Cornell+Notes

As a team, we decided to use Cornell Notes. Here is a PowerPoint to use to introduce Cornell Notes to our students.

[|CNotes.ppt]

For detailed instructions on the Cornell Note-taking Strategy, see AVID’s //The Write Path: English Language Learners Teacher Guide// (p.70-86).

According to Dr. Walter Pauk, of Cornell University, students who: . . . don’t take notes, **forget 60%** . . . take some notes, **remember 60%** . . . take organized notes, and do something with them, **remember 90-100%**
 * __Rationale:__** Cornell Notes require students to review and think critically.

Before teaching your lesson, create an “outline” of the notes you expect them to take, using headings and numbered lists //on the right side//, not the left. (They copy these notes from the docu-cam). Homework, or review, can be to write questions on the left side. Example:
 * __Scaffolding for EL:__** Skeleton Outlines

Topic: How to Preview and Set a Purpose (Edge B p. 26) questions and main ideas; it can be modeled in class, or assigned for homework, but should be done as a review activity)// || **Preview = look for clues about the text** 1. _ & _ show main ideas 2. _s show the subject 3. _s show when or where 4. Overall _ can give clues to the type of text || 1. 2. 3. 4. || A. Think of __you want to answer and write them in a 5W/How chart. 1. W 2. W 3. W 4. W 5. W 6. H B. Then read to answer your__ _. || A. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. B. ||
 * //(this side is for students to write
 * || //(Skeleton outlines can be VERY detailed, like the one above, or more skeletal, like the one below)// ||
 * || **Preview =**
 * || **Setting a Purpose, or reason, for reading**
 * || OR ||
 * || **Setting a Purpose, or reason, for reading**

If Cornell notes are NOT reviewed daily, the “curve of forgetting” begins on day 2, with 60-80% forgotten.
 * Ideas for reviewing notes, either as a class OR as homework:**
 * 1) write sentences summarizing key points
 * 2) write study questions/main ideas on the left
 * 3) underline, circle, draw arrows, etc., around key words and phrases
 * 4) draw pictures or diagrams
 * 5) cover the right side with a blank piece of paper, and re-write the notes using only the questions
 * 6) recite them aloud, by covering the right side (good with a partner as coach)
 * 7) write a reflective paragraph at the bottom (Reflection is the key to memory!)

One teacher at AVID suggested that all notes must be “touched” 5 times to be remembered, meaning at least 5 review activities should be assigned per notes taken.