Interactive Science Notebook

What is an Interactive Science Notebook (ISN)?

Interactive Science Notebooks (ISNs) allow students to take ownership of their learning. The left side of the notebook is where students will put information from the teacher. The right side is where students will think about that information and put it into a format that makes sense to them.

Why do an ISN?

ISNs have been shown to have a lot of benefits. These include:

-        Letting students create their own understanding of material

-        Helping students with comprehension monitoring: they can evaluate whether they understand material and correct and further understanding of the material

-        Helping students appreciate the process of scientific inquiry

-        Reflection has been shown to increase metacognition: thinking about thinking. Students who think about how they learn and whether they are learning have been shown to be more independent learners and ultimately more successful in school.

-        ISNs allow the teacher to assess class comprehension, differentiate instruction so each student is getting the most out of class, and provide quality, timely feedback.

How will my ISN be graded?

I will check your ISN daily to see that you have done your reflection. ISNs will be collected periodically so I can give you feedback. I will use a rubric to grade your ISN. Also, I will keep a copy of the Input part of the ISN in the room, so if you lose yours or are absent you can redo it.

Table of Contents

This is a very important part of your ISN. It’s how you know what’s in your ISN. You will occasionally receive a grade just for your Table of Contents. Keep it neat – Keep it current!

You will start a new Table of Contents for every unit. You will also start a whole new ISN for the 2^nd quarter.

ISN Resources

Chesbro, R. (2006). Using interactive science notebooks for inquiry-based science. Science Scope. April, 2006.

National Science Resources Center (NSRC). (2000). Science and Technology Concepts for Middle

Schools. Burlington, NC: Smithsonian/The National Academies.

Winslow, J. (2007). An exploration of the use of interactive science notebooks to increase literacy

skills of high school students. Montana State University; Bozeman, MT.

See reference section for more ISN resources

Young, J. (2003). Science interactive notebooks in the classroom. Science Scope 26 (4): 44-7.

Interactive Scientist’s Notebook Rubric

A

·      Notebook contents are complete, dated, labeled & EDITED

·      Pages are numbered (odd; right-sided; even; left-side)

·      Right-side/Left-side topics are matched & contents organized

·      Lecture notes go beyond basic requirements

·      Demonstrates frequent use of critical vocabulary (underlined)

·      Uses pencil only, color pencils and effective diagrams/pictures

that take up no more than 1⁄4 of the page

·      Shows impressive, in-depth processing of information & deep

personal connections to learning concepts

·      YOU came through in the personalization

B

·      Notebook contents are complete, dated & labeled

·      Pages are numbered (odd; right-sided; even; left-side)

·      Right-side/Left-side topics are matched & contents organized

·      Includes most of the traits of “6”, but lacks excellence in all areas

·      Demonstrates  some use of critical vocabulary (underlined)

·      Most areas meet requirements but do not go beyond

·      Shows in-depth processing of information, connections to

learning concepts & personalization

C

·      Notebook contents are 90% complete, dated & labeled

·      Pages are numbered (odd; right-sided; even; left-side)

·      Right-side/Left-side topics are matched & contents organized

·      Uses pencil, color and some diagrams

·      Information shows basic understanding of content topics

·      Some areas meet requirements, but don’t go beyond

·      Shows limited, but real processing of information &  personalization

D

·      Notebook contents are 80% complete, dated & labeled

·      Pages are numbered (odd; right-sided; even; left-side)

·      Right-side/Left-side topics are matched & contents organized

·      Uses pencil, minimal color and few diagrams

·      Information shows limited understanding of content topics

·      Some areas meet requirements, but do not go beyond

·      Shows some processing of information &  personalization

F

·      Notebook contents are incomplete

·      Some attempt at dating & labeling of entries is made

·      Right-side/Left-side is inconsistent & contents are unorganized

·      Information & concepts show only a superficial understanding of

       the subject matter and/or show serious inaccuracies

·      Notebook is not neatly written

·      Shows little processing of information &  personalization

0

·      Note book turned in, but too incomplete to score