Science interactive notebook pd 2010

Editor's Notes

• #6: (read from slide)
• #9: First Hand Learning is the real thing. Just as a young child learns about the world around them through their senses, a learner will readily take in information through the senses and remember it better if done in a hands-on way. The next most powerful way to learn is through representational means such as videotapes, pictures, and simulations of the real thing. Finally, another way to learn but not the most powerful is through the symbolic or through books. Each of the above ways to learn is important but should be done from most powerful to least powerful. Unfortunately, most textbooks are designed to do the third hand learning first, the second hand interspersed and finally, but not always due to lack of materials, comes the first hand learning.
• #15: Depending on the type of science notebook your students use, the cover and/or inside title page will emerge as a colorful representation of the use of this notebook throughout a unit. Some students will doodle, some will cover the cover, some will leave it just the way it is. The cover and the title page should read: SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS. Add your name as author. Then, on the next page, create a TABLE OF CONTENTS.
• #16: Depending on the type of science notebook your students use, the cover and/or inside title page will emerge as a colorful representation of the use of this notebook throughout a unit. Some students will doodle, some will cover the cover, some will leave it just the way it is. The cover and the title page should read: SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS. Add your name as author. Then, on the next page, create a TABLE OF CONTENTS.
• #17: Depending on the type of science notebook your students use, the cover and/or inside title page will emerge as a colorful representation of the use of this notebook throughout a unit. Some students will doodle, some will cover the cover, some will leave it just the way it is. The cover and the title page should read: SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS. Add your name as author. Then, on the next page, create a TABLE OF CONTENTS.
• #18: Using the next two pages for the Table of Contents think of all the ways you can format this… Using the template, the T of C can be pasted in. (primary or intermediate version) Things can be typed into the T of C by the teacher before the students paste it in but if you come up with other investigations to add or you are not able to make it through all lessons, this can be problematic. The T of C can be just a transparency that the teacher fills out with the students verbally inputting and it gets copied at the end of the unit and pasted in BUT TWO PAGES MUST BE SAVED AT THE BEGINNING! Students see how a table of contents is prepared, they don’t physically create one. It is neat and tidy in the end but is that what you are after? Students can draw their own T of C and this should be encouraged from grades 4 – 12. Using a ruler on the left side and the right, create columns. Then, draw a line on the top line of the page and add column titles. NOTE: The Table of Contents should be the first thing done before moving to the daily page.
• #20: Put this title on the top line of the page. This is where either a focus question could go or the title of the lesson. Answer this question with at least five things. (Discuss how to generate suggested numbers of brainstormed items from students) Place a LINE OF LEARNING under the last thing that you wrote. A line of learning can look like anything so use the colored pencils and let it reflect some PERSONALITY. Look up when you are done.
• #21: Put this title on the top line of the page. This is where either a focus question could go or the title of the lesson. Answer this question with at least five things. (Discuss how to generate suggested numbers of brainstormed items from students) Place a LINE OF LEARNING under the last thing that you wrote. A line of learning can look like anything so use the colored pencils and let it reflect some PERSONALITY. Look up when you are done.
• #22: Put this title on the top line of the page. This is where either a focus question could go or the title of the lesson. Answer this question with at least five things. (Discuss how to generate suggested numbers of brainstormed items from students) Place a LINE OF LEARNING under the last thing that you wrote. A line of learning can look like anything so use the colored pencils and let it reflect some PERSONALITY. Look up when you are done.
• #23: Talk with your table group and jot down things that you would like to remember from what your tablemates say. Honor them by listening carefully and by capturing their thinking UNDER THE LINE OF LEARNING. This is an example of the entry type: OPEN ENTRY
• #24: Put this title on the top line of the page. This is where either a focus question could go or the title of the lesson. Answer this question with at least five things. (Discuss how to generate suggested numbers of brainstormed items from students) Place a LINE OF LEARNING under the last thing that you wrote. A line of learning can look like anything so use the colored pencils and let it reflect some PERSONALITY. Look up when you are done.
• #25: Welcome to the classroom. As we have said, first hand learning is most powerful – let’s give you some first-hand experience with writing in your own notebooks… Literacy skills are best learned in context. Science provides a marvelous context for learning to read, write, and perform mathematical operations. Remember that reading and writing are SKILLS that have been elevated to the status of a content area because they are so crucial to everything else. BUT, these skills should not be taught devoid of a place to implement them. Science provides something REAL to read about REAL to write about and REAL to compute about! Turn to your next available page and put today’s date . (DATE STAMPS could be used at the kindergarten level) Make sure the pages are numbered. This is an example of a clear routine that I use each day with every class. First thing down in the body of the notebook is the FOCUS QUESTION: How are pencils and markers the same and different? Must have it down before materials can be given to teams. If you are a primary teacher, particularly kindergarten, consider typing out the focus question in 16 pt. and trim it for the children to just glue to their notebooks. The Focus Question is written into the notebook to engage the children about the focus of the lesson today. Children can circle the important words in the focus question. (pencils, markers, same, different)
• #26: FIRST HAND LEARNING
• #28: Now, make your own drawing using the pencil you have in front of you. Remember that your scientific illustration must be: DETAILED, ACCURATE, AND LABELED Have your drawing take up the whole piece of paper. Use your hand lens to realize the detail. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF FIRST HAND LEARNING
• #29: Emerging writing in the form of labels Demonstrates understanding of capturing what they truly see.
• #30: NOW COMES A BIT OF SECOND HAND LEARNING – A PICTURE WITH LABELED PARTS… From Pencildude.com you can get an official picture of the pencil and its anatomy. Now we have a term for the metal holder. We have some words to add to our word bank.
• #32: (pass out the observations organizer – ALSO HAVE ONE AVAILABLE IN LARGE FORMAT SO THAT PARTICIPANTS COULD MAKE A TRANSPARENCY OF IT Take a look at this writing frame. This frame could have been used to help students focus their observations. (using the overhead projector or a document camera, cover all but the first sentence of the OBSERVATIONS ORGANIZER) Write the beginning to the sentence “I observed” fill in the sentence thinking of the shape, texture, pattern, etc. (uncover the next, “I noticed” statement and follow the same procedure through the entire writing frame. Then have some folks share out a few examples)
• #33: (READ FROM SLIDE)
• #34: Using the writing frame created by Betsy Rupp Fulwiler, students can share what they observe in a well constructed paragraph.
• #35: Using the writing frame created by Betsy Rupp Fulwiler, students can share what they observe in a well constructed paragraph.
• #36: SECOND HAND LEARNING
• #38: THIRD HAND LEARNING
• #41: (pass out the COMPARE AND CONTRAST WRITING FRAME) The Compare and Contrast Writing Frame is another one you might have available to students in your classroom when children are observing TWO things. The Observations Organizer is used when just ONE thing is being observed. This could be housed on the wall in your classroom, or it could be on a flip chart to be turned to when this is the form of writing you want your children to engage in. If you have limited classroom wall space or no flip chart to access, think about having a frame like this on an overhead transparency to pop onto the projector when you want children to focus on this form of writing.
• #42: A critical competitor will push you to new observational heights. Pick up a marker and put it out in front of you. This becomes a critical competitor. The critical competitor helps a person to fine tune their observations. It is the expert who notices the fine details.
• #43: First, how are the pencil and the marker the same? This is an example of a frame for use in organizing information when trying to compare two things. (discuss the differences between a Box & T-Chart and the Venn Diagram – each have value) Create for yourself a graphic organizer of the box and t-chart. With young children, you would want to have a template for them to use. In the box on the top, write how the pencil and the marker are the same. Move to the lower level and begin listing how the pencil and the marker are different. When you say something about the pencil, say something about the marker as well. It might be, “has an eraser” and “does not have an eraser”.
• #45: Using the Box & T Chart, students can compare two things giving them the critical competitor that they need to truly make significant observations. Notice how they discuss the differences so that what is said about one is also said about the other item in the comparisons.
• #47: Remember that the students’ science notebook is a marvelous opportunity for you to assess your students’ understanding AND to assess your own teaching! Suffice it to say that it can take many forms. Perhaps allow students to create with you a rubric that states the expectations. When giving critical feedback to students, say something about their work that has meaning. Don’t just write “super” or “great” but give them feedback that tell TWO THINGS. Tell them something about what it is they have done well. Tell them something they could do better. This gives them the critical feedback they need. On occasion, allow students to assess how they are doing in a simple reflection or by using the same scoring rubric that you would use.
• #49: Let’s take a look at the ways a teacher might make comments to students... Some feel there should be no writing on pages of the notebooks and others are very comfortable with it. Some teachers use post-it notes. Some use the back pages of the notebook but be careful with your young students – this will not work for them. Finally, some just comment orally during a conference with parents or with the child alone. (SHARE SOME EXAMPLES OF STUDENT WORK and the way the notebook pages are formatted.)
• #51: Here is another example… Target hit: “information about soil components” What to work on: “next exploration”
• #53: Black and Wiliam found that if we give students more appropriate feedback on a wide variety of assessment opportunities, we WILL have a positive effect on student learning. So keep in mind the ways you could give good feedback to students through their science notebook. You are not only giving them multiple opportunities but you are pushing them to dig deeper and take charge of their own learning.
• #54: Students benefits They understand the subject better when they practice manipulating the information in a number of ways. To be able to clearly communicate it on paper takes practice and it helps them think more clearly about how to tell about something. It assists a teacher in practicing writing in another subject area.
• #55: (read from the slides)
• #56: (read from slide)
• #57: (read from slide)
• #59: We have briefly discussed the word wall. Many units have significant vocabulary. The teacher needs to make some decisions about the vocabulary of the unit. Is it going to be captured into the notebook? If so, save pages in the back of the notebook. Some teachers copy a glossary to be pasted on the left and a sentence is created on the right side. Some just copy the glossary and have students highlight the word when they encounter it in their investigations. But, remember, vocabulary words are to be discussed as the students learn them through hands-on experience not in isolation as memorized words. Vocabulary should also be captured on a Word Wall so that the words are not trapped in the back of the notebook. (Briefly discuss ways of using the vocabulary words from the word wall – this is emphasized in the second part of the science notebooks workshop)
• #64: Now, on the next available page, write what your expectations will be of your students…
• #65: Now, draw that line of learning under your last statement. Share with your tablemates and honor them with listening and note taking.
• #66: Let’s hear what your tables have discussed.
• #67: (read from slide)
• #68: (read from slide)