Notebooking in the Classroom

Notebooking is a very easy tool that can be utilized in the classroom and is multi-purpose. Notebooking is generally used to log information for each child. A child might use a notebook for several different subjects or for different purposes, and they incorporate hands-on experiences for children of all ages.

I have enjoyed using notebooks as a review after a book is read. Students can write down the title of the book, as well as write a sentence about what they learned, and draw a picture of what appealed to them in the story. Some students really run with this concept and want to do more, and spend more time in their notebooks, which is fascinating to see. Children generally enjoy working with their hands, and notebooking allows them to express their own ideas on paper to reinforce a lesson. This is a great reason why it is a great reinforcement for when books are read. This allows them to go back and see from their own perspective, since they have in their hands, what they drew and wrote to discuss the topics of the story.

This concept is also good for studies with a lot of information, for example science or social studies. Students can write down stepped directions, details about an experiment, or again, draw pictures that help enhance this experience for them.

As teachers, we know that children learn more when they can utilize more of their senses in the process of learning new information. Notebooking is a simple tool that will allow children to have more control over their studies, as well as be able to retain more inforamtion, as they don't have to remember all of the details of an assignment or experiment.

Some fun additions to notebooking can be photography pictures, stickers, teacher's notes, and peer reviews. Notebooks can be combined for an assessment at the end of a school year, or kept separate to showcase an entire subject's worth of study over the course of the year. A child is in charge of their notebook, so they have pride and honor in sharing their experiences with others. Notebooking really does work, and provides teachers, parents, and students with a creative way to let their children be a little more in charge of what they learn.