I am determined to get
ALL of the pictures I took a few weeks ago of my language arts interactive notebook before the end of school! I hope to actually get it done faster than that. I have a few other things I want to blog about before the end of the school year. Seriously, this is the last set of pictures I have from a few weeks ago. Any new ones will be newer pictures taken recently.
Here are some more pictures of various activities that we have included in our interactive notebooks so far this year.
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| Parts of an Essay from a freebie activity on www.teacherspayteachers.com. Students had to put the "blown-up" parts together in a sensible way. If you haven't checked out TpT, you should do it NOW! It is full of ideas, units, lessons, activities, etc. created BY teachers and when you make a purchase, that teacher gets the profit. This activity was a FREEBIE from that site! |
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| Text connections (remember I am NOT an artist!) |
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| Concept of definition/word map |
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| Point of View foldable created from a Dinah Zike template. |
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| Character Feelings anchor chart - found on pinterest! |
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| Character Traits anchor chart - another pinterest find! |
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| Characterization anchor chart - yes, pinterest again! |
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| Inferencing anchor chart- yep, you guessed it...another pinterest score! |
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| Author's Purpose anchor chart - this one is actually my idea. Students added color to the ones in their notebooks. |
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| Nonfiction text STRUCTURES, not to be confused with nonfiction text features. I had no idea this phrase/idea existed until I ordered the wrong book. It was a very educational mistake and I am glad that I did not completely read the title of the book before I ordered it! |
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| More on nonfiction text STRUCTURES. |
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| A really fun inferecing lab using white mystery airheads. Bought the original packet on TpT, but then redesigned it into a foldable for our notebooks. It was frustrating in the beginning, but quite an accomplishment when finished - now I know I can do it for many other things! |
Just in case no one has aid this to you before, YOU ARE AMAZING!! Thank you so much for sharing all of this beyond valuable information. I'm a first year Language Arts teacher and can't wait to use pretty much all of your INB strategies next year. Literally in heaven... going to keep stalking your wonderful blog.
ReplyDeleteAllison,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words and encouragement! I am by no means an expert, just have spent a lot of time searching the internet for ideas, activities, and information regarding interactive notebooks for language arts. I will continue to add to and such as I can.
Feel free to ask any questions and I will try my best to help you out. This blog was the answer to many questions my co-workers were asking about "my notebooks" (as they call them).
Thanks again!
Randy
I just came across your blog via Pinterest! I love your interactive notebooks and all of the great things that you do within them! I am a first year ELA teacher and started using them in my classroom this fall. I have really loved how the kids use them and they get so excited about doing ELA now. I am going to be teaching math next year too and I plan on using an interactive notebook for that class too. I cannot wait to read more about the notebooks! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
ReplyDeleteMiss Klohn
Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher
k.e.klohn@gmail.com
I also teach 6th grade, and my kids are TERRIBLE at taking notes! This is an awesome idea that I'll definitely have to add to my bag of tricks next year. I think they would be far more interested in doing something like this!
ReplyDeleteLaura
Will Grade For Coffee
I am so very interested in your INS. I've been using them in Science for years, but can't wait to see how they might work with my fifth graders for ELA. Do you use the Reader's Workshop model as well?
ReplyDeleteMaranda
Maranda,
DeleteI do not use the Reader's Workshop model in my notebooks on purpose. If any of those elements show up there, it is quite by accident. My notebooks really are just a hodgepodge of what I think works well for my students. They have developed and grown over the past two years. I stumbled upon the idea and just went with it. I scrapped the original left side/right side concept because that was uncomfortable to me...or maybe it is better said that it was constricting to me to make everything fit into the left side/right side concept.
I don't think I have answered your questioned, but just rambled on more. Let me know if I can confuse you even further.
Randy
I just found your blog on Pinterest!! I am a 7th grade ELA teacher and I'm super excited to use some of these notes next year!! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteLet me echo the above sentiments, this is fabulous! My question is, have you or has anyone else experimented with digital notebooks? I do love reading workshop (I see that you don't use it), but the interactive notebook concept seems similar in certain ways. I am a Nancie Atwell devotee, but I am struggling to take the reading workshop methods and translate it to the digital realm.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE THIS BLOG!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog :) I teach 6-8 ELA and have tons of pictures of my ISN on my blog. I love seing middle school teachers using this great tool!
ReplyDelete❤ Mor Zrihen from...
A Teacher's Treasure
Teaching Treasures Shop
Mor,
DeleteI have "stalked" your blog quite often and have seen your interactive notebooks and would love to have seen your teaching expo presentation along with purchase your interactive notebook bundle, but unfortunately I just cannot swing the costs right now.
Your notebooks are more like the way they were intended...left side/right side and unit pages, etc. Mine have just become a hodgepodge mixture, but that works for me.
Congrats on 1000 followers! I am so excited that I am close to 50, I cannot imagine 1000.
Randy
Just found this blog-- Thanks so much for posting. I will be moving on to 4th grade (from 3rd), teaching an intensive remediation class, and am interested in starting an interactive notebook. Any suggestions for a lower level group for making this meaningful?
ReplyDeleteLike many others I came across your blog through Pinterest. While I'm liking the idea of interactive notebooks (I teach grade 6-12 English), I have to admit I'm a bit apalled at seeing the non-word 'inferencing.' Are you not aware that the word is 'inferring'?
ReplyDeleteI was not aware of the non-word inferencing. Thank you for pointing that out to me. Since I used an anchor chart I found on pinterest, I am not the only one that is unaware. This blog is just my personal ramblings about my teaching style and preferences and was never meant to aPPall anyone. Are you not aware that appall has two of the letter p?
Delete*grinning unashamedly* This is quite possibly the greatest (and most opportunistic) comment response in the history of responses! Thank you for contributing to the world of teachers through blogging - though your posts be ever so erroneous ;0)
DeleteI love your blog! Our district introduced the idea if Interactive notebooks but never really taught us how to create one. Thanks! And I totally laughed at the 'inference' comment. Some people are just such smarty pants.
ReplyDeleteJust curious, did you know that "inferencing" was a non-word?
DeleteInfer is a verb, inference is a noun, therefore one can infer OR make an inference...not trying to be a smarty pants, just clarifying.
DeleteSo inferencing is a gerund!
DeleteThank you Pinterest for directing me to your blog! I've recently decided that 7th grade ELA students are HORRIBLE at organization and I needed to do something to change it. I knew I wanted to do notebooks next year, but this blog has really helped me with a starting point. I look forward to seeing future posts! Your work is awesome!
ReplyDeleteCan you provide a little guidance on this lesson? I'd love to try it.
ReplyDeleteKristin,
DeleteI'm not sure what lesson you are referring to in your comment. Let me know which lesson you want to know more about and I will try to explain it to you.
Thanks,
Randy
I love your interactive notebook. I was wondering if I can purchase a copy of your interactive notebook bundle. How can I get copies of the worksheet for students to paste in thier notebook. Love your ideas. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a bundle of worksheets that I use specifically. I just find a hodge-podge of stuff that I include when I think it is relevant to the skills we are working on in class at that time. Many of the worksheets are freebies I have found on Pinterest or www.teacherspayteachers.com. If you let me know of something specific you see that you would likfe a copy of and it is something I have created, I will be more than happy to share it with you.
DeleteThanks for checking out my blog.
Randy
Wow, you have a great blog! Very helpful and informative. I teach 7th and 8th grade and am excited by what I see here. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteJanice
Janice,
DeleteThank you for your kind words! I hope my ramblings are somewhat helpful. Any suggestions or guidance you have to offer, please do.
Randy
I'm referring to the inference lesson/foldable.
ReplyDeleteKristin,
DeleteThat is a product I purchased from teacherspayteachers.com. You use white mystery airheads to complete the activity. My students loved it. I would share it with you if I had not purchased it from someone else. The orginal product was several pages long, but I retyped it and created the foldable to fit in our interactive notebooks.
You can get the white mystery air head lab here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Making-Inferences-Using-White-Mystery-Airheads-Lab.
And check out this awesome packet from Runde's Room using several Chris Van Allsburg books: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Inferring-with-Chris-Van-Allsburg-A-Unit-Plan.
Hope this helps!
Randy
It does. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteReally, you could never post too many pictures! Thank you for all the time you take to share with blogland.
ReplyDeleteLove this! I am going to steal several things from you and morph them into 5th grade ELA. Thanks for being generous with your hard work!
ReplyDelete- Amy E
Amazing! Your students are lucky to have such a creative and dedicated teacher.
ReplyDeleteWhile looking for a way to keep students more actively involved in taking notes, I stumbled upon foldables, 3-D organizers, and interactive notebooks, so I have been trying brainstorm ways to include them in my classroom. Have you found that your students are more involved and motivated? I teach ninth grade and am a little concerned that my students might be resistent if they feel this is too "middle-school" (you know...with all of their new found maturity after three whole months out of middle school :)I love the ideas, but it does seem to be a LARGE time investment. Do you think it will work as well with older students?
Thanks for sharing your work!
-Kristin C
Kristin,
DeleteI think you could get buy-in from your ninth graders...I think a lot of it depends on teacher excitement and attitude toward them. I sell mine as a tool for their success. I have found that my students use them as a reference throughout the year and refer back to them almost daily. It is a big time investment in the beginning, but to me - well worth it as the year progresses.
Hope this helps!
Randy
This is absolutely wonderful!!! This will be my first year using interactive notebooks in my classroom, and while I have been dreading the thought of using them, you have put my mind at ease... I'm super excited!!
ReplyDeleteThanks,
A Ray
I love this! You are a wealth of knowledge and ideas. I love the very first picture (The Parts of an Essay) that you got for free on TpT. Can you put that direct link on this page? I can't seem to find that worksheet anywhere. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am starting out my first year as a 6th grade language arts teacher. I have spent the last 4 years teaching English Language Learners and have wanted to experiment with an interactive notebook but was too overwhelmed with everything else that goes along with that position. I am incredibly happy to find your blog with pictures of ideas! Do you "create" your notebook along with the students or do you show them the final product and have them imitate it?
ReplyDeletemmartinWF,
DeleteI am sorry that I am just now responding to your question...somehow I missed it earlier!
I create a notebook for each class that I teach as the students are doing theirs. I do a lot of modeling and guided instruction with the notebooks. It is also great that I have an up-to-date notebook for students to use who are absent. They can just grab my notebook and see what they missed while they were out.
I do show them the previous years' notebooks, but I add and change so much each year that one never looks like another.
Hope this helps!
Randy
Just stumbled on your blog via Pinterest. I swear, we should get continuing education credits for surfing the ideas we can find there! I love your notebook ideas, in fact, I am super-excited to try them out on my 7th graders. This is my 8th year teaching them, but I am always yearning for new ways to make their (and my) experience fun and meaningful. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou have an amazing site. I would love to shadow your classroom. Would you be willing to share your blank template? I already purchased and have used the White Mystery Airhead Lesson. I would love to use it as a foldable this year. I can put in the information if I have the template. Can you share that please?
ReplyDeleteCari
Can you tell me what the last card for the inferences says on the part that is not visable?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you are referring to...if you are talking about the last puzzle piece on the left, it says evidence from the text. If you are talking about the white mystery airhead foldable, I bought that from someone else on teacherspayteachers.com so I didn't show it all on purpose - that wouldn't be fair to that person.
DeleteRandy
Would you be willing to share the foldable you created if I purchase the same lesson from the person on TeachersPayTeachers?
ReplyDeleteSend me an email to rseldomridge@caldwellschools.com.
ReplyDeletedo you have anything on theme? Any ideas on how to effectively teach it to 7th graders without boring them? maybe with technology
ReplyDeleteWowsers!! I've taught elementary school for many years and am making the switch to 7th grade LA this year. Your site is amazing . . . sooo glad I found you through . . . you guessed it--Pinterest :-)
ReplyDeleteI love all of this, but this is my first year attempting interactive notebooks. I am very overwhelmed about how to set them up. Do you use the right side-left side method or just a page per skill?
ReplyDeleteThank you.
I love the air heads activity. How can I convince you to send this to me? :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing all your pictures! Very helpful in getting ideas for my own interactive notebook. Do you separate the notebook in any certain way? I'm trying to figure out how to create a reader's/writer's notebook but I can't make up my mind how to label the different sections of the notebook. Any insight would be appreciated! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI don't separate mine into sections. Tried that once and it was nightmarish trying to keep students in the right section and page. I just started throwing it all together and relying on the table of contents to find various ideas when the are needed.
DeleteI just did what worked for me.
Do you plan the IAN for the year and then make a Table of Contents or do you just add to the ToC as you go? -Thanks
DeleteWow! You are amazing!! I have wanted to do an interactive notebook, but I just don't seem to know how to get it all together. Do you have any other sites that you would recommend. Will be following you!
ReplyDeleteWhich book did you use for the two Nonfiction text STRUCTURES pages?
ReplyDeleteHello. I love your blog. Thank you for pulling all of these resources together.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a copy or a clearer example of the second to last example on the page; the text structures notes. The words are too small for me to read and recreate.
Thanks in Advance,
Gillian
I don't know if this is a dumb question or what,but this past school year my daughter had a really hard time. I tried to think of every way for her to be more organized with her school work.can this INB be used for homework as well?
ReplyDeleteHow do you grade your notebooks?
ReplyDeleteI would love the airhead activity if you wouldn't mind sending it.
ReplyDeleteWhen teaching theme, I have the students say always or never in front of their theme. This keeps them from getting theme and main idea mixed up.
ReplyDelete