Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Marzano on Note taking
After reading the section on note taking I was again reinforced with the idea of how important it is to have students taking notes during teacher directed instruction. The important thing is that students write down what it important. I don't believe that most fifth graders can determine what is important. Some try to write down everything, " verbatim note taking is, perhaps, the least effective way to take notes." I feel that teacher structured notes will work best for my class. These notes provide students with a clear picture of what the teacher considers important, and provides the students with a model of how notes might be taken. I also was reinforced with the concept that notes should be considered a work in progress. Students should be taking out those notes out and correcting misconceptions and adding new information. These notes should be a study guide. I haven't figured out how to have my students study. They will look over their notes once and say good enough. I am hoping that as they mature in the upper grades they will remember what I tried to teach them.
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I totally agree! I really try to teach note taking in social studies (I also teach 5th grade). We use a lot of foldables to organize our notes, and focus on the important who, what, when, where, and why. I also let me kids use their social studies notes on any quizes or tests we take. This helps motivate them to take better notes. I figure I have to use notes while teaching them, so I surely shouldn't expect them to remember every detail without notes!
ReplyDeleteBrenda,
ReplyDeleteI find it tricky teaching 'most important idea' or 'the big idea.' I teach it explicitly but some students still are not sure how to find the main idea. When I think they have it, I try gradual release of responsibility. My higher students seem to be able to grab the main idea but I have a hard time releasing the lower students. It seems easier in novels than in non fiction (National Geographic Pathfinder). The students think that the interesting details are the main idea.
Brenda, thanks for the reminder on note taking. Great comments, Launa and Jacquie. Organizing and processing notes is one of the truly great skills we can teach students, in my opinion. We all work from and depend on notes. Let's teach our students how to do this effectively.
ReplyDeleteBrenda,
ReplyDeleteI teach in a high school and I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate that a 5th grade teacher feels notetaking skills are so important. I have been struggling trying to find a way to make my Advanced Placement students (who all think they know how to take notes) actually review and use their notes taken in class. I think I have come up with a solution and it might work for you on some level, too. I am going to require that my students create a summary of their notes from the previous days activity or lecture. They will need to have this summary in order to be considered prepared for class. This will, I hope, require them to review and, at the same time, allow them to ask questions about unclear concepts while the information is fresh.