Thursday, August 8, 2013

Science Notebooking 103! Freebie

Hey Science Friends,
If you have been following along you know the hot topic right now is Science Notebooking. And I am so excited for each post about it because this year is going to be the best one yet. So, if you have followed along you probably have some idea of what your Science Notebook is going to look like. And if not you can read up about it here by clicking below!
And then we moved on to talking about goal setting for our notebooks. If you missed that you can catch up by clicking the notebook below! And if you are getting your Science Notebooks ready and need The Smart Science Teacher Label Pack, you can check it out by clicking the image below.

 
So now we are moving right along. And now we are going to talk about how we are going to teach the children how to write in their notebooks. One idea I have used over the years I refer to is a Teacher Modeled Science Notebook. I love this idea for several reasons. This is the perfect size to model the expectations and it is made of materials you probably already have on hand. Clicking this picture will give you the information you need to make one and the free printables to get you started. Once you get your feet wet with this your mind will be spinning on a million different versions of this notebook.
Now that you seriously look like you have it all together and a great plan, it is time to think about the next step. Because you want some sort of structure each time the notebook is used what will the students record before they start to notebook?
Name
Date
Time
Anything else?
There are also a few other things to consider here too. When you start notebooking in class you probably have figured out that just like everything else, the procedures need to be modeled which brings us back to The Teacher Modeled Notebook. Modeling is key in the beginning and it sets you up for a successful Science Notebooking year! And another consideration...are you going to let the children give it a try after the first modeled lesson? You know I am going to say just go for it. What in the world can it hurt? So it won't be perfect and who would expect that? This is great practice and actually perfect for the beginning of the year!
So the next question is probably what in the world does that first lesson actually look like? I hear you. I have asked myself that question too, about a million times. I promise we are getting to that. We are taking small steps towards a big goal of wonderful Science Notebooking in Kindergarten with some LA integration. But I have to ask...
As a Science teacher of young and budding Scientists, what would you like to see inside? If you have a quick, fast minute just drop me a line and let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts and I read every single comment, text message and email...


4 comments:

  1. I think it's important for them to illustrate and label.

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  2. I think its important to record their predictions/hypotheses in the form of pictures or words or better yet, both! By the way, I just discovered this awesome blog of yours and have been trying to go back and read old posts! I teach pre-k and do a lot of science! I LOVE your ideas on your rock unit posts. I love to teach about rocks. There is a GREAT book, If You Find a Rock. Check it out. I think you will LOVE it. I already purchased your other recommendations for rock books and LOVE the video! Thank you!!

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  3. I just LOVE this! I am trying to incorporate more journaling, book writing, etc into my class. I teach Pre-K and have made small thematic journals for them to record observations on (bug jar for bean germination, caterpillar life cycle, etc) and my students have loved them (pre-k). Keeping it all in one notebook is a wonderful idea! I wish that they were ready at the beginning of the year to work on a table of contents- I know they would be in January....Maybe we will just have to start new ones then. I did make two large teacher BIG books to use for modeling and I can't wait to use them. Thanks for all the info!

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  4. I am new to the whole science notebooks. So I am interested to seeing their illustrations on a certain topic. Or even their findings from a nature hunt or field trip. Like you said, I want their notebook to hold their experiences, observations and for me to use it as documentation for their learning.
    Kinders on the Block

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