Students Need to Be Taking Notes in All Classes

Five FAQs on The Necessity of Note Taking Skills

1. Is note taking really that important?
   Note taking is an essential skill for research, reading comprehension, preparation for essays and tests, and long term memory storage. In fact, it’s called “encoding” by note taking geeks and experts!
2. Don’t they teach note taking in school?
   Many teachers tell students to take notes and assume, especially by high school age, that they just “somehow” know how to take notes, as though it’s a skill students are born with. Note taking is not an innate talent. Explicit instruction is essential. Parents can’t assume teachers will at some point provide instruction.
3. What does research tell us about taking notes?
   Explicit instruction on note taking improves the quality of notes and the amount of information students remember. Handwriting notes can be better for memory than digital notes. Having a system—a format beyond a simple list of bullet points, that includes examples and templates—is key.
4. What are some important note taking skills to learn?
   Note taking is a form of active learning. Academic performance improves when students have complete and well formatted notes they can reference and study from. Visuals are incredibly helpful and should be included with their notes. Hybrid notes—text and visuals—absolutely rock.
5. What can parents do to help students with note taking?
   Don’t wait for the schools to teach note taking. Maybe you’ll be lucky and a teacher will share some note taking strategies, but don’t count on it. Sign up for SOS4Students’ September note taking workshops now so your student doesn’t get left behind. (These workshops aren’t offered again until February . . . and they sell quickly.)

Take Note is an introduction to note taking for students in grades 7 & 8. Learning this fundamental skill in middle school lays the groundwork for continued success in high school, college, and beyond.

Secrets of Successful Note Taking teaches students in grades 9 to 12 note taking best practices for textbooks, videos, and lectures, making reading and class time more productive.