| Things to include:
FIRST STEP: What’s going on and how do you know? SECOND STEP: Questions not answered yet. THIRD STEP: If you were the teacher, what would you ask about this section? (Yes, you have to provide an answer to the question!) |
| THE THREE-STEP NOTE TAKING PROCESS (Using Life is Funny as an example) |
| FIRST STEP:
What's going on and how do you know. This is the actual taking of notes on what is happening in the story and must include the page references for where you found each item. Pages 45 through the middle of 47 • We meet Drew, a high school-age kid who has just moved to a new neighborhood (p 46, “unpacking books in dad’s new study” and 47 “everything in the apartments was still in boxes.”) with his parents. • They have money (p 45, reference to Jag), and father takes him with him to mechanic to get car fixed. • There we meet the mechanic and his son, who is Drew’s age. They are Hispanic (p. 45 “A Spanish guy”) and the son works with his father in the shop. • The mechanic thinks Drew’s father is a jerk and tells his son (in Spanish) to work on the car anyway, he’ll never know (p 46 “… no notará la diferencia”) but the son is very polite and tells Drew’s dad he won’t work on the car. • Drew’s father doesn’t want the mechanic's son working on his car. • He doesn’t want the mechanic talking to his wife (p. 45 “don’t ask her anything”) • He doesn’t seem to have much respect for her (p. 45 “She can’t make a decision to save her life.”) • Drew’s father beats his mother (p. 46 “… his first punch”) and they pretend nothing’s wrong. SECOND STEP: Questions not answered yet. What questions come to mind as you read the section you are taking notes on? What things do you wonder that are not answered in the text you have read so far? • What’s Drew’s dad’s name? • What’s the other kid’s name? • Is the kid going to be important in the story? • Why didn't Drew's dad want the teenager working on his car? • Why did Drew’s family move? • Where do they live? • Where did they come from? • How old are Drew and the other kid? • What’s wrong with the car and will that be important to the story? THIRD STEP: if you were a teacher giving a test on this section of the story, what question would you ask? Be sure is something that can be answered from this segment of the text. Q: What kind of relationship do you think Drew and his father have? How can you tell? A: They are not very close, but the father wants people to think they are. This is clear when they are at the mechanic shop and Drew starts to “wander away” but his father pulls him close and puts his arm around his shoulders (p. 45) so he has to stand right next to him, and he doesn’t let him go, “my dad keeps me in a shoulder lock.” Then, in the next paragraph, when he is speaking badly of Drew’s mother, he “laughs a little and then pushes me away with one of those man shoves to my head.” This shows someone not very comfortable with displays of physical affection. |