Annotation and Note Taking Strategies
Talk to the Text
We will use the Talk to the Text style annotations often in my class. I learned about this style at Santa Monica College and taught it as part of the Summer English Intensive.
What is Talk to the Text? Talk to the Text Annotations are a step beyond the usual tactic of highlighting or underlining and taking a few notes as you read. Talk to the Text asks you to open your mind and allow it to wander while you read, and use those wanderings to create a bridge between what you already know and what you are reading. How Does It Work? It is helpful but not necessary to have a selection of highlighters and different colored pens/pencils. But you can just use a simple pen/pencil as well. You read and keep your tools handy. Anytime you read something interesting - mark it, and tell yourself why it is interesting. These comments can be totally random. Did the name of a character remind you of your neighbor's dog? Write that down. You will also mark anything that is confusing, or you just want to know more about. Ask the text questions, you might answer them later, or maybe not. Do not just blindly highlight or underline. Every highlighted word or phrase needs language with it - why did you mark that word/phrase? Was it funny? Confusing? Did it remind you of something? Did it raise a question in your head? Why Do We Do This? What Is The Value? You have a vast universe of preexisting knowledge in your head. The most effective way to add to that multitude of facts, experiences, lessons, cautions, etc... is to connect your new knowledge to your old. Every time you write out a connection from the text to something already in your head, you are throwing out a grappling hook, pulling those things closer together. Now that new fact, or word, or phrase has a direct connection to something you already know. This Sounds Tedious, Will It Take Forever? It might, if you do it right. The most common comment I get from my students when they really let themselves dissolve into the Talk to the Text process is that it relaxes them. When I practice this, I feel almost like it is a meditation of sorts. I allow my brain to open up and wrap itself around what I'm reading, no judgements on why I connect certain concepts, no explanation. |
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Taking Notes
There are myriad ways to take notes, sometimes you will be assigned a style, sometimes you have the freedom to use the method that best works for you. You must have an organized plan however you go about taking notes. Unorganized notes are a waste of your time, and can lead to greater confusion later on. I will present several different styles here, all can be adapted to your individual needs as you see fit.
Cornell Notes:
How Does It Work? This is a widely used style of note taking in which you create two columns and a summary space at the bottom of your page. You notate information, dates, names, etc... in the Notes category as you read, listen to lecture, watch the video, etc... Immediately following the note taking session, you turn to the Questions section next to your Notes category. Go back through your notes. What questions are still left unanswered? What do you want to know more about? What was confusing or incomplete? Write your questions in this section. Finally, you turn to the Summary section at the bottom of the page. Write a 3-4 sentence wrap up of what you just learned. When we summarize, we strive to pinpoint the main idea of a reading or lecture. What was the big idea, the main point of this information? What Purpose Does This Serve? Too often, we take notes, class ends, and we immediately shove them into our notebooks. We do not revisit our notes until the night before the test, or when we need to do our homework. By that time, that note taking session and the information is very far removed. Similar to the way we need to connect new information using Talk to the Text, Cornell Notes forces you to immediately revisit your notes, hook it into your brain by asking questions, and then make that information your own by identifying the main ideas and summarizing.
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The Notetaker Chart:
How Does It Work?
This method is a hybrid of Cornell Notes and KWL Chart. It is taught as part of the Santa Monica College English transfer readiness courses. It is also my personal favorite. Easy to set up, and focuses your work.
Create a three column chart. What I Saw/Read/Heard, Connections, and What I Learned
As you read, listen and/or watch the presented information, fill out the first column. All facts, dates, names, bits of information go into the What I Saw/Read/Heard column. This will be the the fullest column and it might take up more than 1 page depending on the type of information you are receiving.
As the presentation ends, immediately move to the Connections column. This is the same process as Talk to the Text. Read over your notes, and make those connections. You can write questions, comments, weird things some bit of information reminded you of, anything. These connections do not need to make sense to anyone but you. This column should be pretty full but likely will not be quite so full as the first. You may not have a connection to absolutely everything you noted, that's okay, don't force it.
Upon completing column #2, move to the last section: What I Learned. In this column, you are doing the same task as the Cornell Notes Summary section. What are the big take aways from this presentation or reading? No one will ever expect you to have remembered the entire reading or lecture, but you should walk away from any new experience with at least three solid things you learned. This column will not be very full, it may only have two or three statements in it.
Why Do We Do This?
This system is basically a slight reorganization of Cornell Notes, and serves the same purpose. You have just received new information. If you want to retain it, you must connect it to already existing knowledge, experiences and ideas. Even the weirdest, silliest, strangest connections form a grappling hook between your brain and the new information.
How Does It Work?
This method is a hybrid of Cornell Notes and KWL Chart. It is taught as part of the Santa Monica College English transfer readiness courses. It is also my personal favorite. Easy to set up, and focuses your work.
Create a three column chart. What I Saw/Read/Heard, Connections, and What I Learned
As you read, listen and/or watch the presented information, fill out the first column. All facts, dates, names, bits of information go into the What I Saw/Read/Heard column. This will be the the fullest column and it might take up more than 1 page depending on the type of information you are receiving.
As the presentation ends, immediately move to the Connections column. This is the same process as Talk to the Text. Read over your notes, and make those connections. You can write questions, comments, weird things some bit of information reminded you of, anything. These connections do not need to make sense to anyone but you. This column should be pretty full but likely will not be quite so full as the first. You may not have a connection to absolutely everything you noted, that's okay, don't force it.
Upon completing column #2, move to the last section: What I Learned. In this column, you are doing the same task as the Cornell Notes Summary section. What are the big take aways from this presentation or reading? No one will ever expect you to have remembered the entire reading or lecture, but you should walk away from any new experience with at least three solid things you learned. This column will not be very full, it may only have two or three statements in it.
Why Do We Do This?
This system is basically a slight reorganization of Cornell Notes, and serves the same purpose. You have just received new information. If you want to retain it, you must connect it to already existing knowledge, experiences and ideas. Even the weirdest, silliest, strangest connections form a grappling hook between your brain and the new information.
notetaker.docx | |
File Size: | 12 kb |
File Type: | docx |
The KWL Note Taking Chart:
How Does It Work? The K (know) W (Want to Know) L (Learned) is a note taking tool primarily used for pre-research organization. You will create three columns. K W L. K (Know): In this column, list everything already know about the particular topic you plan on researching. You will not look up any new information for this task, this is for you to gauge where you are with this topic before you begin. W (Want to Know): Assess your research goals. What is the focus of the research paper or project you are embarking on? What do you need to learn about this topic to be successful? Where are your knowledge gaps? L (Learned): You will now embark on your research journey. As you work, you will come back to this chart and fill in this third column. Have you found all the information that you listed in your W? This is where dates, names, events, statistics can be listed. Why Do We Do This? Research papers and projects are tough. One of the biggest reasons for low scores is a lack of focus and specificity. Before you begin the research process you need to know what the call of the question is, where your research needs to be focused, and where you need to bolster your knowledge gaps. This method is not great for general note taking (i.e. class lectures or presentations) but it is excellent as you embark on a lengthy project or are tasked with doing independent research on a particular subject. |
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kwlcharttemplate.docx | |
File Size: | 23 kb |
File Type: | docx |