HI everyone! I am new to the boards and I have a question about Interactive Notebooks. I want to start using them for the first time in the fall, so I am doing some planning for them now. There are a few questions I was hoping you could all help me answer.
1. Is there a book I can buy that details more of the process?
2. Do your students glue, tape or staple their entries? I just put in a few pages into my notebook w/ a glue stick and they are already coming off.
I appreciate all your input and I'm sure I'll have many more questions along the way.
1. Is there a book I can buy that details more of the process?
yes. "Bring History Alive" is published by TCI, and there is a chapter in there about the notebooks. The book is about the History Alive program, of which the notebooks are a piece. You might be better off to visit websites - a place to start is http://interactive-notebooks.wikispaces.com/
2. Do your students glue, tape or staple their entries? I just put in a few pages into my notebook w/ a glue stick and they are already coming off.
My students use liquid glue - I'm partial to Elmer's Glue All, versus the school glue. I tried glue sticks this year, and you really have to press hard and use a good bit of the glue stick for pages to stick. Also, Wal-Mart generally puts the Glue All on sale for 20 cents a bottle over the summer.
Have you thought about what type of notebook you'll use? People using the strategy use all kinds - binders, spirals, and composition notebooks. Personally, I like the composition notebooks because they are durable.
1. Is there a book I can buy that details more of the process?
If you do an internet search for "Interactive Notebooks" "ISN" "IAN" or "Interactive Student Notebook," you will find tons of sites to help you. The HA! book is the original, but I found a lot better and more diverse ideas from the websites.
2. Do your students glue, tape or staple their entries? I just put in a few pages into my notebook w/ a glue stick and they are already coming off.
My first year that I used ISNs, I started with glue sticks, but the pages came off too easily. Next, my students taped everything in their ISN. I did not like passing out the tape by hand and several pages fell out of students' ISNs through the year.
This year, I used liquid glue and I liked it a lot better. First, I bought about 100 glue bottles at Wal-Mart during the back-to-school sales for 10 cents a piece. I have 30 bottles I keep on my supply table. I combined them together as they got low. They have lasted me all year.
The key to neatness is to instruct and model "proper" glue procedures. I tell them they may only use nine dots of glue per page. This helps to keep the mess down and to minimize the "warping" of the page due to the wet glue.
Buy really good glue sticks stay away from bargain stores, just keep gluing them back in. My school has sent me on a couple of training runs and have tried it in bits and pieces this year. Will be fully implemented next year. I teach 8th but I really believe interactive note taking is a memory tricks and a crutch for kids who can't read, won't read and worse yet feel they don't have to retain anything that doesn't interest them. Good luck and wish me luck since my school is hoping do a 360 in achievement and go from the bottom of the table to the top in a year or two.
I'm interested in why you feel interactive notebooks are a crutch for kids who can't read, won't read, and don't retain. I was hoping these notebooks would be a method to help them retain the information better. What have you experienced that I need to be watching for? Thanks
I don't believe it is a crutch at all. In fact, it forces them to think ideas through a lot more thoroughly than traditional notes. I typically alternate between supplying partial notes for the teacher side and using thinking maps which I require the students to fill out on their own first, then I review with them after (I monitor during the "guided mapping" to make sure they aren't just waiting for me to review).
I also would like to know why canuk thinks they are a crutch...have you experienced something I haven't (but am probably bound to in the future)?
I teach 5th grade and use the IA notebooks with my Social Studies classes. I'm not sure that it's a negative concept to label IA notebooks a crutch. Don't we use memory crutches to teach everything from the ABC's to the Order of Operations and the planets? Since we have to teach to so many learning styles, this just broadens the inventory of tools at my disposal. Some of my students learn by hearing the lesson, some by writing, and some by creating the charts, drawings, etc. that go into our IA notebooks. This is the first year I've used them, but I intend to expand our use of them next year. Anyone else have positive feedback to share?
My students add to their notebooks using a three hole punch. We always try to add entire pages when possible. Two sided tape is great for adding smaller objects.I have found that my students have better recall of facts when we add color pages with notes. I have found hundreds of coloring pages featuring topics addressed in our social studies frameworks. Topics inculding ancient Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages..... These pages are 8x11 and fit perfectly in our notebooks. Students color the pages, add needed information on the left side of the notebook and their colored picture on the right. good luck! KC
I used the interactive notebooks with my social studies classes the past year and it was a total success and a blast had by all (students, myself and the parents) The students enjoyed coming up with ideas to highlight the notes discussed in class. The parents enjoyed not getting the numerous missing homework assignments telephone calls. I really enjoyed the percentage of missing homework decreasing. The ideas that the students came up with were awesome. They created gameboards, puppet shows, various graphic organizers, mobiles attached to the folder, skits including props, pictures, poems, songs etc. I allowed the students the opportunity to share them with the class for extra points. This benefited the entire class, a review, the opportunity to stand before the class and express themselves, and the chance to just stand out. I can't wait until next year to continue.
_Groovin' and Moovin' Maree
I don't allow the use of markers in my notebooks because of bleed through. It does make the back of the next page unusable for writing.
I think when pp's were talking about highlighters they were talking about using them on a handout which would be glued in to the notebook. I use highlighters all the time on my handouts - we look for the answers to certain questions in the text or color code facts for note-taking. If its on a handout, there is no bleed through.
I don't know about highlighting directly on the page, but you might want to try it on one and see!
Hi I am new too. I am moving from First Grade to Fifth Grade science. I bought this book called Using Science Notebooks in Elementary Classrooms from the NSTA Science Store. You might find it helpful.
04-24-2008, 06:52 PM
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