Interactive Student Notebooks: A How To Guide

Interactive student notebooks are a great way to get students engaged in class and can keep them organized. The following includes some of the steps I took when I first started my interactive student notebooks, some lessons I’ve learned while using them, some tricks to make things easier for you and some ideas of how you can use ISNs in your classroom. Although I teach math, these notebooks can be adapted to any subject area! Please leave any questions or comments below.

Getting Started:

            I highly suggest using a composition notebook over a spiral one or any other kind where the pages may be perforated and tear out easily. I buy each of my students a composition notebook at Target around back to school time for about 50 cents each, minus my 5% red card discount of course. If you have a student population that would buy their own or school budget to purchase them, then I would suggest that.

         You also need to have a pair of scissors and glue for each student that is easily accessible. When students are cutting or gluing it is much more time efficient if each student is completing the task at the same time. I have table groupings in my class and a basket of supplies for them to use. I also include a roll of tape and mini stapler for each group, not individually.

                               
                                  

    

            Having a teacher sample notebook will be the key for you create to the formatting, determine how many pages the notes will take and students to use as a reference. How you display the notes for the students to copy will be up to you and depend on your resources. I personally use an ELMO document camera to project the notebook and foldables for students to copy and then have one completed ISN for each class. Some teachers use the same notebook to project or use a smart board to have students follow along with. So, create your sample notebook first and decide how you will have students see what theirs should look like.

            Formatting decisions will also need to be made when creating your sample notebook. I personally have my students write notes, vocab and formulas on the left side of the notebook and complete example problems on the right. Other options would be to mix them together, have students take notes on the left and complete homework on the right, or any other way that works best for you and your students.

ISN Set Up:

            I spend the whole second day of school having students get their ISNs ready to be used for notes the next day. On the very first page I have students glue in the syllabus so that it can be referenced when needed, as well as any other pages they may find useful such as the ISN grading rubric, the standards, helpful formulas, vocabulary, etc… Then we reserve a certain number of pages to be used for the table of contents, which I found from Sarah at Math Equals Love. Then we number. We number every page in the book from 1 until the end. This helps with students writing on the wrong pages, skipping pages or tearing any out. The last optional idea would be for students to tape in a long string at the end of the book to be used as a book mark in their ISN, this can help with grading.

Grading:

            To grade the notebooks, I collect them while students are taking their unit test so that I can grade, record and pass them back within the period. Students earn 5 points for having their table of contents complete and then 5 points for each set of notes. I know what pages should look like so I take off points if students are missing titles, notes or examples. I then write their total on the last page so they can see their score after they are finished with their tests. The book mark mentioned above is helpful for having students place the string where the notes for that unit begin.

Helpful Hints:

1)  Use school glue over glue sticks. Although they may seem easier they are actually messier, get on the desks, dry out and end up costing more in the long run.

2)  Teach the 5 dot method. Have students only apply 5 dots to anything they are gluing in, one in each corner and one in the middle.

3) Color coding. I color code the table of contents and any pages we glue in for that unit by copying them all on the same color. I then use felt tip markers in those colors when writing the notes with my students in the ISNs. It helps students visually see different units during a quiz or final exam review time.

4) Do not overwhelm yourself with foldables and graphic organizers. Start out with a few good ones and add over the years. Not every set of notes is going to be 100% fantastic and let yourself know that that’s ok.

5) Don’t reinvent the wheel. Find foldables from other teachers on teacher blogs, TeachersPayTeachers or from colleagues at your site.

6)  Let students use them on quizzes. Students need to find their notes valuable and worth taking, so by letting them use them on quizzes they have a reason to make sure they are all filled in and easy to read.

7)  Have extra notebooks on hand for when a student transfers into the class, or a student loses their notebook. (which honestly has only happened twice)

Reasons why they’re great:

 Organizational skills are not always explicitly taught in school but “disorganization leads to lower grades and achievement” (Gambill, Moss & Vescogni, 2008, p. ii). If we want our students to be organized, we need to model it for them and one way to do this is with ISNs. Students who take notes on loose leaf paper end up losing them, throwing them away or never even taking them at all. I have had former students come back saying they still use their notebooks in their next level of math class because they are easy to navigate and have useful information.

Not all students learn the same way but “the ISN is one way for the teacher to plan lessons which will meet students’ varied learning styles” (Green, 2010, p. 3). By getting students using their hands to cut, fold and write they are more involved in their learning. The notebooks are a great tool when completing homework to use as a reference and some teachers have students complete their homework in the notebooks so they have the resources they need right there.

Closing:

            I beyond highly recommend using ISNs in any subject and I hope that some of my experiences will help you consider starting one in your own. Students interact with their notes, engage with the notes and refer back to them when they complete them in this manner. Students learn how to organize using the table of contents and by organizing the pages how you choose helps them know where to find anything they are trying to reference. Feel free to leave any comments or questions, I would love to connect with other ISN enthusiasts or those who want to be.

References

Gambill, J. M., Moss, L. A., & Vescogni, C. D. (2008). The impact of study skills and organizational methods on student achievement. Online Submission.

Green, T. (2010). The effects of the interactive student notebook on fifth grade math and science achievement.