1 Taking Notes

2 STOP! Have I checked all your Source cards yet? Do they have a yellow highlighter mark on them? If not, you need to finish your Source cards first. You may NOT begin taking notes until ALL your Source cards have been checked by me! If your Source cards have been checked, and you are ready to begin taking notes, move to the next slide

3 Intro to taking notes: Today, you practiced paraphrasing and summarization with your notes partner. Now, you’ll learn the format you must use as you take notes for your paper. Note: It is VERY important that you use the exact format explained here for your notes.

4 Why do I have to do it this way? I wanna do it my own way. Honestly, you may never use this exact notecard format again. Next time you have to do research for something, you will probably create your own way to take notes. BUT… We are forcing you to use this method for this project so that next time, you know all the factors YOUR note-taking format will need to have in order to be successful. It will make a lot more sense once you start actually trying to write your paper. We promise.

5 Overview: Taking notes is one of the most important parts of your I-Search process. This is when you’ll get all the information to answer your big Research Question, and all of your subtopics. As you take notes, keep in mind that you will need to organize your paper by subtopics. These subtopics will basically be the list of things you put into your thesis statement (all the smaller questions you asked about your big Research Question). That means you need to find enough information about EACH subtopic to have at least one paragraph about that subtopic. When you are ready to begin, move to the next slide

6 Things you need to know: You must take all your notes on index cards. You must use the format explained here. If your note cards are not in this exact format, I won’t take them. You should get a baggie or rubber band or envelope to make sure you don’t lose your notecards. If you lose them, you’ll have to do them all over again, because I can’t take your paper without them.

7 Materials: Get out a pen or pencil, your blank index cards, and your Source cards (you made these yesterday). Pull up the Word file named “Source A” on your computer. If it’s not too long (under 4 pages), it may be easier to print it out at this point. Please don’t print any pictures or graphics. When you are ready to begin, move to the next slide

8 Note Card Set-up Take out one blank index card. On the back, neatly print your name, teacher, and hour. On the front, in the upper left corner, neatly write the letter “A.” Now, find Source Card A. What is the first word you wrote on Source Card A? Whatever that word is, write it neatly in parentheses in the upper right hand corner of your new note card.* * The first word might be the author’s last name, but it might also be the first word of the title of the article. Either is okay. Look at the example on the next page

9 Example A: Source Card A “Fitness.” University of Minnesota. University of Minnesota. 20 Sep Web. 30 Sep The first word I wrote on this Source Card is “Fitness.” Move to the next slide to see what my notecard would look like so far.

10 Example A: Note Card A (“Fitness” ) Notice that since the word was in quotation marks on the Source Card, I put it in quotation marks on the Note Card. Move to the next slide when you are ready to continue. Also notice that I left a space after the word, before I closed the parenthesis.

11 Taking Notes Now you are ready to take your first note. Read through Source A until you find a piece of information you want to use in your paper. Then move to the next slide.

12 Taking Notes Once you have found a piece of information, you have to decide whether you want to quote it, paraphrase it, or summarize it. Quote when: The piece of info is short and especially well-said The info is a statistic or other number NOTE: don’t quote very often. Maybe only 2-5 times in your whole paper. Paraphrase when: You want to include both the main idea AND several details about this information NOTE: many of your notecards will be paraphrases. Summarize when: You don’t want details, you just need the main idea of this information. NOTE: many of your notecards will also be summaries. Once you have decided which method to use, move to the next slide.

13 Taking Notes If you are quoting: Copy down WORD for WORD, EXACTLY what the original source says. Put quotation marks around the quote on your notecard. NOTE: again, don’t quote very often. Also, don’t quote something that is very long. If you are paraphrasing: Put the information in ALL your own words. Write in phrases and abbreviations, NOT complete sentences. Include both main ideas and details Double check against the original to make sure you didn’t copy any words or phrases. If you are summarizing: Put the information in ALL your own words. Write in phrases and abbreviations, NOT complete sentences. Include ONLY main ideas—your notes should be way shorter than the original piece of information you want to use. Double check against the original to make sure you didn’t copy any words or phrases.

14 Taking Notes Write your notes in the middle of your notecard. Only write ONE piece of information on EACH notecard. Watch out! You will be tempted to save paper and space by writing as much as you can on each card. DON’T do it! It will make your life very difficult later. One idea per card. That’s all you get. When you are finished writing your notes on your first notecard, move to the next slide.

15 Back to Notecard Set-up: Now you’re ready to add the final items to your first notecard. First, the page number: Remember that space you left inside the parentheses in the upper right corner? That space is for the page number you got this one piece of information from. See the next slide for an example.

16 Example A: Note Card A (“Fitness” 4 ) Your notes go here, in the middle. Move to the next slide when you are ready to continue. Notice I just wrote the number. There’s no “p” for page, and there’s no comma in between. The piece of information on this notecard came from page 4 of my Source A article.

17 Troubleshooting: What if I’m using a website and there’s no page number? For a website, you will not have a page number. Just close the parentheses after the word. What if I’m using a database article? For a database article, you will use the page number from the original article. You can find on your Source Card, right after the date the article was published. What if my database article didn’t list a page number? If your database article didn’t list a page number, you will just use the page number of your Word document. That is, when you copied and pasted it into a Word document, which page of your Word document is the piece of information on? If your problem is not on here, ask me. Otherwise move to the next slide.

18 Back to Notecard Set-up: Now, the very last item on your notecard. First, open the Word file for your thesis. Read through the subtopics you listed in your thesis statement. Now read through the information you just wrote in the middle of your notecard. Which subtopic does this information fit under? Write that subtopic (you can abbreviate if it’s long) in the center of the bottom of your notecard. See the next slide for an example.

19 Example A: Note Card A (“Fitness” 4 ) Your notes go here, in the middle. Blah blah blah, notes notes notes. Work-out Tips Move to the next slide when you are ready to continue. Subtopic goes here, in the middle of the bottom.

20 Back to Notecard Set-up: Now, your first notecard is finished! Good job. Your notecard should have 4 things on the front: 1) Source letter in the upper left corner 2) Citation in the upper right corner: first word of source card followed by page number, all in parentheses 3) Notes in the middle 4) Subtopic on the bottom *Also, make sure your name, teacher, and hour are on the back. The official notecard example is on the next page…

21 EXAMPLE School workout facilities: Access for students good—open 24 hours, $40 student membership, Classes and trainers available A (“Fitness” 245) Staying Healthy at School Source letter First word on source card, then page number I found this info on, in parentheses Notes Subtopic for this piece of info

22 Taking Notes Now that you’re done with your first notecard, you need to take the rest of your notes from Source A. Keep reading through Source A until you find another piece of information you want to use in your paper. Go back through slides You’ll decide whether you want to quote, paraphrase or summarize, you’ll figure out the page number, you’ll decide which subtopic this piece of information fits, etc. Then come back here. When you are done with your SECOND notecard, move to the next slide.

23 Taking Notes Now go ahead and take the rest of your notes from Source A. Make sure to use the Powerpoint to keep you on track. You should go back to the Example slide (21) A TON as you write your notecards. When you are done with all your notes for Source A, move to the next slide.

24 Taking Notes Now that you are done with Source A, take this time to check your notecards. They should match the example format exactly. Some things to check: Does the word in the upper right corner match the word on your source card? That is, if it’s underlined on your source card, is it underlined on your notecard, etc.? Is the page number correct? That is, does it match the specific page you found THAT ONE PIECE of information on? Did you avoid putting a comma between the word and page number? Did you put it in parentheses? Do you have the source letter in the upper left? Do you have the subtopic in the bottom middle? Is your name, teacher, and hour written on the back of EVERY card? When you are done checking your notecards for Source A, move to the next slide.

25 Taking Notes Now it’s time to find Source B. You will go through the exact same process with Source B, except… You will write the letter B in the upper left (instead of A) The word you write in the upper right will be different—it will be the first word on your Source Card for Source B. Go back through the Powerpoint for Source B

26 Taking Notes Once you are done with Source B, do the same thing for Sources C, D, and E. When you are done with ALL your notes, move to the next slide.

27 Done with all your notes? Now you’re ready to get your notecards checked in with me. Open the Powerpoint presentation named “Notecard Check-In” and follow the directions listed there.