Note Taking Template Ideas – The Best Free Notes Ideas

This is the best post on note taking template ideas. Use these free note ideas for different types of classes in school.

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Why Read This Article on Note-Taking Template Ideas?

There are tons of articles out there about note-taking templates.

I have written several myself on types of note-taking.

You might be familiar with methods such as Cornell, mind mapping, boxing, charting, etc.

I want to give you some other ideas for unique note-taking methods for school for easily jotting down quick notes in class to promote better retention and learning.

The secret to each of these is they are a combination of a few classic styles … Cornell, Boxing, and Charting.

The beauty of them is that they are easy to replicate on your own in a notebook or to customize to your exact specifications in order to make it easier for you to stay organized in class.

In addition, these note templates make it easier to retain information later when studying or taking a test.

Instead of looking at notes as simply a list of bullet points, keeping your notes organized with this structure is critical.

You probably have some questions about how to create these study notes, so let’s now touch on them.

Answering Some Top Note-Taking Template Ideas Questions

Note-taking is one of those skills that you should have been taught in your early years — middle and high school.

Good note-taking is truly one of the best skills of lifelong learners because it allows you to take in key ideas and important details and organize them in a way that is effective to understand and retain.

They can be used post-school including work, higher education, or for personal development such as learning a new language.

What is the most effective note-taking template?

You might assume something like Cornell notes or bullet notes. 

I’ve discussed this in previous note-taking articles … there is truly no “one size fits all” or “best” note-taking method.

This is because it varies from course to course, topic, type of learning environment, personal preference (how you learn best or which you like more), and so many other factors.

There are certainly a number of common note-taking methods that people gravitate towards, but there is no one way to take notes, just as there is no one way to learn.

Consider the differences between a math class with mainly equations diagrams and charts and a literature class with lots of notes and it will become apparent that there is no top note-taking template.

What is the best layout for notes?

Just as there is no best type of note-taking method there is also no best layout either.

Lesson plans can vary greatly from class to class so having a loose and flexible structure can help you to pivot properly in order to stay organized.

How do you take notes creatively?

Taking notes can absolutely be a creative process.

Not only does it often involve things like pictures or graphic organizers, but it also can be fun to create highly aesthetic notes to resemble things like graphic arts.

If you are looking for ways to incorporate creativity into your note-taking consider the following:

• Use different colors for writing or highlighting key points
• Use creative font styles, italics, bolding, underlining, and play with capitalization for main ideas
• Use headers to stay organized for different subjects or topics
• Draw pictures for visual representations of your information
• Use graphics for reminders of daily or weekly tasks such as arrows for important to-dos
• Practice your handwriting for more beautiful handwritten notes
• Add emojis or other simple symbols as an easy way to recall valuable information through visual representations

… and there are so many more!

Now let’s dive into the structures I have created for different types of classes to help you stay organized and visualize essential details.

How To Take Notes For Different Classes

There are millions of different ways to create lecture notes for better memory retention, and good note-taking is a valuable tool for your whole life.

I have created a simple structured format example for different classes for you to follow for your notes to make it easier to highlight key terms, and specific tasks such as daily tasks or weekly tasks, and keep track of important questions

Scroll down after these templates to learn how to create your own note template for your handwritten notes or digital notes!

Notes For Science

Science is an interesting subject because it blends written, images, diagrams, charting, equations, and many other note-taking needs.

This is why science is the perfect note-taking template to demonstrate good notes for class.

With science notes, because you can expect to be jumping around from place to place it’s best to keep a loose note-taking system.

This means using larger boxes for different sections rather than one large box for notes and then just a column for key info and a box for a summary section such as the Cornell method.

Here is an image to show you a template for how to take notes for science.

Just past this image, I will show you an example of it filled in after a class so it can be easier to visualize.

In this example, you can see we have a header, which I always recommend as a dedicated space to keep your notes organized, especially if you often tear them out of a notebook and misplace them.

Then we have a small section for a key, which is valuable for staying organized for a class like general science to clearly reference important subject areas, as science often jumps from topic to topic.

Lastly, our two most major sections are pretty open to promote flexibility with your notes.

The written section is much larger, however, the visual diagram section is also large because you will often have to switch in real-time from diagrams, charts, and equations in a science class.

A pro tip to consider is to incorporate smaller note-taking styles in large sections if that is helpful to you. Note-taking methods such as mind maps are a great thing to add for complex topics and understanding their breakdown such as learning about multicellular organisms.
This will make it a lot easier to reference later on.

Now let’s dive into our next note-taking method for an English or literature class!

Notes for English Literature

The next template is for English literature. There is of course a header at the top, but in addition, I also added lots of boxes.

Here is an image to show you a template for how to take notes for English literature.

The reason for so many boxes is that it can be tempting for an English class to simply copy long and tedious notes from the PowerPoint, handouts, book, etc.

Having lots of structure helps to keep notes short and succinct so that they can properly be listened to during an English language arts or literature class rather than simply copying notes. This is because notes are typically easily accessible.

You can customize each notes page with your preferred box size or type (Ex. swapping the “Key” for a “To Dos” box).

The important thing is to make sure it works best for YOU and your note-taking experience!

Notes for History

History classes or social studies classes are often full of lots of notes, in a variety of types such as written, diagrams and maps, charts, key terms, important dates, important individuals, etc.

That’s why it’s important to stay organized to retain historical information better and recall it later for things like exams.

In order to stay organized in a history class, having a good structure is key.

Here is an image to show you a template for how to take notes for history:

Here it is filled in.

Notes for Math

Math class can seem like a tricky place to take notes. Most notes in math classes is equations and formulas, with occasional writing for something like a definition.

Many people try to use things like graph paper or a lined notebook to keep their equations or formulas straight when physically writing them, but it can be difficult to prevent under-using or over-using spaces.

Therefore, in order to keep your math notes organized, if can be helpful to create pre-built boxes or columns for your equations to keep them lined up and organized.

Here is an image to show you a template for how to take notes for math:

In this example, we are using two major columns to keep ourselves organized, and not have to jump down to a previous line because we took up two-thirds of a page and now don’t have space to put something else next to it.

In the first column, especially for a new subject, you could put rudimentary information, such as general notes and examples, key terms. You can even use it for just class information such as the test date, homework, important upcoming dates, office hours, bonus work you can do, etc.

Essentially just new definitions or reminders. 

Then once you are done with the first definitions of the new topic you can change your formatting to create even more space for equations and practice problems. Think of Cornell notes and how they use only a small margin and then the rest of the space is kept large and blank.

Ultimately, whatever works best for you to stay organized in a class is the best way to take notes. 

If it keeps you consistent, and your notes or problems neat and organized, you can be sure that your framework is helping you.

How To Create Your Own Note Taking Template Ideas

The best way to take in information is to evaluate how you best learn.

You can incorporate things like visual elements — maps, diagrams, charts, and tables to help you with visual cues.

You can keep large blank spaces for things like detailed notes

However, consider keeping notes short and sweet for inside of class, and longer notes for outside of class. Rather than inside class, because you should mainly listen and participate.

For things like summary items, reminders, key dates, or key people, etc. It’s important to keep those separate from your notes as best as possible to stay organized.

Otherwise, you could easily end up forgetting a project or exam date … which is definitely not the idea.

I also recommend immediately transcribing those important dates and problems to a separate place. This is where you track all assigned work or exams such as a planner.

When creating your own notes template it’s always important to first plan ahead.

It’s okay if the first day of that class you keep the notes template very simple. Especially since you likely won’t know the best-structured template to use.

However, generally speaking for classes that are general such as science or math it can be pretty easy to determine a good structure.

Recommended Tools For Digital Note Taking Template Ideas

If you prefer typing your notes I recommend Google Docs for the auto-save functionality. It is also great for creating easy templates for yourself before the class.

I also really like Notion, which is a great tool for organizing all types of notes. Use it for meeting notes to class notes, to personal projects. Here is a faux example I made up for a pre-med student in junior year of undergrad.

You can easily add one of the many free note note-taking templates based on your learning preference, you can create your own, or you can even buy one on Etsy for very cheap.

Lastly, Word and other Microsoft tools are a great way to store your notes, just make sure to save them properly to stay organized.

Digital Notes Helpful Tips

For digital notes, I recommend creating a document for each class and then just either scrolling down to a new page or tabbing down to start a new one at the top.

I would not recommend creating a new document for every class date, as it would be very difficult to organize.

Also, I strongly recommend not mixing classes in the same documents. It can be really easy to miss documents and sort through your notes later if you do that.

Keep things simple for yourself and don’t make it overly complicated.

If you prefer writing digital notes on an iPad or tablet I recommend using apps such as Goodnotes for writing your notes, and again, keeping your class notes separate from your other classes.

 I hope this article on note-taking template ideas was helpful to you. 

I hope you find these free template ideas easy to understand and use, and that if you’re comfortable, you experiment with what works best for you!

Remember to keep your notes in separate and organized places such as folders, notebooks, digital files, or documents in order to stay organized!