Guided Note Taking

  • Situation

    I have a student who sits in class and never seems to be paying attention. He doesn’t take notes during the lesson and when test time rolls around; he seems unprepared and ends up doing poorly on the exam. How can I help him follow along with the lesson in class?

  • Summary

    Use a Guided Notes template (*see Process and example below) to help him attend and focus on pertinent information. Encourage him to use the notes to review lesson content and study for upcoming tests.

  • Definition

    Guided Notes are teacher-prepared hand-outs that outline lessons but leave blanks for key concepts, facts, definitions, etc. that the student fills in as the lesson progresses.

  • Quick Facts
    • Child's Age: 11-13, 14-17, 18+
    • Planning Effort: Moderate
    • Difficulty Level: Moderate
  • Pre-requisites

    Some printing/handwriting ability OR keyboard skills

  • Process

    1. Review your lesson to determine the most important content you want student to learn and retain. (Try to keep to minimum with necessary information.)

    2. Create an outline of the lesson, leaving out certain key words and phrases that will later be filled in by the student during class.

    3. Leave ample space for the student to write but limit the amount of writing required to single words or short phrases.

    4. Practice completing the Guided Notes with the student and demonstrate how they can be used when studying.

    5. If appropriate provide a word bank i.e. the words that will be used to complete the assignment.

  • Documents and Related Resources

     

     

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