1. Do you sometimes feel like this?
Dear Brenda I find that note taking is a real bore with me spending hours trying to get everything down on paper as the teacher is talking, well not exactly everything but most of what she says in History and all of what he says in English because its an important subject. I feel that if I leave anything out I won’t get a good grade in my exams and I’ll be really disappointed… Annie
Group can discuss why they agree/disagree with statement
What makes them worry about making notes?
Note taking audit:
Which subjects have they so far had to make notes in? Did they get help with this?
What problems did they have? Have they overcome them?
Do you sometimes feel like this?

2. What’s the point of taking notes?
Why take notes in lessons?
70% of what we hear, we forget
Taking notes helps us to focus and listen
How do you know what is important?
Listen for signal words
Listen and ask questions if you don’t understand
What are the aims?
Pick out key points
Keep tests and exams in mind
Provide yourself with revision notes
You can use:
Mindmaps
Brainstorms
Bullet point lists
Summary shapes
Signal Words
When a teacher speaks they will sometimes use signal words.
This means that whatever they are going to say next is important so you should listen carefully and write it down
E.g.
There are 4 reasons…
Remember…
For example…..
Also…
However….
To conclude/finally/this shows us….
Listen carefully/remember this/the important points you need to know are…

3. Listen
Teacher clues
Pupil questions

4. What do you notice about the way these notes have been written?
Listen to the passage being read and look at the notes that have been made below.
What do you notice about the way these notes have been written?
Francisco D. Joquim= biggest in world – stretch 2 17cm
20yrs old fits can of fizzy drink sideways in mouth
Worlds Widest Mouth Comp in Rome (No 1)
Lived in Angola + found by Guinness Book of Records
Took 2 yrs to find him
Beat people from around
Put can in/out mouth 14x in 1 min
Called ‘Jaw of awe’
Read newspaper article aloud to class on ‘The man with the mostest mouth’ from Metro Newspaper
Middle name shortened to letter ‘D’
Pictures used
Symbols of arrow, equals sign, /
Red to show statistics
Purple- facts about boy
14x instead of times
Key facts noted

7. Listen to this report and write some notes.
Remember to note:
The main facts
Some names of people involved
Key dates/time/place
What is the main event and why is it happening?

8. Scan newspaper article

9. Final Advice… Mention key names, places and people
Avoid repeating certain facts
Spell words phonetically then look them up
Use colour, diagrams, drawings and arrows
Use lists and bullet points
Use abbreviations and shorthand. Think texting
Don’t write in full sentences
Underline, highlight, box and ring words
Use capital letters and lower case letters
Refer students to Letts pages 36-39