How Interactive Notebooks are Going

Last week, I mentioned how I would love to start doing interactive notebooks for phonemic awareness/ phonics and writing.  This week is a short week with Labor Day so I didn't get to start with the phonics (none of students need phonemic awareness).  I did start with the writing.  

My students loved it.  One group started their notebook with a reference sheet, a graphic organizer, and then task cards.  The reference sheet gave them other words to use to make their writing more vivid.  The graphic organizer is to get them ready to write their first paragraph for me.  They had to tell me what their favorite subject is and then list reasons it's their favorite subject.  They have been going over different types of sentences in class so that's what the task cards were - identifying types of sentences.

With my other group, I did things differently.  They are ahead of the other group so we talked about what a complete sentence is and the different types of sentences.  They have a chart of different types of sentences and a brief exercise identifying whether the group of words were a complete sentence or a fragment.  Finally I modeled what a paragraph looks like with their brainstorming they did last week.  We discussed what a paragraph looked like.  I wrote the paragraph on the board and they copied it down.  Next week we are going to edit their work and write a final copy.  Since it was a modeling of a paragraph, we don't need to write the paragraph over and over again.

I showed the interactive notebooks to the general education teacher.  She loved what I was doing with the students.  

My goal is to make my students to become closer to grade level work and also make them more confident students.

Next week, I will share with you some of the resources I'm using to create these interactive notebooks.  

Interactive Notebooks

Interactive Notebooks

I've heard of interactive notebooks but didn't know anything about them.  This year I'm doing inclusion in an English Language Arts class that uses interactive notebooks on an almost daily basis.  Most of the pages are already cut out for the students.  Sometimes students have to cut out a little bit.

What I've noticed is not only does the interactive notebooks teach content, they also teach students other skills.

• following directions given orally (I give accomodations to my students who cannot follow multi-step directions - restating the directions, breaking them into one step at a time, and cueing.)
• Note taking - Lots of time they have to take notes.
• Coloring - That might seem silly in the fifth grade but it relaxes some students.  We don't have art so this allows them to be creative.
• Glueing - Some want to put lots of glue over the entire piece of paper they are putting in their notebook.  They have to learn that a little goes a long way.

I'm now thinking about diving into the world of interactive notebooks especially dealing with my students who continue to need phonemic awareness.  However, I don't really know where to start.  I am also thinking about doing a part interactive notebook/writer's notebook for my writing intervention.

I think my students will enjoy it!  An interactive notebook will allow them to see the connection between their classroom and my room.  I'm trying to give them interventions that are similar to the curriculum they are learning in the general education classroom.  In fact, the other day, we talked about theme in my room and then they learned about it later in their classroom.

If anyone has any suggestions please share them.