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Starter Pages - Part II

In a previous post I have links to a set of starter pages that are downloadable and just wanted to clarify. I don't use everything in those pages and they are not in the order I would put them in the notebook (although I wouldn't put them in the book next year except in booklet form to save my gluing sanity :) and space.

The page picture above is a perfect example. I don't use the sensory figure instructions. In my modified set of starter pages I have taken this out. It seemed more for social studies notebooks then science.

Also, a few posts down I noted that I changed my title page requirements to simplify. I changed my starter pages to reflect that and I included the number of lines students were to go down after experiencing problems last year.

The original starter pages that I received my first year of teaching had a TON more pages - my contact information, table of content, class requirements and textbook information, an overview of our topics of study, more detailed grading rundown with rubric, homework and inclass activity explanation, extra credit policy, missing work policies, information about John Collins writing (although I think the teacher changed that a year back to be Cornell note taking instructions), the school's Middle Years Program (MYP), a Personal Academic Data page where student record their MAP scores, and a signature page (which I renamed Science - Contact Page).

As you can see, you can have a ton of information in the starter pages or very few. You can tailor to the needs of your school or your team.

My suggestion is to print out the pages and really go through them. Decide what you like and what you don't and figure what order makes the best sense for you and your students. Each year review and decided what worked and what didn't and continue to modify.

Just as a quick disclaimer. I did not originate the pages. I have certainly added to them and tweaked, much as I suspect other teachers will do but they were shared generously with me in the spirit of notebooking and I am passing them forward in the same manner. Hope they help!

Eve
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Cindy Young said…
I'm starting my first year teaching in the fall so I'm trying to rack up a million ideas this summer. A friend of mine used to teach sixth grade science (the subject and age group I'll have next year) and she did notebooking as well and loved every minute of it. My county is stressing cornell note taking next year. I read online that Cornell note taking used large pieces of notebook paper so you could leave the left hand margins and bottom area for summarizing. I was just worried about doing that in a composition book. I REALLY want to do IAN in composition books in my classroom but I'm worried about implementing cornell note taking. Any ideas??
June 15, 2012 at 4:43 PM
Unknown said…
Would you be willing to share your starter pages? I read the posts, but don't see the download
June 16, 2012 at 12:56 PM
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