Cornell Notes

Why take notes? Studies have shown that students retain more information when they take notes in class Students pay more attention during lectures when they know they are turning in notes as part of their grade By teaching note taking skills like abbreviations and academic clues students take better notes in class

But Why Cornell Notes? Cornell notes were developed by Walter Pauk, an education professor at Cornell University in the 1950’s Students will have a clearly labeled written record of any essential question or standard covered in class. Cornell notes encourage students to go back, reassess their knowledge and review.

Cornell Structure What makes Cornell notes unique and so effective is their structure. The paper is clearly labeled and then folded into two portions, the left side being about 1/3 while the right side is about 2/3. Students leave 5-7 lines at the bottom for a summary.

Cornell Structure The left side is left blank INITIALLY, but we will come back to it later. As students listen to a lecture or take notes in class, they record their notes on the right side. Students can then return to the left side and use it write down questions they have, things they do not understand or key terms. Do not allow students to only write key terms. If you do, some of the value is lost.

Cornell Structure - Questions The questions students write on the left side should follow Costa’s Level of Questions. The objective is to have students think beyond Level 1, which are basic in what students demonstrate Ex: Define, List, Label, Restate, Discuss, etc Students should focus on Level 2 & 3 Ex: Diagram, Relate, Illustrate, Solve, Differentiate, Predict, Justify, Evaluate, etc

Cornell Structure – Questions Costa’s questions are important, they begin to have students understand where their own learning gaps are. By writing questions, it gives students a place to ask teachers and peers for help. This prevents the inevitable “I don’t get it” questions. In addition, most of our tests require students to have more than surface level understanding. Costa’s questions help students begin to think like teachers and create questions like those asked on a test.

Cornell Structure - Summary The summary is key to the students understanding. Students will often start a summary with “Today in class I learned…” this is not acceptable with Cornell Notes. The idea is to get students to think deeper, and to truly summarize what they learned discussing key points and detail.

Cornell Notes Example Examples and modeling work best with our students, so why not with teachers? Take Cornell Notes from the following (very short) lecture.

How do I encourage students to take Cornell Notes? Present any written notes in Cornell format. Handouts and worksheet can be turned into Cornell format easily by creating a left hand margin This allows students to ask questions or fill in cues creating a study guide from the handout. Emphasize structure: Reiterating will help students remember to use the format at all times.

Homework Notes Chapter questions work great in this format, as will dates or key words, concepts, people or ideas. By placing chapter questions on the left and answers on the right, students create a study guide while doing homework. Dates will mirror a timeline allowing students to visually understand the historical process

Assessment Here is the big reason why most of us do not use Cornell Notes – we don’t want to assess them or don’t know how to do so. Assessment can be as easy as checking for proper structure. A minimum number of pages could be required per week/unit/etc. Looking for the proper type of questions is more time consuming, but your students will get more out of the note taking process.

Implementation Cornell Notes can be used in EVERY subject area. There are really three levels of implementation with a lot of grey area between each.

Level 1 Implementation The easiest way to make a small change is to require students to take notes. How you assess their notes can vary, but requiring note taking (and holding students accountable for it) will begin to help students understand why they need to take notes in all classes. If you don’t take a lot of notes, students can supplement with textbook notes. If you do require a summary, make sure it is appropriate.

Level 2 Implementation In addition to requiring students to take notes, level 2 requires students to use those notes in an intimate and reoccurring fashion. Interactive notebooks work great for this, as do unit portfolios or projects. Students complete their notes and are required to reference those notes in their daily work through graphic organizers, critical reading, creative assignments, illustrations, etc. This requires more work to assess, but can be used as a daily classwork log/assignment.

Level 3 Implementation This is the best level for students to retain information, but it is also the most time consuming for teachers to assess. Students will receive the full benefits, retaining more information with a greater level of understanding. Level 3 requires students to write level 2 and 3 Costa’s questions and it requires the teacher to read those questions and assess accordingly. Students will want to write only level 1 questions, so it requires you to teach them how to write higher level questions and to hold students accountable for those questions on their notes