Because, without key concepts , it is hard to work out what to find out. Even when children have key questions, why do so many fail to recognise that the information is there. Unless key concepts and key search words are embedded into key questions and used consciously to scan and skim for the information like a detective looking for clues, students have difficulty making links between text and questions. Key words and key concepts are the missing links. It s ten times worse with Encarta and the Internet.
Students just download information indiscriminately, even if they started with questions.
Without encouragement they seldom look at more than one source of information, and seldom look at that one source more than superficially. Ready access to printers has made Write it in your own words seem like a churlish request. Notemaking grows out of a conceptual understanding of what facts, figures, ideas are central to that topic and why it is being studied. This conceptual understanding is iterative. As you read more, make notes on it, and think more, your initial key concepts, key search words, and key questions are enriched and expanded.