Easily Teach Students How to Take Research Notes
Once students get to middle school they are expected to take notes. Unfortunately, few students really understand how to take notes effectively – and taking notes during a lecture is different from taking notes for research.
In order to save a lot of stress, teachers need to model easy and effective note-taking. I recommend spending a class period demonstrating how to take notes during research before allowing students to begin. Teachers should model a few different skills:
Taking notes from a text.
Organizing notes on index cards or word processing pages.
Keeping track of bibliographic information/works cited.
Model Taking Notes
A great mini-lesson is taking notes from a text – whether it is from their textbook or from research sources. Most students do one of two things when taking notes: write down (or highlight) absolutely everything word for word or take few if any notes.
Of course, neither of those strategies is very effective. The cause of both problems is often students’ ability to select the main ideas and key details from a denser text.
Middle grades teachers can help students build this skill by copying a section of text – perhaps a subheading from the textbook – and model taking notes. Teachers can point out how to use text features (subtitles, vocabulary) to find the main ideas.
Another strategy is to read one paragraph at a time. Breaking dense texts down into chunks helps struggling readers improve their comprehension. After each paragraph, teachers can think aloud as they discuss what the paragraph was about (main idea) and what was important to remember (key details). During this process, teachers should write the notes as they think.
After modeling 2-3 paragraphs (as students also copy the notes), teachers should slowly switch to asking students to identify the main idea and what to write down in their notes.
Teachers may need to model taking notes multiple times before students are able to successfully do it independently.
Organizing Research Notes & Tracking Bibliographic Information
Taking notes from research sources is a little different from taking class notes. Research notes should not be written in complete sentences – unless students are copying a sentence for text evidence or a quote. In addition, students will need to write down the source of each note and where the information was located.
Although some teachers use word processing for research notes, I prefer using index cards. Index cards are easy to sort and rearrange. However, if the school is 1:1, students can use a word processing program and organize notes on different tabs.
I have ten simple tips for taking notes on index cards.
If possible, buy colored index cards. Use a different color for each subtopic.
Always write the sub-topic in the heading of the index card.
Directly beneath the sub-topic, write the source of the notes on that card. New source = new card
Number (or at least bullet) each new fact on the card. New fact = New Line
Write the page number at the end of the fact. Ex. 1. Peanut butter is an effective reward during dog training. (p. 15)
Number the cards for each subtopic. I put a small number in the bottom right corner of each card. Numbering the index cards makes it easier to keep track of the cards. (It can also be a quick way to see which sub-topics need more information.)
7. Only write notes in complete sentences to use as a quote or as text evidence. Otherwise, all notes should be written in short chunks – just the main idea. This strategy helps students avoid plagiarizing.
8. Keep a master list of sources in the class notebook or on a piece of paper. Students can organize the Works Cited page later, but writing down their sources prevents students from scrambling to find the source information at the end.
9. At the end of each research session, put the cards for each sub-topic in order and clip or band them together.
10. Use an index card holder or rubber bands to keep track of note cards.
Remember, successful research actually requires students to master a number of skills. Understanding how to take effective research notes is an important skill for students to master.