Interactive Science Notebooks

A Parent Guide by Mrs. Dunne

What is an Interactive Science Notebook?

A tool to help students develop, practice, and refine science understanding, while also developing reading, writing, mathematic, and communication skills.

Benefits Develop critical thinking skills

Improve organization

Demonstrate understandings in creative ways

Foster literacy skills (mandated by the Common Core State Standards)

Provides a portfolio of student learning throughout the school year

Keeping Current

The COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS (2010) calls for embedding literacy into science and social studies

Students are called to: Read closely and make inferences Determine central ideas Analyze text Interpret texts Assess points of view Integrate and evaluate content Delineate and evaluate arguments of claims Analyze ideas across texts Read and comprehend informational texts

Interactive Notebooks and the Brain Interactive Science Notebooks

are supported in current brain research

The set up of each notebook aligns with the functioning of the hemispheres of the brain

Allows the brain to analyze, interpret, and synthesize information

Synthesis of skills aids in transferring information into the “long term storage” area of the brain

Notebook Set UpLeft Side-

Student Output Concept maps

Drawings

Questions

Data and graphs

Self reflections

Data from experiments

Cartoons

Writing prompts

Right Side-Teacher Input

Lecture notes

Lab activities

Video notes

Summaries

Textbook notes

Procedures for experiments

Classroom specifics

vocabulary

Prompts to Push Student

THINKING As students work in the left side of the

notebook, they think about the following: What are students curious about? What would they like to test/ experiment? What was the main idea? What are the important details to remember? How does the information relate to life? What do students still not understand?

Further Resources http

://www.nonags.org/members/dasaunders/index2.html

http://info.teachtci.com/forum/isn.aspx

http://www.mrgreer.net/interactivenotebook.html

http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/snguyen/Physical%20Science/Interactive_Notebook.htm