"Fun" With Note-Taking

Taking notes is a necessary evil in school, but recording facts and ideas doesn't have to be all THAT bad. I tell my students that it can be "fun"...and then I define it as "school fun," which isn't the same as "Disney World fun." Here's how we do our Cornell notes:

Left Side - Record central idea, essential question, etc. Our focus statement is called SWBAT (Students Will Be Able To...). The rest of the space can be used for the thoughts and questions students have as they take notes.

Middle - Bulleted notes from the teacher or information source

Bottom - Summarize main point at the end