popular styles among researchers at every level, and the one your teacher will most likely require, is note cards. Note cards are extremely adaptable, so you can easily make this note-taking style work with your own needs as a researcher.
Some Benefits of Using Note Cards
Of course, before you can reap the rewards of effective note-taking, you need a system that is logical and consistent. The following rules should help you stay on track:
Rule #1: Keep track of your sources.
Because the goal of research is to put experts in conversation with one another, you will almost always use more than one source for your research papers (other assignments may vary). Therefore, keeping track of your sources in your notes is incredibly important. There is nothing more embarrassing than attributing a quote to the wrong source, and nothing more disheartening than discovering that you are unable to use a great piece of supporting evidence because you can’t recall the source. If you take care with this rule, you should be able to use only your note cards to write and check your citations when you are drafting your paper.
Rule #2: Make an “MLA card” first.
The first card you write for each source should be an MLA-style works cited entry. You can be lazy and simply write down all the information that typically goes in a bibliographic entry. Or you can save yourself a step and do it properly, so that you’ll only have to alphabetize these first cards when you type your works cited page.
Rule #3: Keep track of what kind of notes you are making
Are you writing the exact words of the author, exactly as they appear on the page (including any possible misspellings)? Write “Quote” on the card. If you omit words, indicate that you have done so by putting an ellipsis (…) in their place. Are you putting the information you read in your source into your own words, as a paraphrase? Write “Paraphrase” on the card. Are you making notes about ideas you are having as a result of what you read? Write “Mine” on the card. Make sure you keep these ideas color-coded with the source that sparked them, and record the page number, paragraph, or sentence that started you towards the idea. In some cases, you will need to cite the source because you could not have had the idea without first having read and understood the source material.
Rule #4: Balance your sources.
As you take notes, compare your color-coded stacks. Are they about the same size? Make sure that you are pulling approximately equally from each of your sources, creating the foundation for a productive conversation in your research paper.
Make Copies! Print!
If your source is in a library book or on a webpage, make a paper copy of any pages you reference in your notes, just in case you lose access to the source before the paper is due. For your Composition class research paper, a copy of all sources used will be required. It helps to have an accordion file, using a slot for each source. Label these slots for the note cards and copies, and you’ll stay organized!
Note Taking Software There are free web based products to help you with note-taking. Use what works for you, they all have different features. The best one we’ve found is Evernote. It is web-based and will let you organize your notes in one place and print them out as needed. You can even print to 3×5 note cards. In this program, you can see previews of your notes and search through them to help you stay organized.
Also, within Firefox, there is an extension called Zotero. It allows you to collect, manage, and cite your sources within your web browser!
*courtesy of Marvin Ridge High School Media Center
*picture courtesy of "A Teacher's Write"
MLA Source Cards
Note-taking is important for several reasons:
- It helps you keep track of your comprehension as you read.
- It helps you keep track of content after you have read.
- It helps you organize your research as you plan and write your paper.
In the most general terms, good notes create an essential record of useful source information in the form of direct quotes, paraphrases, or summaries, and a record of the connections, ideas, and questions you generate as you engage with your sources. These parallel records—the source material and your responses—work together to create the core of your research paper. Clearly, taking notes is not optional if you hope to conduct effective research and write about it well. Of course, even though note-taking is required, you do have significant control over the process. When and how you take your notes will determine their worth to you.
There are at least two schools of thought about when to begin taking notes. You should think about what kind of reader you are and how many activities you can handle at once, then choose the method that works best for you.
You may be a person who likes to warm up to a project before beginning it or who absorbs material best when there are no added distractions or other simultaneous tasks to complete. If this is you, you may choose to read your source material thoroughly before you record notes. Print or photocopy your resources, then find a quiet place to read. In your first read through, you might want to use a highlighter to point out things that you want to revisit later. If the material is too long to copy or print, keep a notepad and pen nearby to jot page numbers of particularly useful information. Make sure you understand concepts; if not, use reading strategies before moving on. After a thorough reading, you’re ready to go back and take notes on the points that you need for your research. One warning if you choose this method: a lot of people use reading as an excuse to avoid the daunting task of writing, thinking that if they read just one more article or book, everything will fall into place. You cannot become a complete expert on your topic before you start writing. At some point, you will have to decide that you have enough information to begin and that you can fill in any gaps later.
Reading Strategies
- Reread
- Read aloud
- Summarize
- Use background knowledge
- Ask someone to read to you
- Put reading into your own words
- Highlight or underline while reading
- Look up unfamiliar words
- Make connections to movies, books, T.V.
You may be a person who likes to jump into projects quickly, who thinks a lot while reading, or who absorbs material best when writing about what you read. If this is you, you will probably want to take notes while you read your resources for the first time. If you read your sources first, then go back to take notes, you will waste time because you will, in essence, read everything twice. You may also lose the interesting connections and reactions you have when you first read. Instead of making your research a two-step process, combine the steps. You’ll keep your thinking fresh. One warning if you choose this method: you will need to do a lot of work when you are locating your sources to make sure that they are the best options for your paper. Otherwise, you will waste time taking notes on resources that are not useful or productive. Spend time reading tables of contents and abstracts of articles, reviewing indexes and appendices, and skimming resources before you add them to your list for note-taking.
How you take notes is up to you, unless your teacher requires a specific kind of notes. If the choice is left to you, the options are pretty much unlimited; your personal preference can determine your note-taking style. As you engage in more research projects, you will develop your own style, or make adjustments to an established method, so that your notes will work most effectively with your unique way of researching and writing. If your teacher is requiring a specific style, you’ll have to follow it.
One of the most popular styles among researchers at every level, and the one your teacher will most likely require, is note cards. Note cards are extremely adaptable, so you can easily make this note-taking style work with your own needs as a researcher.
Some Benefits of Using Note Cards
- Creating a visual representation of the balance of your sources
- Dividing your notes from each source into small chunks based on single topics, points, or ideas
- Keeping your notes concise and therefore more useful
- Helping you avoid the “book report” error
- Becoming a “moveable outline” as you enter the drafting stage, allowing you to organize your sources more easily
Of course, before you can reap the rewards of effective note-taking, you need a system that is logical and consistent. The following rules should help you stay on track:
Rule #1: Keep track of your sources.
Because the goal of research is to put experts in conversation with one another, you will almost always use more than one source for your research papers (other assignments may vary). Therefore, keeping track of your sources in your notes is incredibly important. There is nothing more embarrassing than attributing a quote to the wrong source, and nothing more disheartening than discovering that you are unable to use a great piece of supporting evidence because you can’t recall the source. If you take care with this rule, you should be able to use only your note cards to write and check your citations when you are drafting your paper.
Rule #2: Make an “MLA card” first.
The first card you write for each source should be an MLA-style works cited entry. You can be lazy and simply write down all the information that typically goes in a bibliographic entry. Or you can save yourself a step and do it properly, so that you’ll only have to alphabetize these first cards when you type your works cited page.
Rule #3: Keep track of what kind of notes you are making
Are you writing the exact words of the author, exactly as they appear on the page (including any possible misspellings)? Write “Quote” on the card. If you omit words, indicate that you have done so by putting an ellipsis (…) in their place. Are you putting the information you read in your source into your own words, as a paraphrase? Write “Paraphrase” on the card. Are you making notes about ideas you are having as a result of what you read? Write “Mine” on the card. Make sure you keep these ideas color-coded with the source that sparked them, and record the page number, paragraph, or sentence that started you towards the idea. In some cases, you will need to cite the source because you could not have had the idea without first having read and understood the source material.
Rule #4: Balance your sources.
As you take notes, compare your color-coded stacks. Are they about the same size? Make sure that you are pulling approximately equally from each of your sources, creating the foundation for a productive conversation in your research paper.
Make Copies! Print!
If your source is in a library book or on a webpage, make a paper copy of any pages you reference in your notes, just in case you lose access to the source before the paper is due. For your Composition class research paper, a copy of all sources used will be required. It helps to have an accordion file, using a slot for each source. Label these slots for the note cards and copies, and you’ll stay organized!
Note Taking Software There are free web based products to help you with note-taking. Use what works for you, they all have different features. The best one we’ve found is Evernote. It is web-based and will let you organize your notes in one place and print them out as needed. You can even print to 3×5 note cards. In this program, you can see previews of your notes and search through them to help you stay organized.
Also, within Firefox, there is an extension called Zotero. It allows you to collect, manage, and cite your sources within your web browser!
*courtesy of Marvin Ridge High School Media Center
*picture courtesy of "A Teacher's Write"
MLA Source Cards
NOTE CARDS
* note cards courtesy of Poway Unified Schools.