FREE AP World History Note-Taking Template

Feb 24

3 min read

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As I was working on the information pages for all of the different topics and time periods covered in the AP World History curriculum, I kept thinking about how I would have students take notes on this massive amount of information. At first, I thought I might make notes pages for each topic. I quickly dismissed this idea because it would take an extraordinary amount of time, and it wouldn’t be very helpful as people would have to guess at what I was thinking or constantly check the answer key.

Luckily for everyone, completing the information slides took me a long time, so I had a lot of time to think about the notes. I realized that I would want students to know when and where what they were learning about occurred. This built the front of the note-taking template. First, I created a timeline that showed major empires and time periods in six areas (Europe, Asia, India, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East). I chose these areas because they had the most unique events relative to each other over time. The time periods shown on the timelines are designed to help students orient themselves quickly.

Once I decided how students could show when something happened, I needed a way for them to show where something happened. For this, I put a world map with modern boundaries under the timeline. Now, all students needed was a highlighter to quickly build context around what they were studying.

Here is an example of the first side of a notes page I created about the Majapahit Empire:

As you can see, students can quickly see that the Majapahit Empire was dominating Southeast Asia before the Age of Exploration in Europe while the Ottoman Empire was ruling the Middle East.

Of course, knowing when and where an empire existed isn’t enough. For the main notes, I wanted to create a framework that could be used with any topic and would help students organize information in their heads to prepare for the types of questions they will see on the AP World History test.

First, I created a table showing the six themes in AP World History. Many people organize information this way using a SPICE-T chart. I love this table because students are forced to organize information as they add to it. This added cognitive load while taking notes will make students more likely to remember what they write. Second, students do not need to complete the entire table for every topic. Giving students a choice about how and where they record information helps them take accountability for their learning.

Next, I wanted students to have a place to think about the reasoning processes that the AP World History test uses, including connections, cause and effect, and continuity and change. I also added a box for students to record any important people, places, or events they want to remember.

Finally, I left space for students to record their own topic summary. Putting information into their own words is the best way for them to consolidate what they learned.

Here is an example of my notes page on the Majapahit Empire.

I love this template because it provides structure to help students focus on the important information (knowing what is and isn’t important in a text is a skill that needs to be taught and practiced), but it also leaves room for them to make the information their own. As a result, they will be more likely to remember and know when to use information on the AP World History exam.

In fact, I love this template so much that I will share it with you all for FREE! You can download it here and use it anytime! You can use it with your existing information resources, or you can use my slide shows and blog posts. You can access all of the slideshows on my website for FREE anytime, or you can purchase slideshows to share with your students on your learning platform.

Here is the FREE AP World History Note-Taking Template

I hope you find this resource helpful in your classroom! If you have any ideas for making it even better, let me know!

Meanwhile, want access to all of my informational slides and texts for AP World History? Check out my AP World History Homepage! All of the links you need are there!