What Are Power Notes?

What Are Power Notes?

Power Notes is an organizational tool that helps students systematically organize and categorize information from any assigned topic. This writing strategy incorporates a technique of outlining where students can identify, differentiate and organize information into main ideas and supportive details.

In this strategy the ideas are given a numerical power rating such as 1,2,3 etc. Ideas categorized as main ideas are given a power rating of 1 whereas supportive information, details or examples are assigned a power value of 2, 3, 4 and so on. Consider the following example on animal classification:

Teaching the Power Notes Strategy

Using similar examples as given above, the Power Notes strategy can be introduced in the classroom. Model the strategy as a whole class activity using the following steps:

1. Choose a reading material for the students to read and study.
2. Encourage students to identify various ideas/concepts from the content and list them down on the board.
3. After writing down all the generated ideas, instruct students to identify and categorize the main ideas. Use the template given above and number them as power 1.
4. Next, pick one main idea and instruct students to find supportive information from the earlier list to support the main idea. Give it a power value 2. See if any of the ideas can be categorized as power 3 and so on.
5. Help students identify and understand the relationship between the power levels, i.e. how the lower power points support or explain the main ideas.

Strategies for the Classroom

The Power Notes strategy can also be implemented in the classroom in the following ways:

1. Provide a Power Note template to each group or student and instruct them to read the material, identify and put the information in the correct spaces.
2. Create a jumbled list of points (both main and supporting ideas) and instruct students to read the material and try to determine the nature of each idea from the list (i.e. if it is a main idea or supportive information.)
3. Encourage students to use the Power Notes strategy while taking notes. This can give students a clear strategy to listening and organizing information that they are given during class.

Thus, using Power Notes students can better organize, categorize and learn information. Its simple outlining technique and versatility in function makes the Power Note strategy a helpful tool across all content areas including reading and writing assignments.

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