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The Cornell Method of Taking Notes

Format your paper like this:

  1. Throughout the reading, put simple notes on the right side of the page.
  2. After reading, distill the notes you’ve taken into a few, one- to three-word key concepts. Write each key concept in the margin to the left of the section.
  3. Use the bottom margin on each page to briefly state the relationship between that page’s key concepts.
Cornell notes structure

 

  • Arrange the sheets of notes on top of each other so that only the left margins with the key concepts show.
  • Summarize the reading out loud, using only the key concepts as cues.
Three pages of notes overlapping

 

  • Spread the sheets out and check what you just said against the notes you took.
  • Highlight any concepts you didn’t know and give them extra attention. 
Two pages of notes side by side

 

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The Cornell Method of Note Taking

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. You may reproduce it only for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: Center for Teaching and Learning, Stanford University. 

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