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RHS Content Literacies
Note-taking Templates
Double Entry Notes
Also called Dialectical Notebook, Reading Log, Reader Response Journals
Notes and/or Quotes
Reactions
Useful information – facts and ideas – from Questions: Questions can either articulate
the text (Include titles, chapters, and page
the reader’s genuine confusion about the
or paragraph numbers)
text; they can be review questions whose
answers are in the left-hand column; they
Quotations that include important
can be questions a reader would like to ask
information, carefully labeled with
the author
quotation marks
Quotations (from literature) that interest
students
Comments (I think…I agree/disagree…this
is significant because…)
Contextual information provided by the
editors or by research
Connections (to prior knowledge, to
contextual information – people, places,
events, and ideas beyond the text, to
personal experience…)
Predictions
Personal response (I like this because)
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Triple Entry Notes
Reader’s Journal; Cornell Notes
Reader’s Journal
Text: The student carefully copies a short passage from a story, speech, poem, essay, or
book. The student includes page and chapter numbers after the quote.
Critical, Analytical Response
In this space, the reader analyzes the text,
using criteria relevant to the text and the
content area. For example, a reader
analyzing a literary text might respond to
narrative details, figures of speech, tone,
mood, and/or character development. A
reader analyzing an historical or scientific
text might respond to the rhetorical
patterns, the organizational structures,
and/or the nature and depth of evidence.
Personal Response
In this space, the reader questions, clarifies,
comments, and connects to the text. The
personal pronoun “I” is appropriate here.
The response is thoughtful, reflective, and
creative.
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Cornell Notes
From How to Study in College, 9th Edition by Walter Pauk and Ross J. Q. Owens
2 ½”
6”
Question & Cue
Column
Notetaking Column
1. Record: While reading or listening to a lecture, record
useful, interesting, significant information using words,
phrases, and symbols.
2. Question: As soon as possible, in the right-hand
column, formulate questions based on the notes.
Writing questions helps to clarify meanings, reveal
relationships, establish continuity, and strengthen
memory. Writing questions sets the stage for test
preparation later.
3. Recite: Cover the notetaking column. Then, looking at
the questions or cue-words in the question and cue
column only, say aloud, in your own words, the
answers to the questions or the facts and ideas
connected to the cue words.
4. Reflect: Reflect on the notes by asking yourself broad
questions such as, “What’s the significance of these
facts and information? What principle are they based
on? How can I apply them? How do they fit in with
what I already know? What’s beyond them?
5. Review: Spend at least ten minutes every week
reviewing all your previous notes. You’ll retain a great
deal of information for current use and for the exam.
Summary
2”
Use this space at the bottom of each page to summarize the notes on the page.
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Outlining
General information at the left margin (topics, ideas)
More specific information (facts, details) indented to the right
Numbers, letters, Roman numerals = not needed
Relationships from general to specific are indicated visually by the
indentations
This method works best with texts and lectures that are highly structured
The headings and sub-headings in a chapter will range from general to more
specific
The paragraphs will have the most specific information
Incredible Shrinking Notes
In this method of note-taking, students record information from a passage onto an index
card. With the original passage no longer in view, students write the most important
information from the index card onto a 3” by 3” post-it – they cannot write smaller and
they cannot continue on the other side of the post-it. Finally, students write only the most
essential information from the 3” post-it onto the front of a 2” by 2” post-it without
writing smaller.
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SOAPSTone Note-Taking Guide
Adapted from The College Board
SOAPSTone can be used for note-taking and as a guide for annotating text.
Subject
Occasion
Audience
Purpose
Speaker
Tone
What is the subject – the message, the
main idea or claim – in the text? How do
you know this? Is the subject/message
introduced immediately or is it delayed?
Is the message stated or implied? Is
there more than one message?
What is the occasion (the time and
place) of the text? Is the text a story, a
news account, a description, a critical
analysis, a personal observation, an
argument, a valedictory, a diatribe, a
memorial or elegy, a declaration…?
Who is the intended audience – the
group of readers to whom this text is
directed? The audience may be one
person, a small or large group. Does the
speaker or author identify an audience?
What assumptions exist about the
intended audience?
Why was the text written? What does
the author want the audience to think or
do? How does the author want the
audience to feel? How does the author
try to spark a reaction in the audience?
What techniques are used to achieve the
purpose?
Who is the speaker of the text, the voice
that tells the story? The author and
speaker are not necessarily the same. Is
someone identified as the speaker? Is the
author the speaker? What assumptions
can be made about the speaker – age,
gender, class, values, education, etc.?
What is the author’s attitude? How do
the author’s choices (word choice,
imagery, sentence structures, details)
convey the author’s attitude? What
emotions pervade the text? If the author
were to read aloud the text, describe the
likely tones of voice.
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Reciprocal Teaching Notes Sheet
Directions: Each time you engage in RT, take notes on what you learn from your group
members. Record your notes on this sheet.
QUESTIONER
CLARIFIER
SUMMARIZER
PREDICTOR
CONNECTOR
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CHoMP:
Adapted from Guinee, Kathleen and Maya B. Eagleton, “Spinning Straw into Gold: Transforming Information into
Knowledge during Web-Based Research.” EJ Vol. 95 No. 4 (March 2006): 46-52.
 Cross out small words, such as prepositions and conjunctions
 Highlight important information in the remaining text
 Make graphic notes (Maps) from the highlighted information by
abbreviating, making lists, diagramming, using symbols, and drawing
instead of writing full sentences
 Paraphrase the graphic notes in your own words
Original Source
Step 1: Cross out small words…
Step 2: Highlight important
information…
Map
Step 3: …Make notes using
words and non-verbal symbols
and diagrams
Paraphrase
Step 4: Cover up the original
source. Put the notes into your
own words.
NOTE: If students are working in CHoMP teams on chunks of a larger text (a chapter,
speech, essay, article, epic poem, historical document) add an “s” to CHoMP and:
CHoMPs:
 Summarize the whole text: If you have been working in teams, and if
each team has been chomping one part of a whole text, read each
paraphrase in the correct sequence and then summarize the whole text
in fifty words or less. (You are looking at fifty words right now!)
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Acrostic Notes
Adapted from Course Handouts, Research for Better Teaching
Students summarize what they have learned in a reading passage or unit of study by
spelling out a title, term, or name that represents the topic or main idea. Students
brainstorm for the important details and critical attributes of the topic, avoiding trivial
ideas, and compose lines of notes. The first word in each line begins with a letter that
spells out vertically the topic or main idea.
Plate Tectonics
P-angaea was a prehistoric land mass, the basis for present continents.
L- ifts land in some places.
A-lways moving land somewhere.
T-ectonics is from the Greek, meaning builder.
E-arthquakes happen at plate boundaries.
T-he movement of the plates is predictable.
E-arth is sometimes buried by plate movement.
C-rustal movements cause earthquakes.
T-renches come from subduction.
O-ceans contain a ridge where plates separate.
N-ew land is formed by volcanos.
I-celand is along a plate boundary.
C-ontinental drift theory explains the movement of continents.
S-preading occurs at mid-ocean ridges.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
M acbeth, seduced by the promise of power, decides to kill his king.
A fter the murder, Macbeth can’t wash the blood from his hands.
C rowned King of Scotland, he can’t sleep because he fears Banquo.
B lood will have blood, so Banquo is murdered, then the Macduffs.
E quivocating witches tell him that no man born of woman can kill Macbeth.
T he forest of Birnham marches to Dunsinane. Macduff is born of a corpse.
H ail, Malcolm, King of Scotland.
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Summarizing with BioPoems
From Course Handouts, Research for Better Teaching
BioPoems encourage students to make inferences, to synthesize and to evaluate learning
because they must select precise language to fit the form and the character.
Uses:





To describe a character in a story
To create a biographical sketch or summary
To review study of living things (isopods, frogs, etc.)
To introduce people
To develop a character before writing a story
Form:
Line 1
First Name
Line 2
Four traits that describe the character
Line 3
Relative (parent, brother, sister, child, grandchild, etc.) of
Line 4
Lover of
,
, and
(3 things or people)
Line 5
Who feels
,
, and
(3 emotions)
Line 6
Who needs
,
, and
(3 items)
Line 7
Who fears
,
, and
(3 items)
Line 8
Who gives
,
, and
(3 items)
Line 9
Who would like to see
Line 10
Resident of
Line 11
Last Name
,
, and
(3 items)
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Charts
Adapted from Tools for Promoting Active, In-Depth Learning by Harvey Silver, Richard Strong, Matthew Perini
Type of Media: (Newspaper, Magazine, Podcast, Other)
Title:
Pre-reading Associations:
Four Thoughts:
Describe It:
React to It:
Analyze it:
Your Choice: __________ It:
Your Choice: Compare it, Prove it, Contradict it, Improve it, Visualize it, Draw it, Change
it, Evaluate it, Connect to it, Question it…
Full Citation:
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Graff Template
From They Say/I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
This template helps students summarize the elements of an argument – claim, support,
examples – and guides their reading and writing processes. Although somewhat
prescriptive, it provides a useful structure for students to follow until they internalize the
process.
The general argument made by the author, _________________________, in his/her
work (title) _________________________________, is that ___________________
____________________________________. More specifically, the author argues that
______________________________________. He/She writes, “ _________________
________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________ .” In this passage, the author is
suggesting that __________________________________________________________.
In conclusion, the author’s belief is __________________________________________.
In my view, the author is wrong/right because
_______________________________________________________________________.
More specifically, I believe that _____________________________________________.
For example, ____________________________________________________________
________________________________________. Although the author might object that
____________________________________________________, I maintain that
_______________________________________________________________________.
Therefore, I conclude that __________________________________________________.
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Charts
Rhetorical Analysis Chart
QUOTATION
PARAPHRASE OR
SUMMARIZE
RHETORICAL
STRATEGY OR
STYLE ELEMENT
EFFECT OR PURPOSE OF
STRATEGY