Week 6 - Introducing and Setting Up Cornell Notes - Embedded Video

As a follow-up to my recent post about how I use Cornell Notes, I wanted to include a video to show how to set them up. In my classroom, I used a video clip to show students and then modeled for them step by step. I was reminded of this after some commenting and as someone who is not currently in the classroom, I don't want to forget about those pieces when I return.

In my previous experience teaching Cornell Notes, students had the set up and use down in about 1-2 weeks, depending on the student. I wasn't going it alone, it was a school-wide strategy we had agreed to as a staff, so students in my classroom were also seeing the notes in their other content areas. However, even if tackling Cornell Notes only in your class, I still believe more secondary students would probably pick it up very quickly.

Cornell Notes do not take very long for students to set up. Some even enjoy the folding and marking required for the notes page. When practicing at first, I would often have students make 5-10 pages at a time and make a race out of it.

Use of Cornell Notes can use a lot of paper, but it can always be done with notebook paper, especially once students really have the hang of it. No copying necessary! Though, I usually did keep a stack of pre-made, copied templates in my classroom for students that struggled with the set-up, usually students with IEPs or 504s.

Below is just one example of a video you can use to prep your students, or maybe just yourself prior to your Cornell Notes roll-out. This is a good one because it does show how many different ways the right and left columns can be used.