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Have you jumped on board with interactive notebooks yet?

Interactive notebooks are a great way to have students organize information, preview assignments, record their thoughts, keep a portfolio of their work, make connections, explain concepts and demonstrate understanding in a creative and meaningful way.

Interactive notebooks allow students to record ideas and concepts visually and linguistically which seems to enhance the retention of information.

One of the biggest benefits I have personally seen with interactive notebooks is the amount of engagement and pride that students seem to have in their notebook.The work is personal and meaningful.

Setting Up an Interactive Notebook

There are many ways a teacher can set up interactive notebooks.A teacher may choose to have different subjects in different notebooks.Or they may choose to focus on a single subject and just have one interactive notebook.If you are trying to save on the cost of the notebooks, you may want to include more than one subject in a notebook.I have seen this done by dividing notebooks into sections.I have also seen this done with one subject going from the front cover towards the center, flipping the notebook over, and having another subject go from the back cover towards the center.

If you plan on using a lot of foldable graphic organizers (rather that just writing in the notebook), I would suggest you use a composition book that is non-spiral. The spines are stronger and they do not tend to lose pages.

If you have students who rotate to you for the subject you want to use notebooks in, I would suggest a tub in your classroom that the students grab their notebooks from when the arrive and place them back in as they leave. If you want students to be able to recognize their notebook easily you can attach a piece of bright ribbon as a bookmark or put a piece of duct tape on the binding to distinguish one notebook from another.

For each unit I have students skip a page. When we complete the unit the students return to that page and make a title page for that unit.

I usually have them tab each section with a post-it note so that it is easier for me to find the section when I am grading.

I also suggest gluing an envelope to the back cover. Students can place lose items they are working on in the envelope for safe keeping.

I have my students number their pages and include a table of contents as we go.

I set up my teacher's notebook ahead of time. If I have folds or cuts to make, I usually do that ahead of time too, even if I will model the making of the fold again with the class. This way I can put my teacher's notebook under the doc camera so that students can see what it is suppose to look like. I often cover some of my information up with post-it notes or index cards so that the students cannot just copy my notebook.

You may be interested in my

Bundle of Interactive Notebook Flaps and Folds

Or one of my specialty packs

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You Oughta Know About Setting Up and Organizing Interactive Notebooks

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Interactive notebooks are a great way to have students organize information, preview assignments, record their thoughts, keep a portfolio of their work, make connections, explain concepts and demonstrate understanding in a creative and meaningful way. Interactive notebooks allow students to record ideas and concepts visually and linguistically which seems to enhance the retention of information.

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Using Foldable Graphic Organizers with Interactive Notebooks  ANDYou Oughta Know About Setting Up and Organizing Interactive Notebooks

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Using Foldable Graphic Organizers with Interactive Notebooks  ANDYou Oughta Know About Setting Up and Organizing Interactive Notebooks

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Use a non-spiral composition notebook.

Keep the notebooks in class, don't send them home.

Skip the first few pages to save space for a table of contents.

Possible ways to use the notebooks: Brainstorming
·      KWL charts
·      Venn Diagrams
·      Concept Maps
·      Thinking Maps
·      Graphs
·      Charts
·      Diagrams
·      Illustrations
·      Maps
·      Foldable graphic organizers

Foldable graphic organizers are fun to use and provide more usable space in the notebooks.

It is possible to use the notebooks for more than one subject.

Use sticky notes as tabs for different subjects or sections.

Glue an envelope inside the back cover for students to store any small items they are working on.

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Interactive notebooks are a great way to have students organize information, preview assignments, record their thoughts, keep a portfolio of their work, make connections, explain concepts and demonstrate understanding in a creative and meaningful way(TCI, 2013). The interactive notebook is a tool for student learning and a portfolio of their work.

What are the benefits?

One of the biggest benefits I have personally seen with interactive notebooks is the amount of engagement and pride that students seem to have in their notebook.The work is personal and meaningful.

How do you set them up?

There are many ways a teacher can set up interactive notebooks.A teacher may choose to have different subjects in different notebooks.Or they may choose to focus on a single subject and just have one interactive notebook.If you are trying to save on the cost of the notebooks, you may want to include more than one subject in a notebook.I have seen this done by dividing notebooks into sections.I have also seen this done with one subject going from the front cover towards the center, flipping the notebook over, and having another subject go from the back cover towards the center. Some teachers like to use the left side for student processing (drawings, quick writes, diagrams) and the right for teacher input (notes, lab work, reading responses).

Here are some general tips I have for setting up interactive notebooks:

· Use a non-spiral, composition notebook. Spiral notebooks tend to lose their pages.

· Skip the first few pages to allow for a title page and table of contents. The table of contents helps with organization and assessment of the notebook.

· Keep them in the classroom! Do not allow students to take them home until they have been completed and assessed at the end of the semester or school year.

· Have the students number the pages as you go and be very specific, especially in the beginning about what you want in each entry.

· If appropriate, provide the students with a rubric, letting them know specifically how you will be assessing the notebook.

What do you have students actually do in the interactive notebook?

The possibilities are endless.Here are a few things that I have tried that have worked well.

Foldable Graphic Organizers are by far the favorite with the students and most of the above ideas could easily be done within foldable graphic organizers.These organizers give the students an opportunity to express their understanding both linguistically and visually.They can replace worksheets with something student generated that has more meaning for the student.

For more on interactive notebooks and foldable graphic organizers please visit these sites.

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Using Foldable Graphic Organizers with Interactive Notebooks

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Interactive notebooks are a great way to have students organize information, preview assignments, record their thoughts, keep a portfolio of their work, make connections, explain concepts and demonstrate understanding in a creative and meaningful way(TCI, 2013). The interactive notebook is a tool for student learning and a portfolio of their work.

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Five Good Reasons to Use Science Notebooks

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Five Good Reasons to Use Science Notebooks

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1. Notebooks are thinking tools:  Students can establish and explain their thinking.

2. Notebooks guide teacher instruction: They give teachers access to the student's thinking.

3. Notebooks enhance literacy skills: Students can practice descriptive, procedural, persuasive, narrative, and explanatory writing

4. Notebooks support differentiated learning: they can be structured to support all levels of learning.

5. Notebooks foster teacher collaboration: teachers can meet to discuss and review notebooks to see what is working and what is not.