Taking Notes

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Taking Notes

• The Art of Summarization

Are your pencils sharpened?
Powerpoint adapted from G. Anderson Original
DMS GCPS 06
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What is summarizing?

• Restating the main idea(s) into your own words
• include only the main point(s) (significant
  evidence/details)
• considerably shorter than the original and take a
• expansive synopsis of the original source

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Why Summarize?

• Takes less room
• Faster
• Helps you understand the information
• Helps avoid plagiarism

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What is Plagiarism?

• Taking someone elses words, or even their ideas
  and research and using them as if they are your
  own.
• stealing words/ideas

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Plagiarism is Not Acceptable

• It is a type a stealing.
• Your ideas and words are intellectual property

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Summarizing Steps

1. Skim the material to be summarized.

Make sure you always refer back to the
original source within the text or by MLA
citation.
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• Identify key words and phrases you think are
  important or that are needed. Then,
  paraphraseput into your own words.

• What is paraphrasing?
• rewriting a passage into your own words
• usually shorter than the original

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• Helpful summarizing strategies
• Abbreviations
• Bullets
• Lists
• Create an identification system for topics/items
  the teacher puts emphasis
• A star () for likely test items or topics.
• Underline repeated items.
• Circle what you don't know or are unclear (?)
  about, then leave blank space to fill in the
  correct information later.
• Box for key concepts that you need to remember.

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• 3. Put quotation marks around phrases or
  sentences that will make a strong impression on
  your readers.
• However, use quotations sparingly.

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• 4. Cite the source of your quotation in
  parentheses. (authors last name and page )

A basic axiom of learning is that the easiest
way to learn something new is to associate it
with something we already know (Hirsch 21).
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Practice your note taking

• use television or radio programs, summarize
  and/or short-periods of time, increasing over
  time.
• compare with classmates to see if everyone wrote
  the same main points.

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Works Cited

• Hirsch, D. The Theory Behind the Dictionary.
  Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. Boston Houghton
  Mifflin, 2002.
• Information Skill of the Month Strategies in
  the Bag. School Library Media Activities
  Monthly. September 2005, 221. Accessed 15
  October 2005. lthttp//www.slmam.comgt.