What you’ve always wanted to know about…
Cornell Notes
Do Now Monday 2/8/16
First, let’s do a Quick Write. Answer the
following questions.
How did you learn to take notes?
 How skilled are you at note-taking?
 How do you think taking good notes can
contribute to your success as a student in
middle school? in high school? in
college? in a job? in life?
 Are there any other benefits to notetaking skills?

There are many ways to take notes. You should
learn several strategies. Different learning
situations may call for different strategies.
Sometimes you take notes while listening
to your teacher in class.
 Sometimes you take notes while you read
(a textbook, a novel, an article, a poem,
etc.)
 Sometimes you take notes when watching
a film, TV, or a PowerPoint presentation.

You can write notes…
 randomly on lined paper
 as a Dialectical Journal
 in a Reading Response Log
 in an outline form
 on sticky-notes
 in margins of the text (if allowed!)
There are even new electronic “notepads”
for taking notes without pen or paper!
however,
with Cornell Notes you can…
take notes for almost all learning situations
 be more organized
 be more efficient and save time
 use them to review and study for tests
 and you will find them very easy to use!

and NO batteries needed!
Where did this technique
come from?
•Developed in 1949 at Cornell University by Walter Pauk.
•Designed in response to frustration over student test scores.
•Meant to be easily used as a test study guide.
•Adopted by most major law schools as the preferred note taking method.
•Used by A.V.I.D. students world-wide!
To begin….
Start with a blank
sheet of lined paper.
Draw or fold to create
a left-hand column
about 2 ½ inches
wide. Then draw or
fold about 2 inches up
from the bottom to
create a place for
summary writing.
Note: A modified version of Cornell Notes might not include the area for writing a summary.
Here is an example of
Cornell notes about
Literary Elements.
Topic or Title
Why is the
strategy of
Cornell Notes
valuable to me
as a student?
Student Name
Today’s Date
Period #
•Cornell Notes = an effective way to study
•helps me to understand the material
•quiz myself later
Summary:
Cornell notes will help me for a variety of reasons. I will be able to quiz myself
every night so I will be better prepared for tests and quizzes. Also, now I
know I will be reading the entire section or article, rather than merely
skimming it to find the answers to certain questions (or just looking at the
bolded words).