Cornell Notes provides a systematic format for condensing and organizing notes without “recopying”. It is an
effective way to organizing notes in order to identify the key points/events and recall information easily.. It can
be used to introduce note-taking strategies to students.. It can also be used to differentiate between students
within a class.
•
You may choose to pre-fill the first few Cornell notes pages for students as you teach them to identify
topics & keywords and how to structure their notes.
•
You may also pre-fill certain parts of the Cornell notes for students (topic/objective, essential question, or
the most important keywords from the lesson)
•
The “summary” can be choice-based or it can be the same each time ( I suggest teaching ALL students
how to write a simple summary first using a certain # of the key words!)
Other Tips & Tricks:
•
Checking Cornell notes in class as opposed to having students submit them for a grade can easily be done
while students are independently working.
•
Use one of the student’s completed Cornell notes for absent students to copy – HOWEVER, they should be
responsible for completing their OWN summary and processing!
WHAT IS PROCESSING?
This is a crucial step in the note-taking process because it requires the note-taker to think critically
about the information and “process” the notes multiple ways – all of which help with retention
and understanding of the content.
The left side of the brain
helps you makes sense of
what is right in front of
you.
The right side of the
brain processes what you
know and pulls from the
memory.
left = output
processing
should always go
on the left side
RIGHT = INPUT
Cornell notes
should always go
on the right side