Research and Note -Taking

How to Organize the Research and Note-Taking Process

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Mrs. LeBlanc

Step One: Color Coding Questions

Assign a color to each of the questions in your Google slides document.

For example:

• What are some common ocean mammals and what are their similarities and differences?
• How do ocean mammals use their senses?
• In what ways do ocean mammals interact with other sea creatures?

(Please view my sample presentation to see this in action!!)

Step Two: Search Using Keywords and Phrases

Question: How do ocean mammals use their senses?

If I am searching for answers to this question, I might use:

• Ocean mammal senses
• Ocean mammals sense of sight
• Whale sense of sight

This strategy might help me to find more specific information.

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Step Three: Highlighting While Reading

While reading a printed article, highlight short phrases using the same color that the question is coded in your slides.

For example, while reading an article from www.whalesforever.com, you might highlight as shown below:

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Whales tend to rely more on their sense of hearing and touch since their sense of sight is compromised. Whales have slightly flattened eyeballs

with an enlarged pupil. Both of these adaptations allow the eye to let

in as much light as possible.

Step Three Continued:

While reading a book that can’t be written in, mark important information using small sticky notes of the same color that the question is coded in your slides.

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Important Suggestions:

• Highlighting can be done using crayons, markers, colored pencils, or highlighters.
• Be careful not to highlight over words with a dark color. Instead, underline important phrases.
• Have other colors handy in case you find important information related to other questions.

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Typing Research Notes onto Slides

When you are finished highlighting information in an article from the internet or you are done marking important pages in your book, it is time to type short note facts on your slides. Please try to put this information in your own words. Remember that copying directly from a source is considered plagiarism and should not be done!!

The following notes were written after the highlighting example on slide 4:

How do ocean mammals use their senses?

• Whale-uses hearing and touch more
• Sort of flat eyeball
• Larger pupil-lets light in

When finished researching, these short notes can be turned into your own original sentences!!!

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