Sketchnoting in the Classroom

Visual thinkers are deep thinkers.

Add sketchnoting to your toolkit as an instructor as you help your students develop their own visual thinking skills.

A Resource Kit For Educators

Within this resource kit you'll find ready-to-use video lessons and activities that will help you weave sketchnoting into your classroom.

The Purpose

Add sketchnoting to your toolkit as an instructor to better develop and deliver curriculum.
Introduce sketchnoting to your students and help them develop and apply their skills in a subject-specific way.

The Resources

Short videos with printable follow-up activities to weave sketchnoting seamlessly into your lessons.
A printable card deck with quick prompts that encourage students to engage with information on a deep (but still playful) level.

Part 1: Sketchnoting Skills

In this first section, you and your students will develop the individual sketchnoting skills that are the building blocks for any style of visual note-taking.

Video Lessons:

- Handwritten Fonts (6:03)
- Icons (3:39)
- Faces (4:07)
- Arrows (3:08)
- Stick Figures (4:53)
- Color (4:21)
- Scenes (3:18)
- Containers (4:41)
- Lists (3:54)
- Dividers (3:26)
- Empathy Maps (3:22)
- Filtering (2:58)
- Synthesizing (4:51)

Part 2: Sketchnoting Processes

In the second section of video lessons, you and your students will learn how to combine the skills from Part 1 into specific note-taking processes.

Share different sketchnoting processes and help your students decide which is the best fit for them.

Video Lessons:

- Cornell + Sketchnoting (4:36)
- Mind Mapping (6:08)
- Flowcharts (3:52)
- Timelines (5:00)
- Card By Card (4:13)
- Brick Road Approach (4:35)

Part 3: Subject-Specific Sketchnoting

In the third section we explore the best ways to apply your sketchnoting skills to specific subject areas.

Each subject area lends itself to different types of visual thinking activities.

Video Lessons:

- Social Studies (5:47)
- Science (6:38)
- Math (5:54)
- Language Arts (4:37)
- Physical Education (5:25)
- Art (6:38)
- Foreign Language (8:44)
- Journalism (7:06)
- Cross-Discipline (4:29)

What Teachers Are Saying

Tammy M.

I signed up for Sketchnoting in the Classroom a few years ago. Each year, I teach the different strategies to my students. It really helps them with jotting down notes in their own 'words.' Many of my students will use pictures in their notes. It is extremely effective. I also use it with my notes when taking PD or notes during meetings.

Melaine D’Cruze

This is the go-to resource for teachers or parents who want their students or kids to get into visual learning. I have used this resource to help my kids with their school work and it works! My sons have learned to apply visual thinking skills for organizing their thoughts, visualizing concepts and solving problems.

Jan Lenon

As an AVID Performance school we use AVID strategies, and using sketchnoting as a way of taking notes has really increased student participation, recall, and enjoyment. I made a booklet out of the handouts from this resource kit and spent the first few weeks of school using that booklet to teach how I wanted them to take notes. All year, students used it as a reference.

The Card Deck

A card deck of quick sketchnoting activities that you can use to fill any open classroom time with something meaningful and engaging.

Distance Learning

Some updates I've made to this resource kit to facilitate the transition to an online learning environment.

Additional Resources

This resource kit also includes these two downloads:

TheVTVNotebook

A 100%-sketched set of 128 skill-building activities, all of which are designed to help you develop the skills you need to become a proficient visual note-taker.

VisualVocabularyPackTransparent

A set of ready-to-use hand-sketched icons (in PNG and SVG format) plus an actionable guide that will walk you through the steps of building you own personalized visual vocabulary.

The Benefits

The primary benefits of this resource kit:

Teach Your Students A Lifelong Skill
Too many students think that 1) they can't draw and/or 2) drawing doesn't belong in the classroom. By showing them otherwise you'll be opening the door to a more creative and fulfilled future.
Improve Your Skills As An Instructor
By developing your own sketchnoting skills you'll be better prepared to reach the visual learners in your classroom, making this addition to your instructional toolkit invaluable.
Seamless Integration with Core Content
Let me carry the weight of sketchnoting instruction so that you can focus on applying those skills to your content area.
Free Coaching Calls
Get access to one-on-one coaching calls at no additional cost to chat about how it's going in your classroom.