The main reason to take notes while working on a school assignment is to separate the information a student wants to use. Therefore, you must ensure your students know they don't need to write everything down. Instead, express the importance of writing down facts directly relevant to their topic and tidbits of information that can be useful to them as they work. Unless they plan on quoting the source directly, a paraphrase of the information works best for note taking.
Depending on the assignment, different types of sources can produce valuable information. Websites, books, magazines and newspapers all offer students a variety of information. Encourage your students to use more than one type of source because each type offers a different perspective. Book authors and journalists often bring writing and researching skills to the table, while website owners usually offer practical experience with the topic. Using a combination of these sources provides the students with more thorough research and helps them complete the assignment more efficiently.
The different types of sources require different attributions when used within a paper or speech. Teaching your students how to attribute these types of sources provides them with the tools they need for their assignment and beyond. For instance, with books, a student must note the title, author, date published and possibly the publisher when citing the book. Page numbers are also important. Magazines and newspapers require the name of the publication, its date, the name of the article, author and where it can be found within the publication. When using a website, the website address is sometimes all that is required. However, you may want the students to also include the name of the specific page and the author if available.
As your students take notes, you need to coach them in keeping their notes organized. If a student simply writes all of the factual information down from all of the sources on one sheet of paper, he won't remember which facts go to which sources. Focus on keeping the facts separated. Instruct your students to use headers to separate the information compiled from one source or another. Taking notes on separate pages can also help as long as the student clearly labels each page with the attribution information.
While you want your students to use more than one source, especially different types, focusing on one at a time can help a student take notes from different sources effectively. Students should focus on one source at a time. After taking notes on the first source, a student can move on to the next one to take more notes. It is important for students to compare the notes from different sources and make sure that facts match up. If something doesn't match up, let your students know that they should try to find out which one is correct by checking additional reputable sources.