Structured Note-Taking:
The Founding Fathers and the
Constitutional Convention
American History Foundations
August 9, 2012
Fran Macko, Ph.D.
fmacko@aihe.info
Framing the Session
• Why are history texts
often difficult for
students to comprehend?
• What skills and
strategies do students
need to become expert
readers of history?
• What can history
teachers do to help
struggling readers in
their classrooms?
What factors affect the
readability of history texts?
• Lack of prior knowledge
• Unfamiliar text
structure or schema
• Difficulty identifying
important material
from less important
material
• Academic vocabulary and
abstract concepts (“isms”)
• Level of analysis and
synthesis
• Role of visuals, such as
maps, graphs and charts,
as sources of information
What are the keys to reading history?
• Effective readers of history
have a variety of
comprehension strategies
that they bring to reading a
text. These strategies can be
grouped in three categories:
– Before reading or
activation of background or
prior knowledge
– During reading or active
engagement with the content
– Continuous or
metacognition
• Effective readers of history
are in charge of the process,
monitoring how they read
and adjusting to ensure
success.
Our Focus Today: Note-taking
• Effective readers discern
which concepts to focus on
and which information to
retain.
• They interact with the text
and internalize information.
• Note-taking provides a
structure for recording and
reorganizing information and
ideas.
• The structure supports
retention and recall by
making information
accessible and providing cues
to trigger memory.
• Note-taking supports
students in:
– determining which
information is important.
– making connections
between main ideas and
details even when the
author has not made the
connections explicit.
– extending and
transferring knowledge
after reading which
results in deeper
construction of meaning.
What are some strategies for note-taking?
• Cornell Method
• Parallel Note-taking
• Structured Notetaking
• Mapping/ Webbing
• R.E.A.P.
Featured Strategy
Structured Note-taking
• Structured note-taking
is a strategy that uses
graphic organizers that
correspond to the
organizational pattern
of a specific piece of text.
• This strategy:
– provides a visual framework that mirrors the
structure of the text.
– reinforces the features of the specific organizational
pattern.
– supports students in organizing their notes around
the relationship among ideas in contrast to a
simple listing of ideas.
Organizational Patterns and Comprehension
• Effective readers recognize
and use organizational
patterns to comprehend text.
• The writer’s purpose
influences the organizational
pattern of the text.
• A text may reflect more than
one organizational pattern.
• Inability to recognize a text’s
structure impairs
comprehension.
What are the organizational patterns of text?
• There are seven organizational patterns of text.
• 1 - Chronological sequence organizes information
in the time sequence that the events occurred.
• 2- Compare and Contrast organizes information
about two or more topics in terms of their similarities
and differences.
• 3 - Concept/ Definition organizes information by
beginning with a generalized idea or abstraction and
then delineating its characteristics or attributes.
• 4 - Description organizes information around the
characteristics of a specific person, place or event and
does not reflect a particular order.
• 5 -Episode organizes a large body of information
around specific times, places, people or sequence of
events.
• 6 - Generalization/ Principle organizes information
into general statements with supporting examples.
• 7 - Process/ Cause and Effect organizes information
into a series of steps leading to a specific product, or
into a causal sequence that leads to a specific outcome.
• All seven organizational patterns can be found in
history texts.
What are the supports
for recognizing a text structure?
• In addition to the
descriptions of each text
structure, students can
be guided by:
– Cue or signal words
– Questions suggested
by the structure
What are the steps in structured note-taking ?
• Define and discuss the
concept of how all text is
organized using one of seven
structures or patterns.
• Introduce one text structure
using simple, short examples.
• Make certain that the
examples clearly exemplify
the structure and point out
cue words and phrases.
•
•
Present a graphic organizer for the structure and
guide students:
– by explaining that the organizer is a pictorial
representation of the structure of the text, and
– by modeling how to record main ideas and details
from the passage on the graphic organizer.
Next, assign a text passage and a blank graphic
organizer and have students record their notes.
• Have students share their graphic organizers with a
partner and explain their reasons for
– including certain information and,
– for organizing the information on the graphic
organizer.
• Repeat the process with each of the other
organizational structures and corresponding graphic
organizers.
• When students are proficient at recognizing all seven
organizational structures, provide practice passages
for note-taking.
• During independent practice, ask students to
– identify the organizational structure of the text,
and
– take notes using the appropriate graphic organizer.
Modeling the Strategy
Modeling the Strategy:
Chronological Organization
• Read “Alexander
Hamilton”.
– Use the “chain of events”
graphic organizers for
chronological organization
to take notes based on
your reading.
– Discuss your notes with a
partner.
– Share out with the group.
Sample Graphic Organizer: Chronology
Independent Practice
• Read “The Constitutional
Convention”.
– Select the organizational
pattern that is
predominant in the text.
– Create a graphic organizer
for note-taking that reflects
the pattern/
– Take notes using the
graphic organizer you’ve
created.
– Discuss your notes with a
partner.
– Share out with the group.
Adapting Structured Note-Taking
to Your Classroom
• How might you use
Structured Note-Taking
in your social studies
classroom?
• What adaptations to the
strategy would you
make?
• Adaptations include:
– Introduce and model one organizational structure
at a time before introducing the next.
– Vary the length and sophistication of the text.
– Vary the graphic organizer based on level and
sophistication of the students.
– Have students create their own graphic organizers.
Final Thoughts
• Effective readers recognize and use organizational patterns
to comprehend text.
• Students who understand text structures and can
graphically depict the relationship among ideas improve
both comprehension and recall.
• Structured note-taking:
– provides a visual framework that mirrors the structure
of the text.
– reinforces the features of the specific organizational
pattern.
– supports students in organizing their notes around the
relationship among ideas in contrast to a simple listing
of ideas.