It is important to use the right kind of organizer to organize your notes. For example, some types of lectures are organized around one main idea, and the main idea is supported by details. An excellent choice to use in this case would be a web or cluster. Here's how to create a web or cluster from your lecture notes:
Here is a list of some other helpful graphic organizers that you can use to record and organize your lecture notes:
Did you write any of these details from the lecture in your notes? Did you remember to circle them and connect them with lines to the topic circle?
Do you notice that the details are written in short phrases and not in complete sentences? When you're taking notes during a lecture, it's very difficult to write word for word what the lecturer is saying. And, it's easier to remember and study short phrases rather than long sentences. Notice also that the details are numbered. This will help you later when you create your final graphic organizer.
Did you come up with a sequence chart? This would be a great organizer to use because the information in the lecture describes the step-by-step process of making peanut butter.
Maybe you chose a different organizer. If so, which one did you choose? Explain why.
Did you notice that a sequence chart organizes the steps in a process in the order in which they occur? Take a look at the sample below. It is easy to see the steps which are involved in turning peanuts into peanut butter.
Student responses may vary. Acceptable answers include:
Please evaluate the student's answers:
Excellent
Good
Okay
From the Peanut to the Jar
Have you ever wondered how peanut butter is made? Peanuts grow in warm places, and they take a long time to grow. They are roasted in batches so that the peanuts with more moisture have more roasting time. As soon as they are finished cooking, they are thrown into a perforated barrel and cold air is blown through to cool the nuts. Next, the peanuts are blanched, removing the outer red skin and the bitter center of the peanut. Then the peanuts are ground. There are two types of grinding. To make chunky peanut butter, the grinding is rougher, to leave the peanuts in tiny pieces. Sometimes peanut pieces are added to smoother peanut butter to make it even chunkier. For the smoothest peanut butter, the nuts are ground to a a very fine texture, sometimes by being ground twice to ensure even texture. Vegetable oil, sugar, and salt are added at the end of the grinding process to make peanut butter taste better.
Alligators and Crocodiles
Alligators and crocodiles are flesh-eating reptiles. Both of these animals have thick skin and look like large lizards. Both alligators and crocodiles hatch from eggs. The newly hatched alligators and crocodiles are each about 8–10 inches long. The alligator can grow to 20 feet long, but the crocodile can grow to more than 30 feet long. Crocodiles have long, narrow, V-shaped snouts, while alligators' snouts are wider and U-shaped. The alligator and the crocodile both live on land and in water. The crocodile lives around swamps, lakes, and rivers in Asia, Australia, and Africa, while the alligator lives in fresh water in the United States and China.