Give Your Students a Voice With Interactive Notebooks Interactive Notebooks will change the way your students organize their thoughts, show creativity and express their knowledge of a subject. Using Interactive Notebooks, your students will have a significant decrease in lost papers and a more personalized education. Though this session is directed towards Science, Interactive Notebooks are easily adaptable for other subjects. Presenter: Catie DiVito - Broad Creek Middle School - Newport, NC

1. COMMON NOTEBOOK ACTIVITIES
Following are the instructions for the different notebook activities (other assignments will come
with specific directions):
1) Title Page. Usually a right-hand page. You will create a color title page for the unit. Include the
name of the unit, and color illustrations, pictures, quotes, questions, or a collage about the subject.
The title page should give an overview of the topic to be covered. You should show what you
“think” you know about the topic. As we learn more about a topic, additions should be made to the
Title Page to reflect new learning and add corrections to your misconceptions.
2) Essential Questions. To the left of the title page, you will glue in the Essential Question(s) for the
unit. These questions should be answered before the final notebook check each nine weeks. On the
two pages after the Title Page, you will answer each question. These are the big questions we will
cover for each unit.
3) Right Page Activities, RIGHT HAND PAGES. These may include class notes, notes from assigned
readings, teacher handouts, data sheets, etc. Often, you will be given terms, people, events or
ideas to describe or asked to simply take notes. You must:
a. Use your own words as much as possible.
b. Work to get the full meaning from a brief description.
c. Practice note-taking skills discussed in class
d. Use color to help make points or separate ideas.
● This can include pictures, highlighting or writing vocabulary in another color, etc.
4) Answering an Essential Question
This is graded like a test.
You must:
a. restate the question in your answer
b. provide the requested reason(s)/information
c. explain your answer
d. answer all parts of the question
e. write in complete sentences and use correct grammar
f. conclude your answer
g. leave space for revisions or additions
5) Left Page Activities, SINKERS. These pages are your reflections of the day’s topics. You will be
assigned a sinker almost every night that notes are taken.
The sinker should:
a. Go on the left side of that day’s notes.
b. Almost always involve meaningful color
c. add up to 10 or more points
d. be able to explain the notes from that day
e. have a title