WEEK 2

WRITING SKILLS I
MAKING NOTES FROM A TEXT

UGRC 210: ACADEMIC WRITING II

College of Education
LANGUAGE CENTRE, COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES
School of Continuing and Distance Education
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
2018
 • As a starting point we need to draw
a distinction between the more
Note-taking common term “note-taking” and the
term which is the focus of this
versus session “note-making”.
• While note-taking involves capturing

Note- information quickly especially in a

lecture situation, note-making
making happens during reading when we
extract information from a text and
try to make sense of it through
reviewing, connecting and
synthesizing the ideas.

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 Some of the situations or contexts
in which you are very likely to take
When do we notes are as follows:

take notes? / •Lectures

•Seminars
Contexts of
•Conferences
note-taking •Fieldwork
•Reading Textbooks

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 In this session, we are
Our focus focusing on note-making
from written materials such
as textbooks and research
papers.

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Why Note-making?

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Benefits of Note-making

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 Characteristics of Good Notes

• Are organised into key ideas and supporting ideas

• Use bullet points
• Use visual techniques, e.g., highlighting, graphics/visual
aids, and underlining to identify main points
• Use abbreviations and symbols to show connections
between ideas
• Include examples

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 Making notes from a text

Follow the steps below:

1. Preview
2. Read and mark important items
3. Write down the key items through
summarising and paraphrasing

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 Making notes from a text: Preview

First, preview the chapter or article you want to read or study by taking
note of or reading the following:
•Chapter or Article title – it tells you what the piece is about
•First and last paragraph – for introduction and summary of the
information
•Headings and subheadings – for outline of important concepts and the
information covered
•First sentences or topic sentences of the paragraphs
•Also, read all boldface items.
•If there are pictures or diagrams or any other illustrations, include them
in the preview.
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 Making notes from a text: Mark important items

• Second, mark important items or key

information:
Read the text carefully
Mark/ underline/ highlight all important points
(including the title, headings, subheadings,
definitions, keywords, important examples).

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Making notes from a text: Write down key issues

• Third, write down the key issues through:

Summarising (condensing the information)
Paraphrasing (re-writing the information in
your own words as far as possible).

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Build upon the ideas

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 Making
notes –
Important
tips

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Conclusion

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