Cornell Notes Template
A Cornell notes page: a narrow cue column, a wide notes column and a summary box at the bottom.
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| Name | |
| Subject | [subject] |
| Topic | [topic] |
| Date | October 14, 2026 |
| Cues and questions | Notes |
|---|---|
| Summary |
|---|
What is a Cornell Notes?
Cornell notes divide a page into three parts: a narrow cue column on the left, a wide notes column on the right and a summary box across the bottom. You take notes in the wide column during class, add questions and key words in the cue column afterward, and sum up the page in a few sentences at the bottom. The finished page doubles as a study sheet. Without a system like this, notes pile up as pages that are never read again. Fill in the Cornell notes template on this page, or print it blank and write by hand.
Middle school, high school and college students use Cornell notes for lectures, textbook chapters, videos and reading assignments, and many teachers ask for them as part of class work. The layout also suits adults in training courses, people studying for a certification exam and anyone in a session whose content they will need later. The method takes its name from Cornell University, where it was developed in the 1950s as a study system. If you take notes on a laptop or tablet, you can type into the same layout and print a clean copy to review.
The layout is standard, but teachers set their own expectations. Some ask for an essential question at the top of the page, a set number of cue questions or a summary of a certain length, and some grade notes as homework. Check your teacher’s instructions or the course syllabus, and follow them where they differ from this page. Students with an IEP or a 504 plan, or with accommodations at college, may be entitled to note-taking support; ask the school or the college’s disability services office.
Cornell notes are a way of organizing and reviewing notes, not a transcript of the lesson or a replacement for the reading. The method works only if you come back to the page: the cues and summary are written after class, and the self-testing happens later still. One page suits one lesson or one section of a chapter; for a long lecture, use more pages with the same heading. Copying a classmate’s notes into the layout skips the thinking that makes the method useful.
What to put in a Cornell Notes
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Name optional | For example: Maya Lopez |
| Subject | For example: Biology |
| Topic | For example: Photosynthesis |
| Cues and questions optional | Leave blank to write by hand |
| Notes optional | Leave blank to write by hand |
| Summary optional | Leave blank to write by hand |
How to take Cornell notes
Fill in the heading before class
Enter your name, the subject, the topic and the date; they print in a small table at the top of the page, so loose sheets can be filed and found again. Leave the cue, notes and summary boxes empty to print a blank page for handwriting, or type into them after class to make a clean, readable copy of notes you took by hand.
Take notes in the wide column
During the lesson, write in the right-hand column only. Record main ideas, definitions, examples, formulas and quick diagrams in your own words, using short phrases rather than full sentences. Leave a line between ideas so you can add to them later. When the teacher says something will be on the test, or repeats a point, mark it with a star or underline it.
Write cues and questions after class
The same day or the next, reread your notes and write questions, key terms and prompts in the narrow left column, level with the notes that answer them: ‘What are the two stages of photosynthesis?’ beside the notes on the two stages. Questions are more useful than single words, because each one becomes a quiz question when you study. Fill any gaps while the lesson is still fresh.
Summarize the page at the bottom
In the summary box, write a few sentences in your own words that capture the main idea of the page and how the points connect. Write it without copying from the notes column, then check it against your notes. If you cannot summarize the page, that tells you exactly what to ask your teacher or look up before the next lesson.
Study by covering the notes
To review, fold or cover the notes column so that only the cues show. Read each question and answer it aloud or on scrap paper, then uncover the notes and check your answer. Mark the cues you missed and go back to those first next time. Several short reviews in the days before a test are easier to fit in than one long session the night before.
Cornell notes example
A completed page for a biology lesson, showing the three parts the template prints: cues and questions, notes and a summary.
Cornell notes example: photosynthesis
Cornell Notes
Name: Maya Lopez · Subject: Biology · Topic: Photosynthesis · Date: October 14, 2026
Cues and questions
Where does photosynthesis happen?
What goes in and what comes out?
What are the two stages?
Why are leaves green?
Notes
In chloroplasts, mostly in leaf cells.
Carbon dioxide + water + light energy → glucose + oxygen.
Stage 1: light-dependent reactions (thylakoids) — water is split, oxygen is released, ATP and NADPH are made.
Stage 2: Calvin cycle (stroma) — ATP, NADPH and carbon dioxide are used to build sugar.
Chlorophyll absorbs mainly red and blue light and reflects green.
Summary
Plants use light energy in their chloroplasts to turn carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. The light-dependent reactions capture the energy as ATP and NADPH, and the Calvin cycle uses that energy to build sugar from carbon dioxide.
Common mistakes
- Copying slides word for word into the notes column, which leaves no time to listen and nothing to put into your own words later.
- Leaving the cue column empty, which turns Cornell notes back into ordinary notes and removes the built-in way to test yourself.
- Writing the summary weeks later, the night before a test, when you can no longer remember what the lesson emphasized or why it mattered.
- Using the summary box to list the headings again instead of explaining how the ideas connect, so the page cannot be reviewed at a glance.
- Rereading the notes instead of covering them and answering the cues, which feels like studying but never checks what you can actually recall.
Frequently asked questions
What are Cornell notes?
Cornell notes are a note-taking method that divides each page into a narrow cue column, a wider notes column and a summary area at the bottom. Notes go in the wide column during class, questions and key words go in the cue column afterward, and a short summary sums up the page. The method was developed at Cornell University in the 1950s and is now taught in many schools.
How do you take Cornell notes?
Write the heading: your name, the subject, the topic and the date. During class, take notes in the wide right-hand column using short phrases. After class, write questions and key terms in the narrow left column beside the notes they relate to. Then write a short summary of the page in the box at the bottom. To study, cover the notes, answer the cue questions from memory and check your answers.
What goes in the cue column of Cornell notes?
Questions, key terms, names, dates and short prompts that point to the notes beside them. The most useful cues are questions the notes answer, such as ‘Why are leaves green?’, because they turn the page into a self-test: cover the notes, read the cue and answer it. Write cues after class, not during it, so you have to think about what the notes mean.
How long should a Cornell notes summary be?
Usually a few sentences: enough to state the main idea of the page and how the key points fit together, in your own words. It should not repeat the notes or list the headings. If your teacher sets a length, follow it. A good test is whether the summary would make sense to a classmate who missed the lesson.
Why are they called Cornell notes?
They are named after Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where the method was developed in the 1950s by Walter Pauk, an education professor, to help students study. He later described it in a study guide for college students. The layout has stayed the same since then: cues on one side, notes on the other and a summary across the bottom.
Can you use Cornell notes for math or reading assignments?
Yes. For math, put worked examples and steps in the notes column, and in the cue column write the type of problem or the rule it uses, such as ‘When do I use the quadratic formula?’ For reading, take notes on each section and use cues for key terms, characters or questions about the text. In both cases, the summary should explain the main idea in your own words.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.