APUSH
Lecture Notes Guidelines
Good note taking is a skill that definitely pays off in college, because so many courses
are delivered by lecture. Since A.P. United States History is the equivalent of a college
survey course that also includes lectures, your note taking skills will make a real
difference in your understanding of the course material and in helping you review for
exams. Therefore, you are required to take lecture notes twice in every APUSH unit,
and those notes will be evaluated and assigned a grade. Ultimately, the goal is for you
to have a complete course study guide made up of notes on all the year’s lectures. Your
lecture notes will be worth ten percent (10%) of your course grade for each semester.
REQUIREMENTS
1) You are required to have a spiral bound notebook of at least 200 pages to use
exclusively for APUSH lecture notes;
2) Your name and class period must be clearly marked on the front cover of the spiral
notebook;
3) Your notes must be formatted as per the Cornell Notes structure taught in class;
4) Your notes must have a complete heading on the first page of each set of notes for a
class lecture (see the next page for more information);
5) Each set of notes for a class lecture must include the posted quotation, accurately
copied from the projector image, with source information;
6) Notes must be legible;
7) Notes must be organized in a fashion that makes them easily read and reviewed (you
are not required to put them in a formal outline);
8) Notes must incorporate key points and information from the lecture;
9) Notes should include side comments, questions or connections that you make as you
attend to the lecture and/or when you review the notes later. ***IMPORTANT: You are
required to incorporate a minimum of three (3) test-worthy questions in the cue
column, ranging from simple to complex; at least one question must be of a complex
enough level that it would require a long answer/essay in response.
10) Notes must include page summaries on every page (a page summary should be 1-2
sentences in length, on average);
11) Your notes must cover the full lecture, and should be at least two and one-half (2
½) to three (3) pages long per lecture;
12) You will turn in your notes for a score at the end of each APUSH unit, on the day of
unit exams. They will be evaluated and returned to you by the end of the class period.
NOTES HEADING FORMAT
When you begin a set of notes, you must write out a clear heading on the top of the first
page. A heading must include the following information, in this order from top to
bottom: (1) the date, (2) the unit/era years covered, and (3) the lecture “label” where
applicable (e.g., “Lecture 2C”). The heading should be placed in the upper right hand
corner of the page. Immediately below the heading, the lecture’s opening quotation
should be copied, with source information. ***IMPORTANT: You are expected to start
each set of lecture notes on a new right-hand page.
14 Oct. 2011
Unit 3, 1754-1800
Lecture 3B
“It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent
alliances with any portion of the foreign world ….”
- President George Washington
Farewell Address, 1796
SCORING
Lecture notes will be evaluated in five areas, worth three points each, for a total of 15
points per lecture. The five areas are:
(1) Date, Chapter, and Quotation
(2) Content
(3) Organization/Formatting
(4) Length
(5) Side notes and comments (includes 3 test-worthy questions); page
summaries
Assessment point values are awarded as follows:
3 points features
2 points 1 point 0 points -
All required components are complete; evidence of strong work (some detail,
included that go beyond the minimum requirements)
All required components are complete; evidence of acceptable work (basics
covered; adequate product)
Incomplete/missing components, or incorrect formatting
Entirely missing
ABSENCES AND LECTURE NOTES
If you are absent on the day of a lecture, you are expected to get lecture notes from
someone in class and copy them into your lecture notebook so that you have the
information. You are required to indicate whose notes you’ve copied as part of your
heading (e.g., “Notes copied from JJ Smith”). Your goal is to have a complete course
review guide, so you must have notes on all lectures. Turn in these notes to receive an
“excused” grade for the lecture notes assignment. Notes not made up will be recorded
in the grade book as a “No Evidence” (“F”) grade.
The Cornell University Note Taking
System for APUSH Lectures
Note Taking Area: Record the
lecture as fully and as meaningfully as
possible.
Cue Column: As you are taking
notes, keep the cue column fairly
empty. Soon after the lecture, reduce
your notes to concise jottings and
questions as clues for Reciting,
Reviewing, and Reflecting.
Summaries: Sum up each page of
your notes in a sentence or two.
This format provides the perfect opportunity for following through
with the 5 R’s of note taking:
Record: During the lecture, record in the main column as many meaningful facts
and ideas as you can. Write legibly.
Reduce: As soon after the lecture as possible, focus on key facts and ideas
concisely in the Cue Column through questions and quick jottings to use as clues for
study. Be sure to incorporate at least three test-worthy study questions. At the
bottom of each page, summarize the content of the notes on that page in a few
sentences. Summarizing clarifies meanings and relationships, reinforces continuity,
and strengthens memory.
Recite: Cover the Note Taking Area; then, using only the items in the Cue Column,
ask yourself the questions. Answer, drawing from your memory of the facts and
ideas of the lecture as fully as you can, not mechanically, but in your own words.
Then, verify what you have said by looking at the Note Taking Area.
Reflect: Draw out opinions from your notes and use them as a starting point for your
own reflections on the history studied – these thoughts may be helpful as you
prepare for essay exams. Reflection will help prevent ideas from becoming inert and
soon forgotten. You may want to add your reflections to your notes.
Review: Spend 20-30 minutes every week in a quick review of your notes, and you
will retain most of what you have learned.
APUSH
Unit Lecture Notes Assessment Rubric
AREA
Date/Quote
SCORE
DESCRIPTION
3
Complete heading, located in right hand corner of first
page of notes. Heading is comprised of: date,
unit/years, lecture “label” – and in that order, top to
bottom. The lecture’s opening quotation is copied
word-for-word and cited, and is located on the first lines
of the page, below the heading.
Heading is incomplete in some aspect: missing a
component or the components are in the wrong order;
there may be errors present in the quotation and/or its
placement on the page.
The heading is missing or incomplete in more than one
area; the quotation is missing or incomplete.
Heading and quotation are not present.
2
1
0
Content
3
2
1
0
Organization/Format
3
2
1
0
Length
Side Notes/Questions
Coverage of lecture content, from start to finish, is
complete and incorporates details.
Coverage of lecture content may be somewhat
incomplete (e.g., a piece of the very end of the lecture
may be missing), and a few details are present.
Coverage of lecture content takes the form of a list, with
little to no details.
Lecture content is missing substantial parts.
Full Cornell Notes format is employed, 1-2 sentence
summaries appear on each page of notes, and the
organization of the notes is comprehensible.
General format is followed, but summaries are
incomplete – a single summary may appear at the end of
the notes. Organization is comprehensible.
General format is followed and notes are basically
organized, but no summaries are present. Organization
may be unclear or confusing.
The notes do not follow the Cornell Notes format,
and/or the organization is so confusing that the notes
will fail to serve as study aids.
3
2
1
0
Notes for the lecture take up 2 ½ or more pages.
3
Complete questions for studying appear regularly in the
cue columns, in addition to any other cue
words/headings, etc. Marked questions range from
identification level to essay-level.
Few questions are present, and/or questions are too
simple to be worthwhile as study aids; questions may fail
to address multiple levels of complexity. Only headings
may appear in the cue columns.
Incomplete cue columns. The notes may have started
out with questions, etc., but the cue columns are not
complete.
The cue columns are blank.
2
1
0
Notes for the lecture take up two pages.
Notes for the lecture take up one page.
Notes for the lecture take up less than one page.