To the Next Power
Using Power Notes to Organize Information
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 3: Literacy for GrowthAges:
7-12
Grade Range:
3rd 4th 5th 6thFood Groups:
Primary: Reading Comprehension Strategies
Activity Description
Preparation:
1. Choose a short passage from a non-fiction information book
2. Reproduce the template for making Power Notes on chart paper
3. Photocopy the Power Notes graphic organizer for each student
Implementation:
Session 1:
1. Introduce the concept of Power Notes
a. Tell the students that texts have main ideas and supporting information and as supporting information
gets more specific it gets “farther away” from the main topic
2. Model Power Notes
a. Choose a topic and write it on the chart paper in the Power Notes organizer (for example, animals)
b. Under the Power 1 heading, write down a main idea about the topic (for example, animals are living
organisms)
c. Under the Power 2 heading, write down an example that is more specific than Power 1 (for example,
animals can be categorized as mammals and non-mammals)
d. Complete Power 3 and 4, encouraging students to generate ideas on the topic that increase in
specificity
3. Practice as a class
a. Choose another topic and guide the students through the process again
4. Assign a topic and allow students to practice making Power Notes independently
5. Discuss the process of making Power Notes
a. Ask students to share the material they wrote
b. Allow students to ask questions to clarify the process of making Power Notes
Session 2:
1. Review the process of making Power Notes
2. Model how to write Power Notes with a non-fiction text
a. Read the chosen non-fiction passage out loud
b. While reading, engage in a think aloud and write down jot notes of ideas to be included in the Power
Notes
c. Make Power Notes on chart paper using the procedure outlined in Session 1
• Ask students to guide you through the process as extra review
3. Have students practice making their own Power Notes independently
a. Allow students to choose a passage and topic from the collection of non-fiction books
b. Hand out Power Notes graphic organizers
c. Circulate the room while students work on their Power Notes individually
4. Discuss with the whole class
a. Have students discuss why ideas are put at different power levels
Adaptations For
English Language Learners/ESL:
- Have students arrange cards that you have prepared with Power 1,2,3, and 4 ideas for different topics
- Choose topics and non-fiction books that use simplified vocabulary
LD/Reading & Writing Difficulties:
- Reduce the number of powers
- Allow students to orally express their ideas or type them on a computer
- Teach the concepts "general" and "pecific" before modelling Power Notes
- Give extra support in helping students to determine what is a main idea
Cultural Appropriateness & Diversity:
- Choose topics that reflect the cultures of the students in the classroom
Related References
Source: Strong, W. R., Silver, H. F., Perini, M. J. (2008). Reading for Academic Success, Grades 2-6: Differentiated Strategies for Struggling, Average, and Advanced Readers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Evidence: Hall-Kenyon, K. M., Black, S. (2010). Learning from expository texts: Classroom-based strategies for promoting comprehension and content knowledge in the elementary grades. Topics in Language Disorders, 30, 339-349.
Activity Objective
The goal of To the Next Power: Using Power Notes to Organize Information is to provide students with a method of organizing textual information that allows them to practice distinguishing general ideas from more specific ones about a topic.
What You Need
Prep Time:
15 minutes
- Gather non-fiction information books
- Create the template for Power Notes on chart paper
- Make two copies of the Power Notes graphic organizer for each student
Task Time:
2, 40-minute sessions
Session 1:
- Teacher models the process of making Power Notes with any topic
- Students practice making Power Notes independently
Session 2:
- Teacher models generating Power Notes using a non-fiction passage
- Students choose topics and passages from non-fiction books and practice making Power Notes for them
Materials Required:
Teacher:
- Non-fiction information books
- Chart paper
- Markers
- Power Notes graphic organizer
What You Do
Teacher Role:
Modeling:
- when demonstrating how to make Power Notes using a non-fiction text
Consultant:
- when students are practicing making Power Notes individually
Student Grouping:
Whole Class:
- during modeling, group practice, and sharing
Individual:
- during extra practice with topics and texts
Assessment Ideas:
- Use a checklist to assess students' Power Notes worksheets (for example, is there a clear main idea written in Power 1? Are the subsequent ideas written in Powers 2, 3, and 4 relevant to the topic and increasing in specificity compared to Power 1?)
Quick Tips
Activity Extensions:
- Use several Power Notes worksheets to identify all the main themes in a text, section or textbook chapter
- Incorporate Power Notes as one of the main activities in a research project
Have students write a paragraph about a specific topic using the information organized in the Power Notes
Additional Comments:
- Power Notes can be used to organize material learned in a range of curricular areas (for example, social studies, science, geography, history).
- Encourage the students to use Power Notes as a studying tool for major unit tests and quizzes.
