Teaching Note-taking Skills to Middle Schoolers

The bulk of my teaching career has been at the high school level. This year I moved over to the middle school and one of my first observations regarding the multitude of differences between my high school students and middle school students is their note-taking skills (or lack thereof). It makes sense--it is usually middle school when students are taught this skill.

Over the course of the year, I have experimented with different styles. I've used interactive notebooks, guided notes, graphic organizers, and doodle notes. Here are a few examples of my doodle notes and interactive notebook pages I've used with my students:

This week I am going to introduce Cornell notes to my 6th graders. (If you are curious what style middle school students prefer, it is without a doubt, guided notes. I don't have an "issue" with guided notes per se. In fact, I think they are great and I will continue to use them when appropriate. My concern with "over-relying" on guided notes is that most high school teachers do not use them. It is my job as a middle school teacher to prepare my students for high school and beyond. Guided notes in my view is a "baby-step" toward more advanced note-taking skills, such as the Cornell note-taking strategy.)

As with any new note-taking strategy I introduce to my middle schoolers, I provide plenty of examples and I model the skill so they can see it "in action." One way I do this is I incorporate examples and templates into my PowerPoints and Google slideshows.

Below, is an example of how I introduced Cornell notes to my 6th graders. (These slides were included at the beginning of my most recent PowerPoint presentation on the Freedom Rides and Sit-ins.)

What note-taking methods do you use in your classroom? Which methods do your students prefer? I'd love to hear from both high school and middle school teachers about what works best for them!

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