This post is way overdue and I must admit should have probably been one of the first that I posted to help everyone understand my journey with interactive notebooks in language arts. As I have said in the past, there were not many resources available at the beginning of my journey with using interactive notebooks in language arts classes. So...I relied on one of my great friends, Google, to help me search and search and search (you get the picture). What I did find were many sites and bits of information about using ISNs in social studies, science, and even math. Being the creative thieving teacher that I am, I took what information I could find and "made it fit" my needs.
I had saved several of these informative sites to my favorites on my computer. Some of the links still work while some can no longer be found. Anyway, I did a quick Google search and found a few more sites that I felt had information that could be used to help understand ISNs and also help someone considering using ISNs in their classroom make an informed decision. I also snapped a few pictures of the Dinah Zike foldables books that I have used in my ISNs over the past couple of years.
One thing that I recommend you do if using ISNs is that you create a teacher notebook as you go through the school year...completing pages/assignments as students do. This helps to keep everyone on the same page and you have a great record of what students need to do when they are absent. They can grab your notebook and use it to get caught up and have a guide for where to glue pages and what was missed. I would also suggest that you create a separate notebook for each class that you teach. Modeling for each class is so much easier if you just start over instead of showing them your notebook from the previous class.
Click on the goldish words below to visit that web page. You may have to do a little searching on that page to find the information related to interactive notebooks - I tried to point you to the main page of each site. Each foldables book is linked to the book at the Dinah Zike store, just click the picture and it will take you to that specific store page.
History Alive (the birth of interactive notebooks)
Interactive Notebooks (a wiki-space with many logistics)
A Teacher's Treasure (Mor Zrihen's blog all about ineractive notebooks)
Mr. Roughton 2.0 (many assignments that can be adapted for ISN use)
Mrs. Campbell
Stirling English
Mrs. Edwards
Ms. Perez
Science Notebooking
Middle School Science
Teaching Social Studies (this is one of my favorites with very useful info by Mrs. Gannon)
Huff English
Joseph Hill (just found this one today...a new favorite with TONS of info)
EHOW (quick tutorial)
Setting up the Interactive Notebook (Slideshare powerpoint)
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| Click on the picture to go to the Dinah Zike store for more information about this book. |
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| Click on the picture to go to the Dinah Zike store for more information about this book. |
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| Click on the picture to go to the Dinah Zike store for more information on this book. |
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| Click on the picture to go to the Dinah Zike store for more information on this book. |
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| Click on the picture to go to the Dinah Zike store for more information about this book. |
Randy
Thank you for this! Seriously! I'm overwhelmed with where to begin on ISN's this year, and I appreciate your experience and willingness to share.
ReplyDeleteI as well appreciate all of the info you've shared that you've learned about ISN's. I love the idea of creating a notebook along with the students- that is such a great idea for when students are absent. Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDelete:) Ashley
The Real Teachr: Tips, Tricks, Freebies and Everyday Ideas for Real Teachers
Thank you...thank you...THANK YOU!! After finding your blog and reading through things, I have decided to try ISN's in my 8th grade language arts block. However, I've been worried about HOW to actually get started. I have already picked up a couple of DZ foldable books, and now I can't wait to check out the links :)
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas here! Can't wait to get back to Dinah Zike. Saw her eons ago, and had forgotten how good her stuff is. You mentioned loosing some bookmarks because they were no longer active. There is a website that archives old websites. You can probably still get to those sites by accessing it. It is called Way Back Machine. It has been a lifesaver for me with resources I loved but are no longer active websites. Go to;http://archive.org/web/web.php Hope this help! BTW- I teach 6th grade English as well. Lots of fun!
ReplyDeleteStacey
Thank you so much for sharing this. I teach 6th grade Language Arts and want to implement the ISN this year. I am very overwhelmed trying to figure out how to start it. I will have to check out those foldable books. Question - I know the ISN involves cutting and gluing pages into a notebook. That can be time consuming & messy. How did you handle that? And what about supplies? Did you have your kids in groups sharing supplies? Did you provide team buckets with glue sticks, scissors, etc? I am trying to figure out how to stay organized with the ISN as well. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteJustin Greene
http://inthegreeneroom.blogspot.com/
Justin,
DeleteI have my students purchase a pencil bag and have the needed supplies in it: colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors, etc. That way they always have what they need (well, most of them). Since my whole team uses ISNs, students see the need to have their supplies with them at all times.
If I have my act together, sometimes we glue several things in at once for the week so that way we don't have to do it each day. That tends to make things go smoother, but it isn't often that I have my act together that well with language arts. Social studies was easier to do that way for me this past year.
Hope this helps!
Randy
I purchased one of Zinke's books recently at a Reading Convention, and I an excited to get ideas from it for the upcoming year (which will also be my first time to attempt to do an ISN in RELA).
ReplyDeleteI would just like to echo the sentiments from the other comments and say Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!!
This post is a God send! Thank you! I've been using your site an inspiration for my first year with ISN's. I just began a blog and linked to you. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteBri
Thank you for your post. I have a few questions I'm hoping you can answer.
ReplyDelete1. I am teaching 2 block periods of language arts for special education. The students have mild/moderate disabilities. Do you think ISNs would be too difficult to create?
2. What sections do you have in your Language Arts ISN? I was thinking vocabulary, writing, grammar.
3. If you could only afford to buy ONE Dinah Zike book, which would you purchase first?
Thank you so much!
Freda
Freda,
DeleteI have been the regular education inclusion teacher for several years and my students have not struggled with ISNs. As these students (from my experience) tend to struggle with orgnization and such, ISNs seem to work well for them. We have seen an increas in test scores over the years and this past school year our school met all of our goals...so they definitely have not hurt them any.
I do not separate my notebook into sections. My notebook does not follow really any of our texts. I teach language arts, so it is just a mixture of reading skills, grammar skills, writing skills, etc. Whatever I think is important goes in the notebook as a reference/resource for students. I try to do mini units and keep those together, but that does not alway happen. I have learned to be very flexible. If you look at our table of contents, it would not make any sense to many other educators and definitely does not flow as it should. Like I've said on my blog...I really had to learn to just let it be what it needed to be in order to make students successful. That is very hard for me because I am a control freak and want everything to be tidy, neat, organized, and make sense.
If I were only to purchase one book, it would be Dinah Zike's Notebook Foldables for Spirals, Binders, & Composition Books. I has a variety of foldables with a cd where you can program your own foldables and/or print off blank ones. I usually get most of my ideas from there. It is non-content specific so it works well for just about any subject area and it provides instructions on how to make the foldables for spiral notebooks or composition notebooks.
Please let me know if you have additional questions or if I was unclear on anything.
Randy
Thank you so much for all your information on Interactive Notebooks! I haven't heard of them before but definitely will be doing them with my Honors English 8 and (regular) English 9 kids this year. As I've gone through your posts and looked at other links, I can't decide if you use the notebook for ALL assignments, some assignments, or just reference-type concepts. I read novels with my classes...do you have them do all the novel work (character analysis, plot, etc.) in the Interactive Notebook or in a separate one? How do you run your classwork and assignments?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
Michelle
I do not use the notebooks for everything. I include all things that I want students to keep and be able to refer back to at some point in the year. It is also full of examples on how to create certain things that I may want to do during the year like a sensory figure or character sketch or an anchor chart - those type things. I use literature circles and we complete a short novel together in class and each day we complete a different role for the lit circle jobs, those are then glued into their notebooks so students have a reference to look back over if they are stuck on how to complete that role. We glue in a list of character traits, grammar rules...really just whatever I think they need when it pops into my head.
DeleteI usually have students take notes in the ISNs and then complete practice pages or exercises on a separate sheet of paper - much easier to take up and grade that way. When we take notes or attach a handout with information, I do also have them put a couple of examples in with that stuff so they always have something to refer back to throughout the year. I have a rule, if I write it on the board - you better write it in your notebook.
Let me know if you have any other questions...or if I just completely did not give you the answers you needed.
Randy
Randy - I LOVE the idea on ISNs and am looking forward to starting them this year. I too teach 6th Grade ELA and originally got the idea to start these from a coworker (social studies). They have worked wonders for her and I needed some more organization in my classroom. I thought this would be the golden ticket. Like you, I could not find A LOT of stuff, but had been pulling stuff together over the summer to fit my needs. THEN I found your blog. THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing so much info! You have really pushed me to get my act together.
ReplyDeleteI'm still nervous about how to start it, but I guess it will be what it will be. I was going to try to put one together this summer to use as a model, but I thought that it wouldn't make much sense if we didn't end up moving at the same speed as my own, personal, notebook and thought about the modeling idea WITH the kids as well.
I have also had a hard time rationalizing the idea that mine won't look like the social studies one because they won't be as "unit looking" as that. I guess that is ok as well.
My one real thing I am struggling with now is grading. How do you grade it? I thought about making the students add their practice homework in it as well and just look over the homework everyday, but that won't help with the organization and may end up being too time consuming for IN CLASS. Thoughts?
Also, do you let/make the students take their notebooks home?
I'm sorry if you have answered any of these questions already.
Thanks! -Michelle-
Michelle...My kids are responsible fore notebooks leaving and coming back... i have about 180 social studies students...Foldables and notebooking go together great! I use dates instead of page numbers... you said you were nervous about starting... just jump in... it evolves with you as you go.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right about how wonderful they are. I really want to do these this year with my fifth-graders. Would you say, "Go for it!" I think that a book like this could also be helpful to hold information from year to year. So much from one grade level seems to be lost when moving in to the next grade level. How do we combat that?
ReplyDeleteHow can I get a copy of the parts of a map foldable? Is there a way to get it without ordering the entire book?
ReplyDeleteYou would need to contact the Dinah Zike company to see if they would sell you just the part you are looking to purchase.
DeleteRandy
Hi Randy
ReplyDeleteI was very interested to read about your ISN as I am planning on starting with my class this term (last term of our school year here in Australia). I am responsible for HSIE (which I guess is like your social studies) as I only teach one day a week. I am also a homeschooler and we have been using this same approach for the last 4 years with great success. You might also find ideas if you search "homeschool note booking"on google. I know a great site called notebookingpages.com that is a subscription site but also has a lot of free stuff including 3d printables. Best wishes
I have to say...your list of resources for Interactive Notebooks is FABULOUS and I am adding you to my list of blogs that I adore. I have ten years of teaching experience, but have been off for three years with my 3 boys. Starting the job hunt and am definitely planning on using INBs when I return to the classroom. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete
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