MAKING NOTES

1. MAKING NOTES For the Controlled Assessment

2. SO – WHAT REVISION TECHNIQUES CAN YOU USE? • SHRINK – • COLOUR • DIAGRAMS • MNEMONICS

3. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? • The Controlled Assessment is not an ‘exam’. • This is because you CAN bring in notes with you to help you answer the question. • However, you cannot just bring anything in – there are restrictions.

4. LIMITS TO NOTES • You can only bring in TWO SIDES of notes and ONE SIDE of plans/diagrams • They can only be notes (bulleted, numbered etc) not whole sentences. • If typed – it has to be in font 12. • The diagrams can be in any format you like – spider diagrams, boxes, arrows etc

5. How to do this • Stick to the limits – but try to pack in as much as you can on your 2 sides of A4 paper (font 12 – if hand written – write small!!) • You will have to make notes from the ‘Factsheets’. • You will then have to organise your notes to answer the question. • The factsheets have a lot of information on them so you will have to learn how to SHRINK the notes

6. REMEMBER - - • The question is only about the Second World War – no need to make notes on the First World War. • The question is - - • ‘The extent of change in the role of government in the Second World War.’

7. SHRINK • Where there is a lot of information to be remembered – you need to shrink it down so that it becomes manageable – and then organise it so that you can use it in the Controlled Assessment • There are lots of different ways of doing this – but all involve making briefer notes.

8. HOW TO DO THIS - • Firstly you need to read through the information - but you have to be careful to pick out the really important points. • Pay careful attention to any headings and sub headings – these can form the basis of your reduced notes.

9. NEXT - - • Having picked out the main points – write them down as notes – this means not everything but only the main points and key words. • Use ways of listing the points – numbers, letters, bullets, headings, sub headings. • Make your own shrunken notes from Factsheet 1 on leadership in war.

10. And then - - • When you have finished the shrunken notes for one section – move on to the next until you have done all 7 areas. • THEN you have to make sure that everything will fit onto 2 sides of A4 – so you may have to shrink again to do this.

11. TO PRACTICE • Have a go at shrinking Factsheet 2 • First of all read – then make brief notes • Don’t panic if you don’t get it all right at first – you have to keep trying - and eventually you will get it right.

12. COLOUR / EMPHASISE • A very Popular technique – and an addition to simply making briefer notes. • Can be used for text or any kind of information. • As before – read through the information and try to sort out the really important points. • Then - - -

13. Use colours, highlighters or just underlining to emphasise the main key words or points –to make them stand out. • Use different colours for different sections or aspects – or different levels of importance eg red for very important, blue for important, green for less important.

14. THEN - • Create a ‘summary sheet’ using just those words or points which you have coloured or underlined. • These will be your reduced notes.

15. RULES FOR MAKING SUMMARY SHEETS • Don’t write out whole sentences – just key words or points to jog your memory • Underline or highlight any really important words or points again. • Use colours to highlight different kinds of information. • Gather all the summary sheets for different topics together – they can be your revision notes.

16. Remember - - • Read to get the gist and spot the main points • Highlight key words, points – colour, underline, use different colours • Reduce to a summary sheet

17. DIAGRAMS • Some people have what’s called a ‘spatial memory’ and find it easier to remember shapes, pictures, diagrams – than lists or tables. • This is another way of organising revision information. • The most common is ‘mind maps’ or sometimes called ‘spider diagrams’.

18. An example of a mind map Need to mobilise the economy and population Need for smaller ‘war cabinet’ Need to fight aggressively eg Churchill Need for leadership Need for emergency powers eg Emergency Powers Act Need to include all parties eg Churchill’s ‘national government

19. How to make them? • Put a central title • Divide the information into sections / topic areas – you might have to read carefully to work this out or it might be obvious from the side headings. • Draw branches out – each one representing one topic or area – you can use colour coding • Then add more sub branches to complete

20. Additional notes • For each topic you do there will be an ‘investigation’ – which requires you to look things up on your own. • Try to include some of the things you have found out as ‘additional notes’ which are not on the factsheets • This will help to make your answer different from everyone else's. • If it is good stuff you will get more marks!

21. HOW TO USE NOTES • You can use these for revision on their own. • Take them into the Controlled Assessment as a reminder of the main points you have to include.

22. MOST IMPORTANT • You MUST make a plan of your answer overall – its structure, where your notes fit in, your conclusion. • This can be brought into the room when you do your controlled assessment.