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Instructional Strategy

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INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY

Visual Note-Taking

Grade:

3-5, 6-8, 9-12, UNIV

Type:

Summarize & Synthesize
/ Develop Language (MLL)
20-30

Minutes

When:

Before, during, and after reading

Materials:

Paper or sketchbook, preselected text or video, Visual Note-Taking graphic organizer, whiteboard or display, writing utensil
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Description

Hand-drawn doodles and diagrams on graph paper, including arrows, shapes, and text.
© Darya Yahmina—iStock/ Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
The Visual Note-Taking strategy, also called sketchnoting, combines text and visuals to enhance understanding and retention of information. This method encourages students to actively engage with the material by drawing symbols, diagrams, and pictures alongside written notes.
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Procedure

1
Tell students that they will be learning about the concept of visual note-taking to enhance their understanding and retention of information. Explain that visual note-taking involves combining text and visuals, such as drawings, symbols, and diagrams, to capture key points and concepts. This method engages different parts of the brain, making the learning process more engaging and memorable.
2
Distribute a Visual Note-Taking graphic organizer. Explain that these are simple sketches of symbols that can be used to represent key ideas when taking visual notes.
3
Read a short text or watch a video with the class.
4
Ask students to share a key idea or detail from the text or video and demonstrate how to take visual notes for this information, modeling the process. Show how to create headers, bullet points, arrows, and illustrations to organize and highlight important information. Use simple drawings and symbols to visually represent ideas.
5
Give students time to familiarize themselves with the drawings and practice sketching them.
6
Encourage students to either watch you model the process or sketch along with you using a piece of notebook or blank paper. Emphasize that there is no right or wrong way to take visual notes.
7
Ask students to continue taking visual notes for the remainder of the text or video. Circulate the room to offer guidance and support as they create their notes.
8
Invite students to share their visual notes with a partner or the class, discussing different styles and techniques used and highlighting how various approaches can effectively capture and represent information.
9
Encourage feedback and positive reinforcement to build confidence in students’ visual note-taking skills.
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Differentiation

Guided Sketches: Provide templates with basic structures for beginners, offering visual aids, symbol guides, and the use of digital tools with accessibility features for support. These additions make it easier for all students to engage with and benefit from visual note-taking.
Cross-Curriculum Connections: Encourage students to create more detailed and complex visual notes, and challenge them to integrate visual note-taking with concepts learned across other content areas. Building cross-curriculum connections enhances critical thinking and retention.

Multilingual Learning Support

Beginning Proficiency: Support visual note-taking by teaching a core set of universal symbols (e.g., arrows, stars, basic shapes) that transcend language barriers. Model how to use these symbols alongside home language annotations to capture key ideas from texts or videos. Provide a bilingual word bank of common transitional phrases (first, next, then, finally) and academic verbs (describes, shows, means) that students can reference when organizing their notes. This allows students to focus on capturing content understanding through visuals while building English academic language.
Intermediate Proficiency: Build note-taking skills by teaching students to create a personal visual vocabulary that pairs simple English academic phrases with self-created symbols (e.g., a light bulb for main idea, a question mark for I wonder). Model how to organize notes using both languages—perhaps using the home language for initial quick notes during reading/viewing and then adding English academic terms during review. When students share with partners, encourage them to first explain their symbols in their home language and then practice using simple English phrases to describe their thinking process.
Advanced Proficiency: Enhance sophisticated note-taking by teaching students to develop efficient visual shorthand that incorporates academic vocabulary. Model how to quickly sketch subject-specific symbols (e.g., ≠ for different from, → for leads to) alongside concise English notes. Have students create legend boxes on their papers that define their personal symbols and corresponding academic terms. During partner sharing, encourage students to use precise academic language to explain how their visual system helps them organize and remember key concepts. This builds both visual thinking skills and academic language fluency while maintaining the quick pace needed for effective note-taking.
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Variations

Collaborative Visual Notes: Encourage students to work together in groups to create visual notes, combining their ideas and perspectives to capture key concepts and information. This collaborative approach fosters teamwork, enhances understanding through peer learning, and allows students to share different styles and techniques in visual note-taking.
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