Why This Skill Matters
Most reading notes fail because they’re designed for recording, not for learning. You capture information during reading, then rarely return to it. When you do review, you’re essentially rereading your notes — which produces the same weak retention as rereading the original text.
The Cornell method solves this by building retrieval practice into your note-taking system. The two-column format separates your notes from questions about those notes. When you review, you don’t just reread — you use the cue column to test yourself, covering the notes and trying to recall the content. This transforms passive notes into active learning tools.
Developed at Cornell University in the 1950s, the system has proven remarkably durable. Research consistently shows that Cornell notes reading outperforms traditional note-taking for retention, particularly when the review process is actually used. The format works especially well for reading because it creates natural pause points for processing.
The Step-by-Step Process
- Set Up Your Page Draw a vertical line about 2.5 inches from the left edge of your paper, creating a narrow left column and a wide right column. Leave about 2 inches at the bottom of the page for a summary section. Label the left column “Cues” and the right column “Notes.” This layout is the foundation of the entire system.
- Take Notes in the Right Column During Reading As you read, capture main ideas, key details, and important connections in the notes column. Use your own words — paraphrasing forces processing. Leave space between ideas for later additions. Don’t worry about the cue column yet; your job during reading is to capture the content.
- Create Cue Questions After Reading Once you finish a section, go back and create questions or keywords in the left column that correspond to your notes. These cues should prompt recall of the material to their right. “What are the three causes?” not “Three causes of X.” Frame them as test questions you’d want to answer.
- Write a Summary at the Bottom In the summary section, write 2-3 sentences that capture the main point of the entire page. This synthesis forces you to identify what’s truly essential. The summary should make sense on its own — if someone read only your summaries, they’d understand the core argument.
- Review Using the Cue Column When you review, cover the notes column with a piece of paper. Read each cue and try to recall the corresponding information before checking. This active recall strengthens memory far more than passive rereading. Mark cues you struggled with for additional review.
Article topic: Causes of the Industrial Revolution
Notes column: “Agricultural improvements freed labor from farms. Enclosure movement pushed rural workers to cities. New crop rotation (turnips, clover) increased yields. Population available for factory work.”
Cue column: “How did agriculture enable industrialization?”
Summary: “Agricultural changes — enclosure and new techniques — created both surplus food and displaced workers, providing the labor force factories required.”
Tips for Success
Keep Notes Selective
The notes column should capture what’s important, not everything. If you’re transcribing the text, you’re not processing it. Aim for roughly one-third to one-half the length of the original. Selectivity forces you to distinguish what matters from what’s merely present.
Make Cues Genuinely Challenging
Weak cues produce weak review. “Definition of photosynthesis” is less effective than “How do plants convert light to energy?” The best cues require you to explain, connect, or apply — not just recognize. Frame cues as questions you’d face on an exam or need to answer in a discussion.
The magic of Cornell is in the review. Cover the notes column. Read a cue. Say the answer out loud or write it on scratch paper. Then check against your notes. This cycle — cover, recite, check — produces far stronger retention than rereading. Spend 80% of your review time reciting, not reading.
Use Summaries to Connect Pages
When reading a long text across multiple pages, your summaries become connective tissue. Before starting a new page, read the previous page’s summary. When you finish reading, your summaries form a condensed outline of the entire text. This makes big-picture review efficient and effective.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Creating Cues During Reading
Writing cues while you read splits your attention and produces lower-quality questions. You don’t yet know what’s important or how ideas connect. Wait until you’ve finished at least a section, then return with the full context to create meaningful cues. The separation is part of what makes the system work.
Treating Notes as Transcription
If your notes could substitute for the original text, you’ve recorded too much and processed too little. Study notes should be in your words, capturing meaning rather than wording. The act of paraphrasing is itself a learning process — don’t skip it by copying verbatim.
The most common Cornell failure: creating the format but never using it for review. If you don’t cover the notes and test yourself with the cues, you’ve just taken regular notes with a weird margin. The cue column’s value is entirely in how you use it. Build the review habit or the format adds nothing.
Skipping the Summary
Summaries feel optional, but they’re essential for synthesis. Writing a summary forces you to identify the throughline — what this page is really about, not just what it contains. Skipping summaries means missing the comprehension check that catches confusion early.
Practice Exercise
Choose an article of 800-1200 words on a topic that interests you. Set up a Cornell format page. Read the article actively, taking notes in the right column as you go. Use your own words; aim for selectivity over completeness.
After finishing, return to your notes and create 4-6 cue questions in the left column. Make them challenging — questions that require explanation, not just recognition. Then write a 2-3 sentence summary at the bottom that captures the article’s main point.
Wait at least one hour. Then test yourself: cover the notes column, read each cue, and try to recall the answer before checking. Mark any cues you struggled with. Return to those cues the next day and test again.
For more techniques that transform passive reading into active learning, explore the complete Strategies & Retention collection in our Reading Concepts hub.
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