Steps to Effectively Reading Your Textbook

1. Pick the correct reading environment

2. Pre-read

a. SKIM the graphics and the headings.

b. What are the focus topics and essential questions for this reading?

c. What do you already know about this topic?

d. What are the key terms? (Fill out Key Vocab Guides before completing the next step.)

3. READ

a. From your pre-reading you should know the focus points of the reading. Now read with the following questions in mind:

i. What are the topics?

ii. What is significant about each topic?

iii. How is each topic related to other topics and topics in this section?

iv. STOP after each subsection and take notes.

(DO NOT TAKE NOTES AS YOU READ. Instead pause and then write down answers to questions. This will also serve as a self-check to see if you have processed the information.) Be sure to pay special attention to visuals!

b. If you are unable to translate the section into your own words to answer the questions then you don’t understand it. Reread. Still confused? Write down specific questions to ask about this section during class.

4. Immediately after you read:

a. Reflect on the reading

i. What is the most important? Star or highlight the related notes.

ii. Reread your notes in full to make sure they are sufficient. Add notes as needed.

b. Answer the essential questions provided in the text in your own words (this doesn’t have to be written. It can simply be a mental exercise.)

5. 1 day after reading – REVIEW

a. Reread your reading notes again within 24 hours of reading.

b. The review should be short, but is ESSENTIAL to retaining the material

6. 1 week after reading – REVIEW AGAIN

a. A few days after the material has been addressed in class, go back to your notes and review them again. Relate them to class discussion and/or current events

Most students are not taught how to take notes, or are taught these skills at a relatively late point in the course of their education (Boyle, 2007; Faber et al., 2000). When students are shown a structure for note-taking, it often improves the quality of their notes (Gray & Madson, 2007). Students in science courses implementing the Cornell Note-taking method had a 10-12% higher average than students in the previous semester not using this method (Donohoo, 2010).

Cornell Notes has 5 steps

Recording

Reducing

Reciting

Reflecting

Reviewing

Recording:

During the lecture, use the note-taking column to record the lecture using telegraphic sentences. It’s super important to write or type all of the main topics and important details that are covered during your lecture or meeting. These detailed notes will be entered into the note taking column for you to reference later when it’s time to buckle down for a study session.

Reducing:

Create Questions As soon after class as possible, formulate questions based on the notes in the right-hand column. Writing questions helps to clarify meanings, reveal relationships, establish continuity, and strengthen memory. Also, the writing of questions sets up a perfect stage for exam studying later.

You can pull out important keywords or topics by reducing the amount of extra information that is of less importance. This reduced info will be entered into the cue column and will serve as a buzzer reminding you to pay special attention to the corresponding data in the note taking column.

Reciting:

Cover the note-taking column with a sheet of paper. Then, looking at the questions or cue-words in the question and cue column only, say aloud, in your own words, the answers to the questions, facts, or ideas indicated by the cue-words

Here you will go a step beyond merely reading and understanding the notes you have taken. You’re going to test the amount of information you actually retained and your note taking ability. Recite the information you’ve written down as if you were teaching someone who has no prior knowledge of the topic or as if you were tasked with telling your professor or boss everything that they taught you.

Reflecting:

Reflect on the material by asking yourself questions, for example: “What’s the significance of these facts? What principle are they based on? How can I apply them? How do they fit in with what I already know? What’s beyond them?

The need to sit back and reflect upon the notes you’ve taken and what you’ve learned is super important. This is when you sit back and ask yourself “What does it all mean?” “Why is this important?” and “What am I to do with this information?”

Reviewing:

Spend at least ten minutes every week reviewing all your previous notes. If you do, you’ll retain a great deal for current use, as well as, for the exam.

One of the best ways to get the information within your notes to stick around for easy recall is by simply reviewing your notes. Take 10-20 minutes each day to review everything you’ve entered into your template. You can re-read it or re-write it if you’d like. Any form of reviewing your notes will work wonders and you’ll soon see the amount of information you’re able to retain increase, which sets you up for success when the time comes to apply it.

Cornell Notes Blank