2-4 Writing Task: Taking Notes

Part One: Warm Up

• Have you ever taken notes...
  • in class?
  • when watching a movie?
  • while on vacation?
  • during an interview?
  • while reading a book?
• When you’re taking notes, do you write everything down, or do you just focus on the main points?
• Do you use any abbreviations when you take notes? What do the following abbreviations stand for?
  • b/c
  • w/
  • tech
  • =
  • ≠
  • >
  • <
• any other abbreviations?
• Do you ever get confused by your own notes when you come back to read them later?

Part Two: Vocabulary / Writing Task / Taking it Further

• Omit, or leave out, articles like “the,” “an,” and “a.”
• Omit any word that’s not needed to help you understand the gist, or main idea, of what you are writing down.
• Use an ampersand -- “&” -- instead of “and.”
• Make lists instead of writing in complete sentences across the page.