8-How+to+Determine+What+is+Most+Important

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 ** Focus In to Find the Clues to What You Need to Know ** = = = =  Good note-taking skills begin with good reading and good listening! Remember, there are two types of important information: To Do and To Know information. To Know information is information about content (stuff a teacher wants students to learn). The other information is To Do information that refers to information or directions about what a teacher wants students to do, how, when, and where it is to be done. Both types of information are essential!

Benefits of Taking Notes

 * 1) You concentrate on and process more of what teacher is saying or on what you are reading
 * 2) You are less likely to be distracted by classmates or daydream
 * 3) Writing down information helps you remember it! It reinforces what you are learning and reduces the amount of time you need to study for a test

What is Most Important?
 Deciding what notes to take down and how to write them is almost an art form. Fortunately, there are a number of helpful note-taking techniques that can be developed through practice. Here are some excellent tips you can start applying right away: 
 * Don't try to write every word. Focus on important nouns/ideas and why they are important
 * Use your own form of shorthand, including abbreviations, symbols, diagrams and drawings.
 * Make connections with your own experience and knowledge and the lecture.
 * Listen to the structure of your teacher's lecture. If he or she says there were three main issues at stake in the Civil War, look for those three issues to be clearly defined, and listen for details about each one.
 * Review your notes as soon as you can after class. Mark the most important points and reorganize if necessary. For instance, draw an arrow from a topic that belongs in a different spot than where you have written it or highlight or change the color of text to make it easier to see important points.

Overviewing 
 Overviewing is a form of skimming and scanning the text just before reading. A careful overview saves precious time when reading difficult nonfiction text. The ability to overview eliminates the need to read everything when searching for specific information. Overviewing is one of the first steps to determining importance. 
 * 1) Think about the things you already know about the subject.
 * 2) Note characteristics of text length and structure.
 * 3) Note important headings, subheadings, and picture captions.
 * 4) Determine what to read and in what order.
 * 5) Determine what to pay careful attention to and what you can skim.
 * 6) Determine what to ignore.
 * 7) Quit when the text contains no relevant information.

Nonfiction writing often includes text cues that signal importance. <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Signal words warn readers to stop and pay attention <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">. Writers choose phrases such as: //for example, for instance, in fact, in conclusion, most important, but, therefore, on the other hand,// and //such as,// so that readers will take note. Standardized tests are full of cue words, and familiarity with these signals may boost test scores. <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Speakers often use these cue words and phrases as well <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. Click here to for a handout of that includes a list of common cue words and phrases.

Text Features
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**//<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Fonts and effects: //** Different fonts and effects -- such as titles, headings, boldface print, color print, italics, bullets, captions, and labels -- signal importance in text. Fonts and effects should be viewed as red flags that wave, "//This is important. Read carefully."//

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**//Illustrations, photographs, and graphics://** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> These text features inform nonfiction readers of important information and enhance reading comprehension.

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**//Text organizers://** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The index, preface, table of contents, glossary, and appendix are extremely useful when surveying different texts for information.

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**//Text structures://** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Understanding different text structures gives readers a better shot at determining important information. Examples of text structure include cause and effect, problem and solution, question and answer, comparison and contrast, and description and sequence.

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SING Strategy
<span style="display: block; text-align: left; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">When you prioritize what you have to do, deciding what is most important is the most important thing. The same is true for when you are taking notes to remember information. <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 195%; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">S <span style="font-size: 130%; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> top and focus on what you just read or listened to <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 195%; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I <span style="font-size: 130%; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> dentify the main point of what you just read or listened to <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 195%; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">N <span style="font-size: 130%; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ever mind the details <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 195%; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">G <span style="font-size: 130%; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> et the gist (or main idea) of what you just read or listened to <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">

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 * 1) Read this website on [|Using Abbreviations to Write Notes Quickly].
 * 2) Use the SING strategy to jot down notes for one of your reading assignments or class lectures today.

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> //**List of Sources**//

__Content__ //Strategies That Work// by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> //The Middle School Student's Guide to Ruling the World// by Susan Mulcaire //Using Abbreviations to Write Notes Quickly// by How-To-Study.com

__Videos__ //How to Remember What You Read// by Howdini