I love teaching middle school science concepts with Cornell notes! I used Cornell notes in my class for three years and found great success with them in helping my students to understand complex concepts. Cornell notes provide a structured format for note-taking; they have a narrow left-hand column containing topic questions and a wide right-hand column containing the details and definitions to answer those questions.
For years, I used my ELMO (document camera) to take notes while talking my students through a concept. We followed the Cornell format, but added diagrams and little pictures. They would take their own notes based off of mine. Being a visual learner, I have always needed to represent science concepts with pictures and diagrams. Since the student population is composed of more than 65% visual learners, I think this is a great note-taking strategy for kids too! So, this year I decided to transform those lessons into a cohesive set of Cornell Doodle Notes.
The following are 5 tips for using Cornell Doodle Notes in your science class!
#1 : Provide Scaffolded Copies
All of my Cornell Doodle Notes are scaffolded for either 2 or 3 levels. I have denoted these levels using the ‘ski slope’ symbols of Green Circle (easiest), Blue Square (intermediate), and Black Diamond (difficult):
The Green Circle notes are great for students who are a little slower at connecting information and writing, or who are learning English as a second language. They will have to fill in many words throughout the notes, but will not be writing out sentences. The Blue Square notes are meant for your typical on-level students. These notes require students to write in the topic questions in each section and to fill in more words and some sentences throughout. The Black Diamond level notes have most of the words removed and these are great for your faster and higher-level students or for those who like to take notes in their own handwriting.
Take a look at the notes for each level and decide which level best suits each of your students. Tally up the number for each level and make that many copies of each. When you pass out the notes, you can be discreet as to who is receiving which, or you can ask the students to decide which version they feel most comfortable using!
#2 : Use Double-sided Printing and Flip on the Long Edge
Print the notes back-front using the ‘Flip on Long Edge’ printer setting. This way, when your students go from page 1 to page 2 for example, they will flip the page up and continue taking notes without having to rotate the page!
#3 : Take Advantage of the Google Presentation Option
With the scaffolded notes, you can structure differentiated lessons by sharing the Google Slides link with small student groups. Students can go through the Google presentation and complete their notes in small groups of trios or pairs. This will give the students a chance to talk about the concepts together and to complete the interactive “Do” sections together. It also gives you an opportunity to work with your lower-level students or with students who ask for clarification.
One classroom management tool that I have found helpful when students are working in small groups is to give each group a plastic Solo cup. If they would like help from you, they flip their cup over (bottom up) and put it in a visible spot on their desk. This is your indicator to get over to that group without having hands in the air for minutes at a time or people calling your name!
#4 : Chunk the Lesson by Covering Sections
There are horizontal lines that break up the Cornell Doodle Notes by topic question. This is to help chunk the lesson’s concepts. If you use a document camera to fill in your notes while you talk through the concepts in the lesson, use another piece of paper to cover the next section and have your students do the same on their own paper so that they focus on the section that you’re discussing in the moment.
#5 : Give the Students Opportunities to Color and Connect
When completing Cornell Doodle Notes, your students should be armed and ready with their colored pencils! As you progress through the lesson, whether you’re using the Powerpoint / Google Slides presentation or a document camera, give your students chances to stop and color. Perhaps do this after each section. This will help them to really see the connections between the ideas and the pictures. It will help them to understand the analogies and digest the information. There is a ton of research on how taking doodle notes helps students to retain information– that’s part of why this blended style of note-taking is a great option for teaching abstract science concepts!
Doodle notes is a trademarked term used with permission. Please visit doodlenotes.org for more information.
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