This document provides instruction on note-taking for students at the Idaho Digital Virtual Academy (IDVA). It outlines the five steps of focused note-taking as introducing the notes, thinking about the notes, thinking beyond the notes, thinking about the notes as a whole, and using the notes. Students are encouraged to experiment with different note-taking methods like outlining, Cornell notes, mind-mapping, and sketch-noting. Notes will be submitted twice per semester for feedback, and graded based on inclusion of key details, summaries, and questions. Regular review of notes within 18 minutes is emphasized to maximize information retention.

1. Note-Taking
“Take Notes” on what you learn! Use your notes to complete
the scavenger hunt.

2. 2-Note-Taking Lesson
• Most of your IDVA classes will
provide you with a note-taking
lesson.
• Even though you may have
completed a lesson in another class
please watch and interact with this
lesson as you will be tested on it
later.

3. 3-Start with a Short Video!
If any of the videos are
moving too fast click on
the settings cog to change
the speed.
click here for
video

4. 4-Note-Taking will be Required at IDVA
• This year at IDVA we will be using focused note-taking in all our classes.
• As you saw in the video “The Curve of Forgetting,” our brains quickly forget
the information that we learn, but the focused note-taking process will help
us to retain important information in our courses.
• This short lesson will introduce you to the note-taking process and help you
understand why this is such an important skill to work on as a student.
• The focused note-taking process has 5 steps.

5. 5-The 5 Steps of
Focused Note-
Taking
1. Create the Notes
2. Think about the Notes
3. Think Beyond the Notes
4. Think About the Notes as a
Whole
5. Use the Notes!
• Here is a video on these 5
steps. It’s 2 minutes long and
no sound  but it
summarizes these 5 steps
well.
• Click here to watch video.

6. 6-There are Many Ways to Take Notes – Watch
this!!!
Click Here to
Watch Video
At 5.11 minutes 3 types of note
taking methods are discussed
(outline method, cornell notes,
and mind-mapping

7. 7-Another way – Sketch-noting
• Sketch-noting!!!
• You can do this with an iPad, your notebook, or any
writing tool.
• Check it out here:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNJyuJl5LKk
• Of course there are many ways. This website lists a few
more that haven’t been mentioned.
• https://medium.goodnotes.com/the-best-note-taking-
methods-for-college-students-451f412e264e

8. 8-Using the Student Guide
• Most lessons in your curriculum reference the “Student Guide” as a
way to take notes.
• You can access this in the Lesson Introduction part of your lesson, on
page 2 or 3. This is the 2-3 pages introduction found before the
Explore portion.
• When it is downloaded you cannot type on it as it’s a PDF file.
• The student guide provides you with objectives and key terms plus
the major topics on each page of your lesson.
• You can print it OR if you don’t want to do that you can try copy
pasting the entire thing into a word document and typing your notes.
• If the formatting does not copy/paste well you may need to take the
time to organize the text.

9. 9-Bottom Line: You get to choose
• It is preferred that you take notes by hand, but the best way is the way you
like to do them and get the most out of them.
• You might want to try each type of note-taking method to see what works
for you.
• If you need help with note-taking, ask your teacher for help.
• There is tons of evidence to support note-taking as a powerful learning tool
so don’t give up on practicing and learning this great skill.

10. 10-Submitting Your Notes
• You will submit notes as an assignment a TWO TIMES this semester so that we can
provide feedback. Your teachers want to see how you are doing and provide suggestions
if you need it.
• Occasionally you may take a quiz to share how your note-taking experience is going.
• These samples will include notes on one lesson from your unit; not your entire set.
• If handwritten, you can take pictures or scan and upload each page.
• If all your notes are in one document, you can upload the whole thing but
HIGHLIGHT the one you want to be graded.
• If you are using an app (Google Docs, OneNote, etc), you must copy the link into an
upload-able document, save the document and then submit that document.
• Watch the weekly work schedule so you know when to submit and which lesson to
submit. It may be a specific lesson, or you will be given a choice.

11. 11-Grading your notes
• A rubric like the one below will be used to grade your notes
sample.
• Be sure to include the date and lesson title!!!
• Here is an example of notes that will earn full points.
• These are Cornell Notes on a lesson on Matter.
• The notes highlight the main ideas, right box.
• The notes are later summarized, bottom.
• Questions/clues are added to help the student study, right box.

12. Test Yourself
• Take this quick quiz to see what you remembered from this lesson. Answers on the next
slide.
• t/f There are 3 steps to focused note-taking.
• t/f Current evidence supports that taking notes by hand will result in increased recall.
• t/f Without taking notes you will forget more than half of what you learned after one hour.
• t/f Interacting with your notes within 18 minutes of taking them will boost your recall only
a little bit.
• t/f Note-taking will be required at IDVA.

13. How did you do?
• Take this quick quiz to see what you remembered from this lesson. Answers on the next
slide.
• FALSE, there are 5 steps (slide 5) There are 3 steps to focused note-taking.
• TRUE (slide 6) Current evidence supports that taking notes by hand will result in increased
recall/learning.
• TRUE (slide 3) Without taking notes you will forget more than half of what you learned
after one hour.
• FALSE It actually increases recall from 55% to 100%.(slide 3) Interacting with your notes
within 18 minutes of taking them will boost your recall only a little bit…is false.
• TRUE – You got this! (slide 4) Note-taking will be required at IDVA.