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AVID’s focused note-taking process has five phases. It is important to note that while applying learning is the last phase of the process, it is essential that it inform the first phase, as the note-taking format should be shaped by the note-taking purpose.
When teaching the focused note-taking process, educators need to determine how students will use their notes and set up the format appropriately. It is crucial for educators to model and invite students to engage in this thought process so that note-taking becomes a powerful and portable learning tool students can carry with them throughout their educational experience.
HANDOUTS and RESOURCES:
FIVE PHASES of the
Focused-Note Taking Process:
CREATE THE NOTES: Select a note-taking format, set up the note page, record the Essential Question, and take notes based on an information source (lecture, book, website, article, video, etc.), selecting, paraphrasing, and arranging information in a way that meets your note-taking objective.
PROCESSING NOTES: Think about the notes. Revise notes—by underlining, highlighting, circling, chunking, questioning, adding, deleting—to identify, select, sort, organize, and classify main ideas and details. Evaluate the relative importance of information and ideas in the notes.
CONNECTING THINKING: Think beyond the notes. Analyze the notes using inquiry to make connections and deepen content knowledge by asking questions and adding your own thinking to create greater understanding, identify gaps or points of confusion, and connect your new learning to what you already know.
SUMMARIZING AND REFLECTING ON LEARNING: Think about the notes as a whole. Pull together the most important aspects of your notes and your thinking about them to craft a summary that captures the meaning and importance of the content and reflects on how the learning helps you meet the note-taking objective.
APPLYING LEARNING: Use the notes. Save and revisit your notes as a resource or learning tool to help you apply or demonstrate what you have learned.
Phase ONE:
NOTE TAKING FORMATS (Click Title to Learn More):
Phase TWO:
PROCESSING NOTES:
Involves thinking about the notes
Should be done within 24 hours of taking the notes
Provides opportunities for collaboration
Will get messy as note-takers revise
Focuses on clarifying content and organization
Revise notes by:
Underlining
Highlighting
Circling
Chunking
Questioning
Adding
Deleting
Identify main idea and supporting details by:
Selecting
Sorting
Classifying
Organizing
Phase THREE:
CONNECTING THINKING:
Ask Questions about the Notes:
Costa’s Levels of Thinking
Wonderment questions
Comprehension
Prediction
Anomaly Detection
Application
Planning and Strategy
Add Original Thinking:
Make connections to
what you already know
content from the course or from outside the course
your life or the world around you
your note-taking purpose
Phase FOUR:
SUMMARIZE:
What have I learned?
Capture the most important aspects of your notes
Answer the Essential Question
REFLECT:
How will this be useful?
Consider how the learning helps you meet the note-taking objective
Plan where you go from here
Phase FIVE:
APPLYING LEARNING:
Use the notes for their intended purpose.
Demonstrate what you’ve learned or apply it to a new situation.
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