Transcript Science Notebooks - Center for Innovation in Engineering

Science Notebooks
A Tool to Examine Student
Thinking in Science and
Engineering
Science Notebooks in History
Many student notebooks are drab
repositories of information filled
with uninspired, unconnected, and
poorly understood ideas.
History Alive Website
Notebooks and Workbooks
• How are they different?
• How are they the same?
Thinking about Notebooks
Think – Pair - Share
What do you think should be included in a
science notebook kept by students?
Why Use Notebooks in Science?
• Notebooks make students’ thinking visible
• Notebooks enhance literacy skills
• Notebooks are organizers for inquiry questions, claims
and evidence
• Notebooks serve as formative assessment tools for
teachers.
Interactive Science Notebooks
• Strengthen students learning of science (the input)
through increased student participation (the output)
• Organized, sequential reference for review and study
• Encourages creativity and personal reflection
• Increases critical thinking
• Differentiates the learning process
How to Set Up an Interactive
Notebook
• Use composition or spiral notebook. No loose papers!
• First four pages contain title and table of contents.
• Pages on left – EVEN numbers; Pages on right – ODD
numbers
• Teacher input on the right (Pen or pencil)
• Student responses on left (Use color and design)
Interactive Science Notebook
What Goes on Left Side
What Goes on Right Side
• Questions generated
• Information from class
• Charts, tables, graphs
• Science concepts
• Claims and evidence
• Brainstorming
• Writing Prompts
• Pictures, sketches
• Concept maps
• Commentary
• Reflections
• Notes for lab work
• Sample problems
• Answering questions
• Reading notes
• Video notes
• Vocabulary
• Data from experiments
Some More for the Left Side…
Getting the Students to Think about their Learning
• Reflection (Using Guided Prompts)
• What are you curious about now?
• What would you like to test now?
• What was the main idea?
• What was important to remember?
• How does this relate to your life?
• What don’t you understand?
• I claim that when_____,then _____ happens
• I know this to be true because I observed ______
• I used to think it was _____,but now I think it
is_____ because _______
Assessment Opportunities
• Self-assessment or teacher assessment
• Scoring Rubrics
• Student scores self
• Teacher scores student
• Student and teacher score student
• Post-it notes
• Don’t feel compelled to grade everything
• Don’t collect them all at once; do a few each day
How Students Benefit
• Reinforces student understanding
• Helps develop clear thinking
• Encourages writing across the curriculum
• Allows for self-expression
• Provides open and risk-free communication with the
teacher
• Emphasizes the importance of writing now and in the
real world
• Uses the notebook for open-notebook tests or engages
in discussion
How Teachers Benefit
• Provides insight into students as individuals
• Demonstrates their understanding of content and
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skills (and misconceptions)
Provides evidence of growth over time
Lets the teacher examine her/his own teaching
practices
Conferencing over the notebook builds rapport with
student
Provides information for parents
Provides accountability for teacher assessment of
individual students and the entire class
Exit Card
1. What one thing did you learn during this presentation
that you consider to be a valuable addition to your
teaching repertoire?
2. What one thing do you want to learn more about?