Cornell+Notes


 * Summary and Rationale**

The //Cornell Note-Taking// strategy (Lenski et al., 2011: 238) aims to give students a structure for taking notes on text or presentations in a meaningful way. This note-taking structure focuses learning into a hierarchical organization of ideas centered around key concepts or words. On the left-hand side of the paper, students note larger ideas, key words, or questions. On the right-hand side of the paper, students note the details and examples from the course readings, lectures, or even discussions. The purpose of this strategy is to help students learn to take notes effectively, in a way that both reinforces and structures the material. When they take notes, students become more active participants in the material.

//Directions//:
 * 1) **Introduce** the concept of note taking, and incorporate an example from the course readings, lectures, or discussions.
 * 2) **Identify** a topic from the class that would lend itself to the Cornell Note-Taking structure of main ideas-details. Assign the reading selection for students to read, or use this strategy in the context of a class lecture or discussion.
 * 3) **Handout** a piece of paper for each student with a line draw down the middle. The left column should be titled "Key Words" or "Main Ideas" and the right column should be titled "Notes from ________ (reading/discussion)"
 * 4) **Explain** to students how to identify the main concepts and detailed notes.


 * Example**

The academic text, //Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America//, covers the "shared" Latin American history since the first encounter between Native Indians and European explorers. Each chapter identifies a few key concepts or puzzles around which the chapter is focused, typically in the structure of subsections. To reinforce the material in the chapter, a teacher could give a lecture on the selected text in the book. Such a presentation may be necessary given that the concepts can be somewhat abstract, dealing with issues such as identity formation and the influence of intellectual ideas on revolution. In the example below, the teacher would require students to take Cornell Notes on the presentation and chapter.

__Presentation on the text__:

__Teacher developed model of Cornell Notes on this presentation__: