Should I Read a Text Before Taking Notes or Do Both at the Same Time
Do you ever re-create down pages of notes while reading but still struggle to recall what you read? Alternatively, do you read through texts without taking notes and while just half paying attention? Perchance you highlight or underline your texts simply feel similar maybe yous're not getting the most from your reading. If y'all autumn into 1 of these categories, chances are good that you're not getting the most out of your reading. This handout discusses the importance of taking good notes while reading and provides several different strategies and formats you can try.
The importance of expert notes
Taking good notes while reading is an important part of academic success in college. Virtually courses require significant reading, and it tin can be hard to understand and master the material and practice well in class without solid note taking and reading skills.
Practiced notes from your reading tin help you:
- organize your ideas and data from the text
- keep focused and stay engaged while reading
- go along a record of what yous read so you can more easily locate information technology in the time to come
- call up critically almost what you read while you read
- draw conclusions and identify main ideas of the text
- be prepared for class and build a foundation for lecture
- take solid materials to apply to written report for exams or prepare for assignments
How to take good notes while reading
Adept notes can have different forms and may vary from person to person—or even from text to text. Ane of the key ideas of good note taking is that it is not necessary to copy downward loads of information from the text. Copying downwards data does not appoint your brain and is non a potent strategy for learning and remembering content. It besides takes a lot of time and free energy. In contrast, simply highlighting loads of information is simpler but does not do much to actively engage the encephalon. Instead of copying down tons of notes or over-highlighting, try some of the agile and effective strategies and formats listed below. These volition help you lot decrease the amount of time and energy you spend on notes and increment your comprehension and retention from reading.
Dissimilar formats/strategies for notes
There is no one correct style to take notes while reading. The important thing is that y'all experiment with a few constructive strategies, find some that work for you lot, and use them. You lot may find that different formats or strategies piece of work better for different types of texts, too, and you may want to utilize different ones for different classes. Beneath are some examples to endeavor:
Endeavor taking notes from memory
- Students oft miss the opportunity to digest the information from their texts because they're likewise decorated worrying nearly taking practiced notes—instead of really comprehending the content, they're thinking more about what they should write down.
- Endeavour reading curt sections of your reading (likely a paragraph or two or upwards to a page) and pausing to recall about what you just read—then take notes from your retention of what you just read. This volition aid you lot focus on the main points instead of getting caught up in details.
- If you lot are taking notes digitally or online, try creating a Word or Google Document for each article or textbook chapter y'all have read. Write a summary of the key points from each reading without looking back at the text. Then fill in the details past consulting the reading only after you offset have recalled everything you can.
- Information technology's okay to not recall 100% of what you lot merely read; focus on the main points, then refer back to the text to fill in details equally needed.
- This method may take slightly longer, but many students say it'southward worth it due to the increase in reading comprehension.
Mark direct on the text
- If you accept a print version that allows it, simply use a pen or pencil. For online texts, some digital programs also let annotating, highlighting, and commenting.
- Underline, circle, or highlight key words and phrases—this tin can be helpful for students who need to practise something with their easily to help them stay focused.
- Annotate margins with symbols, abbreviations, or summaries of the text in your own words. See our annotating handout for more explanation.
- If you accept an online text, y'all can nevertheless record your thoughts, primal words, and summaries in this style. Just grab a plain sheet of paper, label it with the text and chapter/page number, and jot them downwardly on the paper instead of in the book.
Cornell way notes
- Separate a piece of paper into three sections—approximately ii inches blank at the bottom, and the top portion divided into a i-third department on the left and a ii-third section on the right.
- Take notes on the right 2-thirds of the page.
- List key words or questions in the left column.
- Summarize the unabridged page in the space at the bottom.
- Learn more than by readinga more than detailed explanation of Cornell style notes, or effort out of these MS Word templates.
App-based notes (EverNote and OneNote)
- EverNote is a popular notetaking app that can sync notes on all your devices. You can organize notes into private "notebooks" relevant to dissimilar classes or topics. Its fans find information technology useful for full general note-taking and class notes as well as for daily tasks and organization.
- OneNote is an app that comes with Microsoft Function, which is gratuitous for UNC students! If yous have not downloaded it yet, you lot can download OneNote here. Much similar EverNote, OneNote allows yous to sync your notes and access them on any device. You tin can annotate notes, clip and relieve multimedia content, and tape audio notes.
Create a graphic organizer or concept map
- This method is adept for texts that take a lot of higher level concepts that require explanations or texts that have remember-level facts, dates, terms, etc.
- Organize information visually.
- Differentiate main ideas from back up in an advisable format: concept map, table, flow chart, hierarchy, timeline, or Venn diagram.
- Good for texts that accept a lot of visuals, timelines, etc. similar science or history.
- Generate Your Own Q&A or Written report Guide.
- Codify questions from headings and keywords before you brainstorm. Then seek answers every bit you read
- Are you studying for test a that will require a lot of visual identification? Consider creating your own Pinterest lath to organize image-based notes.
Helpful tips
- Write notes in your ain words instead of copying down information from the book.
- Avoid over-highlighting. Highlighting doesn't do much to actively engage the brain, so it'due south not the most useful strategy. Also, highlighting too much tin can keep y'all from focusing on the main ideas. For tips on highlighting more thoughtfully, see the strategies on our highlighting handout.
- Wait until the end of a page to have notes so that you can better focus on what you are reading so that yous tin can try to summarize in your ain words rather than copy.
- You don't need to write pages of notes—keep them brief and focused.
- Preview the chapter before y'all showtime reading by looking at the text features to gain clues about the main ideas of the chapter.
- Focus on the main ideas and concepts.
Other resources
While taking good notes when reading is important and will go a long style, it's likewise helpful to utilize other UNC resource—non only for notation taking and reading, but besides for whatever academic expanse. Check out some of these resources to provide supplemental back up:
Academic Coaching: Brand an appointment with an bookish coach to talk one-on-one about notation-taking—and whatsoever other academic concern.
Office Hours: Make an appointment with your professor or TA to talk nigh note-taking for his/her specific course/text.
Related Learning Middle handouts: Many of our handouts go into further particular near reading. Check out some of these for additional strategies:
- Annotating Texts
- Increasing Reading Comprehension
- Skimming
- Reading Textbooks
Works consulted
"Concept Mapping." Cornell University. Retrieved from http://lsc.cornell.edu/concept-maps/.
"The Cornell Notation-taking Arrangement." Cornell University. Retrieved from http://lsc.cornell.edu/notes.html.
"Constructive Reading and Note Taking." MIT. Retrieved from http://uaap.mit.edu/tutoring-support/study-tips/tooling-and-studying/tooling-and-studying-effective-reading-and-note-taking.
"Reading a Textbook for Truthful Agreement." Cornell Higher. Retrieved from https://www.cornellcollege.edu/bookish-back up-and-advising/study-tips/reading-textbooks.shtml
"Reading Note Taking Strategies." UNSW Sydney. Retrieved from https://student.unsw.edu.au/notemaking-written-text
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Source: https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/taking-notes-while-reading/
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