Learn Note-making

Note making is an advanced writing skill which is acquiring increasing importance due to knowledge explosion. There is a need to remember at least the main points of any given subject. Making notes is a complex activity which combines several skills.

We also published a post – Notemaking – The CBSE way earlier in which we summarised the main points in note making. Here you go with the detailed verison.

How to make notes

  • Read the passage carefully.
  • Heading
    What is the main idea of the passage? Frame a heading based on the central idea and write it in the middle of the page.
  • Subheadings
    How has the main idea been presented and developed? Are there two or three subordinate/associated ideas? You can frame subheadings based on these.
  • Points
    Are there further details or points of the subtitles that you wish to keep in these notes? Indent, i.e., suitably space and number.

    All subheadings should be written at a uniform distance from the margin.

  • Indenting
    All points should also maintain the same distance away from the margin.

Note: Do not write full sentences. And use abbreviations wherever necessary. Read below for more help on abbreviations.

Help with abbreviations

  1. Use standard abbreviations and symbols as far as possible:
    1. Capitalized first letters of words
      e.g. U.P.,U.S.A.,U.K.,U.S.S.R.,etc.
    2. Common abbreviations
      Sc. (for science), Mr., Mrs., Dr., Govt., etc
    3. Common symbols
      e.g., : \, ∴ , +ve, -ve, ® (leading to), ↑ (rising), ↓ (falling), =, etc.
    4. Measurements and Figures
      e.g., : 100′, 100”, 100 kg, 1000 mm, 100ml, etc.
  2. Making your own abbreviations:
    1. Keep the main sounds of the word. For example, edn. (education), progm. (programme)
    2. Retain the suffix so that later when you are going over the notes you may recall the full form of the word —e.g., ed’nal (educational), prog’ve (progressive).
  3. Caution
    1. Do not get over-enthusiastic about abbreviations. You should not abbreviate every word. One abbreviation in point is enough.
    2. As a general rule, the heading should not be abbreviated. You may use abbreviations in subheadings.

Your notes should look like this

Note making format

Notice that indenting, i.e., shifting from the margin has been used to clearly indicate subheadings, points and sub points. Subheadings, though separated by points occur below one another. Points and sub points too come below one another, similarly. Such use of indenting gives your notes a visual character. At a glance you can see the main idea and its aspects.

Here is a solved example:
Click over the icon to access and download the file

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  • abhay

    thanka dude

  • vaishali joshi

    it was a good learning..nice

  • http://twitter.com/Warlic14k Deep Shah

    Thanks a ton 🙂

  • Gayatri

    Thank you SO much, that was A LOT of help. ^_^

  • Omar

    finally… thank you 😀

  • Omar

    finally ….. thxxx 😀

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000585408296 Megha Gupta

    i usually write loooooooong summary…! what to do…??? 🙁

    • http://www.cbseguy.com/ CBSE Guy

      Practice writing summaries as much as you can before your examination.

      In the actual examination, mark the last sheet of your answer booklet as rough and jot down what all points you want to add.

      Once you’ve all the points jotted down, trim them down if you feel you’ve a lot of points there and start making your summary using them. 🙂

      • Megha

        thnx..i am glad that i got to reach this site(as i didnt intentionally..i was searching for sumthing on google n here i reached thru’ suggestion of ur post ‘how 2 score 90+ in physics’ on google…! thnx a lot..i must say u r doing a GREAT job…keep it up..gonna get lot of blessings..! 😛
        n i promise i’l tel other people about u guys…i am highly impressed…!

        • http://www.cbseguy.com/ CBSE Guy

          Thanks a lot for your appreciation. Your words mean a lot to us 🙂

        • Sannat Rajkal

          Yes Megha, I happen to agree with what you said. This site is great!

    • Aravind Lochaner

      Count the number of words in the first line ,count the number of line multiply both and divide by 3.that much word only u should use.

  • Shino

    The explanation was good… Really helped.. It has totally different numbering system than what my teacher taught.. But I like this more..:-)

  • aayush suthar

    how can i write a short n simple summary that is effective in exam….. pls give idea quickly

    • Cindyy Wolfe

      arrange the notes you have made into a paragraph. done!

  • aayush suthar

    is key in note making neccesary

    • http://www.cbseguy.com/ CBSE Guy

      Yes and the key should be enclosed in a box. 🙂

  • http://www.facebook.com/nickta.shivhare Nickta Shivhare

    thanq so………….much

  • sasi

    Thank u Admin 🙂

  • Bobby

    thankyou so much its cool

  • aditi

    ohh great job..!! great effort..!

  • aakansha

    i am weak in english wat to do……?

  • 2rats

    thanx

  • aga hadi

    thanks

  • Rohit Soni

    nice effort…cbseguy…. thnxx

  • prashi

    i usually write long note making and inappropriate abv. wat should i do??

  • Umang Mevada

    Thanx a ton its the best site for cbse students….ill tell others about it…

  • Lakshay Vashishth

    Do we need to write summary?

  • http://Facebook ronak

    Thanks cbse guy thk u vry mch

  • pragati

    Wat is meant by key in notes

  • http://o abhishek

    You should put any example on note making.. I will help us to understand clearly

  • pj Akash

    thanx so much sir.. this was indeed very helpful 🙂 🙂

  • Kiran

    GREAT JOB guys…..i’m really impressed in the way of teaching in this site…..thnk-u so much…..for providing us something like this…..

  • Mihir gupta

    i am not understanding note making because figure is not giving

  • Praveen

    Can u give an example to illustrate better??

  • Navneet Singh

    note making is my weakest point where teacher aimed at me

  • Rocker Blaster Aaman

    HOW TO SCORE MORE IN ENGLISH…??? BECAUSE I TAKE TIME TO THINK IN NOTE MAKING AND I HAVE LITTLE BIT SLOW HANDWRITING..!!!