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Middle School NGSS Teaching Resources Teaching Science

5 Tips for Using Cornell Doodle Notes in your Science Class

Cornell Doodle Notes 5 Tips

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!

5 Tips for Using Cornell Doodle Notes in Your Science Class
5 Tips for Using Cornell Doodle Notes in Your Science Class
5 Tips for Using Cornell Doodle Notes in Your Science Class

 

#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!

5 Tips for Using Cornell Doodle Notes in Your Science Class
5 Tips for Using Cornell Doodle Notes in Your Science Class
(Thanks to Nicole from Get Wise with Weissert for her in-action photos!)

 

 #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 Tips for Using Cornell Doodle Notes in Your Science Class

#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.

 

Sunrise Science Signature Nautilus Shell

 

 

 

 

 

Interested in checking out some of my Cornell Doodle Notes? Click the button below!

Cornell Doodle Notes 5 Tips
 
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20 Comments

  • Reply
    jill
    July 11, 2018 at 8:58 am

    Is there a way these cornell/ doodle notes can be used digitally?

    • Reply
      admin
      July 24, 2018 at 3:22 pm

      Hi Jill! Thanks for your question… I include a Google version for many of the notes sets!

      • Reply
        Jessica Thompson
        August 31, 2018 at 9:25 am

        Notability!! It is an app on the iPad.!

  • Reply
    Tabitha
    July 23, 2018 at 10:18 pm

    I’m having trouble signing up for the newsletter and download. It says that I’ve submitted it on the script, but nothing is showing up in my email box. Does this take longer than 15 minutes to show up? Thanks.

    • Reply
      admin
      July 24, 2018 at 3:35 pm

      Hi Tabitha! I’m not sure why this happened, but I just emailed you!

    • Reply
      Katie
      July 24, 2018 at 6:51 pm

      check your junk folder

  • Reply
    Shannon
    March 8, 2019 at 5:56 pm

    Hi Karla,
    I’m currently a 7th and 8th grade Social Studies teacher and I absolutely love these notes. I want to create what you have done with your science notes for my Social Studies classes. Could you give me any tips for getting started or finding good visuals for creating my own doodle notes. I wish you had Social Studies too because these are just amazing and would be so helpful in my classroom.

    Thanks!
    Shannon

  • Reply
    Sandra
    May 16, 2019 at 10:09 am

    I am going to use the Cornell Doodle notes for all my science classes (6th, 7th, and 8th) next year. I found the Growing Bundle for Physical Science. Do you have the Growing Bundle for Life Science and Earth Science too?

    • Reply
      admin
      July 8, 2019 at 5:23 pm

      Hi Sandra! I am going to be working on doodle notes for Earth/Space and Life science over the next few months, but at this time I don’t have a growing bundle for either. But keep an eye out!

  • Reply
    Catherine
    July 25, 2019 at 10:20 pm

    Hey Karla! I just found your blog and Im excited to use several of your resources. I was wondering how you have the students organize their notes though. Do they each have folders or binders to store them in? And do your students also have a notebook for class or are all notes done in this format?

    • Reply
      admin
      August 7, 2019 at 8:05 am

      Hi Catherine! Thanks so much for reading the blog and for your comment. I have found over the years that the most effective system for my class is to simply require a two-pocket folder and a one-subject notebook. I have the students keep their Cornell notes and other worksheets/labs in the folder. When we take other forms of notes (sometimes I’ll have them write their own Cornell notes), when we do a warm-up activity, or if I have them create their own data/observation table for a lab, they will write on a sheet of lined paper from their notebook. At the end of a mini-unit or unit, I’ll have them organize all of the Cornell Doodle notes, other worksheets, labs, and other notes into a little ‘packet’. It’s also a fun exercise to have them create a packet cover using the content from the unit. I don’t know– when I tried to use binders in the past it just became annoying to have to punch holes in everything and the kids ended up just shoving things in the binder without clipping them in… I lost patience with wanting everyone’s binder to be organized in the same way. Plus, I am a ‘type B’ kind of person, so I myself don’t have perfect organization skills 😉 I hope this helps to answer your question!! -Karla

    • Reply
      Renae
      June 29, 2020 at 2:22 pm

      Catherine, I am glad you asked that question. I was wondering the same thing. I currently use interactive notebooks. We take Cornell Notes one a week and glue them in our notebooks. I like interactive notebooks, but with everything, there are pros and cons to that setup. However, with everything currently going on, my school has decided to go to a one to one Chromebook initiative and I am lost with how to set up my classroom as I move forward. Should I do everything online? Forget about notebooks? Any suggestions?

  • Reply
    Samantha
    October 14, 2019 at 12:07 pm

    Hi Karla, I am looking forward to using these cornell notes in my 7th and 8th grade science class. I am new to teaching middle school, not knew to science. Funny story – I am certified B-6th with a masters in literacy…. and now here I am teaching 7-8 (getting certified there too) and teaching science. But anyhow – as I was saying, I am looking forward to using these. Have you ever had any students who just wouldn’t color them in? If so, how did you handle it? I mean, the point of doodle notes is to color and help the information stick. But I see myself facing some students who will not want to do this part. Any advice?

  • Reply
    Melissa
    December 1, 2019 at 10:36 pm

    Karla!!! So excited to check out what you have been working on!!! Loved previewing your Cornell notes for physical science!!

  • Reply
    Renae
    June 29, 2020 at 2:26 pm

    I was wondering about organization. I currently use interactive notebooks. We take Cornell Notes one a week and glue them in our notebooks. I like interactive notebooks, but with everything, there are pros and cons to that setup. However, with everything currently going on, my school has decided to go to a one to one Chromebook initiative and I am lost with how to set up my classroom as I move forward. Should I do everything online? Forget about notebooks? Any suggestions? Thank you.

  • Reply
    Jason LaMirand
    March 5, 2021 at 1:53 pm

    Will you ever make Cornell Doodle Notes for the Soalr System and Space Exploration areas in Science?

    • Reply
      Karla
      March 15, 2021 at 1:24 pm

      Yes! I have intention to! I am planning on working on these over the next couple of months.

    • Reply
      Karla
      June 30, 2021 at 10:02 am

      Hi Jason! I am going to be making doodle notes for Earth and Space Science this summer! Thanks for your interest 🙂

  • Reply
    Oliver Bertalo
    September 4, 2023 at 2:15 pm

    Hello!
    I just purchased your earth and space science bundle. I am teaching ancient observations in astronomy and the geocentric and heliocentric models. I want to create my own Cornell doodle notes since this topic isn’t in your bundle. What application do you use to create them? how do you get the pictures on there for coloring/doodling?

    • Reply
      Karla
      October 26, 2023 at 3:11 pm

      Hi Oliver, I used Powerpoint to make these notes and I have a clip artist who does some of the drawings for me. Other clip art I buy and some of it I draw myself. I’ll put this topic on my list of topics to make, too. Thanks for your interest!

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