Lesson 2 Readers Notebook Answers

[Cecelia Seiner]

Oneof the drawbacks of a physical notebook is that they have limited space. If you want students to be able to refer back to class notes from the beginning of the year, but they are on their second notebook, they might not always have the first notebook handy. Suggestion: Store full notebooks in the classroom so that students always have them if needed.

Think about all of the ways you imagine using these notebooks, and then picture what might go wrong. What might confuse students? Then, plan. What discussions will you need to have with students to maximize their success?

Do you have a little room for color-coded baskets? If so, get a basket or two for each class, and assign each class a color. If you decide to use baskets, it might be helpful to have students stack their notebooks back to back, vertically. This makes them easier to find and also protects the tabs if you have them on the top of the notebook.

How does the feedback translate into a grade? Use a simple rubric. Determine which standard or target skill you want to assess. (It helps to think about what whole-class mini lessons you conducted that week.) Then, determine what students would need to show you in their response in order to be meeting, approaching, developing, or needing support in that area.

My advice? Start small. What is the one way you want to begin using notebooks that you feel you can manage? Avoid the overwhelm of needing to do it how someone else is doing it. Choose a method that works for you, and once you feel confident about that initial step, build on it.

Hi, I'm Melissa. I'm passionate about teaching and learning. As an instructional coach, I'm always asking questions, trying new things, and reflecting. This is the space where I share my learning with others. Learn more.

I do not have all of the answers as a 7th grade reading teacher, but I love what I do and try to find ways to meet the needs of my learners. Like you, I grow more each day. I am still navigating my way as I work with my readers, but it has been amazing getting to know each of my students as readers. A few things I am learning and focusing on:

I LOVE interactive notebooks! They have been a regular part of my classroom routine and something that my students look forward to. That being said, I receive questions from other teachers nearly every day. This may be a long post, but I wanted to answer ALL of your questions in one place. So grab a glass of wine and get comfy!

First, I have to give a public service announcement. The answers to the following questions are my own personal thoughts and opinions and do not necessary represent the thoughts and opinions of all INB users. Not following my advice will NOT lead to increased blood pressure or depression. You do NOT need to consult a doctor before the use of interactive notebooks.

I do INBs during guided reading and math groups. This makes it simple for me to see how students are doing and it makes it easier for them to see my sample and know how to properly complete the activity. Doing the notebooks during small groups also allows me to differentiate the amount of support that each group receives. It also allows me the opportunity to quickly check notebooks right at the small group table so that I am not lugging home piles of notebooks. When I see that a kiddo is struggling, I can give them maninpulatives and/or support right away. If they did it in an independent center, it would take much longer for me to notice their errors and get to helping them. Since I already do small groups in both reading and math, I am not adding additional tasks to our day.

Nope. We do them when students have had time to practice a skill and are ready to demonstrate mastery. We average about one math activity, one reading activity and either a science or a social studies activity each week. But not always. We might go a couple weeks before we are ready to do a math notebook activity for a skill.

Absolutely! I will teach a skill whole group, we will practice it (with manipulatives) in small group and then we do the notebook activity. The notebook activity is a simple assessment in order to plan my future lessons and interventions. I very rarely use a notebook activity to introduce a topic.

My kids are trained that when they come to small group and see an INB activity on the table, they should begin cutting RIGHT AWAY! This gives me a few minutes to check on students who are doing math centers. When I get back to the table, they are usually just finishing their cutting and we discuss any vocabulary or strategies that we have learned that will help them with this activity. By the time we are done with this mini discussion, students are done with cutting and glueing. The entire process never takes longer than 5 minutes after students are trained.

Next, teach your kids to cut! This might sound silly, but I promise that it makes a big difference. I teach this procedure at the start of every year. A child naturally wants to cut around each individual piece. That is too time consuming. Model for them how to cut around the borders of the paper and then cut out columns or rows and finally cut out the pieces. So much faster!

I have four glue sponges at my back table. They are cheaper than glue sticks and the papers stay put better. Plus, they are huge time savers. No one is getting up to throw away empty glue sticks or to get new ones. No one is on the floor searching for a glue stick lid. They are super easy to make. You just need a small plastic container with a lid (like a food storage container), a kitchen sponge and some white glue. Put the sponge in the container and pour the white glue over it. Put a lid on it and let it sit overnight before using. My four glue sponges lasted the entire year with all 24 of my kids using them daily. You can see more about making glue sponges by clicking HERE.

Note: It is a little more challenging to read their responses quickly from their reading notebooks. Instead, I have them orally share their response with their partner. I listen to see if they got the gist of the weekly focus skill. I can also assess their speaking and listening skills at the same time.

If students complete an activity, and they got all of their questions right, I often release them to join in with the game center. This means that the students who are struggling will have more of my attention and the student was rewarded for his careful work. Sometimes, I will put a challenge math problem on the board and have them work on that. This problem provides necessary enrichment. Generally, my higher groups all finish faster and that gives us time to go a little deeper with the skill.

If you are in need of notebook resources, I have quite a few in my shop. You can find math interactive notebooks for second, third, fourth, and fifth grade. (Fifth grade is currently a growing bundle. When you purchase the growing bundle you will get immediate access to the notebooks currently in the store. You will then get access to new notebooks as they are added at no additional cost.)

My reading units with centers resources for second and third grade also include two interactive notebooks activities each week. See the second grade and third grade reading units.

Jamie thank you for answering these questions. I used interactive notebooks last year in math and reading/language. You have given me some things to think about and ways to improve upon what I was doing. I was wondering if you are required by your district to have an open house every quarter or is it something you do on your own? I am intrigued by the idea. Thanks.

Thank you for sharing! I am looking to start using interactive notebooks and this has been very helpful! Many of my colleagues don't use interactive notebooks so I have never seen them in action! I think they are a wonderful tool to help keep our students engaged and learning. This article was just what I needed to help me! I do have a question. What subject would you introduce interactive notebooks in?

Our school requires it, but it is a great way to get parents in the room to see student work. Sometimes we perform a song or a skit. Our open houses are centered around our social studies or science unit.

Thank you!!! I swear I never even thought of completing INB's in small group. I also thought that note-taking was necessary, but if you look at it like a teacher's edition of an anthology, we know that we cannot complete every activity. I am so happy I read this. This will be my third attempt at INB's and from what I hear the third time is a charm. I really do believe that an INB focus during groups and being used about once per week is perfect for me.

Ivett

Thank you so much for this post. It makes so much more sense now. I too, have tried them twice before and while I've loved the idea, I have not been able to use them effectively. Your set up sounds perfect! I am so excited to try again. I have several INBs already, but I am heading to your store to compare products. =)

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Section II, Daily Writing Habit. (Due next Monday 2/22) Write an analysis of how your essay project is going. What problems are you having? What's going well? What questions do you have?

Paraphrase a difficult passage from one or your sources. Include the original. (Choose a very short paragraph or one or two long and complex sentences.) Take any paragraph of your essay, and re-write it so that it consists mostly of long, complex sentences that are seventeen words or longer. Re-write the same paragraph with no sentence longer than 8-10 words. Write about how changing the sentence lengths affected the paragraph. Which way did it work better? Write it again the way you think it sounds best. Are your sentences mostly long or short? Prepare a brief discussion of your research process so far to present to the class beginning on 2/26. Survey and evaluate the research you have encountered about your topic. Prepare to turn this into a brief essay to be turned in on 3/5. A handout will follow. Section III, Research Tasks (Due next Monday 2/22) From the library homepage, visit Search for Information page Become familiar with using the VCU Library Catalog (DCAT-Plus). Record in your Notebook the names of three databases that you think you might be interested in exploring. What did each one cover or include? Why did you pick those three? Write your reasons.

Visit the Electronic Reference Shelf. Look into some reference materials available online. Record in your Writer's Notebook the names of six reference sources that you can see as immediately useful to you.

Look at SearchBank. Record in your Notebook what it is and how you might use it.

Find out how to use FirstSearch. Record what it is and how you might use it. Visit US, Virginia and Local Government Information. Record what the database is and how you might use it. What are Research Guides? Record your answer. 2/15 DUE: Discussion of and Reading Response entry for Jake Page’s essay on Billy the Kid, downloaded

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