Miss Heyman's Teaching Tools

Purposeful Note-Taking
Cornell Notes

If you have your students take notes in class, you need to make sure that they are taking notes "with a purpose".

Think of the following questions before you create your Powerpoint presentation, Smartboard presentation, or Prezi (NOTES).

1. What exactly do you want your students to know?
2. What exactly do you want your students to write down as you speak?
3. Are your students engaged in the conversation and content, or are they just "copying" what is in front of them?
4. Do you want your students use the notes for classwork or a test?
5. Do you have an essential question and a place for students to jot down their own reflections, questions, or concerns about the content?
6. Do the students summarize the content and reflect upon the essential question, once the notes have been taken?

Cornell notes (also known as two column or three column notes) have been around for some time. The concept is simple, and if you scroll down, you will see that the "before" notes do not allow a place for the student to reflect and synthesize, which is key to great notes (understanding key ideas).

Cornell Notes Include:

1. A place for an essential question or topic.

2. A section for key ideas/terms or clues.

3. A section for the information/details for the key ideas/terms or clues.

4. A sections for reflection, questions and concerns.

5. A summary of the main idea/answer to the essential question.

Please take a look at the notes below. The first set is the regular style, and the second set is the same vocabulary using the Cornell notes.

REGULAR NOTES