Monica_in_Switzerland Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 ... and I LOVED it! My kids were not too excited by this new thing we're doing, but were both really impressed that they could summarize the chapter very neatly and clearly by the end of the notes. I did this with a 7th grader and 5th grader. My 5th grader went on later in the day to take incredibly nice notes from a science text, just for fun. Amazing!!! We read the chapter of Pilgrims and Puritans (Drama of American History series) out loud (from our kindles, I love being able to share one book within the family and all read at the same time, but it was difficult to deal with flipping back and forth because we all use different text size on our kindles...) and took notes as we read. I took the notes and the kids copied mine almost verbatim, which is my goal for the first two weeks. From there, I plan to have us collaboratively decide the notes, then launch them independently. I SO wish I had known how to do this in college. I had zero study skills and flew by the seat of my pants through college and it was not a pretty sight. I was smart enough to coast through high school without study skills... but I should have been building them up anyway. Not going to get my kids into that same trap... eventually we all get to something that requires study skills and I'd rather they be automatic at that point. ... Just sharing because I'm excited! 😁 Please ignore (my) spelling errors and my dd's French errors. 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 6 minutes ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said: ... and I LOVED it! My kids were not too excited by this new thing we're doing, but were both really impressed that they could summarize the chapter very neatly and clearly by the end of the notes. I did this with a 7th grader and 5th grader. My 5th grader went on later in the day to take incredibly nice notes from a science text, just for fun. Amazing!!! We read the chapter of Pilgrims and Puritans (Drama of American History series) out loud (from our kindles, I love being able to share one book within the family and all read at the same time, but it was difficult to deal with flipping back and forth because we all use different text size on our kindles...) and took notes as we read. I took the notes and the kids copied mine almost verbatim, which is my goal for the first two weeks. From there, I plan to have us collaboratively decide the notes, then launch them independently. I SO wish I had known how to do this in college. I had zero study skills and flew by the seat of my pants through college and it was not a pretty sight. I was smart enough to coast through high school without study skills... but I should have been building them up anyway. Not going to get my kids into that same trap... eventually we all get to something that requires study skills and I'd rather they be automatic at that point. ... Just sharing because I'm excited! 😁 Please ignore (my) spelling errors and my dd's French errors. Beautiful notes! Do you have wild blackberries in your area? We used to pick them in the forest near our home in France. My brother's birthday is at the end of August and we made blackberry trifle every year with wild blackberries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) 12 minutes ago, maize said: Beautiful notes! Do you have wild blackberries in your area? We used to pick them in the forest near our home in France. My brother's birthday is at the end of August and we made blackberry trifle every year with wild blackberries. Yes we do! Along the river not five minutes from where we are! These season always catches me by surprise for some reason, but we stumbled across them just as they were starting to turn rips this year, so we got in two good weeks of blackberry hunts! ETA: I can't stop laughing over how she spelled "contiennent". the hard C sound is the bane of our existence. I first had to hard-core talk them out of using K all the time (NOT A NATIVE FRENCH LETTER!!!), now they just use qu randomly for absolutely no reason. 😂 I'm like, "Guys. Use *C*. If C works, USE C!!!!!!!" Alas... Edited November 12, 2019 by Monica_in_Switzerland 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) 22 hours ago, maize said: Working with multiple languages does get confusing! My parents were living in a Spanish speaking country while I was in college and my younger siblings attended a school that was half in Spanish, half in German. My little brother, about eight years old at the time, used to write letters to me--in English, but the spelling was completely indecipherable until I figured out that he was following German phonetic rules. I loved those letters! ETA woops didn't mean to quote myself. Edited November 13, 2019 by maize 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) 7 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said: ... and I LOVED it! My kids were not too excited by this new thing we're doing, but were both really impressed that they could summarize the chapter very neatly and clearly by the end of the notes. I did this with a 7th grader and 5th grader. My 5th grader went on later in the day to take incredibly nice notes from a science text, just for fun. Amazing!!! ...I SO wish I had known how to do this in college... @Monica_in_Switzerland That is super! You are right about college -- I learned and used a version of Cornell Note taking in college and flew through, hardly having to do more than review notes the night before a test as a result, because it embeds the information by taking notes in class, then immediately after, filling in anything missing, and then going over it again right then to make your key word notes in the left column. 😉 7 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said: ...I took the notes and the kids copied mine almost verbatim, which is my goal for the first two weeks. From there, I plan to have us collaboratively decide the notes, then launch them independently... I just caution to have VERY simple/basic expectations -- esp. for your 5th grader -- as this type of note taking can be very exhausting (both from a mental standpoint and from a "writing hand" standpoint). Also, Cornell Notes require the ability to analyze and synthesize -- skills that are JUST beginning to develop in the middle school years. Also, a general comment for others reading this thread: Cornell Notes work great for many students -- but not all. Some students, esp. "right-brain" or visual-spatial learners, need a different type of note taking method, such as mind mapping or sketch notes. Absolutely great to teach the Cornell Notes method, but help out your non-linear/logical thinkers with other ways of capturing key thoughts and ideas in note taking as well. 😉 34 minutes ago, Paradox5 said: Where did you find how to do those notes? I was always good at taking notes but I have no idea how to teach the kids that skill. Here is a website and a video and another video for how to take Cornell Notes. Edited November 12, 2019 by Lori D. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted November 13, 2019 Author Share Posted November 13, 2019 14 hours ago, Paradox5 said: Where did you find how to do those notes? I was always good at taking notes but I have no idea how to teach the kids that skill. I just googled it and used this video to get the kids started: We watched several other videos from you tubers who obviously love taking crazy extremely artistic notes, which my daughter loved, but my son and I did not. LOL. @Lori D. I was thinking my dd (5th) would not do any independent note-taking for a while, but she's gone totally crazy and gotten out a new notebook and has been taking "pretty" notes like the you tubers all afternoon and evening, and she's doing a remarkably good job of it! 😂 Her summaries are on point and she is adding illustrations, too. Go figure. LOL. She is struggling to note our history text, which is a much higher level than the encyclopedias she is using for her independent notes. And you are right, it is exhausting to read closely like this!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 2 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said: @Lori D. I was thinking my dd (5th) would not do any independent note-taking for a while, but she's gone totally crazy and gotten out a new notebook and has been taking "pretty" notes like the you tubers all afternoon and evening, and she's doing a remarkably good job of it! 😂 Her summaries are on point and she is adding illustrations, too. Go figure. LOL. She is struggling to note our history text, which is a much higher level than the encyclopedias she is using for her independent notes. And you are right, it is exhausting to read closely like this!!! That is fantastic! What you may find is that the novelty eventually wears off, so that's when to slow down the pace or volume -- yes, continue to do the Cornell Notes regularly (like, maybe once a week or every two weeks for one subject) -- enough to keep practicing and getting better at it, but not so much as to come to hate it, LOL! ... Or, it may also become a regular routine and your 'new normal' and you all never look back or need to slow it down... 😄 Such great examples you shared of what all your family is doing! Thanks for this! Warmest regards, Lori D. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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