The Interactive Science Notebook
Your New Best Friend!
Unlocking
Science
Success
Interactive Science Notebook (ISN)
- Your own personalized DIARY of learning
about science
-A portfolio of your work in ONE convenient spot.
This is great for studying for upcoming quizzes &
tests
-A great ORGANIZATIONAL tool that gives you
permission to be PLAYFUL AND CREATIVE in
your responses without "messing up" your notes.
-Allows you to work like a REAL SCIENTIST!
What are Interactive
Science Notebooks?
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A student thinking tool
An organizer for inquiry questions and what I
learned…
A way to access and process the learning utilizing
various modalities (writing, drawing, and
discussion)
A place for writing rough drafts based on hands-on
learning
A formative assessment tool for teachers
TUSD Science
Resource Center
Interactive Science Notebook( ISN) Guidelines
SCIENCE INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOK will increase your
understanding of science by:
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using writing as a process for discovery and synthesis of
inquiry.
modeling many enduring functions of scientists – recording
information, data, and experimental diagrams.
improving your ability to organize ideas and information to
provide a study reference for each unit, as well as a resource
to consult for review for tests, and even in high school as you
sequence into Earth Science, Chemistry, Ecology, Biology,
and Physics
demonstrating to your teacher and parents your developing
organizational skills, understanding of science concepts and
ability to express thoughts and feelings in a variety of ways
deepening the science skills acquired in prior years by
application to 8th grade science
“In a nutshell”...
What is the rationale for using
interactive science notebooks?
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Improve organization skills
Improve critical thinking skills
Express understanding creatively
Record data
Study for tests
Record progress
Communication
Notebooks help us learn!
Impact of Hands-on
Science & Science
Notebooks on Student
Achievement
Research shows that student understanding
and literacy skills improve when students do
hands-on minds-on science and use science
notebooks to make sense of their science
investigations.
The Interactive science notebook is an effective teaching
strategy because it turns student notebooks into
meaningful and personalized records of learning.
Think as a scientist… record as a scientist… and reflect as a scientist!
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Required:
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One 8 ½ x 11-inch Mead 5-Star spiral notebook of at least 100 pages
and 3 subjects or a similar generic brand with this criteria (This spiral
should not be used for other subjects.) An alternative to this 100 page
notebook would be to use one 50 page spiral notebook each trimester.
Handouts and other teacher provided pages may be glued or clear
taped in place so that both sides of each sheet are visible at all times. It is
important for you to have your own glue stick at all times. Only certain
pages will be glued in and the teacher will instruct the student of which ones.
Organized in the same manner: right side for input (lecture notes,
worksheets and informal labs) and the left side for output (drawings and
reflections) Each student will have the same thing on the right side pages of
their notebooks
Left Side? Right Side?
What Goes Where?
Left Side
Right Side
Student Output
Teacher Input/Content
Blue or Black Ink/pencil
Lots of Color
The brain remembers things in color
better.
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Concept Maps
Drawings
Reflective Writing
Questions
Data and Graphs
Songs
Poems
Data from Experiments
Cartoons or cartoon strips
Foldables
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Information given in class
Lecture Notes
Informal Lab Activities
Video Notes
Summaries
Textbook Notes
Procedures for experiments
Classroom Specific Information
To review…the notebook is divided into TWO sections.
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. The Right Side is for input This is the side
that holds information that I give you.
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The Left Side is for output and contains only
your reflections about what you have
learned. It should be full of color, and it’s the
side where you can get creative.
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A running list of the work completed in the ISN will be posted in
class regularly and on my website one week before a unit test so
that you can cross-reference your record keeping. The list will start
over after each check of the notebook.
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If you are absent, it is your responsibility to copy missed notes into
your ISN and be sure that they do the proper reflection for that
assignment
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There will be collection of notebooks at the end of each unit
(when we take a test). Grades will be assigned based on the
same rubric criteria all year.
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If for some reason you lose your ISN or have to get a new one due
to wear and tear, you must see Ms. Abrams to get the handouts that
should be glued in the ISN. Please try to replace your ISN after we
check so you can start with a new section. Also, if you plan on
keeping one ISN per trimester, keep the old ISNs at home so you
can use them to review for our trimester finals and STAR testing.
Lost ISNs will receive a grade of O unless work is redone.
Notebook pages should be numbered consecutively
with L and
R used for each number; each page titled
Step
1:
and dated.
Date
Title
L1
Date
Title
1
1
Date
Date
Title
Title
R1
L2
R2
The notebook is divided into TWO sections.
LEFT side “loves”
RIGHT side is “restricted” to
TEACHER INPUT
STUDENT work = OUTPUT
WARMUP #1 Fill in the missing
word.
Decomposer Producer Consumer
Plants are ____. Lions, tigers, and bears are
____. Worms and mushrooms are____
OUTPUT (your interpretation)
INPUT (notes from teacher)
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The RIGHT SIDE should contain
information given from Ms. Abrams
while we are learning new material.
Nothing else should be placed on this
page!
The RIGHT SIDE contains all the
TESTABLE material.
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Teacher guided PowerPoint notes
Movie/Video
Article Readings
Textbook
Handouts
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The LEFT SIDE belongs to you.
Let your CREATIVITY go wild!
The LEFT side loves color.
The day’s activity is placed
on the LEFT or OUTPUT
side of the notebook. This
section acts as a
reinforcement and
processing for the RIGHT
or LEARNING side.
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Graphic Organizers Diagrams/Visual Illustrations
Poems, Song Lyrics Cartoons/Comics
Lab Analysis Advertisements
Brainstorming
Mind maps
Concept maps
Venn diagrams
Pictures
Drawings
Diagrams
Writing prompts
Flow charts
Homework
Songs
Open ended worksheets
Self reflections
Labs
Quizzes, tests
Mnemonic device Foldables
Vocab. Cartoons Charts & graphs
Write a newspaper article about notes
Write a letter or postcard from a famous scientist
What are graphic organizers?
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Graphic organizers are one way for visual thinkers to arrange their
ideas. There are unlimited ways to express these visual ideas.
Graphic organizers have many names including visual maps, mind
mapping, and visual organizers.
Although many students plan with paper and pencil, technology
tools can be very helpful because they allow easy editing.
Graphic organizers can be used as a nice planning tool from
information identification to product development. Finally, they are
great for visual thinkers or those that need to practice their visual
thinking.
Why use graphic organizers?
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Organizers are a way to encourage students to think
about information. With graphic organizers, you remove
the words and focus on the connections
Examples of Graphic organizers
Fishbone
How the fishbone might be used
Venn Diagram
Alike
different
different
T-Chart
7-Circle Diagram
Wheel Diagram
TicTac
Toe
Tree
Diagram
“A Bit More On The Left”
Getting You to Think About Your Learning
For REFLECTION you can use guiding prompts:
What are you curious about?
What would you like to test?
What was the main idea?
What are the important details to remember?
How does this relate to your life?
What don’t you understand?
REFLECTION can guide your communication
with others which will deepen your
understanding!
Example of Video Response
How will my notebook be graded?
GRADING
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Notebooks are collected and graded at the end of
each unit or when we take a test.
Notebooks will be graded on organization, accuracy,
pride in presentation, and the appropriate CVUSD
Middle School Inexcusables.
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An important part of your notebook is its visual
appearance. Your notebook should be neat! Your personal
learning style should be visible throughout.
Note: Grading will not be all or nothing, but if you only
partially complete an assignment or it’s of poor quality, you
won’t be given full credit.
Grading Rubric
Organization
UNIT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS
WORK IN IN ORDER
Accuracy
“RIGHT SIDE” is ACCURATE
“LEFT SIDE” REFLECTION contributes to a better understanding
WRITING is in PEN with DRAWINGS in PENCIL
Pride in Presentation
COMPLETE
LEGIBLE
CVUSD Middle School Inexcusables
Pages are NUMBERED and include DATES
COMPLETE SENTENCES/PUNCTUATION WHEN APPROPRIATE
PROPER PRONOUN USAGE
Science Notebook
Setup
Scissors
3-subject Spiral
Notebook
Pens & pencils
Tape
colored pencils
Highlighters
NO MARKERS!
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The name of the course:
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The words: Interactive Science
Notebook
The class period that you have
science:
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8th Grade Physical Science
3A, for example
The school year: 2012-2013
Your teacher: Ms. Abrams
Your name: (self explanatory)
We Are READY!
Unit Title
Page Left-Side Items
Right-Side Items
What do I do if I am absent?
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If you are absent, it is your responsibility to obtain
the assignments from a homework partner or Ms.
Abrams. Find at least one buddy from this class and
exchange phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses
so that you can help each other stay current!
Staying current with all entries is vital to your
success this year in science.
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Make sure your “LEFT SIDE” page entries are
helping you to understand the concepts
presented in class
Follow the other RUBRIC guidelines
BE COLORFUL & LOVE YOUR NOTEBOOK
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Many thanks to these wonderful teachers for
creating wonderful POWERPOINT slides
from which I worked from:
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Barbara Zimmerman, adapted from her original
presentation
Annette Holder, rockin’ Science
Doug Saunders, bringing History Alive!