Note taking
CTE READS: Note Taking on Graphic
Organizers when Reading
Written by: Carilyn Knill, Peggy LaShier, Ann Tebo, Kathy Wooton
School: Skyline Grade Level and/or Subject: High School Length of Study: 15-30
minutes
Content Objective: TSW
 Classify material through note taking graphic organizer.
 Analyze patterns and relationships among concepts to synthesize the information.
 Relate note taking to paraphrasing and summarizing.
Lesson or Performance Objective:
When the purpose of reading is to learn new material, the reading process must be very
active and deliberate. Taking notes while reading helps the reader focus on the most
important facts in the selection.
Standards Addressed: AIMS Connection:
Strand 1: The Reading Process
Concept 6: Comprehension Strategies - Employ strategies to comprehend text.
PO 3. Use graphic organizers in order to clarify the meaning of the text.
PO 5. Apply knowledge of organizational structures (e.g., chronological order, sequence-time
order, cause and effect relationships, logical order, by classification, problem-solution) of text to
aid comprehension.
Materials, Resources and Technology Needed:
Handouts attached
Instructional Procedures or Anticipatory Set:
Review the “Note Taking for Active Reading” article attached.
Presentation Skills
1. Choose something short (about a page) for your students to read related to what
you are doing (or will be covering) in class. If you prefer, a short, very interesting
selection of informational text has been included for you use.
2. Copy enough student handouts to distribute to the class. The Note-taking for
Active Reading information sheet can be run back to back with the graphic
organizer
3. Go over the information sheet and review the concepts discussed last semester
related to main idea and essential details.
4. Look at the graphic organizer with students and talk about how the organizer is a
tool to use, and that dependent upon the information covered they may not use all
of the spots for main ideas and details, or they may have to squeeze additional
concepts on the page.
5. Talk about the importance of being actively engaged in reading. Explain that
when readers write down notes they are more likely to focus on the most
important facts, and are more likely to understand and retain the information than
they would be if they just read it without taking notes.
6. Have students read the selection, completing the organizer.
Assessment:
Completed worksheets attached.
1
Note taking
Note-taking for Active Reading
When the purpose of reading is to learn new material, the
reading process must be very active and deliberate.
Taking notes while you read helps you to focus on the most important facts in the
assignment. Note taking assures that the material being read will be processed
more thoroughly, and is more likely to be remembered.
There are many, many different types of graphic organizers that can be used as
tools when taking notes. By taking notes on a graphic organizer you see patterns
and relationships among concepts, and synthesize the information.
When working with a chapter or several-part selection, all important concepts or
main ideas and essential details need to be identified.
The Topic will be an “is about” description, or sometimes the title of what you are
reading (if it is truly descriptive of the selection’s content).
Steps to finding the main idea:
 It is usually a noun (This paragraph tells me about……)
 It is often contained in the first sentence
 The word or its synonym most likely is repeated several times in the paragraph”
Essential details are:
 Facts
 Examples
 Descriptions
Which support the main idea and would be essential to overall understanding
For a chapter or selection consisting of several parts, the overall topic and a
summary will need to be identified along with the information for each section.
The "What’s important” section is where a short summary will be the last part of
the process, allowing you to synthesize concepts from your notes.
Skills to develop as you take notes on what you read:
 Abbreviating
 Distinguishing what’s most critical or important to remember
 Paraphrasing
 Summarizing
2
Note taking
Note-taking for Active Reading
Directions: Use the accompanying reading selection to complete the graphic
organizer to identify main ideas and essential details. Graphic organizers are
designed to be used with different learning and reading tasks, so all essential
boxes will not necessarily be filled in, and sometimes you may need to add
more information than there are boxes available. In other words, use the
organizer as a guide – don’t limit yourself to it!
Topic – What is this about?
Main idea
Main idea
Essential details
Main idea
Essential details
What’s important about this?
3
(Short summary)
Essential details
Note taking
Wonder Woman, Wonder Man
Wonder Woman, with her gold, red, and blue costume, is one of the most recognizable
pop culture icons ever to leap of the pages of comics books. And while her strange
adventures and unusual powers may seem odd to the uninitiated reader, they pale in
comparison to the uncanny story creator of the sensational superhero.
Wonder Woman was the brain child of the eccentric Harvard trained inventor and poppsychologist William Moulton Marston. Even before he started inventing superheroes,
Marston lived an unusual life. Born in 1893, in Cliftondale, Massachusetts, Marston took
his law degree in 1918, and went on to receive his doctorate in psychology from Harvard
in 1921. He taught college courses in Washington, D.C., for a few years and then served
briefly as the director of public services for Universal Studios in California. Never one to
rest on his laurels, he also invented the “systolic blood-pressure test,” and an early
version of the modern lie detector, and wrote several books on psychology for the non
professional reader. In these books he put forth a few controversial theories. He claimed
that men were inherently violent and anarchic, and that women were a civilizing
influence who could bring modern culture into an ideal state of “loving submission.”
Furthermore, he felt that it was the future of human civilization to’ become a matriarchy,
or a culture ruled by females.
Although Marston’s views were not widely adopted, his interest in feminism and his
strong distaste for what he saw as the negative impact of gender stereotypes on the
development of young girls’ self-esteem made him a popular figure in the world of comic
publishing. In 1940, Marston took the post of “educational consultant” for Detective
Comics (later simply DC Comics). When he arrived at Detective Comics, heroes like
Batman and Superman dominated the comic world. Sensing a need for a positive role
model for young women, Marston suggested the creation of a female superhero. Under
the pseudonym “Charles Moulton,” Marston submitted a story idea featuring a heroine
named Suprema. The Surpema name was dropped in favor of the now-familiar Wonder
Woman, and the new heroine made her first appearance in All Star Comics 8. She was a
hit and, by the summer of 1942, newsstands were selling Wonder Woman 1.
Throughout the years, Wonder Woman continued to be a female symbol of truth and
strength through the decades. In 1972, she was featured on the cover of Ms Magazine’s
first issue. In 1986, however, the Wonder Woman was briefly cancelled, but reader
demand brought it back. Despite his many achievements, Wonder Woman has proven to
be Marston’s most enduring achievement.
The Princeton review know it all! Grades 9-12 Reading (First edition). (2004), New
York: Random House, Inc., 151,152.
4