Optimize the Use of Cornell Doodle Notes in Your Science Class

I had a proud teacher moment this February when I realized that I had trained my 8th graders to effectively complete Cornell Doodle Notes all on their own. I put the simple instructions on the screen to choose a scaffolded level of notes from the side table, open the Google Slides presentation on Google Classroom, and get to work taking notes on Ions and Ionic Bonding. Since we had practiced this throughout the school year, my 8th graders were so comfortable with the routine and got right to it!

In this post, I wanted to break out some ideas for how you can optimize the use of Cornell Doodle Notes for your classroom. I utilized these notes throughout my curriculum this year and felt that it was very successful.

 

Wait, What are Cornell Doodle Notes?

I started designing Cornell-format Doodle Notes a few years ago because I realized two important things about my 8th graders: #1 — they like structure and #2 — they are almost all visual learners. The Cornell-style notes allow me to present the content that is necessary for students to progress towards the performance expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards. The doodles and imagery encourage more buy-in to learning the concepts because they make the note-taking approachable and frankly, more fun!

A big Topic Title is included at the top, as well as an Essential Question that is answered by the content in the notes. There is a narrow left-hand column that contains Topic Questions broken out by horizontal sections. There is a wider right-hand column that has the written and doodle details that help to explain the Topic Question of that section.

If you’d like to read a bit more about using Cornell Doodle Notes in your classroom, hop over to this blog post for more examples and tips!

What is an Advantage to Using Cornell Doodle Notes Over ‘Regular’ Doodle Notes?

Someone asked me this exact question the other day. This is my answer: I think using this format is a matter of preference for you and your students. Each horizontal section of the Cornell-format notes focuses on a specific aspect of the concept and also builds on the sections before it. Because of this ‘chunking’, I can present the information using the PowerPoint and everyone can follow which topic question we are talking about. This linear progression helps me to deliver the lesson in a structured way.

Alternatively, this year I trained my students to take the notes at their own pace using the Google Slides presentations. And for some lessons, I would actually talk through each section and use my document camera to fill in the notes while the students filled in theirs. This would allow us to stop and discuss their ideas as a group. I found that I couldn’t effectively use other types of doodle notes that have all aspects of a topic in one graphic on one page as the backbone for the lesson in this same way simply because there was too much going on on one page– but don’t get me wrong, this other format of doodle notes can be great for recapping the concepts of a lesson too. Again, it’s a matter of preference and teaching style!

Optimize the use of Cornell Doodle Notes in your science class using the tried-and-tested strategies below . . .

#1 : Give Students a Choice in Which Level They Use

All of my Cornell Doodle Notes are scaffolded for either two or three different levels. The different versions of the notes have the same content, but require different amounts of writing. My science classes are completely mixed-ability and my high-fliers need the simple differentiation of having more white space to write in and being forced to write out the topic questions for each section. The ‘ski slope’ symbols of a Green Circle (easiest), a Blue Square (intermediate), and a Black Diamond (difficult) are located in the top right corner of each page of the notes and make it easy to copy and provide the various versions to your various students.

One tip that I have though is once your students understand the basic format of the Cornell Notes, try allowing them to choose which version they would like to use for a particular lesson. I found that just giving my students this simple choice increased their buy-in and engagement even more. Also, some of my more visual and artistic students enjoyed taking the Green Circle notes because they could get the writing done and spend more time coloring and adding their own additional doodles and notes on the topic!

I make a handful of copies of each version and place them in piles on a table in my classroom. The students take whichever version of the notes they prefer to use for that lesson.

#2 : Train Students to Take Notes at Their Own Pace

If you have 1:1 laptops in your classroom, this is a perfect way to incorporate them for differentiation! Each Cornell Doodle Notes resource comes with a corresponding Google Slides presentation that can be posted on your Google Classroom page for students to access. Train your students to understand how the notes are structured with the Essential and Topic Questions, and then give them some freedom to work at their own pace. If you have early finishers, post a few websites on your Classroom page that serve as extensions to the content in the notes. This way, they can do a little extra research on their own and add to their Doodle Notes. The other task for early finishers is … coloring!!!

#3 : Add Your Own Flair to the Powerpoint or Google Slides Presentation

I create the Powerpoint and Google Slides presentations to follow the notes themselves to make facilitation easier. You can utilize these to do a whole-group instructional session or you can pop the presentation onto your Google Classroom to share with your students so that they can take notes on their own.

I know from teaching over the years that I have amassed or created some great Powerpoint slides, images, video links, and personal anecdotes that I like to share with my students while we are discussing certain topics. Don’t feel boxed in by the provided Powerpoint/Slides that comes with the Cornell Doodle Notes resources! You can simply pop your own slides into the mix wherever you see fit.

If you have a great image of your hike on the Pacific Crest Trail and you like to show it while discussing air pressure and the gas laws, add it on a new slide in the Powerpoint! If you have a TEDed clip that you always show during your normal lesson on chemical reactions, add a blank slide and include that link on there. This will not only add some color to the presentation, but it will inject the lesson with your personal touch, which is always important for student engagement!

#4 : Mix It Up! Try Whole-Group Lessons, Small-Group Lessons, and Partner Lessons, too!

Depending on the topic, I use the Cornell Doodle Notes in different ways. For example, I love doing my boiling point lesson as a whole-group lesson. This lesson explains what boiling actually means and why water boils at certain temperatures depending on elevation. I put mini-posters of a high-elevation place (Blue Sky, Colorado), a sea-level place (Beach Haven, New Jersey), and a low-elevation place (Death Valley, California) vertically on a wall in my classroom. We discuss the concept of air pressure and density of air molecules. Then, these particular notes are to be used with a video clip that shows hikers ascending to Mount Everest Base Camp and boiling water at different elevations along the way. We pause the video at various points that correspond with the notes, and students see the correlation between higher elevation and lower boiling point temperature. This lesson is just more effective when it’s teacher-led!

For other lessons, it’s more effective to strategically group students by level and have them work in small groups on their Cornell Doodle Notes. When I utilize this strategy, I put the students in partner-pairs and have them sit together. One person brings up the Google Slides presentation on their computer screen and the students take turns reading through the presentation while everyone takes notes on their own paper. The students naturally discuss the concepts, explain things to one another, and have to wait for each other to finish writing (and therefore, review the slide’s material without even realizing it … hehe!)

Another option is to print out the slides and post them around your classroom — give students their notes on a clipboard and have them travel around to complete each section. When they are finished, they can sit down and complete the Sum It Up section and color!

#5 : Share Extension Resources on the Topic and Encourage Further Note-Taking

Take a group of 5 teachers and each one will approach teaching a certain topic differently. This is the nature and beauty of teaching! I put a lot of thought and planning into each one of the Cornell Doodle Notes that I design. But of course, there may be aspects of a topic that you feel are important or that you normally stress that are not included in a note set. Take this opportunity to either add in your own Slides (see #3 above) or provide extension resources for your students!

Make a post on your Google Classroom that contains a handful of great websites with information relevant to the topic. Encourage your students to check out those sites and resources and add more to their Cornell Doodle Notes! You could also do a mini-lesson on how to actually take Cornell Doodle Notes (grab the freebie by clicking here!), and then have your students take their OWN notes on the extension resources and add their own relevant doodles!

#6 : Choose Exemplar Notes to Share with the Whole Class

If one of or two of your students go above and beyond by either taking impressively neat notes and adding great color to them, or by adding helpful additional details from your list of extension resources (see #5 above), showcase their work by sharing it with the rest of the class! Students do love to see each other’s work and this also fosters a celebration of quality note-taking.

Take a photo of the exemplar notes or use a scanning app like TinyScanner to scan the notes as a PDF. Upload the exemplar notes onto your Google Classroom to share with the class (or with all of your classes if you teach many sections!). Using this strategy will help your lower students to understand what additional types of information they can add to their own notes. It will give your great note-takers some recognition. And, it will serve as a fantastic archive for your future lessons!

I hope this post help to give you ideas for how you can utilize this fun and engaging note-taking strategy in your science class! If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments section below!

Doodle notes is a trademarked term used with permission. Please visit doodlenotes.org for more information.

 

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