Note-Taking Practices of Adolescent English Learners: Foundations for Content Learning, Reflection, Analysis, and Writing Composition

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Abstract

Research has shown that note-taking skills can be a significant part of content-learning and writing-composition processes. In the STEPS to Literacy project, adolescent English learners (ELs) in a New York City public school took notes and wrote essays on two social studies modules: the Holocaust and the Civil Rights movement. The author found that students’ notes were comprised of many elements, including historical facts, wondering questions, observations and opinions, expressions of emotion and empathy, and translanguaging between Spanish and English. In addition, students’ use of notes in composing their essays varied widely, ranging from being a prompt for memory recall to being used verbatim in their essays. Students exhibited many key literacy practices in their notes-to-essay workflow.

Author

• Kristin Gorski, Teachers College, Columbia University