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"Good organization of notes makes writing easier. Unsorted notes equals illogical writing."
How to organize/sort notes
Concepts:
Strategies that apply to print and digital sources:
The first important issue in this final step of research is LEARNING: Students bond to new information when they revisit all notes in order to sort them. See the AVID video below to understand the effect re-reading information has on learning.
The second key issue involved with sorting notes is information ownership. Re-reading, analyzing, reorganizing and sorting notes is the transforming process that turns other people's information into the student's original end product. Why isn't using other people's information stealing? To avoid plagiarism, you must not simply re-arrange notes like puzzle pieces. New information located during research must be engaged by the brain and processed using analysis and interpretation, and common knowledge and prior knowledge when appropriate to create information ownership.
Begin this step with subtopics: Subtopics turn notes from chaos into order: a) Before research, the sorting process actually begins when note cards or note sheets are titled with subtopics to pre-sort new information as it is encountered in all kinds of sources. b) After research is complete, have a logical system for further arranging notes within subtopic groups.
Segue to writing: Having a logical system for sorting notes produces logical writing.
⭐NEW: Print to Digital Skills⭐
Teachers: Sort Notes
Library (Print) tasks and skills:
Refer to the "Sort Notes" section of your research checklist.
Basic skills
Follow steps below to first sort your notes.
Add personal interpretation, information analysis, and common knowledge and prior knowledge as appropriate.
Group all information into syntax sections for writing and/or creating a project.
Steps for sorting
Notes should be generally pre-sorted into subtopic sections. At this point, notes contain only new information the student has not known before.
First, READ all notes in all subtopic sections. Re-reading notes bonds the student to new information creating memory. This is learning!
Within each subtopic section, use a logical system for sorting notes such as: time, sequence of events, related concepts, etc.
As notes are logically arranged within subtopic sections, drill down to more specific arrangement of notes into paragraphs, grouped by facts that are the supporting details for a topic sentence.
Last, do not number notes until after all sorting is completed.
Validate! Use a personal coding system to relate sorted facts back to the source of information so that all information can be validated.
Variation: Sorting notes with graphic organizers or charts enables the student to visually plot notes. This might help clarify information leading the student to better interpretation and understanding.
Segue to writing: Note information by itself used in writing could still be plagiarism. New information in notes must be processed by the student by adding analysis and interpretation, and common knowledge and prior knowledge when appropriate.
⭐Connection with Digital Citizenship:
(Unit 1.3.a) Segue to writing by adding your interpretation to other people's information that you found in research: "Copyright Perspectives: No You Stole It" "What Is Intellectual Property?"
Digital (Non-Print) tasks and skills:
Basic skills
Steps for sorting
First, READ all notes in all subtopic sections.
Follow the "Steps for sorting" above.
If your notes were not pre-sorted into subtopic sections, then:
See the video below to mouseover highlight to select and group notes.
Set up an online document, such as a Google doc, into which you can paste sorted notes, rearranging as needed.
Using a sorting system, copy and paste notes into a sequence for logical writing.
Ideas!
Embed source links into notes to assist in giving credit and to provide easier access to citation information.
Use an app such as Evernote where you can create "stacks" and "tags" to sort notes that can then be indexed and searched.
Segue to writing:
Validate! As you sort, keep track of electronic citations. From the beginning, copy/paste citations from your online citation-maker into a "Works Cited" list. A free and easy way to do this is to open a Google doc in another tab.
Use your electronically rearranged notes and move from subtopic section to section for ease in writing.
From your Works Cited list, grab the information for endnotes/footnotes to embed in your writing---as you go!
Can you think of any improvements upon the sorting method in this video?
Student handouts
Handout: Sample note sheet with sorted and numbered notes
Videos and PowerPoints
Mrs. Stanley's PPT on sorting notes, grades 3-7
Mrs. Stanley's PPT on sorting notes, grades 8-12
AVID shows repetition is KEY: Sorting notes requires constant revisiting of facts = LEARNING!
Other resources for sorting notes
Segue to writing
Depending on the topic, writing from sorted notes provides the opportunity for inserting prior knowledge, what you already know, or common knowledge, what everyone knows, at strategic places.
Use transition words to logically and effectively combine research facts with analysis, and interpretation.
"Writing this paper is easy!"
Evaluating the research process
Process: Each step of research is subject to evaluation. Benchmarks are noted on the research checklist.
Product: A teacher might have teamed with the teacher librarian to create a double rubric (Science example) or double rubric (ELA7 example) to evaluate both research and project.
Print evaluation rubrics for process or product:
Online evaluations tools for process or product:
1) Goobric
"Goobric Tutorial" by Brittney Cairns
"Goobric Web App," by Jay Atwood
Works Cited
Atwood, Jay. “Goobric Web App.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Jan. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqrLvpNTNHo. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.
"Card Sorting." ZURB Library. Zurb, Inc., 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2015. <http://zurb.com/word/card-sorting>.
Cairns, Brittney. “Goobric Tutorial.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Mar. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ldEVFo4rtc. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.
"How to Survive a Lit Review." Caution Masters Thesis in Progress. WordPress.com, 5 Nov. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2015. <https://tattoosandtherapy.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/how-to-survive-a-lit-review/>.
Psutlt. "Copyright Perspectives: No, You Stole It." YouTube. YouTube, 2008. Web. 05 Oct. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzV8GAtK0A0
Toste, James. "Cornell Notes for Students." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Nh4bSFvrI>.
Van Donkersgoed, Alex. "Research Projects Step 2 Sorting Your Notes." YouTube. YouTube, 7 Jan. 2013. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVpACEPFVVo>.
Created by Deborah B. Stanley. Copyright 2017, with credit to the YouTube creators and Web article authors included. Contact: debstanley550@mac.com.
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