How to Take Notes to Effectively Support Arguments

Help middle or high school students with note-taking skills to select strong textual evidence to develop their claims in argumentative writing, including essays, research papers, and debate speeches. The SEARCH acronym categorizes text evidence to help students recognize essential details in nonfiction texts as follows:

S - statistics or number facts

E - events 

A - anecdotes 

R - remarks from an expert or eyewitness 

C - comparison

H - historical fact.

This resource includes a colorful 11-slide PDF presentation and learning activities to help students recognize the types of information represented in the SEARCH acronym.

Included in this product :

• Slide Presentation (11 slide PDF)
• 2 SEARCH Practice Exercises
• SEARCH Graphic Organizer (blank)
• SEARCH Anchor Chart
• Note-Taking Graphic Organizer
• Explain it to a Younger Sibling Writing Activity

Ideas for how to use this resource in a lesson:

Mini-Lesson: Use the slide presentation to introduce students to the SEARCH acronym for selecting strong textual evidence

Guided or Independent Practice: Use practice exercises 1 and 2 to help students recognize different types of evidence represented in the SEARCH acronym. Students can complete exercises as a whole class, in groups, as a station activity, with a partner, or independently. An answer key is provided.

Formative Assessment: Use the SEARCH Graphic Organizer or Explain it to a Younger Sibling Writing Activity as an exit ticket, quiz, or group activity to gauge what students remember or understand about selecting strong textual evidence.

Skill Application or Independent Practice: Students can use the SEARCH Anchor Chart for future reference when completing argumentative writing assignments.

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