1. Objectives of Today’s Lesson:
Learn why it’s important to take effective notes
Learn to take effective notes
Practise effective note taking skills

2. Why is it important to take effective notes?
Ensure Understanding
Help with Focus
Assist with Organization
Ensure Understanding: to ensure that you remember details from the articles/books/webpages/etc. that you have consulted.
Help with Focus: to help you remain on task and answer the research question that you have posed
Assist with Organization: to help you organize your research and ideas
Avoid Plagiarism: : to ensure that you do not mistakenly suggest that someone else’s ideas or work is your own
Avoid Plagiarism

3. Qualities of Effective Notes
Accurate: Be careful to record correct information.
Honest: Always credit words, ideas, and images of others in appropriate citations.
Concise: Be brief: use abbreviations, keywords, and phrases.
Organized: Use a note-making technique to keep your ideas and information organized.
Relevant: Keep checking your data. Does it help to answer your question? Are you staying on topic?
Format

4. Draw & Record Conclusions
What?
Provide more than just facts and instead draw and record conclusions
How?
Locate the author’s key ideas
Select what is significant
Be brief and use point form
In your own words, condense ideas, details, and supporting evidence
Omit specific details, examples, or descriptions or unnecessary explanations
Keep your information organized
Record the reference information accurately
Format

5. Main Idea & Important Information
Read: ‘Women’s Political Rights in the 1920s’
Paragraph 1 only
Think/Pair/Share:
Think: Locate the Main Idea
Pair: Work with a partner to reach a consensus as to the main idea and write the main idea on the paper provided
Share: Share your ideas with the class
Format
Before we begin to actually take notes, you will need to read the article “Women’s Political Rights in the 1920”

6. Women’s Rights: Highlighting
‘Women’s Political Rights in the 1920s’
Today, nearly every adult Canadian citizen has the right to participate in an election to vote for his or her representative. The right to vote, called the franchise, gives citizens one of their most important roles in the democratic decision-making process; however, not every adult Canadian has always had the franchise. For many groups of people, it was a hard-won democratic right. For example, even 50 years after Confederation, women were completely disenfranchised (deprived of the right to vote).

7. Women’s Rights: Note Taking
Political Rights
today every Can. adult = right to vote
Historically not every Can. adult had this right
years = women still could not vote
franchise = right to vote
disenfranchise = “deprived of the right to vote”

8. Let’s Try Taking Notes Format Read Remember
“ Women’s Political Rights in the 1920s”
Work with a partner to make notes on paragraph 2
Record your findings on the Effective Note Taking handout.
Remember
Do not copy directly
Avoid using complete sentences
Condense ideas, details, and supporting evidence
Omit specific details, examples, or descriptions or unnecessary explanations
Record the reference information accurately
Format

9. Note Taking Exemplar Format Notes on Paragraph 2 using Point Form:
Dominion Elections Act 1900
eligible voter = male
1918 = suffragists = win right to vote in federal elections
1920 federal gov’t amends act
men & women can vote in federal elections
Not All Equal
not all women get to vote
Asian Can., First Nation denied vote
Women still could not vote in all provincial elections
1940 Quebec = last province to grant women franchise
Format

10. Note Taking Tips to Remember
Look for the key ideas
Use your own words
Use point form, not complete sentences
whenever possible and appropriate
Delete unnecessary words (e.g., the, this)
Omit unneeded examples
Add subheadings if appropriate
Use shortcuts: abbreviations and symbols
Include your own ideas, responses, and
questions
Format
Checklist