Cornell Notes

Cornell Notes

Taking notes from books or speakers is an important way for you to learn.  However, just taking notes is not enough.  After you write down the information, you have to process it – you have to make sense of the information, comparing it to what you already know and deciding what you still need to learn.  Cornell Notes are a good way to take notes that will be useful to you in passing tests.

How to use Cornell Notes:

Step One: Set up your paper like this:

Main Idea	Notes	Questions Connections Visualizations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Summary:

Step Two: Write main ideas or subject headings in the far left column. (The amount of mains ideas you take notes on will depend on the reading and teacher instructions.)  When taking notes from a textbook, you shouldn’t limit yourself to subheadings.  Don’t forget to look at information in boxes, pictures and captions, footnotes, etc. 

Step Three: Write facts and ideas in the middle column.  Be sure to write neatly enough so that you can read it later.  Don’t use complete sentences – keep it short.  Put things in your own words if you can.

Step Four: In the right column, write any questions that you have about what you are hearing or reading.  Also, write anything that the subject reminds you of (connections) or draw a small picture or icon to help you remember the information (visualizations).

Step Five: At the end of your note-taking, summarize your notes into a short paragraph.  Pick out the most important ideas from the reading or lecture for your summary.