Fun with Writing Cited Notes OR…how to make Ms. Dalle-Valle super-duper excited that you are so awesome with your organized note taking skills.

Steps to taking “Cited Notes” It is easiest if you use index cards because you can keep them together and easily rearrange them to form your own ideas and interpretations You can also write them as bullet points in a notebook, however, you can’t move your ideas around, instead you will want to highlight them or color code them.

WRITE THE CITATION INFORMATION Step One As soon as you pick a source and decide you will use it for information, WRITE THE CITATION INFORMATION On a note card with a Letter or Number that signifies all note cards with that letter or number come from that source At the top of your notebook page (only write notes under that citation. DO NOT start writing notes for a new source until you finish the other one.

Step Two: Write different types of notes/bullet points: Main Ideas Supporting Details Quotations Analysis (done after you’ve gotten some Main Ideas and Specific Details) *** After every bullet point/note, WRITE down the PAGE NUMBER in (). ***

Main Ideas This is the big picture or concept, something that ties a few specific details together. Designate this note card with “MI” in the upper right hand corner. Designate this in your notebook by writing “MI” before or after your entry.

Supporting Details These are the smaller bits of information that support/explain the main ideas Designate this note with “SD” in the upper right hand corner. Designate this in your notebook by writing “SD” either before or after your entry.

Quote This is a SHORT word for word copy of what the author said Designate this note with “Q” in the upper right hand corner and write your note in quotation marks. Write your notes in quotation marks.

Analysis As you are reading your source, you may have an insight or interpret something that is not said, connect it with other info. Designate this note card with “A” in the upper right hand corner. Designate this in your notebook with “A” either before or after your entry.

Step Three: Organization After you have finished writing your notes, organize your ideas: First figure out what main ideas you will focus on.

Step Three (notecards) Lay your note cards in front of you. Find your 4-5 main ideas and separate them. See which supporting details, quotes, or analysis cards fall under each main idea. Organize your thoughts and see how those main ideas are connected.

Step Four (notebook) Choose 4-5 different colored highlighters and highlight each of your 4-5 main ideas in these different colors. Go through your supporting details, quotes and analysis and highlight them in relation to their main idea. Look over your highlighted notes and number them in a sequence that makes sense.

Step 5 OPVL After you have taken your notes from a source, write an OPVL entry or note card so that when you have to write this for your paper, you have a few to choose from. Write down info on the author, google them if you have to.

OPVL O – (Origin) When, who and where the source came from P – (Purpose) Why was this source created V – (Values) How was this source valuable in your research? What insight did it give? L – (Limitations) How was this source weak or limiting in your research?