Interactive Notebooks Tips & Tricks: Part 1

Interactive notebooks... What are they all about? Why would you want to use them in your classroom? Are they worth it? 

These were some of the questions I asked myself before I decided to start using interactive notebooks with my students several years ago. 

Interactive notebooks have become one of my favorite learning tools, as well as, one of my students favorite learning tools. I hope through this blog series. you will come away with a few new ideas, some more confidence to implement them fully in your classroom, or make the changes necessary to make using interactive notebooks in your classroom more realistic.

This interactive notebook blog series covers the following areas:

• Part 1: Why Use Interactive Notebooks
• Part 2: Notebook Set Up
• Part 3: Notebook Management
• Part 4: Rubric & Grading

Note: These are my own personal experiences that I will be sharing with you. The strategies I share may not work in every classroom. Please use this information to help you get started using interactive notebooks in your own classroom. Tweak and adapt the ideas so they work for YOU and YOUR STUDENTS!

Before we begin, please know that I struggled with starting to use interactive notebooks in my classroom. It took me a solid 2 years using them to finally feel comfortable and use them effectively. Each group of students is different, so I am always changing things up. The information I am going to share is what consistently works for me. I will also share a few suggestions I have received from other teachers who use interactive notebooks in their classrooms.

We all have a VARIETY of students with different learning types in our classrooms. Some of our students like to work independently and some like to work with a partner. Some of our students like to stand up or move around while they are working. Other students can sit in their seats, focused, for lengths of time most adults can't even compete with. The reason I love using interactive notebooks is because all my students are engaged. Not only are they working on demonstrating their academic skills and knowledge, but the activities are hands-on so they also get to work on those fine motor skills that often get left out. This is usually the time when I see natural use of academic language with peers too. WHAT? Yes, that is correct. They are using their math vocabulary or grammar knowledge NATURALLY with their peers. That makes this teacher smile, because I know they are owning their learning.

One of my favorite things about interactive notebooks is the evidence of learning it provides. At conferences with parents, it is one of the tools I pull out to show what skills have been learned. Parents can see the quality of work, higher level thinking skills, explanations of how the child solved the problem and so much more! AND... its is less prep on me for conferences! YES, PLEASE!

Our interactive notebooks become a large part of our learning. We use them all year on a consistent basis. My students give feedback to one another about how they solved a problem or the quality of work they produced (more on this during the Rubric and Grading part of this blog series). However, because their notebooks are something used on a weekly basis they become proud of the work they are producing. Every once in awhile, I also like to choose one or two students to share the way they complete an interactive notebook activity with the entire class. It may highlight HOW a math problem was solved or the quality of work and effort put into completing the assignment. This builds self confidence and encourages other students to do their best, as well.

Our interactive notebooks become a reference tool. Some teachers like to use interactive notebook to preteach concepts. I use them as a review of skills I have taught. By doing this, I am able to see who understands the skills that have been taught and who needs a mini lesson or small group work to continue development of a skill. What ends up happening most of the time, is my students forget how to do something or come to me with a question. Then, I refer them to their notebook for guidance. They become more proactive with their learning eventually and depend less on me giving them the answers. I also allow my students to take their notebooks home to study for a unit test. This method does not work in every classroom. It really depends on the students and parents and how responsible they are to return the notebooks to class when asked. I am not always able to do this with my own students.

Whenever I tell my students we will be working in our interactive notebooks, I usually hear a lot of hissing snakes saying YESSSSSSSS! This makes me so happy! They really don't even realize they are practicing their math skills. It's like a fun craft or project for them. They are eager and willing to get to work and they usually have giant smiles on their faces while doing it! What more can a teacher ask for?

If you are ready to jump in and get started, be sure to check out all my TOP SELLING Math, Language, and Reading INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOKS. Each notebook comes with sample pictures of every page, notebook covers, strand tabs and MORE!

Take a closer look with this FREEBIE:

I hope you were able to take away a few ideas, tips, and tricks to use with your classroom interactive notebooks. Be sure to check out the rest of the series:

Part Two {Notebook Set Up}

Part Three {Notebook Management}

Part Four {Rubric & Grading}

{DON'T FORGET IT. PIN IT!}

End of the Year Prep Ideas

The end of the school year buzz has already begun. Whether you have a week or several weeks left of school, the warm, summer sun and lazy summer days are quickly approaching! And believe me, I am counting down the days until I can enjoy it!

I always like to spend some time, at the end of the year, prepping for the new school year that awaits. I know some of you are just surviving this year, however, I tend to enjoy my time off in the summer when I know some of the prep is already complete!

The following ideas are just a few suggestions of things that work for me. I hope you can take one or two of the ideas away with you and ease your way back into the classroom in the fall.

1.

Copy School Forms 

I always take the time to copy all my Back To School forms, which I will send home the first week of school. I put them in my file cabinet and label a folder "First Week of School". This helps me find them easily and I spend less of my summer standing at the copy machine when school is headed back into session.

2.

Bind Books

I also spend some time preparing my "what do I do when I am done?" books. These B.A.T. books from Lucky To Be In First are an awesome fast finisher resource. I take time at the end of the year to copy and bind a class set of books. I use her first grade book as review skills at the beginning of the year. Then I use the second grade book for the second semester until the end of the year as review of the second grade skills I have taught. I used a Book Creator heat binding machine to quickly seal the published books...into my closet they go for the new school year!

3.

Create Labels

 I make sure to create as many of my generic labels ahead of time. I can't put the kids' names on anything just yet, but I can make my folder labels and stick them on. Here I have my unfinished work, writing folder, and warm up folder labels already printed and stuck on the front of a class set of folders. All I have to do in the fall is add their name stickers!

4.

Prep Interactive Notebooks

I LOVE using interactive notebooks in my classroom. But my little second graders need lots of help learning how to organize themselves. I make sure to prep their interactive notebooks by putting on the cover and adding standards tabs so they know where to glue the pages they are working on. Everything is color coded and labeled so there is little room for error. I also glue an envelope to the inside cover for small pieces that may not get glued if time runs out.

5.

Copy Morning Warm Up Pages

The first thing my students do in the morning, when they arrive to class, is to turn in their homework and put their personal items away. When they are done, they take out their warm up folder from their desk and complete one page in their printing/sight word packet and their daily review page. This gives me time to deal with morning business and my students are all engaged (for the most part). I like to have these pages copied and stapled ahead of time.

6.

Prepare Supply Boxes

I like my students to have individual supply boxes. I know many of you feel otherwise or have a different system. BUT I like everyone to have their own supplies and take ownership and responsibility for them. There are some supplies we share such as glue and scissors. The basic items (crayons, pencils, glue stick, erasers etc.) are kept in their own boxes. I like to reinforce the boxes with our duck tape of our school colors and mascot's paws! I personalize the boxes in the fall with each student's name.

7.

Create A Countdown Chain

This isn't really an idea to help you prep your classroom for the new school year. It is however, a really fun way to get your current students excited for the next grade. I created a paper cloud and attached color paper chains for each of the days we have left in school. I usually do this for the last 2 or 3 weeks of school. At the end of the day, one student gets to tear the bottom chain off. You can number the chains, write a memory from the year on each one and have a student read it at the end of the day....the ideas are endless. You can grab your grade level cloud HERE for FREE! 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you can grab a few ideas to use to help you prepare ahead of time and give yourself some well deserved downtime during your summer break! 

Poetry Keepsakes

Are you looking for a great bulletin board display for the end of the year? A meaningful keepsake that will melt your parents' hearts and make them tear up a bit? Then this is the activity for you! Our self portraits and All About Me Poems are one of my most favorite activities I do all year! I love to have them on display for Open House if possible too, 

We start off by drawing self portraits of ourselves. I teach the children about proportions, spacing, using the entire piece of paper etc. We draw everything in pencil first. Then, we use oil pastels to add color to the drawings. My students learn to smudge and blend with the oil pastels to create a smooth skin tone. They love learning how to blend and mix colors to find the perfect blend.  

After we complete our self portraits, I introduce the kids to our poetry format. I give each student a copy of the template. We complete each line one at a time. This can be done as a whole group or small group. You know your students best. I complete it as a whole group. We brainstorm ideas for each line. This seems to get the ideas flowing and gives the kids inspiration to write about themselves. 

You can grab this FREEBIE template for the poems HERE.

Once the students complete the rough drafts of their poems, I type them and print them on bright colored paper. I mount them on black paper to make them POP and stand out.

I display them next to their self portraits and.... TA-DAH! A beautiful display is created. At the end of the year, I put these into each students' art portfolio and they take them home to their parents. 

Directed Drawings: More Than Just Art

Directed drawings....have you tried it? In my opinion, it's a MUST in every classroom! I have witnessed so many of my quiet, introverted, students who never raise their hand for anything, flourish during our directed drawing lessons. Let me tell you why directed drawing are so much more than just an art project.

 Improve Listening Skills

During a directed drawing lesson, students are forced to listen and watch each step of the drawing process. This skill can be very tough for many students to master. I breakdown each step so that the entire process is manageable for all the students. I model the first step in front of the whole class. Then, it is the students' turn to try it. I walk around the room and monitor their progress, make adjustments where needed, then I introduce the next step. I try to encourage my students to limit their erasing. Their picture needs to be unique just like they are. It does not need to be a carbon copy of my sample. 

Connect To Other Learning

I always connect our drawing lessons to something we are studying and learning in language arts, science, or social studies. Currently, we are studying the life cycle of plants. This directed drawing lesson was a great connection to that learning. We used our new vocabulary words to describe the parts we were drawing. We discussed how each part functions and its importance. 

Improved Self Esteem

So many students struggle to meet academic benchmarks on a daily basis.  Our directed drawing lessons always seem to boost the self esteem of all my students, but especially my struggling students. These lessons give them a time to shine! There are no right or wrong answers. They can just be themselves and with a little guidance, they flourish! 

Evidence for Portfolios

I keep all our directed drawings from the year and create a "photo album" for the students to take home at the end of the year. They can see their growth from August to June. It also is a wonderful keepsake for their families. Sometimes we connect a writing assignment to our drawings, which is also a wonderful way to document all they have learned.

I hope you will give directed drawings a try in your classroom. Use the picture above to model the steps and get started today. Your students will love it!

Differentiating Instruction With Task Cards

Task Cards....oh how I love thee! Task cards are an amazing teaching resource I could not live without it! They are engaging, easy to prep, versatile and my kids get excited when we use them. They are one of my go to resources for all subjects!

I LOVE using task cards in my classroom!! They provide such a versatile way to review skills quickly and in a meaningful way. My students love to grab a set of cards and a recording sheet. Sometimes they work with a partner. Sometimes they work independently. Sometimes we work on them as a whole class. But no matter how they are being used, the kids are engaged and learning!

To help differentiate my instruction, I make sure whatever skill I am working on with my students is asked in different ways and at different levels. Some of the cards contain multiple choice responses. Sometimes they need to fill in the blank. And sometimes the answers are open-ended and they need to write a sentence or explain their reasoning.

Just this week, we reviewed cause and effect skills. I had the kids work in groups of four to discuss and reason their answers with one another. Each group received 3 task cards. After 4 minutes, they rotated to the next table together and completed 3 different cards. Once they had rotated through the tables, we met as a whole group and discussed the answers they came up. It was great to see them working together, justifying their answers, and explaining their reasoning.

OTHER WAYS TO USE TASK CARDS:

1. Fast Finisher Activity- Place cards in a bin with recording sheet or hang them on hooks so students can easily access them.

2. Small Group Work- I like using task cards as review instruction in small groups. I give each student 2 or 3 cards so quickly assess their understanding and reteach where necessary.

3. Whole Group Instruction- I project the cards (see below) for everyone to see. They record their answers on their sheet and then we review the answers together. Usually I will have students come up and model/explain their thinking for other students to see.

4. As a Center- Similiar to a fast finisher activity, I place the set of task cards with recording sheet in a bin. Students easily access the materials and complete the activity.

5. Read the Room or I Spy Activity- During this activity, I post the cards of a specific skill around the room. Then I give each student a recording sheet. They students don't have to do the cards in order. They just need to make sure they get to each one. I like this activity because students can work on it at their own pace. Sometimes I leave the cards up for a day or two before we review the answers together. This takes pressure off those students that may need more time to complete them.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR TASK CARDS:

I keep all my task card sets on metal rings. I hang the skills we are working on, along with a few review concepts on hooks in my classroom. This makes it easy for the kids to independently grab what they need to work on. When they are finished, the find the corresponding answer sheet, I keep in our task card binder and correct their work. When we work on a set as a whole group, I project the cards for everyone to see. Then, they record their answers on the provided student recording sheet. We always discuss our answers and correct as we go.

Are you ready to start using task cards in your classroom? To help get you started, I have this set of task cards as a FREEBIE for you to try out. If you love using them in your classroom, as much as I do, head over to my TpT store and check out all my MATH and ELA task card sets to help differentiate your students' learning.

{DON'T FORGET IT. PIN IT!}