Why use composition books over spiral notebooks or three ring binders? It is actually a personal preference, I will list the pros and cons of each below. This happens in my scrapbooking world too where one scrapbooker favors one book or another (I am partial to the three ring binder albums where my friends are partial to the post bound books).
I use the composition books because that is what they used in my first school and the reasons were sound based on my experiences with the other books (in one conference I went to a teacher called them the "moo cow" books because of their traditional black and white marble look). I wouldn't mind trying the spiral notebook one year but for right now I am sticking with what I know works for me.
Here are the pros and cons of each:
Three Ring Binder
Pros
- Easy to purchase
- Comes in a variety of sizes and colors
- Do not have to shrink items to fit
- A simple purchase of a whole puncher will allow anything to fit.
- Can purchase dividers for each unit of study
- Don't have to mess with glue
Cons
- Papers get torn out easily and then "lost"
- Too traditional, not different enough to stand out
- Bulky and awkward to carry around (particularly with all the other books students carry)
- Lends itself to a too much text/writing scenarios where teachers print out pages of information which leaves less room for creativity.
Spiral Notebook
Pros
- Easy to purchase
- Comes in a variety of colors and often sizes
- Don't have to shrink items to fit or format pages differently when typing
- Students are familiar with them
Cons
- Spiral often comes undone and winds up poke at you or becoming distracting
- Pages tear out easily
- Students often get varied versions (instead of one set uniform version that you ask for)
- Have to glue items in
Composition Books
Pros
- Small and easy to carry
- Pages are bound so they don't rip or tear out easily
- Smaller pages make writing less overwhelming when assigned
- All composition books are fairly standardized as to page length
- Different enough to stand out as being something special
- Easy to keep through the years as opposed to a bulky plastic three ring binder.
Cons
- Have to shrink items to fit smaller pages (that is a pretty big deal for some people but having done it so often it is not that hard to program yourself to do)
- Have to glue items in
I use the composition books because that is what they used in my first school and the reasons were sound based on my experiences with the other books (in one conference I went to a teacher called them the "moo cow" books because of their traditional black and white marble look). I wouldn't mind trying the spiral notebook one year but for right now I am sticking with what I know works for me.
Here are the pros and cons of each:
Three Ring Binder
Pros
- Easy to purchase
- Comes in a variety of sizes and colors
- Do not have to shrink items to fit
- A simple purchase of a whole puncher will allow anything to fit.
- Can purchase dividers for each unit of study
- Don't have to mess with glue
Cons
- Papers get torn out easily and then "lost"
- Too traditional, not different enough to stand out
- Bulky and awkward to carry around (particularly with all the other books students carry)
- Lends itself to a too much text/writing scenarios where teachers print out pages of information which leaves less room for creativity.
Spiral Notebook
Pros
- Easy to purchase
- Comes in a variety of colors and often sizes
- Don't have to shrink items to fit or format pages differently when typing
- Students are familiar with them
Cons
- Spiral often comes undone and winds up poke at you or becoming distracting
- Pages tear out easily
- Students often get varied versions (instead of one set uniform version that you ask for)
- Have to glue items in
Composition Books
Pros
- Small and easy to carry
- Pages are bound so they don't rip or tear out easily
- Smaller pages make writing less overwhelming when assigned
- All composition books are fairly standardized as to page length
- Different enough to stand out as being something special
- Easy to keep through the years as opposed to a bulky plastic three ring binder.
Cons
- Have to shrink items to fit smaller pages (that is a pretty big deal for some people but having done it so often it is not that hard to program yourself to do)
- Have to glue items in
Comments
I was wondering if you could post a tutorial on how your format worksheets to fit in the science notebook. I to see the great benefit in having the composition books! You site is amazing. Thank you so much for posting your work!