APES Unit 8: Scaffolds for Student Note-Taking

Although AP classes are intended to be college-level courses offered through the College Board, many students lack the skills necessary for obtaining and/or organizing the content required for mastery.

As an educator, I feel that guided notes do not require a great deal of student investment. Additionally, the overall number of worksheets will likely cause issues with organization. Student notes only benefit "future student," so it is imperative that they are easy to navigate in order to pull information. Teaching students how to organize their notes is time-consuming and an added task often taken on by the teacher.

In my APES class, I require students to obtain and use a composition notebook for note-taking. Each topic featured in the CED (Course & Exam Description) should be clearly labeled on the top and start on a new page. Whether students obtain the content from one of the various textbooks or available content videos on YouTube, it is difficult for students to determine importance in note-taking.

I created these one-page scaffolds to support student note-taking as they obtain content. The scaffolds provide suggested spacing for the various topics, as well as required topics and clarifying questions to better support their understanding.

The PDFs can be printed in color or delivered to students digitally as a pre-read so they can plan out their notes and determine importance with content acquisition.