30.2. We Can Best Learn about Homelands by Learning about Immigrants SL1.

What Are We Learning Today?
Today, we're practicing reading things and turning them into useful notes for discussion.


How do We Do This?

Today, we're going to take "Chain of Main Idea" Notes. This is like the summary, but faster, shorter, and can be done in the margin.

Why Learn How to Take Margin Notes?

Many times you are asked to read something before a class and be ready to talk about it the next day. This is tough if you don't know what's important. Taking notes on the document or on a file right near it allows you to create a little map in the margin. Then, once you are in class, you have proof that you read it, even if you get stumped on a question, but, more importantly, you can scan down the margin notes to find the spot that you think you missed.

What about Highlighting or Underlining Important Stuff?

I really like that idea, but it never worked out for me (as a student or teacher). Here are my reasons:

1. Taking the margin notes forces you to think and decide what's important. With highlighting, sometimes you're thinking, sometimes you're not.
2. If you don't put things into your own words, you (and your teacher) can't tell if you actually understand it or whether you just picked it out.
3. Everything can be viewed important in an article, or it wouldn't have been printed -- it costs money to print words (writers sometimes get paid by the word, and ink and paper cost money). With highlighting or underlining, sometimes people go nuts and highlight half the page. They might totally see a value to everything, but that doesn't help them sort out what's most important.

So, I circle names and draw an arrow to the margin where I wrote the initials to save work. I sometimes underline things that seem important to me but aren't the main idea. You have to find something that works for you, but you'll find that the underlining way usually leaves half of kids still without any grip on what they read, just a bunch of "work." Schoolwork without learning is a waste of time, both yours and mine. 

How to Do This

1. For each paragraph, express the main idea in three or four words or symbols, like "Americans distrust gov't," or "Scientists excited about Venus."
2. If you were writing, you'd write it on the copy in the column. If you're reading, type it up in a list in Google Drive or use the annotate feature if you're reading a downloaded .pdf.
3. Use abbreviations. Here's a list of suggested ones:

• = for is/am/was/were/are/be/being/been
• b/c for because
• -> for If/then (like "More spending -> more jobs," for "If people spend more, then there'll be more job."
• initials for people's names (MLK for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)
• + for and

anything else that makes it shorter, but allows you to still understand it.

One Time Together


Open one of these and take margin notes for it on a piece of paper or in Google Drive.

"Immigrants' Children Find Better Life, Study Shows" from The New York Times
"Many U.S. Immigrants' Children Seek American Dream Abroad" from The New York Times
"Success of Immigrants' Children Measured" from The New York Times
"A Way to Teach American" from The New York Times
"Fatalism and the American Dream" from The New York Times
"Immigrants in America: The Second-Generation Story" from CNN
"Immigrant Study: 'Second Generation' Has Edge" from National Public Radio
"More Than Mexican: Study Highlights Diversity Among Latinos" from CNN
"Greeks Ask Themselves: 'Who's a Greek?" from National Public Radio
"When Chanting 'USA! USA!' is Not Patriotic" from CNN
"Path to Citizenship Should be a Long Hike" from CNN

We'll be talking about this stuff to answer our big questions, but I am not going to tell you which question I am going to ask. Test out your notes to see if you can use them to find the spot where you need to get your text evidence.