Cornell Notes

1. Cornell Notes WASC: Literacy / Numeracy / “F” Rate January 9, 2012

2. Brief History • Developed in 1949 at Cornell University by Walter Pauk. • Designed in response to frustration over student test scores. • Meant to be easily used as a test study guide. • Adopted by most major law schools as the preferred note taking method.

3. Why Take Notes ? • Cornell note taking stimulates critical thinking skills. • Note taking helps students remember what is said in class. • A good set of notes can help students work on assignments and prepare for tests outside of the classroom.

4. Why Take Notes ? • Good notes allow students to help each other problem solve. • Good Notes help students organize and process data and information. • Cornell Notes help students recall by getting them to process their notes 3 times. • Writing is a great tool for learning!

5. The Look of Cornell Notes Heading • 4 Parts • Heading • Body • Main Ideas • Summary Main Ideas Body Summary

6. Cornell Parts - Heading • The Heading includes • Full Name • Course Title • Date • Period • Topic Jim Jones Algebra December 11, 2008 Period 4 6-2 Solving Systems by Substitution p. 336

7. Cornell Parts - Body • Takes up about 75% of the paper width (depending on the amount of content, it might spill onto the back side of the paper). • Students take notes in whatever format they choose • Notes are taken as the lecture or information is given • Could include pictures, graphic organizers, bulleted text, paragraphs, tables, charts, etc. • Sometimes it is difficult to identify the exact solution to a system by graphing • Substitution is used to reduce the system to one equation that has only one variable.

8. Cornell Parts – Main Ideas Objective: Solve system of equations by substituting for one of the variables Why do you use substitution and not graphing? Steps to solving by substitution How do I know which variable to solve for? How do I check to make sure I have the right answer? • This column takes up about 25% of the paper width • A list of the main Ideas / questions from the notes • These questions should elicit critical thinking skills. • Questions that can be used as a review of material • The Main ideas can be written during the note taking process or after the notes are all done.

9. Cornell Parts – Summary • This section takes up the last 5 – 6 lines of the notes • The summary is to be written after the notes are done (can be done as homework) • This needs to be in paragraph form and contain 3 – 5 sentences. • It needs to be in the students own words Summary

10. Cornell Parts – Sample Summary Sample #1: Today in class we talked about substitution. We did 4 examples. You have to solve for one to get the other. I did not get it. Sample #2: Solving equations by substitution is better than graphing because we do not have to guess at the answer. There are five steps to solving by substitution including 1) solve for one variable, 2) substitute it into the other equation, 3) solve the equation, 4) Substitute the answer into the equation from step 2 and 5) check your answer. I do not understand how you know which variable to solve for first.

12. Cornell Power • The real power of Cornell Notes is having to write the material 3 times: body, main ideas, summary. • These notes also form a great study guide. • Quick review – students can read their summaries • Self Quiz – students can fold the paper along the Main Idea column and quiz each other • Great notes will also include page references, highlighting of vocabulary, and other study helps.

13. Cornell Buy-in • How do I get students to take Cornell Notes? • Cornell Notes are allowed on quizzes • Turn in their best notes once a week • Instead of a warm-up, have the students pair-share their summary • Students used Cornell Notes for about a week but then stopped. • If it is important to you, make it part of your daily routine, • “Take out your Cornell Notes,” • “Who has a great summary they would like to read?” • “This would be great in the Main Idea column.”