Reading/Note Taking Skills

Adapted from

Below are some hints for note-taking, organization and reading that can be applied to all of your classes. Asterisks (*) indicate information especially suited to APUSH.

Lecture Note Taking

  • Use “kick in the head” terms: single words or short phrases that remind you of entire concept
  • Leave lots of space (margins, etc.) to go back for additions (from discussion, readings and/or related points)
  • Questions = (”?”) Go back later to review and ask a question. Wait to see if your question is answered in the next bit of the lecture. If not answered by the end, ask the teacher!
  • Take notes on discussion
  • Organize notes the same day, as quick scribbles lose meaning
  • Compare/coordinate lecture and discussion notes with reading notes (more with reading notes)

Reading Note Taking*

While reading, keep the "soda system" in mind: look for the “SPRITE” components in all events.

(e.g. College Board questions may ask for “political implications of 'x' social event”)

  • Social/societal (includes the arts)
  • Political
  • Religious/ideological
  • Intellectual
  • Technological
  • Economic

Organizing Notes*

  • Create a time line
  • From your notes, make a thematic index (i.e., all cases dealing with civil rights or economic/political/social elements)

Reading Notes

  • Before you begin reading, have a dictionary; if you run across a word you don't know, LOOK IT UP!
  • If you don't know the meaning of the word you probably won't understand the sentence. If you don't understand the sentence, you won't understand the paragraph. If you don't understand the paragraph ...
  • Read the chapter summary or conclusion FIRST. This will give you a "heads up" about some of the important stuff you need to take notes on. Now you have a better chance of taking good notes as you read.
  • DON’T copy verbatim: if you can’t put it in your own words, you don’t understand it.

Use the SQRRS:

  • Skim: survey, or "skim," the chapter (section) watching for words and phrases in bold print, topic sentences, proper names, etc. as your key(s).
  • Questions: write the guiding questions down, skipping two to three lines between items (this is where you will later write your notes concerning that item). Continue to end of chapter and do the same with the reading check terms and questions provided by the text publisher. Stop and read the captions on pictures, look at charts, graphs and maps as you go through.
  • Read: Now that you know what you're looking for (questions above) you are ready to begin reading the material. It is important that you not attempt to short-cut by beginning with the reading step.
  • Review: Once you have compiled your notes in this fashion, you can use them to review for upcoming tests and quizzes. Only if you cannot decipher an earlier note, should you need to go back to the text.
  • Summarize: When you finish a chapter or a long section of the reading, write a summary or synopsis. Use complete sentences. Note any questions that occurred to you as you read (e.g. If Western disease killed off Indians, why didn’t Indian diseases wipe out the smaller number of Europeans?).

While this may appear to be very time-consuming, in fact it takes very little more time once you are accustomed to it. The return on the investment of this little more time is worth it. For those of you who think this is just some “off the wall” idea that will be of no use in a college level course, go to THIS LINK to CornellUniversity's note taking system. Compare this to the systems above and below. This is worthwhile stuff.

Reading System Hints: How to Stay Focused

Most of us have, from time to time, discovered while we were reading that we had no clue what we were currently looking at. When this happens most of us go back up a couple of paragraphs and re-read to regain our focus. You can help yourself avoid this through the simple use of an index card as a "marker."

Use the card to "mark" your place as you read. Be certain you mark ABOVE the line currently being read. Whether this produces a "sub-conscious" recognition that previously read paragraphs are not available, or simply keeps the eye in place I do not know. What I do know is that it works.

Another tip: You may have noticed that a textbook column is about as wide as the distance between the pupils of your eyes. There is no reason to focus on each word as you read.

With practice, you can develop the ability to “see” entire lines of columnar text at one time. Once able to do this, your reading speed can increase dramatically as you “scan” straight down the columns of print.