Im reading the textbook (voyages in world history 2nd edition) and taking notes. But they’re messy and disorganized. Is there a way to take ap world history notes? My average is in the low b’s and im normally used to making a’s. This class is causing lots of stress since i’ve never taken a class as advanced as this (took aphg last year but that was easy). Any advice?
What I do when I take notes is I read the sub-sections of the chapter i’m reading and then I write down the main ideas for each paragraph. There’s usually one sentence that says the important things. I also write down names of people and what they did and the impacts of their actions and usually the dates. Also write down any treaties,documents etc. and their impacts/dates.
My teacher gives us mini quizzes every class on the reading, so after the first few quizzes, I have an idea of what the questions will be, so I try to base my notes on that.
The important things to know are people, documents and major events and their impacts. Write down terms and definitions that are new or that you are unfamiliar with.
I find that reading the section once without writing anything down gives me a better idea of the section and helps me figure out the important things vs the fluff. Then when I go back to read it while taking notes, I automatically review everything, especially the important things.
Since World History is a very thematic course, here’s a good way to structure your notes.
Do Cornell notes (two columns). On the right hand side, write MAIN TRENDS (cultural, political, economic, social, environmental, comparison, continuity, cross cultural interaction) and follow each trend/main idea with evidence (people’s names, places, etc…). Sometimes, less writing is more.
On the left hand side, write some comments/learning aids for the trends, whether it be an acronym, important word, etc… You should do the left hand side after you complete the right.