Roxane Ohl - Oct 14, 2019

Notebooking

Now here is a topic near and dear to my heart! I love when I hear that teachers are asking students to journal or note book in any way shape or form, because getting into the habit of recording details, information, results, ideas, and procedures is so important! 

My suggestion is just to get students started so they develop that wonderful habit of taking time to record vital information. As a scientist, I always wished I were better at it and did more of it, so my recommendation has always been to get students in the habit of recording information as soon as possible! 

Car Design DrawingToday there are all kinds of wonderful methods, designs, and folding gadgets that are fun and creative, but you can get into all of that later. If students are not writing something down on a daily basis, that is a great place to start. Drawing informative pictures to represent the weather, drawing and labeling diagrams, writing down a new word, writing what happened in science today, jotting down what to do next in a project, journaling daily lab results, and recording ideas are all great ways to start. Periodically asking students to look back at something they have recorded will drive home the importance of the task! And yes, you can start in Kindergarten!

I have seen great journal entries that are simply drawings or diagrams of projects students are proposing to create! Baby steps. Just do it! No need to be eloquent to start, but frequent entries will definitely pave the way.

Do you have student examples or notebooking ideas and successes? Share them with us using the hashtag #kemtecintheclassroom! 

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Written by Roxane Ohl