Teaching Science With Interactive Notebooks
- Kellie Marcarelli - San Diego City and County Schools
Foreword by Rodger W. Bybee
"Easy to read, with good examples and illustrations. The rationale is spelled out for every step, the setup for the interactive notebook is clearly explained, and you can hear the enthusiasm of the author, which makes the reader enthusiastic about trying the strategy."
—Maria Mesires, Seventh-Grade Science Teacher
Case Middle School, Watertown, NY
"In an era when science teachers are being asked more and more to teach writing skills and build science literacy, this book presents an engaging and creative way to answer that challenge and encourage the use of higher-order thinking skills."
—Michael Baker, Eighth-Grade Science Teacher
Memorial Middle School, Albany, OR
Increase student learning in the inquiry-based science classroom!
Interactive notebooks allow students to record and analyze observations, reflect on their learning, and self-assess their work. Teaching Science With Interactive Notebooks gives educators a step-by-step process for introducing interactive notebooks to students and using notebooks to develop students' communication skills, cognitive organization skills, and sense of responsibility for their own learning.
Packed with examples from actual student notebooks, this detailed guide explains the unique features that make interactive notebooks more effective tools than conventional notebooks for science classrooms. This resource:
- Describes the nuts and bolts of implementing interactive notebooks, including execution, time management, and grading
- Uses the 5E Learning Cycle (engage, explore, elaborate, extend, evaluate) as the framework for science instruction
- Emphasizes the importance of writing in science and provides strategies for modeling effective writing
- Explores strategies to encourage collaborative student inquiry and foster whole-class discussions
By implementing interactive notebooks in your classroom, you can gain deeper insight into each student's understanding, learning progress, and thinking!
“Teaching Science With Interactive Notebooks provides teacher-friendly, practical advice for strategies that all science teachers can use.”
"Highly recommend this book to science teachers who want to do science notebooks but fear the drudgery that sometimes is associated with them. The interactive notebooks that Marcarelli creates not only are interesting for the teacher but also fun and motivating for students."
"Marcarelli’s book provides teachers with research-based strategies that actively engage students in their own learning. With interactive notebooks, students learn how to collect and organize scientific information and how to communicate and refine their thinking. Moreover, students take ownership and pride in their work. This book is a valuable tool that every science teacher should have.
"A powerful reference that will be full of my sticky notes and used daily."
“In an era when science teachers are being asked more and more to teach writing skills and build science literacy, this book presents an engaging and creative way to answer that challenge and encourage the use of higher-order thinking skills.”
"Whether they are doing hands-on investigation, synthesizing a piece of text, or researching online, my students do the work of scientists by creating something every day in their science notebooks. The notebooks are veritable portfolios of their thinking. My students take pride in collecting daily evidence of their work and are better able to organize, focus, and reflect on their learning in the notebook spread. Because I am planning with the notebook in mind, my lessons are clearer and the structure allows us to focus on the learning at hand. I can’t imagine not using them. This is not rocket science, just good teaching!”
“Easy to read, with good examples and illustrations. The rationale is spelled out for every step, the setup for the interactive notebook is clearly explained, and you can hear the enthusiasm of the author, which makes the reader enthusiastic about trying the strategy.”
"Interactive notebooks are awesome. This book gives you step-by-step instructions on what they are, their many uses, and day to day instructions on getting them up and running smoothly in your classroom."
I love this book! I have been using it with both my middle school science students and my graduate school students. Some of the material needs tweeking, but the overall concept is fantastic!
