The CORNELL WAY

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Why does structured note-taking matter?

Elapsed Days

PercentRetentionof Material

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The Four Steps of Cornell Note-Taking

Note Taking

Note Making

Note Interacting

Note Reflecting

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Note-taking – (Create Format)

O

R

N

E

L

L

W

A

Y

Create your Cornell note paper (if you don’t have pre-printed paper)

Fill in heading and topic

Write in the Essential Question

of the lesson (if not provided

by teacher, student should

generate their own)

C

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Note-taking - (Organize notes)

C

R

N

E

L

L

W

A

Y

Students should take notes on the right side of their paper

Note-taking conventions should be used such as leaving spaces, abbreviating and bulleting

Use the style and organization of the notes preferred by the student or their teacher

At this time, students SHOULD NOT be writing questions or a summary

O

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Note-making – (Review and Revise)

C

O

N

E

L

L

W

A

Y

Within 24 hours students should review their notes, preferably with a partner, looking for gaps

Graphic organizers and extra information can also be added in

The Cornell Note Revision list

can help during revision (HO)

R

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Note-making –(Note key ideas)

C

O

R

E

L

L

W

A

Y

Within 24 hours notes should be analyzed looking for “chunks” of material with the same main idea

Once chunks have been identified, corresponding questions should be written in the left column

“Cornell Note Questions” handout (HO) can help students write higher level questions

N

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Note-making -(Exchange ideas)

C

O

R

N

L

L

W

A

Y

Collaborate with peers to compare, enhance and refine your notes

Students can check each others’ notes using the “Collaboration Protocol” worksheet (HO)

Teachers can facilitate this process through the use of a Partner Appointment

Clock (HO)

E

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Note interacting - (Link learning)

C

O

R

N

E

L

W

A

Y

Using the notes, questions, Essential question, students link all of this material together to write a summary

Summary Introductory sentence – a response to the

essential question Subsequent sentences – responses to the

question they wrote for each “chunk” of material A detailed explanation of this process is given

in the Cornell Note Summary Template (HO)

L

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Note interacting – (Learning tool)

C

O

R

N

E

L

W

A

Y

Students should use their completed notes to study for upcoming tests and quizzes

One study method is the “fold-over”

Notes should also be used to write questions for AVID tutorials, as well as

during tutorials

L

12

Note reflecting - (Written Feedback)

C

O

R

N

E

L

L

A

Y

Written feedback should be given weekly from the AVID teacher, tutors and/or peers

Grading needs to focus on quality as much as quantity

Some ways to provide feedback are the

“C Note Rubric” (HO) or C Note

Checklist” (HO)W

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Note reflecting– (Address feedback)

C

O

R

N

E

L

L

W

Y

Use the “Cornell Note Focus Goal Activity” (HO) to create goals for growth in students’ note-taking

A

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Note reflecting – (Your reflection)

C

O

R

N

E

L

L

W

A

Students should gather all their notes from a topic

Student should then review their notes, questions and summaries from the topic

Completing a “Cornell Note Reflective Log” brings closure to the process

Y

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How to Scaffold Cornell Notes

Work solely on Step 1 (Note Taking) until students are proficient Using appropriate headings Setting up the paper for Cornell Notes Taking notes on the right side Using note-taking conventions

* This step could easily encompass your entire first six weeks

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How to Scaffold Cornell Notes

Once students are proficient at Note Taking, move on to Note Making Give time in class and during tutorials for students

to compare notes and fill in gaps The Cornell Note Revision list can help during

revision (HO) Practice chunking notes into sections

*Note that we haven’t even started with questions or the summary yet!

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How to Scaffold Cornell Notes

Now that the right side of our notes is being done at a high level, we’re ready to move on to the Note Making step of writing questions This step should reinforce other lessons that have been taught on

levels of inquiry Allow Level 1 questions at first to build success, then begin refining to

higher level questions Encourage students to guess questions that they expect to see on

the test over this material Also encourage (or mandate) students to use questions from their left

column as their tutorial questions

*If you get all of this accomplished in the first semester, you’ve done a great job!

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How to Scaffold Cornell Notes

Once the left and right sides are being done at a high level, we can begin working on the summary (Note Interacting) Using the notes, questions, Essential question,

students link all of this material together to write a summary

Introductory sentence – a response to the essential question

Subsequent sentences – responses to the question they wrote for each “chunk” of material

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How to Scaffold Cornell Notes

Now students can be taught how to study the notes using the fold-over method

If all of these steps are completed, then you can move on to Note Reflecting (don’t worry if you don’t get here in Year 1!)

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How to teach this to your students

Scaffold! Give students time in class to do all of this

Cornell Notes should be one of your top priorities in your AVID class, and therefore how you allocate your class time

Tier One Priorities: Tutorials, Binders and Organization, Cornell Notes

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Contact information

www.avidonline.orgName

AddressAddress

Phone (000) 000-0000name@avidcenter.org