RESOURCES AT JOHN JAY

Sentence Method

In the Sentence Method, write down every point that the instructor presents. Start each new note on a new line, and number each sentence. Write telegraphically rather than writing every word, and use abbreviations where possible. This method allows you to write quickly and take complete notes, but it does not show relative importance of the different points. It is a good way to record information when you are not sure of how to connect the ideas presented in the lecture, but you may have to go back later and reorganize your notes to show how various ideas fit together.

Be sure to write the date and lecture topic at the top of your notes. Write down every lecture point on a new line. Number each sentence. Use abbreviations where possible. For example, write “ex.” Instead of “example.” Find abbreviations for words that occur frequently in a certain unit, such as “euk” for “eukaryotes” in a biology lecture about cell types. Write telegraphically. For example, instead of “Bacteria cells do not have a nucleus,” you could simply write “Bacteria cells – no nucleus.” Write legibly! Organize your notes later. This may involve drawing arrows, using letters or other symbols for major points and points of support, color coding arguments for and against a topic, or rewriting your notes in a different format (this will help you retain more material, so it is not time wasted).

Example

You can take notes on a lecture or a reading. Click on the excerpt button to your left to see an excerpt from "Cell Division I: The Cell Cycle," Visionlearning. Then read the sample notes below.

You Write:

Cell Division                      today’s date

Life cycles vary between cell types. Eukaryotic cell cycles have 4 phases. G1 phase = cell grows in prep. for split S phase = DNA in nucleus copies itself G2 phase = cell checks/corrects errors that occurred during DNA dup. M phase ( = mitosis) = nucleus splits in 2 identical nuclei immed. followed by cytokinesis – cell division. Length/freq. of phases are diff. for diff. cell types. Cells very similar, but in cell division eukaryotic cells (plants, animals, fungi, Protists) are diff. than Bacteria & other prokaryotes. Why? Bacteria & other simple cells have no nucleus, so simpler process. Bacteria grow & divide w/ no distinguishable phases. Process by which prokaryotes divide =  binary fission no “mitosis” for them