The Quick & Easy Route to Interactive Notes
How to Use DIY "Doodle Note" Stickers to Let Students Convert Any Notebook Page Into a Memory-Boosting Graphic Note Sheet
If you are hoping to boost your students' understanding and retention of a lesson, you can't beat graphic notes!
Visual note-taking is a surefire way to build connections in your students' brains and increase:
An easy way to maximize these brain benefits without having to do a ton of prep work is to use DIY doodle note stickers. Grab your free set, then print this list of all of your options. There are so many ways to use these! Option 1:
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Have you ever had a class that actually enjoys lectures and taking notes? Probably not, I’m guessing.
In my experience, note days are the some of the most dreaded days among most students. Middle and high school students hate when they walk in the room and realize it’s note day. There are so many pain points of lecturing while the students take regular notes; it just seems like such a struggle for everyone. If we zero in on all the problems with standard note taking, the biggest challenges are that it's "boring" and dreaded, not effective, and information is not retained as much as we need it to be. But, I believe sometimes lecture really is necessary. |
So, I have broken down the areas in which we need to improve note taking for you to take into consideration and make note day a day the students (and you) look forward to!
Note taking is so essential to your students’ educational success, especially when done in the most thoughtful, effective ways. There are some concepts you should think about incorporating in your lessons to make note taking the most efficient for student learning and retention!
Visual Connections
Visual connections make a huge impact in note taking and retention. The key to creating good visual notes is incorporating what I like to call “visual memory triggers.” These triggers are graphics or other images that contain or represent an analogy that helps the student understand and retain information.
Click here to read a post all about How to Create Visual Memory Triggers.
Note taking does not come easily to some students, so it’s necessary to teach some organizational skills in taking notes. Students should be able to understand what information they should write down, and what information is okay to skip.
Secondly, it is helpful for them to be able to go back and easily find a certain piece of information. We want note taking to be helpful for learning during the lecture, but we also want them to be able to refer back to clear, cohesive notes.
Teaching your students to take highly organized notes is so important, especially if they are planning on attending college!
Incorporating color in some way during your lectures is so beneficial for students! Different colors, their combinations, and their placement can have an effect on attention, memory, feelings, and behaviors of students. Check out one of my recent posts, How Color Affects Student Learning.
There is a lot of research out there that shows notes are so much better when taken by hand, rather than digitally. Scientific American tells us, that even though people generally type faster than write, more notes aren’t necessarily better.
In three separate studies that compare students taking notes by hand vs. students taking notes by laptop, they found those who wrote out their notes had a stronger conceptual understanding and were more successful in applying and integrating the material.
- Color coded notes
For example, if they use blue for all vocabulary words and definitions, they can better recall the words and definitions, or efficiently find it in their notes, later.
- Graphic organizers
- Doodle Notes
The perfect way to get started and decide if Doodle Notes is right for your class is downloading this FREE “Engage Your Brain” Doodle Notes! This page is a perfect way to introduce your class to a new strategy for taking effective notes and how their brain works! They can learn a little about the way the brain reacts when you integrate the left and the right hemispheres.
You will quickly realize all of the benefits and your students will be begging for more Doodle Notes!
- Outlining/Cornell
Cornell notes have been proven to be effective in student learning. This method involves recording notes during the lecture, asking questions after the lecture, reciting notes aloud, reflecting, and then reviewing.
Make note-taking fun for the students and let them use any of their coloring utensils; this actually helps them remember better! As mentioned earlier, color helps students materialize the content.
Another perfect, simple solution to livening up note day for you and your students is to implement Doodle Notes! When students use doodle notes, the two hemispheres of the brain collaborate to increase focus. They become excited, engaged, and attentive, so their retention is increased.
Students interact with visual triggers that boost their memory for the lesson material. They become proud of their creative work on their page and suddenly begin pulling out their notes sheets consistently to review, show them off, and reference them as a study guide.
Added bonuses include relaxation, coordination, and a boost in problem solving skills. Once students, try it they will be excited to try more! Doodle Notes Days will be days to look forward to. You can download a free handbook on Doodle Notes,here!
Make it a goal of every note-taking day to engage student brains just as much as you do on an activity / practice day. Be sure that they make solid mental connections and then walk away with a clear, colorful graphic organizer that can become their reference guide to look back at later.
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To Read Next:
Have you ever repeatedly taught the distributive property, but the concept just doesn’t seem to stick in your students’ heads?
Or maybe, your students seem to grasp the concept, but after some time you realize they’ve completely forgotten the property? It happened to me, and then I discovered that the trick was to use a relatable analogy (preferably in a hands-on way, if possible!). These 2 helpful analogies will make the distributive property stick once and for all. Analogies are awesome when teaching, because they have the ability to make your lesson instantly relevant to your students’ interests, while also allowing your students to gain a deeper understanding of the concept. |
A great analogy for teaching the distributive property is making bracelets with beads; this is a task that students have either done before or have the ability to easily understand!
Analogy: If you are creating multiple bracelets of a certain type, you must multiply the number of bracelets being made by EACH bead type. Just like with the distributive property, you multiply the outer term by EACH term in the parentheses. A common mistake students make is only multiplying the first term and not distributing throughout each term in the parentheses.
This bracelet analogy creates evidence to see that you must distribute throughout each term inside the quantity. This Distributive Property Investigation Activity is perfect for getting your students to discover and thoroughly understand this bracelet analogy.
This set of worksheets is structured as a guided inquiry, so students are discovering the property themselves. This helps the students to gain a deeper understanding of the distributive property. The inquiry activity would be great for either introducing the distributive property, or a creative way to review the topic.
An inquiry-based approach to teaching math has many benefits for your students, including enhancing independent problem-solving skills and leading to deeper understanding of a concept. Instead of just memorizing the property, they learn WHY it works and HOW it works. It is important to let your students build a concept, not just follow a process.
Relating the distributive property to recipes is helpful, because by this age, students tend to have a strong understanding of how recipes work, and you can create a fun, interactive lesson. Here’s how to relate the distributive property: Ask, “What do you do to double a recipe?”
Analogy: To double the whole recipe, you must be sure you remember to double EACH AND EVERY ingredient. When using the distributive property, you have to remember to multiply by EACH AND EVERY term in the parentheses.
If you forget to double one of the ingredients, the recipe won’t turn out exactly right; just like you will get an inaccurate answer if you miss a term when distributing. You must distribute to each term in the parentheses.
This set of doodle notes will perfectly coincide with teaching the distributive property using this analogy. When students color or doodle in math class they activate both hemispheres of the brain. There are many proven benefits to this cross-lateral activity, including new learning, relaxation (less math anxiety), visual connections, and better memory and retention of the content!
Another inquiry-based approach includes assigning students to bring in any recipe to class the day you are introducing the distributive property. Have your students work in pairs or independently to double their recipes; there are benefits to both. Working collaboratively on this is beneficial, because they have the opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other and share their recipes with each other. Working individually enhances their independent problem-solving skills.
After they double their recipe, they can triple it, multiply it by 4, and so on. Next, students should determine the pattern they see, and they should write a rule for the property. Now, when you teach the distributive property, your students have already internalized this property; they have discovered it for themselves!
Another fun way to teach this is to have a pancake day in class!! Bring just one big batch of supplies to cook pancakes for all your students, and cook them on a griddle in the front of the classroom.
Show an expression on the board representing how many batches you'll need with each ingredient's quantity listed inside parentheses. Talk it through and let the kids help you out when you make the "mistake" of only doubling the first ingredient in the quantity.
Sum up your work on the board with a big "Pancake Algebra Expression."
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