Mrs. DuBose’s Class: AdVeNtUrEs iN ScIeNcE

Do you want your students to be more organized, increase their higher order thinking skills, and to be more engaged in their learning..WELL HERE’S THE ANSWER..
STUDENT INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOKS. I have been doing a lot of research into interactive notebooks in science. An interactive notebook (INB) allows students to have a personalized DIARY of learning about science. It is their own portfolio of work in ONE convenient spot. The INB also is a great ORGANIZATIONAL tool that gives students permission to be PLAYFUL AND CREATIVE in their responses without “messing up” your notes. The INB is a great model because it allows students to be like a REAL SCIENTIST. hen you will re-organize the information in some way that will help you understand it and remember it.

Setup
Students are given “input” (PLACED ON THE RIGHT SIDE) on from the teacher in the form of teacher guided notes, lab procedure, reading articles, etc and expected to re-organize the information in some way that will help you understand it and remember it. This is called processing. The best part of processing is it allows students to tap into their CREATIVE side. One of the most important part about the “output” (PLACED ON THE LEFT SIDE) on the left side is the use of COLOR which allows students to remember and make connections. To learn more about interactive notebooks click

Resources:
http://interactive-notebooks.wikispaces.com/
http://sciencenotebooks.org/

Discussion Question: If you have incorporated INBs in your class, what has your experience been like. Do you have any samples of student work to share?