Cornell Method of note-taking

Posted on June 29, 2024 | Leave a comment

The Cornell Method of note-taking

Note-taking is one of those skills that some teachers assume students know.  But many students have never been taught this skill essential for school success.

The Cornell Method of note-taking consists of sectioning off a piece of notebook paper (or a computer screen) to be used for various purposes.  A visual example and explanation are below.

The Cornell Method has advantages as a note-taking pattern:

  • Because the notes are paraphrased versions of the original, the note-taker needs to understand the original lecture or text as he or she takes notes; the note-taker is not merely a transcriber but an analyzer.
  • If the note-taker rereads the notes a few minutes after taking them, his or her chances to memorize the information increase since it is stated two or three times in the notes.
  • White space leaves room to fill in or clarify original notes.
  • If tests come weeks after the note-taking, the note-taker has sufficient notes to study from.
  • The unvarying structure of the method appeals to organized people.

 

The Cornell Method also has disadvantages:

  • Creating the blocks and using them properly is an advanced skill inappropriate for young students and even for some high school students.
  • Sticking to the format is challenging for students in a hurry, for perfectionists, and for creative types who want less imposed structure in their learning.
  • Many students will not reread their notes immediately after writing them, a key factor in the success of this method.

 

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Posted in English Writing Instruction, note-taking

How to improve high school student writing

Posted on June 6, 2024 | Leave a comment

A study on ways to improve student writing is among the top ten education studies of 2023, according to Edutopia a free source focusing on what works in education.  Edutopia is part of  the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

The study found that providing students with rubrics and/or mentor texts can lead to higher writing grades.  It also lowers the amount of time teachers need to grade student writing.

In the study, high school students’ essays were graded on “clarity, sophistication and thoroughness.”  Then students were divided into small groups and told to use rubrics or mentor texts to revise their essays for a final grade.  Using these guides helped students improve their writing without more teacher involvement.

Rubrics and mentor texts increase the efficiency of teacher time, can be used over and over again, and “enhance self-feedback,” leading students to become more independent writers, according to Edutopia.

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Posted in English Writing Instruction, mentor texts, rubrics

How to start a narrative

Posted on May 14, 2024 | Leave a comment

How to start a good story today is much like how to start a good essay, though it’s different too.  Many good stories today begin without any background information.  They begin in the middle of the action and weave in whatever background information is necessary later.  For example,

“Duck, you fool.  They’ll see us.”  This beginning starts in the middle of action.  Better yet, it starts with dialog.  Do you want to know who the speaker and his companion are?  Do you want to know why they are hiding?  Do you want to know who is hunting them?  Will you continue reading?

The three-year-old waited under the dirty laundry in the closet just as Mom and he had practiced.  The noise had stopped, but he didn’t trust the silence either.  “Wait for me,” Mom had said.  So he waited.  Is this a game of hide and seek?  Or has something sinister happened to Mom?  Why did Mom have the child practice hiding?  Why did she tell him to wait for her?  Will you keep reading?

Compare those beginnings with this kind.

It was early morning when she boarded the school bus.  She took her assigned seat and looked around.  Yes, it was Monday, all right.  Everyone was sleeping or trying to.  This beginning lacks the energy of the previous two beginnings.  Do you want to know why she boarded the school bus?  Probably not because you already know.  She’s going to school.   Do you want to know why everyone is sleeping?  Probably not because it’s Monday and that’s the way it is on Mondays.  Will you keep reading?

Mrs. Miller put on her hat and spring coat and waited for the taxi.  It came on time.  She nodded to the driver.  “Twelve Maiden Lane.” She sat back, alone in the passenger section, and thought what she always thought, that this is the way Queen Elizabeth was pampered wherever she went.  Do we know why Mrs. Miller is taking a taxi?  Do we care?  How about her thought, comparing herself to Queen Elizabeth?  That’s a little more interesting.  Why does she think that?  Will you keep reading?

Should you start a narrative with a question?  Lots of students do, but such a beginning rarely draws in readers, especially if the reader knows the answer.  But sometimes it can work.

Oh, please, doctor, please tell me what it is?  Is it pneumonia?  Meningitis?  Is my baby going to be okay?  Why are you just standing there, doctor?  Please tell me.  This opening has several questions, each one more emotionally charged than the previous one.  It works because the thoughts are a form of action.  Why is the child sick?  Why is the parent so frantic?  Why is the doctor mute?  We don’t know what happened before.  We arrive in the crisis moment.  Will you keep reading?

In the past, writers began stories with exposition, that is, with background information.  Today that approach is out of style.  We want to jump right into the action.

If you tend to start narratives by giving background information, try this to start with action.  Move along until you find the inciting moment—the moment when the action begins.  Delete everything that comes before the inciting moment.  If it is necessary information, weave it in through dialog or thoughts—but not flashbacks.  Flashbacks interrupt the forward flow of your story.  Your narratives will be more dramatic and better read.

 

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Posted in backstory, dialog in writing, flow, Introductions, narrative writing

How to write a narrative

Posted on May 7, 2024 | Leave a comment

A narrative is a short story.  It has all the parts of a short story—a beginning, a middle, and an end.  But that doesn’t tell you how to begin or what to include.  Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some formula, some plan, that would help you get going?  Well, there is.  Here’s how: 

On your planning paper or computer screen, write the word “setting.” Now draw two small arrows from the end of “setting.”  Next to the top arrow write the word “place.”  After the word “place,” identify the location of your narrative essay.  It’s easier if you have one place such as your math classroom, the soccer field or the airplane gate.  If you have more than one location, your story will become complicated to write.  Since you are learning by following a pattern, keep things simple.  Use one location only.

After the bottom arrow, write the words “time/day/season.” Identify when your story takes place.  Sometimes a general idea, like “morning” is enough.  If the day of the week or the season or temperature or climate is important to your story, identify them.  Usually, you will identify only one or two of these times, such as lunchtime, 85 degrees.

Stories are about people or animals–living creatures–so identify those characters: the people and animals who are important in your story. Sometimes that person will be you.  (Write “me.”)  Sometimes it will be named people.  Other times it will be unnamed people whose relationship but not their names are important such as the bus driver or the stray dog.  Keep your list short—maybe two or three characters.  The more characters you use, the more complicated your story will become.  Identify which character is the protagonist, the central character of your story.

Identify the point of view (POV) your story will have:

  • first person (told by someone who is part of the story);
  • third person objective (told from the POV of a video taper of your story who does not know what people are thinking); or
  • third person limited (told from the POV of someone who can hear the thinking of one or more of the characters).

Identify the problem to be solved (sometimes called the main theme) in your story. Is it about a student forgetting her lunch?  Is it about your mother nagging you to do your homework?  Is it about an athlete breaking his leg running to first base?  Every story needs a problem for the main character to solve or to learn from.

Identify the major plot points in your story, the important happenings in your story. A story has to start somewhere.  That’s the first plot point.  Something has to happen to cause a problem.  That might be the same plot point (if you start in the middle of the action, which is a good idea).  Or when something happens to cause a problem might be the second plot point if you include exposition as your first plot point.  Later, something or somethings have to happen to complicate the action.  Each of these is another plot point. The ending is the last plot point.

Identify the mood you want to convey. Is your story frightening?  Funny?  Nostalgic?  Mysterious?  You need to know before you begin so you know what kind of vocabulary and sentences to use, what to highlight, and what to hide.

Now you can almost begin.  Read next week’s blog for how to start that first paragraph.

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Posted in English Writing Instruction, narratives

Revisiting eight ideas to improve your writing

Posted on April 9, 2024 | Leave a comment

In my past blog, I suggested eight ideas to improve your writing.  In my next paragraph, I will ignore those suggestions and write poorly.  See if you can find eight examples of poor writing in this next paragraph.

A reader contacted this blogger a few days ago.  She informed me that there were good ideas in my most recent blog, and moreover, she suspected this blogger could utilize that blog to compose another blog that contradicts the advice of the first blog, and thereby set up a challenge to locate the poor writing and to attract a multitude of readers like her who are puzzle aficionados.  I listened to my reader’s admonition, and this paragraph is my response.

Spoiler alert:  The following paragraphs expose the poor writing.  Are you ready?

  • “This blogger” draws attention to the writer of the blog in a way that the word “I” does not. As the writer of the blog, I need to refer to myself in the paragraph.  But I should choose an inconspicuous way to do that.

 

  • “She informed me” draws attention to the way she spoke which is unimportant. “She informed” is better written as “she said.”  “Said” is an inconspicuous word.

 

  • “There were” puts the subject later in the sentence. “There were good ideas” could be better written as “my blog contained good ideas.”

 

  • “Moreover” and “thereby” are transition words that interrupt the flow of the sentence. “Moreover” is better said as “and.” “Thereby” is better said not at all in this paragraph. It is not needed.

 

  • “Admonition” is a four-syllable word and “aficionados” is a six-syllable word. Both draw attention to themselves because many readers might not know what the words mean.  It’s better to stick to simpler vocabulary (“advice” and “fans”) in a blog meant for children as well as ESL students and adults.

 

  • The second sentence in the three-sentence paragraph is 59 words long—far too many words for readers trying to understand the writer’s message. The sentence should be broken down into three or four simpler sentences.

 

  • “She informed me that” introduces and indirect quote. Use direct quotes whenever possible so readers can hear for themselves the vocabulary, the tone, the grammar and the inferences of the speaker.

 

  • And lastly, the paragraph is five lines long.  Is that too long?  Maybe, maybe not.  It is the longest paragraph of this blog, so it might look long–and intimidating–to some readers.  This is especially true because it extends the width of the blog.  Yet because the second sentence is so long, the paragraph is hard to subdivide.

 

All these ideas about good writing are based on the fundamental rule of good writing:  Clarity is the most important characteristic of good writing.  If a word or sentence or paragraph is not clear to readers, they will not keep reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted in "to be", blog writing, clarity, direct quotes, English Writing Instruction, how to write better, indirect quotes, rules for writing, said, Transitions, word choice