3 Claude prompts that turn any textbook chapter into notes you remember

Stop rereading the chapter five times. Paste a chapter into Claude and send three prompts in order: six sticky notes, a labelled diagram, then a one-question-at-a-time quiz. This is the full version of the NOTES guide from my Reel.

01What it is

Three plain prompts you type into Claude after attaching or pasting a chapter. They are not hidden commands or "secret codes": Claude has no special study codes, it just follows clear instructions. They work on any plan, including Free.

02Why it matters

Rereading a chapter feels productive but is one of the slowest ways to learn it. Pulling the key ideas out (notes), seeing how they connect (diagram) and then testing yourself (quiz) makes them stick. The testing step matters most: research on the "testing effect" (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006) found that practising recall beats studying the same material again.

03Step by step

Open https://claude.ai and start a new chat.
Attach the chapter (PDF or text file) or paste it in. Want a practice chapter? Faraday's The Chemical History of a Candle is free and public domain at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14474 (use Lecture I).
Send the three prompts below, one at a time, in order.

Prompt 1: sticky notes

Turn this chapter into 6 sticky notes. One idea per note, under 15 words, only what is worth remembering for a test.

Prompt 2: diagram

Draw this chapter as a labelled diagram I can see, as an artifact. Show how each step leads to the next.

Claude builds the diagram as an artifact you can view beside the chat. On the Free plan, turn on code execution and file creation in Settings > Capabilities first (per Claude Help Center).

Prompt 3: quiz (send it last)

Quiz me on this chapter. Ask one question at a time, wait for my answer, then tell me what I got wrong.

04Example: Faraday, Lecture I

Sticky notes we got:

Rising air cools the edge so a cup of melted wax forms.
Melted wax climbs the wick by capillary action.
Melted wax puts the flame out, so the flame stays on top.
Wax burns as a vapour, not a solid.
You can relight a candle through its smoke.
Fancy fluted candles burn badly because a bad cup gutters.

Diagram: solid wax → melts in the cup → climbs the wick → turns to vapour → burns in the flame.

First quiz question: "Why does the flame stay at the top of the wick instead of burning down it?"

05Good to know

Change the numbers to fit the chapter: 6 notes for a short chapter, 10-12 for a long one.
Do the quiz again the next day; spacing it out helps more than one long session.
Use it to learn, not to hand in: the notes are a study aid, not your homework.