Notebooking, Teaching, and Technology

A friend of mine is teaching third grade and is notebooking with spiral bound notebooks. On the day I visited her classroom her children were doing an experiment with "mock rocks" based on an activity in either the Foss or Delta science kit. She choose to use spiral notebooks because it allowed for more space with glueing and writing. I think the intent is that she would use one for each of her units (so they were the small spiral notebooks - 70 page count I think). I did see that some of the pages had started ripping out just by the way the students were handling them. I think that will improve with time as they move into their next unit/book.

There are many reasons to start notebooking . - It becomes a permanent record of student work - It acts as a portfolio - Creates an active learning environment (where students have to interact with the information) as opposed to a passive learning environment (where students simply receive the information) - Organizes material and thinking - Allows students to express their creativity - Creates multiple opportunites for students to process information - Personalizes the learning experience - Teaches organization and structure - Creates opportunities for students to improve reading and writing skills across the curriculum - Encourages students to express their understanding of concepts being taught - It is easy to glance at a student notebook and know what they are missing - Encourages children to take pride in their work - Parent conferences are much smoother when you can show them all their child's work in one location. If you have a child who is not keeping up with their note...

I had never heard of science notebooking until I started working at Lady's Island Middle School (6 th grade science). I was hired and the teacher I was replacing was moving up to another grade level. She gave me a copy of one of her student notebooks and related papers and said that they notebook in science. This was my first year teaching middle school science and I thought better to stick with something you had copies of then reinvent the wheel. Unfortunately the sample notebook I received was bland (very black and white with little student work or color), again I was just starting and went with what I had. By sheer luck I was placed on a team with a Humanities teacher who has been notebooking for years, who was able to walk me through the notebooking process and share several of her notebooks from years past. Her notebooks had lots of color and more student work and interaction then my sample and I was able to see what students were capable of. I didn't truly tap into t...

I have been frequently asked about my science notebooks and thought the best way to communicate would be to start a blog addressing notebooking questions, post pictures of student work, and highlight the successes (higher test scores) and pitfalls (grading!) of notebooking. I have done notebooking in both the middle school (6th grade science) and elementary school (4th grade science). I have spoken to science coordinators within school and showcased some of my student work at conventions. Schools I have left requested copies of the notebooks and material I used in them. The reaction is generally mixed, from those who are dying to try to those who like their current system. I love science notebooking but understand not everyone is going to be as enthusasic as I am. If something else is working for you (three ring binders) you might take some of these ideas and incorporate them in to your binder system making them more interactive. I hope to generate a useful discussion about notebooking...