Teachers and other presenters usually talk faster than we can write. For example, teachers in high school usually talk at a rate of about 100 to 200 words per minute. The average high school student can write about 15 to 20 words per minute. It is therefore important to do things that can help you write more quickly when taking notes in class. One way to write more quickly is to use the fewest words needed to capture the important information. Look at the information provided by a teacher during an oral presentation: Leaves help all kinds of plants to draw water up from the soil by a process that scientists call transpiration. Now look at the shortened version of this information that follows. Notice that although there are fewer words, none of the important information has been lost. Leaves help plants draw water from soil by transpiration. For the following, rewrite the information using the fewest words needed without losing any of the important information. Communication satellites receive signals from a transmitting station on Earth, amplify them, and beam the signals down to another Earth station, which may be thousands of miles away.
Read the following statement from a lecture by a history teacher: "When I went to Hawaii last year, I visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial. I was struck by the solemness of the displays and pictorials. Four battleships and two destroyers were sunk, many more were badly damaged, and there were more than 2000 casualties. It really made me consider the horror of war and how it must have felt to be there on December 7, 1941, when it was all happening." Reformulate this statement into an appropriate form which could be written in your notes.
What types of information should you include in your notes? What should you exclude?
Active listening is not possible while taking notes during a lecture.
You should take notes on anything you think might be on a test, even if it breaks every “good” note taking guideline.
Each page of notes should include
What does the abbreviation “ref.” stand for?
Use the topic “mammals” to create a statement that should NOT be included in your notes. Explain why this statement is inappropriate to include in your notes.
What should a student do with their notes after class?
Before class begins, Alma gets ready to take notes by reviewing last night’s reading assignment and the notes from the previous day. What is her next step?
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