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Cornell Notes Template

Cornell notes split a page into three jobs: notes during class, cue questions afterwards, and a short summary at the bottom. This version is plain Markdown, so the cues sit above each section of notes instead of in a margin. Copy it, or start from the example closest to your class.

Updated 2026-10-27

Copy and adapt

The template

Cornell notesTemplate

[Course]: [Topic], {{date}}

Source: [lecture, chapter and pages, or video with timestamps] Essential question: [what this session should let you answer] Related: [[Course name]]

[Section 1 heading]

Cues: [question you could be asked on the exam] / [key term]

  • [Main idea, in your own words]
  • [Detail: definition, date, formula, example]
  • ?? [Anything you did not follow, with the slide or page number]

[Section 2 heading]

Cues: [question] / [key term]

  • [Main idea]
  • [Detail]

[Section 3 heading]

Cues: [question] / [key term]

  • [Main idea]
  • [Detail]

Summary

[Two to four sentences, written after class without looking at the notes: what the session argued, how it connects to the last one, and what you would expect on a test.]

Review log

  • Fill in cues and summary (same day) @due({{date}})
  • Cover the notes, answer the cues aloud @due(YYYY-MM-DD)
  • Second recall pass, one week later @due(YYYY-MM-DD)

5 examples

Examples for different situations

The same structure, filled in for the situations people actually bring to it. Copy the one closest to yours.

1.Live lecture: intro psychology

When it fits: Use this when a lecturer moves fast through slides, you can only type fragments, and the cues are where you turn those fragments into questions you can actually be tested on.

Live lecture: intro psychologyExample 1

PSYC 101: Memory, lecture 14, 2026-10-20

Source: Lecture 14, slides 1 to 32 (Prof. Halvorsen) Essential question: Why do we forget most of what we learn, and what slows it down? Related: [[PSYC 101]]

The three-store model

Cues: What are the three stores in the Atkinson-Shiffrin model? / How long does each hold information?

  • Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968): sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory.
  • Sensory: under a second for vision, a few seconds for sound.
  • Short-term: about 20 to 30 seconds without rehearsal. Capacity "7 plus or minus 2" (Miller, 1956); newer estimate is about 4 chunks (Cowan, 2001).
  • ?? Slide 9: difference between short-term and working memory. Ask in section.

Forgetting curve

Cues: What did Ebbinghaus measure? / What does the curve look like?

  • Ebbinghaus (1885) memorized nonsense syllables and tested himself at intervals.
  • Steepest loss in the first day; then the curve flattens.
  • Each review resets the curve and makes the next drop slower.

Levels of processing

Cues: Why does deep processing beat repetition? / Example of shallow vs deep?

  • Craik and Lockhart (1972): meaning-based encoding is remembered better than sound- or look-based encoding.
  • Class demo: words judged for meaning were recalled about twice as often as words judged for font.

Summary

Information moves from sensory to short-term to long-term memory, and most of it is lost at the first two steps. Forgetting is fastest in the first day, so the first review matters most. Processing for meaning, not repetition, is what makes something stick. Expect a question comparing Ebbinghaus and Craik and Lockhart.

Review log

  • Cues and summary written 2026-10-20
  • Recall pass @due(2026-10-21)
  • Second recall pass @due(2026-10-27)

2.Textbook chapter: US history

When it fits: Use this when you are reading a chapter before a seminar or quiz, the chapter is 30 pages, and you need the notes to fit on one screen.

Textbook chapter: US historyExample 2

HIST 152: Reconstruction, ch. 16, 2026-10-22

Source: The American Journey, chapter 16, pages 412 to 439 Essential question: Why did Reconstruction end with so few of its promises kept? Related: [[HIST 152]]

The three amendments

Cues: What did the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments each do? / Which one is cited most today?

  • 13th (1865): abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime.
  • 14th (1868): citizenship for anyone born in the US, equal protection, due process.
  • 15th (1870): voting cannot be denied on the basis of race.

Resistance in the South

Cues: What were the Black Codes? / What did the Freedmen's Bureau do?

  • Black Codes (1865 to 1866): state laws limiting where freed people could work, travel and own land.
  • Freedmen's Bureau (1865): schools, labor contracts, food. Underfunded from the start.
  • Reconstruction Acts (1867): the South divided into five military districts.

The end

Cues: What was the Compromise of 1877? / Who gave up what?

  • Disputed 1876 election. Republicans keep the presidency (Hayes); federal troops leave the South.
  • Book's argument: Northern interest faded before Southern resistance did.

Summary

The amendments gave freed people rights on paper, and the Black Codes and violence took most of them back in practice. Federal enforcement depended on troops, and the Compromise of 1877 withdrew them. The seminar question will be whether Reconstruction failed or was abandoned; the chapter argues abandoned.

Review log

  • Answer cues before Thursday's seminar @due(2026-10-29)

3.Recorded video lecture: calculus

When it fits: Use this when you watch a recorded lecture at your own pace, can pause and rewind, and the risk is copying every worked example instead of writing down the method.

Recorded video lecture: calculusExample 3

MATH 151: Related rates, video 4.3, 2026-10-24

Source: Recorded lecture 4.3, 52 minutes (timestamps below) Essential question: How do I find how fast one quantity changes when I only know how fast a related one changes? Related: [[MATH 151]]

The method (03:10)

Cues: What are the five steps? / When do I plug in the numbers?

  1. Draw it and name every changing quantity.
  2. Write the equation that links them.
  3. Differentiate both sides with respect to time.
  4. Only now substitute the known values.
  5. Solve for the unknown rate, with units.

Balloon example (14:45)

Cues: How fast does the radius grow when the volume rate is fixed?

  • V = (4/3)πr³, so dV/dt = 4πr² dr/dt.
  • dV/dt = 100 cm³/s, r = 5 cm. dr/dt = 100 / (100π) = 1/π, about 0.32 cm/s.

Ladder example (31:20)

Cues: Why is dy/dt negative? / What is fixed in this problem?

  • 13 ft ladder: x² + y² = 169. Base slides out at 2 ft/s.
  • At x = 5, y = 12. 2x dx/dt + 2y dy/dt = 0, so dy/dt = -(5/12)(2), about -0.83 ft/s.
  • ?? 38:00: why the angle version uses cosine. Rewatch.

Summary

Related rates are one method applied to different pictures: link the quantities, differentiate with respect to time, then substitute. Plugging numbers in before differentiating is the mistake the lecturer warned about twice. Problem set 4.3 is all ladder, balloon and shadow problems.

Review log

  • Do problems 4.3 #7 to #15 without the video @due(2026-10-26)

4.Certification course after work

When it fits: Use this when you are an adult studying for a professional exam in the evenings, the material is dense rules rather than ideas, and the cues need to look like the exam questions.

Certification course after workExample 4

CPA FAR: Lease classification, module 9, 2026-10-26

Source: Review course module 9, video lesson and pages 9-4 to 9-18 Essential question: For a lessee under ASC 842, when is a lease a finance lease? Related: [[CPA FAR]]

The five criteria

Cues: List the five finance-lease tests. / How many must be met?

  • Any one is enough to make it a finance lease:
    1. Ownership transfers by the end of the term.
    2. Purchase option the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise.
    3. Term is a major part of the asset's remaining economic life.
    4. Present value of payments is substantially all of fair value.
    5. Asset is so specialized it has no other use to the lessor.
  • None met: operating lease.

What changes on the books

Cues: What does the lessee record either way? / How does expense differ?

  • Both types: right-of-use asset and lease liability on the balance sheet.
  • Finance: amortization plus interest, front-loaded expense.
  • Operating: one straight-line lease cost.

Where I got it wrong

Cues: Practice question 14: why was it a finance lease?

  • I missed test 4. Present value of payments was 92 percent of fair value. Course rule of thumb: 90 percent or more.

Summary

One criterion out of five is enough for finance-lease treatment, and both types now sit on the balance sheet. The difference is the expense pattern. My weak spot is the present value test: check it first on every practice question.

Review log

  • 20 lease MCQs, timed @due(2026-10-28)
  • Recall pass on all module 9 cues @due(2026-11-02)

5.Vocabulary and grammar class in a table

When it fits: Use this when the class is short, every idea fits on one line, and a two-column table really is the clearest way to see cue next to note.

Vocabulary and grammar class in a tableExample 5

SPAN 202: Subjunctive triggers, 2026-10-23

Source: Class 18, Profesora Ibáñez, workbook pages 74 and 75 Essential question: When does a clause after que need the subjunctive? Related: [[SPAN 202]]

CuesNotes
What does WEIRDO stand for?Wishes, Emotions, Impersonal expressions, Recommendations, Doubt and denial, Ojalá
WishQuiero que vengas a la fiesta.
EmotionMe alegra que estés aquí.
Impersonal expressionEs importante que estudiemos hoy.
RecommendationTe recomiendo que pruebes la sopa.
Doubt or denialDudo que llueva mañana.
OjaláOjalá que gane el equipo.
Why is "creo que" different?Creo que viene: indicative, because belief is not doubt.
And "no creo que"?No creo que venga: subjunctive, because it is denial.

Summary

The subjunctive follows que when the main clause expresses something not asserted as fact: a wish, a feeling, a judgment, advice or doubt. Belief takes the indicative and denied belief takes the subjunctive, which is the trap on Friday's quiz.

Review log

  • Cover the right column, say each example aloud @due(2026-10-25)

How the Cornell layout works in Markdown

The original Cornell page, designed by Walter Pauk at Cornell University in the 1950s, has three areas: a wide notes column on the right, a narrow cue column on the left, and a summary box along the bottom. Printed templates and Word tables reproduce that grid.

Markdown has no side-by-side columns. A table can fake them, but a table cell cannot hold a bullet list, so it only works when every note is one line, as in the vocabulary example above. For real lecture notes, the template on this page stacks the layout instead: each section of notes gets its cue line directly above it, in a quote block so it stands out, and the summary is its own heading at the end.

You lose the visual margin. You keep what the margin was for: every chunk of notes has questions attached to it, and the summary forces you to compress the whole session. On a phone, the stacked version is easier to read than a squeezed two-column grid.

How to fill it in: the 5 Rs

  1. Record. During class, write fragments under section headings. Do not write cues yet. Mark anything confusing with ??.
  2. Reduce. Within 24 hours, read each section and write one or two cue questions above it. This is the step most people skip, and the one that makes the format work.
  3. Recite. Hide the notes (fold the page on paper, or scroll them off screen) and answer each cue aloud. Mark the ones you missed.
  4. Reflect. Write the summary. Connect this session to the last one, and note what you think the exam will ask.
  5. Review. Repeat the recite step on a schedule, starting with the cues you missed.

A review schedule you can keep

Most Cornell guides say "review regularly" and stop there. Forgetting is fastest in the first day, so the first review matters most and later ones can be further apart. A schedule that works for a normal course load:

  • Same day: write cues and summary (15 minutes).
  • Next day: first recall pass, cues only (5 minutes).
  • One week later: second recall pass. Only reread notes for cues you missed.
  • Before the exam: recall pass on every note in the unit, oldest first.

Put the dates in the review log when you create the note. A review that lives only in your head does not happen during midterms.

Common mistakes

  • Writing cues during the lecture. You will either miss the next point or write labels instead of questions. Cues come afterwards.
  • Cues that are topic names. "Black Codes" is a heading. "What were the Black Codes and who did they target?" is a cue.
  • Skipping the summary. It feels optional, and it is the part that tells you whether you understood the session.
  • Rereading instead of reciting. Reading your notes again feels productive and tests nothing. Cover the notes and answer.
  • One giant note per course. One note per session, linked to a course note, is easier to review and to search.

When to use a different template

If you want a general structure for every class without committing to cues and recall, the class notes template keeps the header, key points and summary and drops the cue step; you can still add Cornell cues to any section. To plan when the review passes and assignments happen across the term, use the study planner template. For notes on a whole book rather than one chapter, the book notes template is closer to what you need.

Customization tips

  • Write cues as questions, not labels

    A cue that says "Ebbinghaus" only tells you a topic exists. A cue that says "What did Ebbinghaus measure?" is a test question you can answer or fail. Recall only works when the cue forces an answer.

  • Use a table only when each note is one line

    Markdown tables cannot hold bullet lists or line breaks inside a cell. For vocabulary, formulas or short definitions, a | Cues | Notes | table looks like the paper version. For anything longer, keep the cues above each section as the template does.

  • Mark confusion as you go

    Put ?? in front of anything you did not follow, with the slide or page number. After class, those lines become your questions for office hours, and searching for ?? across a week of notes gives you a list in seconds.

  • Add worked problems for math and science

    In quantitative classes, put the method in the cues and the worked example in the notes, with the final number and unit. Then cover the notes and redo the example from the cue alone.

  • Keep the summary short enough to say aloud

    Two to four sentences. If you need more, the session covered two topics and deserves two notes. A summary you cannot say in thirty seconds will not get reread.

In the app

How to do this in Scribelet

  1. Open Desk Settings, then Templates, tap Add Template, paste the template above and set the category to Research or General. Keep {{date}} in the title and add a default tag such as #psyc101 so every Cornell note for that course is filed on creation.

  2. Link each note to a course note with [[PSYC 101]]. The course note's backlinks panel then lists every lecture in order, which is your table of contents at exam time.

  3. The review log uses real tasks. - [ ] Recall pass @due(2026-10-21) shows up in the Tasks view and on that day's daily note until you tick it, and @remind(2026-10-21 19:00) sends a push reminder in your local time.

  4. Took notes on paper? Photograph the page and attach it to the note. Scribelet extracts the text so your handwritten cues and summary become searchable.

  5. Before an exam, ask the AI chat "what do my notes say about the forgetting curve?" It answers from your own Cornell notes and cites the notes it used.

Templates, template variables and AI generation are documented in Note templates.

Frequently asked questions

How do you set up Cornell notes?

On paper, draw a vertical line about a third of the way across the page (roughly 2.5 inches from the left) and a horizontal line about 2 inches from the bottom. Notes go on the right, cues on the left, summary at the bottom. In Markdown there are no columns, so the template above puts the header first, a cue line above each section of notes, and the summary as its own heading at the end.

Is there a Word template for Cornell notes?

Word does not ship one, but you can build it in a minute: insert a two-column table, set the widths to roughly 30 and 70 percent, and add a full-width row at the bottom for the summary. In Google Docs, use a 2x2 table and merge the bottom row. If you would rather not fight table widths, copy the Markdown template on this page into any notes app.

What are the different types of Cornell notes?

The layout stays the same; what changes is what goes in the cues. Lecture notes use question cues, reading notes add page numbers, math and science notes put the method in the cues and the worked example in the notes, and vocabulary notes use a term-and-example table. The five examples above show each variant.

Are Cornell notes good for ADHD?

Some students with ADHD find the structure helpful because each step is small and clearly defined: write fragments now, add cues later, summarize at the end. Others find a fixed layout gets in the way during a fast lecture. Try it for two weeks on one course, keep the review log, and judge it by whether you actually reviewed. See Scribelet for students for other study setups.

What are the 5 Rs of Cornell notes?

Record, Reduce, Recite, Reflect and Review. You record during class, reduce the notes to cues afterwards, recite by covering the notes and answering the cues, reflect on how the material connects, and review on a schedule. The review log in the template turns the last step into dated tasks so it happens.

How long should a Cornell notes summary be?

Two to four sentences per page or per session. It should state the main argument, how it connects to what came before, and what you would expect to be tested on. Write it from memory first, then check it against the notes.

Cornell notes you actually review

Save this Cornell template in Scribelet, link every lecture to its course, and let the review log remind you when the next recall pass is due. When the exam comes, ask your notes instead of rereading them. Free to start.

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