Interactive
Notes – PSE & PSM
Interactive notes are designed to keep you,
the student, more actively involved in note-taking, enable you to use the type
of notes that help you understand the topics most effectively, help you
internalize the information, and give you a deeper and more applicable
understanding of the information.
MATERIALS NEEDED
q Binder
q Pens,
markers, highlighters, or colored pencils of different colors
q Pencils
q Binder
tabs
q It
may be beneficial to have scissors and a small stapler, paperclips, or a glue
stick.
ORGANIZATION OF
YOUR BINDER
Use your tabs to organize your binder in the
following manner:
- Goals
(Goals you set for yourself for each major topic we study and each project
you undertake.)
- Notes
- Labs
(information or writing labs, rubric for the grading of lab reports,
records of your jobs for each lab, lab reports and sheets, lab skills
checklists, etc.) Be sure to list
the dates on which you work on each.
- Projects
(Dates on which the project was started and completed should be listed on
each.)
- Reference
Materials (course syllabus, safety information, metric system information,
etc.)
LISTENING SKILLS (Writer’s Inc. pgs. 390-391)
- Prepare
to listen and keep a goal in mind.
- Listen
carefully.
- Listen
for the facts.
- Separate
fact from opinion.
- Listen
for signals.
- Listen
for patterns of organization.
- Listen
for details.
- Listen
to directions.
- Think
about what’s being said.
- Put
the lecture into your own words.
TITLE PAGES
You will create title pages for each new
major topic that we study in class
The title page should be put on the right
page.
On the title page include the following:
Ø The
name and number of chapter or unit. written in an artistic manner
Ø The
date on which your study of the chapter/unit began
Ø On
the top of the page write down things you already know about this topic.
Ø On
the bottom half of the page write down questions that you hope to have answered
during your study
of
the chapter.
Ø Include
sketches, drawings, diagrams, decorations, and the use of color to make your
title page stand out.
RIGHT PAGE –
TEACHER/TEXTBOOK IDEAS -- INPUT
Record the date the information was
presented, who presented it, and the page numbers and/or sections
of the book covered. As the material
is presented, you can organize the main ideas and subtopics by using different
size letters, boldness of letters, capital or lowercase letters, indentations,
underling, outline form, bullets, etc.
Include the following on the right page of your interactive
notebook/binder:
v Class
notes – Information your teacher gives you
v Discussion
notes – Your comments and those of your classmates
v Reading
notes – Extra information you find while reading -
Be sure to record page numbers.
v “Testable”
information
LEFT PAGE –
STUDENT IDEAS -- OUTPUT
The left page is your space to respond
to the ideas presented in class by your teacher, classmates, and the writers of
the textbook. In most cases, you will be
able to decide how to organize the information and your ideas in the way that
works best for you. Leave blank spaces
periodically on this side to add comments and ideas as you study your notes for
upcoming tests and quizzes. As you
record the information, you can organize the main ideas and subtopics by using
different size letters, boldness of letters, capital or lowercase letters,
indentations, underlining, outlines, bullets, etc. Record the date on which you do each
part. Listed below are some ideas as to
how you can organize your thoughts and ideas on the left side.
- Illustrations/drawings
that help you understand and remember the information
- A
poem or song about the information covered
- Diagrams
that help you understand the ideas presented in class
- Flow
charts which allow you to show the order in which something occurs
- STEP
1à STEP 2à STEP 3à STEP 4à
- Organize
the information in a meaningful way in color with highlighters, markers,
different colored pens, etc.
Charts
and tables
- Cartoons
which deal with the topic(s) being covered
- “What
if” questions and other types of questions which you have about the topic
- Your
analysis of the ideas presented in class
- Your
feelings and reactions to the information shared in class and in your
textbook
- Your
methods of reviewing the material covered previously
- Your
preview of the information that will be presented
- Applications
of the topic to your life.
- Situations
in your life that have involved this topic.
- Your
opinions about the topic – “Here I stand.”
Egg
Diagram
Venn
Diagrams
Compare &
Contrast
- Your
outline of the information
Web
diagrams
Event
Chain
- Spider
Map
- A
cause and effect chart
EVENT
CAUSE EFFECT
Classifications
- REST
System (RECORD, EDIT, SYNTHESIZE, THINK)
Right Side – RECORD
as much of what the teacher said as possible.
EDIT – Condense
note, removing information that isn’t important.
SYNTHESIZE – List
the important points stressed by the teacher and textbook.
THINK – Think and
study to make sure you remember the information.
- Metaphors
that compare the information to something else that you already know.
- Vocabulary
Squares
Vocabulary Word I Picture/Example
--------------------------I----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Definition
I Non-Example – Use the word in a
sentence incorrectly
I Or give an example of something that does not fit the
I Definition
of the word
EXTRA CREDIT
Label all extra credit items with stars. You can do the following for extra credit in
addition to ideas that your teacher shares with the class:
1.
Copies of or listings of the titles of
newspaper and magazine articles that you have read that deal with the topic
covered in class.
2.
Extra research you do on the concepts,
people, and ideas presented in class from the Internet, encyclopedias, etc.
3.
Summary of news reports that you
watched on the topic.
4.
Projects or experiments that you do on
the topic studied in class in addition to those assigned by the
teacher.
GRADING
Your notebook will be graded once during each
unit, usually on the day that the test is taken. Be sure to keep all your notes
organized. If you are absent, it is your
responsibility to get the notes presented on the day you were absent. You will be assessing your own notes. The grade you receive will be a combination
of your assessment and your teacher’s assessment. Your teacher will grade your notebook in the
following way:
OVERALL
Is
all the information including worksheets, class notes, and your notes well
organized?
RIGHT PAGE
1.
Is all the information presented in
class recorded on the right pages?
2.
Are notes from assigned textbook
readings recorded?
LEFT PAGE
1.
Are your ideas presented in a manner
that required some good thought on your part?
2.
Is it evident that a sufficient amount
of time was spent studying the information?
3.
Is it evident that you are actively
working to apply and understand the topics?