THE CORNELL METHOD OF NOTETAKING

How to Take Cornell Notes:

Divide your paper into 4 sections

  • Section 1: Lesson or reading topic
  • Section 2: Cues for studying (e.g. vocab words, questions). Complete this section after you're done taking notes in Section 3.
  • Section 3: Take notes in point form and write in your own words.
  • Section 4: Summarize the main ideas in 2-4 sentences. Complete this section later that day.

PRO TIP: Get several pages ready to go ahead of time.

How to Use Cornell Notes to Study:

  • For Quick Review: Simply read through all your summaries in section 4.
  • For More In-Depth Review: Cover up section 3 with another piece of paper. Ask yourself the questions from section 2. Lift the paper to see if you got the answer right. Highlight any questions that you got wrong to help you identify areas where you need to spend more time reviewing.

Advantages:

  • Notes and review materials are all in one place
  • Keeps info organized and easy to review
  • Useful for reviewing information in multiple ways
  • Writing summaries improves understanding and helps you remember more of what you learned

Disadvantages:

  • Need to set up your pages ahead of time
  • Completing Sections 2 and 4 takes extra time and effort
  • Not suitable for research 
  • Less visual than some other methods

Avoid Plagiarism and Improve Your Notetaking with: