Unit 1 Academic Skills Introduction
4 Note-Taking Skills
Note-Taking for Academic Reading
To understand college-level readings more effectively, it is important to use strong reading and note‑taking strategies. Good note‑taking helps you stay focused, remember key ideas, and prepare for writing or discussion.
There is no single “correct” way to take notes. You should try different methods, such as highlighting, annotating, or writing short summaries, and decide which strategies work best for you and for different types of readings.
Highlighting
Highlighting is a note‑taking strategy where you mark important words, phrases, or sentences in a text to help you focus on key ideas and find them again easily when you review.
Highlighting helps you:
- Identify important ideas or key terms
- Locate information quickly when you review the text later
- Focus on main ideas instead of every detail
Example:
Annotating
To annotate means to write notes in the margins of a text (on the sides, top, or bottom of the page).
When you annotate, you might:
- Write main ideas in your own words
- Write questions about ideas you do not understand
- Write comments or reactions to what you read
Annotating helps you actively engage with the text. This deeper engagement makes it easier to summarize, discuss, and write about the reading later.
Example:
Color-Coding
Color‑coding is a type of annotating that uses different colors or markings to organize information.
One suggested approach:
- On your first reading, use yellow to highlight information that seems important
- On later readings, use different colors to:
- Identify types of information (e.g., examples, definitions, expert opinions)
- Mark information related to a specific part of your essay (e.g., one body paragraph or the introduction)
You may also:
- Underline text
- Circle key words
- Draw boxes around important ideas
✅ Important: Create a key at the beginning of the article to explain what each color or mark means. This will help you understand your notes later.
Example: Notice how the student has used color and a stylus to “write” directly in the article. Note the “key” at the top left of the page.
Example: Notice how this student has used software to drop in comments (represented by the squares) throughout the article. Note the “key” at the top right of the page.
Can I use AI for Note-Taking?
Using AI for Note‑Taking
You may use AI to support your reading, but AI should not take notes for you. Note‑taking is an important learning skill, and you learn more when you read, think, and write the notes yourself.
How AI Can Help
- Explain difficult words or sentences
- Give simple definitions or examples
- Help you understand a confusing idea
- Answer questions like: “What does this paragraph mean?”
Example prompts
-
- “Explain this sentence in simple English.”
- “What does this paragraph mean in one or two sentences?”
- “What does the word ___ mean in this reading?”
What AI Should NOT Do
- ❌ Write your notes for you
- ❌ Summarize the whole article for you
- ❌ Replace reading the text yourself
- ❌ Give you notes that you copy and paste
How to use AI Ethically and Appropriately
- Always read the text yourself first
- Use AI only when something is unclear
- Write your own notes in your own words
- Check AI answers carefully—they can be wrong or unclear
- If required, say that you used AI (for example, in a Writer’s Memo)
You are responsible for your notes. AI can help you understand, but you must do the thinking and the note‑taking.
Reflect on your Note-Taking Style
Everyone takes notes differently. Think about the methods you use now and consider their strengths and weaknesses. You might:
- Write notes by hand in a notebook
- Type notes in a document (Word, Google Docs, etc.)
- Annotate a printed article by hand
- Use a stylus on a tablet or touchscreen
- Insert typed comments in a digital article
- Create an outline of the article
- Take group notes in a shared Google Doc
- Use different colors for different types of information
Final Tip
Key Takeaways
- Note‑taking helps you understand, remember, and use what you read.
- Highlighting helps you find important ideas quickly, but do not highlight too much.
- Annotating helps you think more deeply by writing ideas, questions, and comments.
- Color‑coding helps organize information and connections for writing.
- AI tools can help clarify difficult ideas, but they should not replace reading or note‑taking.
- Your notes should always reflect your own thinking, not copied AI output.
