Cornell notes template: free printable, and what goes in the cue column
3 min read
A Cornell notes page has three parts: a narrow cue column on the left, a wide notes column on the right, and a summary box along the bottom. The template at the end of this guide has all three ready to print.
This covers how to use it, what actually goes in the cue column, and how to set up your own page in a notebook or on a laptop.
How to use the template
- Before class, write the subject, topic and date across the top.
- During class, write in the notes column only. Use short phrases, and leave a gap between ideas.
- After class, write questions and key words in the cue column, each one beside the notes it covers.
- Then write two or three sentences in the summary box, in your own words.
- To revise, cover the notes column and answer each cue from memory.
What goes in the cue column
The cue column is what makes Cornell notes more than ordinary notes, and it is the part most people get wrong. A cue should send you back to the idea without giving it away, because its job is to test you later.
Questions usually work best. Key words and names work too, as long as you have to explain them. Copying the heading does not help, since you can read it and learn nothing.
- Weak cue: "Photosynthesis". Better cue: "What goes in and what comes out of photosynthesis?"
- Weak cue: "Causes of World War I". Better cue: "Why did one assassination lead to a world war?"
- Weak cue: "Quadratic formula". Better cue: "When would I use the formula rather than factorising?"
Write your cues after class, not during it. Choosing them makes you go back over the notes, and that is part of how the method works.
What goes in and what comes out?
- Carbon dioxide + water, using light, gives glucose + oxygen.
- Happens in the chloroplasts.
Why does a plant need light?
- Chlorophyll absorbs light energy.
- That energy is used to make glucose.
Plants use light energy to turn carbon dioxide and water into glucose, releasing oxygen. Chlorophyll in the chloroplasts captures the light.
How to make your own Cornell page
If you are not printing, a ruler and two lines are all you need. The usual layout on an A4 or letter page is a cue column about 6 cm wide, with a summary box about 5 cm tall across the bottom and the rest left for notes.
On a laptop, make a two-column table in Word, Google Docs or your notes app, with the left column about a third as wide as the right. Add a single row across the bottom for the summary. Copy it to start each new page.
Adapting it for languages and maths
- Languages such as Spanish: put vocabulary, verb forms or a phrase in English in the cue column, and the target language with an example sentence in the notes. Covering the notes then tests you the way a vocabulary list cannot.
- Maths and physics: put the worked example in the notes, and in the cue column write the first step or the question "How do I know to use this method?"
- English and history: use cues for themes and arguments, and keep quotes or evidence in the notes beside them.
If your teacher marks your Cornell notes
Some teachers grade Cornell notes with a rubric. Yours will have its own criteria, so use that first, but they usually check for the same things:
- A complete header with the topic and date.
- Notes in your own words, organised rather than copied.
- Cues that are real questions, lined up with the notes they belong to.
- A summary that covers the main ideas in your own words.
How Grasp helps
Grasp does not use the Cornell layout, but it does the same job in a different way. Press record and it writes your notes while the lecture is going. Highlight a line you do not follow and it explains it there in your notes, and it can write a quiz from those notes, which does what covering the notes column does.
Record your next lecture with Grasp
Press record and Grasp writes your notes while the lecture is still going.
Start recording